Create Webhook for Azure Automation runbook via ARM template

Question

Create Webhook for Azure Automation runbook via ARM template

Christoph Distefano 101

We need to create a Webhook to run Azure Automation runbooks via an ARM template.
The documentation states that webhooks are possible via ARM templates, as you can see in the following posts:

https://feedback.azure.com/forums/246290-automation/suggestions/13227531-webhooks-arm-template

Documentation:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/templates/microsoft.automation/automationaccounts/webhooks

It seems like this is not supported or at least I am currently not getting it to work.
The documentation states, that the URI parameter is optional (required: no). If I leave it empty, the ARM template deployment fails with the error "Invalid URI".

Looking at the New-AzAutomationWebhook command in Debug mode shows that two requests are sent:

Creation of a new WebHook Uri
POST: https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{subID}/resourceGroups/{rgname}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automation
Accounts/{automationaccountname}/webhooks/generateUri?api-version=2015-10-31
Creation of the WebHook, using the previously created URI
PUT: https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{subID}/resourceGroups/{rgname}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automation
Accounts/{automationaccountname}/webhooks/{webhookname}?api-version=2015-10-31
The body contains the URI previously created.

I am not able to get my ARM template running, and I do not see any way to create a URI for a webhook in native ARM templates. Only PowerShell / API calls could solve the issue at the moment.
Any input on how to create Webhooks for Automation Accounts via ARM are highly appreciated.

PS: the documentation also states that e.g. ExpiryTime is a non-required parameter, but you need to add it.

olufemia-MSFT 2,861 Reputation points

2020-10-31T10:11:11.08+00:00

Hi anonymous user ,

Greatly appreciate the debug output as this helped w/ repro on my end as well.
Re: inaccuracies with ExpiryTime not being a required param: this has been shared with content owner to review and correct.
Re: Issues with Webhook creation via ARM template: this is currently under investigation and I will be raising the priority on this since there's multiple community feedback on the incompleteness of the Webhook creation via ARM.

Will share an update soon as our investigation is complete. IF you need immediate mitigation then please send mail to AzCommunity@microsoft.com include your subscription ID and a link to this thread (for context) and we will gladly connect you with our escalation engineer for deeper assistance.
Leo D'Arcy 1 Reputation point

2021-02-23T17:21:12.077+00:00

@olufemia-MSFT I don't suppose there is any update to this is there?
Ryan Hill 30,281 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-02-25T16:33:55.103+00:00

Hi @Leo D'Arcy , we're currently waiting for feedback from the product group. As soon as we get additional information, we will update. Thank you for your continued patience.

Regards,
Ryan

1 answer

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olufemia-MSFT 2,861 Reputation points

2020-10-31T10:11:11.08+00:00

Hi anonymous user ,

Greatly appreciate the debug output as this helped w/ repro on my end as well.
Re: inaccuracies with ExpiryTime not being a required param: this has been shared with content owner to review and correct.
Re: Issues with Webhook creation via ARM template: this is currently under investigation and I will be raising the priority on this since there's multiple community feedback on the incompleteness of the Webhook creation via ARM.

Will share an update soon as our investigation is complete. IF you need immediate mitigation then please send mail to AzCommunity@microsoft.com include your subscription ID and a link to this thread (for context) and we will gladly connect you with our escalation engineer for deeper assistance.
Leo D'Arcy 1 Reputation point

2021-02-23T17:21:12.077+00:00

@olufemia-MSFT I don't suppose there is any update to this is there?
Ryan Hill 30,281 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-02-25T16:33:55.103+00:00

Hi @Leo D'Arcy , we're currently waiting for feedback from the product group. As soon as we get additional information, we will update. Thank you for your continued patience.

Regards,
Ryan

Answer 1

Hi @Leo D'Arcy ,

We've heard back from the product team and they informed us that support this scenario is in the deployment process. It should be available across all regions by the end of next week. If after those coming days, you still experience issues with your ARM template, please feel free to either email us or '@' us down below.

EDIT: Please see a sample ARM template below on how to create Automation Runbook. We'll be adding similar templates to the docs soon.

{  
    "$schema": https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#,  
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",  
    "parameters": {  
        "automationAccountName": {  
            "type": "String",  
            "metadata": {  
                "description": "Automation account name"  
            }  
        },  
        "webhookName": {  
            "type": "String",  
            "metadata": {  
                "description": "Webhook Name"  
            }  
        },  
        "runbookName": {  
            "type": "String",  
            "metadata": {  
                "description": "Runbook Name for which webhook will be created"  
            }  
        },  
        "WebhookExpiryTime": {  
            "type": "String",  
            "metadata": {  
                "description": "Webhook Expiry time"  
            }  
        },  
        "_artifactsLocation": {  
            "defaultValue": https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/azure-quickstart-templates/master/101-automation/,  
            "type": "String",  
            "metadata": {  
                "description": "URI to artifacts location"  
            }  
        }  
    },  
    "resources": [  
        {  
            "type": "Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts",  
            "apiVersion": "2020-01-13-preview",  
            "name": "[parameters('automationAccountName')]",  
            "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",  
            "properties": {  
                "sku": {  
                    "name": "Free"  
                }  
            },  
            "resources": [  
                {  
                    "type": "runbooks",  
                    "apiVersion": "2018-06-30",  
                    "name": "[parameters('runbookName')]",  
                    "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",  
                    "dependsOn": [  
                        "[parameters('automationAccountName')]"  
                    ],  
                    "properties": {  
                        "runbookType": "Python2",  
                        "logProgress": "false",  
                        "logVerbose": "false",  
                        "description": "Sample Runbook",  
                        "publishContentLink": {  
                            "uri": "[uri(parameters('_artifactsLocation'), 'scripts/AzureAutomationTutorialPython2.py')]",  
                            "version": "1.0.0.0"  
                        }  
                    }  
                },  
                {  
                    "type": "webhooks",  
                    "apiVersion": "2018-06-30",  
                    "name": "[parameters('webhookName')]",  
                    "dependsOn": [  
                        "[parameters('automationAccountName')]",  
                        "[parameters('runbookName')]"  
                    ],  
                    "properties": {  
                        "isEnabled": true,  
                        "expiryTime": "[parameters('WebhookExpiryTime')]",  
                        "runbook": {  
                            "name": "[parameters('runbookName')]"  
                        }  
                    }  
                }  
            ]  
        }  
    ],  
    "outputs": {  
        "webhookUri": {  
            "type": "String",  
            "value": "[reference(parameters('webhookName')).uri]"  
        }  
    }  
}

Regards,
Ryan

KaziNad 51 Reputation points

2021-10-29T20:40:46.417+00:00

Unfortunately this ARM template works only for the very first run, subsequent runs give back empty URIs. This behavior makes it impossible to integrate it into a full DevOps ARM template, because deploying other Azure components referencing this uri will fail, because of the empty uri-s. My scenario would be to use webhook uri from a Microsoft.EventGrid/systemTopics/eventSubscriptions component. Very unfortunate.
KaziNad 51 Reputation points

2021-10-30T07:59:56.183+00:00

Luckily, I have a workaround now. I use an ARM variable to create different webhook names for each deployment:

"[concat(parameters('webhookName'), '-', parameters('UtcNowString'))]"

where UtcNowString parameter default value is: "[utcNow()]"

Yes, there will be growing number of runbook webhooks time to time, but the deployment does not fail at least. I will create a scheduled runbook to delete old webhooks.
David Savage 11 Reputation points

2022-01-27T17:06:46.343+00:00

Holy cow! You saved me. An answer buried at the bottom of the internet like some kind of jewel. Much appreciated!

Hopefully, to raise awareness, the search that brought me here: "AutomationRunbookServiceUriIsNotValid"

Solution as kazinad implied, first, delete the existing webhooks. Once they're gone, your deployment will succeed.

I'm using bicep so the relevant line of code for me, in the automationRunbookReceivers scope, was: serviceUri: webhook.properties.uri where my webhook was a resource already defined earlier in the script.

Thanks again :)
KaziNad 51 Reputation points

2022-01-27T17:28:19.06+00:00

Thanks. My final solution was a second runbook, which cleans-up the growing number webhooks. This guarantees that 1) my arm template remains repeatable (anytime) 2) no wasted resources

This is the webhook cleanup powershell script:

param ( [Parameter (Mandatory = $true)] [string[]] $RunbookNames, [Parameter (Mandatory = $true)] [string] $ResourceGroupName, [Parameter (Mandatory = $true)] [string] $AutomationAccountName ) $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'; Write-Output "ResourceGroup: $($ResourceGroupName)"; Write-Output "AutomationAccount: $($AutomationAccountName)"; Write-Output "Runbooks: $($RunbookNames)"; # https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/enable-managed-identity-for-automation#authenticate-access-with-system-assigned-managed-identity Disable-AzContextAutosave -Scope Process | Out-Null; $AzureContext = (Connect-AzAccount -Identity).context; $AzureContext = Set-AzContext -SubscriptionName $AzureContext.Subscription -DefaultProfile $AzureContext; Write-Output 'Removed webhooks:'; $RunbookNames ` | ForEach-Object { Get-AzAutomationWebhook -RunbookName $_ -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -AutomationAccountName $AutomationAccountName ` | Sort-Object ExpiryTime -Descending ` | Select-Object -Skip 1 ` | Sort-Object ExpiryTime ` | % { $_ | Remove-AzAutomationWebhook ; Write-Output "$($_.Name)" } };
Tim Wilson 6 Reputation points

2022-03-02T15:04:51.627+00:00

Thank your for pointing out the issue with empty uri being returned on subsequent runs.

I plan to just implement conditional deployment based on whether or not the uri has a value. If the uri does not have a value, we will not deploy the action group at all.

I'll just add a code comment above that action group stating that if any changes are made to the template, the webhook will have to be manually deleted. That will cause the webhook to be recreated, which will return a valid uri, which will cause the alert action group to deploy the updates.
Jaume Centelles 0 Reputation points

2023-07-07T12:16:26.6333333+00:00

So, thanks for the workarounds for this problem everyone, although it's still very problematic to integrate webhooks with other resources on the same ARM so I would like to call out Ryan Hill (I can't seem to find the right "@"). Plese could you find a way to show that url in every deployment not just the first?

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Create Webhook for Azure Automation runbook via ARM template

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