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Introducing the Az PowerShell module

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Starting in December 2018, the Az PowerShell module is in general release and is now the intended PowerShell module for interacting with Azure. Az offers shorter commands, improved stability, and cross-platform support. Az also has feature parity with AzureRM, giving you an easy migration path.

With the Az module, Azure PowerShell is now compatible with PowerShell 5.1 on Windows and PowerShell Core 6.x and later on all supported platforms - including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Az is a new module, so the version has been reset to 1.0.0.

Why a new module?

Major updates can be inconvenient, so it's important that we let you know why the decision was made to introduce a new set of modules, with new cmdlets, for interacting with Azure from PowerShell.

The biggest and most important change is that PowerShell has been a cross-platform product since the introduction of PowerShell, based on the .NET Standard library. We're committed to bringing Azure support to all platforms, which means that the Azure PowerShell modules needed to be updated to use .NET Standard and be compatible with PowerShell Core. Rather than taking the existing AzureRM module and introduce complex changes to add this support, the Az module was created.

Creating a new module also gave our engineers the opportunity to make the design and naming of cmdlets and modules consistent. All modules now start with the Az. prefix and cmdlets all use the Verb-AzNoun form. Previously, cmdlet names were not only longer, there were inconsistencies in cmdlet names.

The number of modules was also reduced: Some modules which worked with the same services have been rolled together, and management plane and data plane cmdlets are now contained all within single modules for their services. For those of you who manually manage dependencies and imports, this makes things much simpler.

By making these important changes that required building a new Azure PowerShell module, the team has committed to making it easier than ever, and on more platforms than previously possible, to use Azure with PowerShell cmdlets.

Upgrade to Az

To keep up with the latest Azure features in PowerShell, you should migrate to the Az module as soon as possible. If you're not ready to install the Az module as a replacement for AzureRM, you have a couple of options available to experiment with Az:

  • Use a PowerShell environment with Azure Cloud Shell. Azure Cloud Shell is a browser-based shell environment which comes with the Az module installed and Enable-AzureRM compatibility aliases enabled.
  • Keep the AzureRM module installed with PowerShell 5.1 for Windows, but install the Az module for PowerShell Core 6.x or later. PowerShell 5.1 for Windows and PowerShell Core use separate collections of modules. Follow the instructions to install PowerShell Core and then install the Az module from a PowerShell Core terminal.

To upgrade from an existing AzureRM install:

  1. Uninstall the Azure PowerShell AzureRM module
  2. Install the Az PowerShell module
  3. OPTIONAL: Enable compatibility mode to add aliases for AzureRM cmdlets with Enable-AzureRMAlias while you become familiar with the new command set. See the next section or Start migration from AzureRM to Az for more details.

Migrate existing scripts to Az

The new cmdlet names have been designed to be easy to learn. Instead of using AzureRm or Azure in cmdlet names, use Az. For example, the old command New-AzureRMVm has become New-AzVm. Migration is more than just becoming familiar with the new cmdlet names, though: There are renamed modules, parameters, and other important changes.

To help you with the process of migration from AzureRM to Az, we've got a number of resources:

The Az module has a compatibility mode to help you use existing scripts while you update to the new syntax. The Enable-AzureRmAlias cmdlet enables a compatibility mode through aliases, to allow you to use existing scripts with minimal modification while working towards a full migration to Az.

Important

Even though the cmdlet names are aliased, there may still be new (or renamed) parameters or changed return values for the Az cmdlets. Don't expect enabling aliases to take care of the migration for you! See the full breaking changes list to find where your scripts may require updates.

Support for AzureRM

Because Az PowerShell modules now have all the capabilities of AzureRM PowerShell modules and more, we'll retire AzureRM PowerShell modules on 29 February 2024.

To avoid service interruptions, update your scripts that use AzureRM PowerShell modules to use Az PowerShell modules by 29 February 2024. To automatically update your scripts, follow the quickstart guide.