Azure Tags¶
Tags are key–value pairs applied to Azure resources, resource groups, or subscriptions.
They provide a lightweight way to organize, classify, and manage resources across your environment.
- Key: The category (e.g.,
Environment,CostCenter,Owner) - Value: The specific detail (e.g.,
Production,FIN-001,Neil)
Why Use Tags?¶
- Cost Management – Track spend by department, project, or environment.
- Governance & Compliance – Enforce standards with Azure Policy (e.g., require
CostCentertag). - Automation – Drive scripts, pipelines, or alerts based on tag values.
- Operations – Quickly filter and group resources in the portal or CLI.
Tagging Best Practices¶
- Standardize Keys – Define an approved list (
Environment,Application,Owner,CostCenter). - Use Initiatives/Policies – Enforce required tags or auto‑apply defaults.
- Keep Values Consistent – Use controlled vocabularies (e.g.,
Prod,Dev,Test). - Limit Scope – Apply tags at the resource group or subscription level when possible to reduce overhead.
- Automate – Apply tags via IaC templates, pipelines, or remediation tasks.
Examples¶
| Key | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Environment | Production | Identify workload environment |
| Application | CRM | Group resources by application |
| Owner | Neil | Assign accountability |
| CostCenter | FIN-001 | Enable chargeback/showback |
| Lifecycle | Temporary | Flag resources for cleanup |
Tools & Integration¶
- Azure Policy – Require, append, or remediate tags.
- Azure Resource Graph – Query resources by tags at scale.
- Billing & Cost Management – Break down costs by tag.
- Automation – Use tags in scripts, alerts, and monitoring rules.