Creating and Managing Bicep Parameters Files for Deployment
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Chapter 1: Understanding Bicep Parameters Files
This guide will help you grasp the process of creating and employing Bicep parameters files (.bicepparam) to effectively manage parameter values. We will explore the benefits of utilizing these files alongside JSON parameter files, which allow for better organization by keeping parameter values distinct from the deployment script.
Section 1.1: What Exactly Are Bicep Parameters Files?
In the Bicep language, you can now link multiple parameter files to a single Bicep file, ensuring that each parameter file correlates with a specific Bicep file. These files are recognized by the .bicepparam extension.
Subsection 1.1.1: Naming Your Bicep Parameters Files
To support deployments across various environments, you can create multiple parameter files with names reflecting their intended use, such as ‘development’ or ‘production.’ For example, name your files main.dev.bicepparam for the development environment and main.prod.bicepparam for production. This method enhances the deployment process and guarantees correct configurations for each environment.
The connection between these files is established by specifying the using statement in the Bicep parameters file. A basic structure for a Bicep parameters file might look like this:
using '<path>/<file-name>.bicep'
param <first-parameter-name> = <first-value>
param <second-parameter-name> = <second-value>
Section 1.2: Utilizing Expressions in Bicep
Bicep allows you to apply expressions for defining default values. For instance, in the code snippet below, the storageName parameter transforms the value ‘MyStorageAccount’ to lowercase via the toLower function, while the intValue parameter calculates a simple arithmetic expression, yielding 4 (2 + 2).
using 'storageaccount.bicep'
param storageName = toLower('MyStorageAccount')
param intValue = 2 + 2
Bicep also permits referencing environment variables as parameter values. In this example, the intFromEnvironmentVariables parameter retrieves an integer from an environment variable called ‘intEnvVariableName’ using the readEnvironmentVariable function.
using './main.bicep'
param intFromEnvironmentVariables = int(readEnvironmentVariable('intEnvVariableName'))
Chapter 2: Exploring Parameter Types
This section illustrates various parameter types, including string, integer, boolean, array, and object formats.
using './main.bicep'
param exampleString = 'Hello, World!'
param exampleInt = 10 * 5
param exampleBool = false
param exampleArray = [
'apple',
'banana',
'orange'
]
param exampleObject = {
name: 'John Doe',
age: 30,
isEmployed: true
}
Parameter values are identified by examining the parameters section of your Bicep file. Below are some examples of parameters taken from a file named main.bicep.
@maxLength(11)
param storagePrefix string
@allowed([
'Standard_LRS'
'Standard_GRS'
'Standard_ZRS'
'Premium_LRS'
])
param storageAccountType string = 'Standard_LRS'
The above code represents the parameter definitions within the Bicep file. The corresponding parameters file is defined as follows. It is critical that the parameter names in your Bicep parameters file match those in the main Bicep file to ensure proper functionality and mapping.
using 'main.bicep'
param storagePrefix
param storageAccountType
You can create a parameters file using either Visual Studio Code or the Bicep CLI. Both methods facilitate the direct generation of a parameters file from a Bicep file.
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