Azure API ARM template error: Link already exists between specified Tag and Operation.

Bill Winder 0

I am doing an ARM template import of an Azure API instance and getting numerous errors like the below:

"Link already exists between specified Tag and Operation".

The API itself was designed in Swagger and imported into Azure API. I then exported from Azure portal using "Export template" and then use "Deploy from a custom template" and use the template create a new Azure API instance in a different resource group. However it results in a multitude of the above error occurring. I can't see any rhyme or reason when I look at the "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" sections in the json template, and can't see why there would already be an existing link.

1 answer

Sina Salam 12,086 Reputation points

2024-10-10T21:38:39.6966667+00:00
Hello Bill Winder,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

I understand that you are having issue with the Azure API ARM template error: Link already exists between specified Tag and Operation.

To solve this issue, endeavor to do the follosings:

You will need to check thoroughly and update the template syntax in the "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" check that the section of your JSON template is correct and does not contain any redundant or conflicting entries. Also, for duplicate Tags and Links.

Then, to make sure the changes are applied without affecting existing resources use incremental deployment mode instead of complete mode - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/troubleshooting/quickstart-troubleshoot-arm-deployment

You can perform manual check on the Azure portal for any existing links between tags and operations and remove them if necessary.

Use tools like Visual Studio Code with the Azure Resource Manager Tools extension to validate your template before deployment - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/troubleshooting/common-deployment-errors

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful.
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Bill Winder 0 Reputation points

2024-10-11T09:32:01.0466667+00:00

Hi Sina Salam,

Thanks for your response and suggestions which I have read through.

I have done a check on the template syntax and it looks fine and there are no conflicting entries. Each entry has a different name which contains a guid like string in it, which are all different.

I have run the API ARM deployment into a completely new empty tenant to ensure that there are no conflicts with existing resources, but the errors still occur.

I have used Visual Studio Code Azure Resource Manager Tool to validate the ARM template and there are no errors reported.

I am still getting multiple errors on ARM template import which says "Link already exists between specified Tag and Operation".

I have run the import multiple times and each time it flags errors on different "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/apis/operations/tags" entries. ie it is fairly random regarding which operation/tag throws an error, without much consistency. This suggests to me it is a bug in Microsoft's ARM template process for Azure API, rather than anything in the template itself. If the same operation/tags were reported as a conflict each time then it would suggest a template issue, but it is different each time.

thanks alot

Sina Salam 12,086 Reputation points

2024-10-11T13:26:03.31+00:00

Hello Bill Winder,

Thank you for your feedback.

Few things to do more:

You will need to implement explicit dependsOn dependencies to control deployment order ensure that operations are applied in a specific order and help avoid conflicts. Yes, you are already using incremental mode but try being more explicit in defining dependencies in the "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" section for each operation or tag entry, and for example:

{ "type": "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/apis/operations/tags", "name": "[concat(parameters('serviceName'), '/apiName/operationName/tagName')]", "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/apis', parameters('serviceName'), 'apiName')]" ], ... }

If the above doesn't work, don't change it then, look into API Management quotas and throttling. There are number of quotas and limits on the number of tags, operations, and other resources. If you are deploying many operations or tags at once, you may be hitting a hidden quota or throttling limit. If you're hitting these limits, try deploying the operations and/or tags in smaller batches. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/api-management-sample-flexible-throttling

You can try splitting the deployment into smaller, more manageable pieces or consider using Bicep to manage the template by converting existing ARM templates to Bicep using the az bicep decompile command.

Goodluck

Bill Winder 0 Reputation points

2024-10-11T14:27:39.7066667+00:00

Thanks @Sina Salam

Your comments are very useful.

I checked the ARM template and the necessary dependencies were already there (since the template was built from an export of existing Azure API).

I also decided to remove all "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" from the ARM template and test import and it worked ok. I then added back in just a small number of operationLinks (5 in total) to see if it might be related to quotas etc, however errors on those 5 still occurred.

I am wondering now are "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" necessary to operation of Azure API or are they just a nice to have, do you know? Since there are a lot of unresolvable errors occurring I could just remove them all from the ARM template instead if they are not essential.
What I am thinking is that when the import is performed then operationlinks are created automatically (even when none are present in the ARM template), then when it comes across the operationLinks within the ARM template it cannot apply them because they have already been created. Reason I am thinking this is that when I do an import with no operationLinks, then export that API instance as ARM template it has the operationLinks in the exported ARM template (meaning that they are created automatically).

Point 3 about splitting up the deployment sounds useful and may help with the other issues I am having with templates and also the Bicep method.

Sina Salam 12,086 Reputation points

2024-10-11T16:02:18.2833333+00:00

Hello Bill Winder,

Thank you for your feedback and glad to know there is improvement.

Please read the below carefully:

The "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/tags/operationLinks" entries in your ARM template are used to tag operations for easier management, categorization, and filtering within Azure API Management (APIM). They are not essential for the core operation of the API but provide a way to organize your API operations, making it easier to maintain or search for specific operations later.

If these tags are causing persistent deployment issues or hitting some kind of quota or throttling limits, as you've experienced, removing them wouldn't break the functionality of your API but would remove that organizational structure. If managing tags isn't critical for your current needs, it makes sense to remove them, especially if doing so resolves the deployment errors. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/api-management-sample-flexible-throttling

Goodluck.
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Azure API ARM template error: Link already exists between specified Tag and Operation.

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