Decompiling ARM template JSON to Bicep

Article
03/20/2024

This article describes how to decompile Azure Resource Manager templates (ARM templates) to Bicep files. You must have the Bicep CLI installed to run the conversion commands.

Note

From Visual Studio Code, you can directly create resource declarations by importing from existing resources. For more information, see Bicep commands.

Visual Studio Code enables you to paste JSON as Bicep. It automatically runs the decompile command. For more information, see Paste JSON as Bicep.

Decompiling an ARM template helps you get started with Bicep development. If you have a library of ARM templates and want to use Bicep for future development, you can decompile them to Bicep. However, the Bicep file might need revisions to implement best practices for Bicep.

This article shows how to run the decompile command in Azure CLI. If you're not using Azure CLI, run the command without az at the start of the command. For example, az bicep decompile becomes bicep decompile.

Decompile from JSON to Bicep

To decompile ARM template JSON to Bicep, use:

az bicep decompile --file main.json

The command creates a file named main.bicep in the same directory as main.json. If main.bicep exists in the same directory, use the --force switch to overwrite the existing Bicep file.

You can also decompile ARM template JSON to Bicep from Visual Studio Code by using the Decompile into Bicep command. For more information, see Visual Studio Code.

Caution

Decompilation attempts to convert the file, but there is no guaranteed mapping from ARM template JSON to Bicep. You may need to fix warnings and errors in the generated Bicep file. Or, decompilation can fail if an accurate conversion isn't possible. To report any issues or inaccurate conversions, create an issue.

The decompile and build commands produce templates that are functionally equivalent. However, they might not be exactly the same in implementation. Converting a template from JSON to Bicep and then back to JSON probably results in a template with different syntax than the original template. When deployed, the converted templates produce the same results.

Fix conversion issues

Suppose you have the following ARM template:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "storageAccountType": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
      "allowedValues": [
        "Standard_LRS",
        "Standard_GRS",
        "Standard_ZRS",
        "Premium_LRS"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Storage Account type"
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for all resources."
      }
    }
  },
  "variables": {
    "storageAccountName": "[concat('store', uniquestring(resourceGroup().id))]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2023-04-01",
      "name": "[variables('storageAccountName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "sku": {
        "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {}
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "storageAccountName": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[variables('storageAccountName')]"
    }
  }
}

When you decompile it, you get:

@allowed([
  'Standard_LRS'
  'Standard_GRS'
  'Standard_ZRS'
  'Premium_LRS'
])
@description('Storage Account type')
param storageAccountType string = 'Standard_LRS'

@description('Location for all resources.')
param location string = resourceGroup().location

var storageAccountName = 'store${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'

resource storageAccount 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2023-04-01' = {
  name: storageAccountName
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: storageAccountType
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
  properties: {}
}

output storageAccountName string = storageAccountName

The decompiled file works, but it has some names that you might want to change. The variable var storageAccountName_var has an unusual naming convention. Let's change it to:

var uniqueStorageName = 'store${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'

To rename across the file, right-click the name, and then select Rename symbol. You can also use the F2 hotkey.

The resource has a symbolic name that you might want to change. Instead of storageAccountName for the symbolic name, use exampleStorage.

resource exampleStorage 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2023-04-01' = {

The complete file is:

@allowed([
  'Standard_LRS'
  'Standard_GRS'
  'Standard_ZRS'
  'Premium_LRS'
])
@description('Storage Account type')
param storageAccountType string = 'Standard_LRS'

@description('Location for all resources.')
param location string = resourceGroup().location

var uniqueStorageName = 'store${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'

resource exampleStorage 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2023-04-01' = {
  name: uniqueStorageName
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: storageAccountType
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
  properties: {}
}

output storageAccountName string = uniqueStorageName

Export template and convert

You can export the template for a resource group, and then pass it directly to the decompile command. The following example shows how to decompile an exported template.

az group export --name "your_resource_group_name" > main.json
az bicep decompile --file main.json

Export-AzResourceGroup -ResourceGroupName "your_resource_group_name" -Path ./main.json
bicep decompile main.json

Side-by-side view

The Bicep Playground enables you to view equivalent ARM template and Bicep files side by side. You can select Sample Template to see both versions. Or, select Decompile to upload your own ARM template and view the equivalent Bicep file.

Next steps

To learn about all of the Bicep CLI commands, see Bicep CLI commands.

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