3 ways to visualise your Azure resources
There comes a time when you will want to visualise what you have in your Azure environment.
There are different tools you can use, like most things in IT.
I have had a quick play using a test resource group with a Load Balancer with a VM Scale Set and thought I’d share some of my first thoughts on each.
1. Resource Visualiser (export template)
With this method, it’s simple. On the Azure portal, go to the resource group you want to visualise, go to the Export template section and hit Visualize template.
Once generated, you can drag the boxes around the screen to make it easier to see. You can also export it as a .png file.
If you are just looking to visualise what’s in this resource group, it would probably be good enough for you.
But to me it seems a bit too ‘simple’ and doesn’t provide me with the contextual information I wanted.
2. ARM template Viewer (Visual Studio Code extension)
If you have Visual Studio Code (free for personal and commercial use), it’s easy to install (check restrictions at your workplace). Just search for it at the extension pane and install it — further info available here
Once installed, paste in the JSON (found at the Azure portal resource group export template section) and hit the ‘eye’ icon on the top right.
Once generated you can drag around the resources to make it easier to see. You can also filter out certain resources you don’t want to show, toggle between the names and resource types, as well as exporting as a .png file.
It looks pretty cool huh?!
NOTE: not sure if it’s just my example here but there seem to be far too many lines between the resources.
3. AzViz
AzViz is available as a PowerShell gallery module. You will need to have GraphViz installed as a prerequisite (check with your IT department if needed).
Once installed, you login to Azure via PowerShell, run the Export-AzViz command with the parameters you wanted, and it will produce the diagram.
It obviously depends on what you need the diagram for, but for me this got me to 90% of what I needed.
AzViz makes use of the network watcher and it’s able to make some sense of the network association between resources.
The only downside is that I can’t drag the resource around to a custom layout like the others above, but it’s something I can live with (for now, on smaller scale visualisations).
Final words
For me I think I’ll be going between the Visual Studio Code Extension ARM Template Viewer and AzViz depending on what I need.
What do you use and have you any further tips on each of them?
