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Quickstart: Use a Bicep template to create an elastic cluster with Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Azure Database for PostgreSQL with elastic clusters is a managed service that you use to run, manage, and scale highly available PostgreSQL databases in the cloud with a horizontal scale-out capability. You can use a Bicep template to provision your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server elastic clusters instance.

Bicep is a domain-specific language (DSL) that uses declarative syntax to deploy Azure resources. It provides concise syntax, reliable type safety, and support for code reuse. Bicep offers the best authoring experience for your infrastructure-as-code solutions in Azure.

Prerequisites

An Azure account with an active subscription. Create one for free.

Review the Bicep template

An Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server elastic cluster instance is the parent resource for a distributed database within a region. It provides the scope for management policies that apply to the cluster: firewall, users, roles, and configurations.

Create an elastic-cluster-template.bicep file and copy the following script into it.

param administratorLogin string

@secure()
param administratorLoginPassword string

param clusterName string

param location string = 'canadacentral'

param clusterSize int = 2

param skuName string = 'Standard_D4ds_v5'
param serverEdition string = 'GeneralPurpose'

param storageSizeGB int = 64

param availabilityZone string = '1'

param backupRetentionDays int = 7

resource server 'Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers@2025-08-01' = {
  location: location
  name: clusterName
  properties: {
    createMode: 'Default'
    version: '17'
    administratorLogin: administratorLogin
    administratorLoginPassword: administratorLoginPassword
    availabilityZone: availabilityZone
    Storage: {
      StorageSizeGB: storageSizeGB
      Autogrow: 'Disabled'
    }
    Network: {
      publicNetworkAccess: 'Enabled'
    }
    Backup: {
      backupRetentionDays: backupRetentionDays
      geoRedundantBackup: 'Disabled'
    }
    highAvailability: {
      mode: 'Disabled'
    }
    cluster: {
      clusterSize: clusterSize
    }
  }
  sku: {
    name: skuName
    tier: serverEdition
  }
}

param firewallRules object = {
  rules: [
    {
      name: 'AllowAll'
      startIPAddress: '0.0.0.0'
      endIPAddress: '255.255.255.255'
    }
  ]
}

// Create one child firewall rule per entry in firewallRules.rules
resource serverFirewallRules 'Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers/firewallRules@2025-08-01' = [
  for rule in firewallRules.rules: {
    name: rule.name
    parent: server
    properties: {
      startIpAddress: rule.startIPAddress
      endIpAddress: rule.endIPAddress
    }
  }
]

These resources are defined in the Bicep file:

Deploy the Bicep file

Use Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell to deploy the Bicep file.

az login

$resourceGroupName = Read-Host -Prompt "Enter a name for the resource group where the server will exist"

az deployment group create `
  --resource-group $resourceGroupName `
  --template-file ./elastic-cluster-template.bicep

You're prompted to enter these values:

  • clusterName: enter a unique name that identifies your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server elastic cluster instance. The domain name postgres.database.azure.com is appended to the cluster name you provide. The cluster name can contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and the hyphen (-) character. It must contain at least 3 through 63 characters.
  • administratorLogin: enter your own authentication account to use when you connect to the server. For example, clusterAdmin. The admin authentication name can't be azure_superuser, azure_pg_admin, admin, administrator, root, guest, or public. It can't start with pg_.
  • administratorLoginPassword: enter a new password for the server admin account. It must contain between 8 and 128 characters. Your password must contain characters from three of the following categories: English uppercase letters, English lowercase letters, numbers (0 through 9), and nonalphanumeric characters (!, $, #, %, etc.).

Review deployed resources

Follow these steps to verify if your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server elastic cluster was created.

  1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible servers.
  2. In the database list, select your new server to view the Overview page to manage your elastic cluster.

Note

Keep this resource group and the elastic cluster if you want to use it to continue with the next suggested steps listed in the Related content section. The next steps show you how to use elastic clusters with different application sharding models and designs.

Clean up resources

When you're finished with your elastic cluster environment, delete your elastic cluster resource.

To delete the elastic cluster, follow these steps:

In the portal, select the elastic cluster you want to delete.

  1. From the Overview page, select Delete.
  2. Review your resource details, and acknowledge the delete request to confirm the deletion operation by checking the checkbox.
  3. Select Delete.

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