MSDEVBUILD / azure

Azure Portal

Azure portal · dashboard health $ az vm create --name web01 failed… replacing ✓ auto-healed Fixes itself
The Azure portal is your control panel: build, manage and watch everything from one web page.

😟 THE PROBLEM

New users don’t know where to start, and managers want to see status without commands.

😊 THE SOLUTION

Use the Azure portal and custom dashboards.

  • Don’t know command-line tools✓ Point-and-click wizards
  • No overview of health and cost✓ Custom dashboards
  • Sometimes need a quick command✓ Cloud Shell built into the portal
🛠️ Solved with: Azure portal
Try it yourself in the Azure simulator No Azure account needed. Your first resource group 📦 Try it ❯
Module 3: Management & Governance ⏱ 5 min read Updated 11 Nov 2026

Quick answer

The Azure portal is a web-based, unified console at portal.azure.com for building, managing and monitoring everything in Azure, from simple web apps to complex deployments, using a graphical interface. You can create customisable dashboards, set access controls, and open Azure Cloud Shell right from the portal. It is designed to be resilient and is available in every Azure datacenter.

Exam objective: 3.3.1 Describe the Azure portal. (Skills measured as of July 20, 2026)

Start with a question

You’ve never used Azure before. Where do you start?

At portal.azure.com: point, click, create.

Explain it like I’m 10

The technical explanation

The portal provides a graphical way to create resources (through wizards like “Create a resource”), browse resource groups, configure settings, view metrics and logs, manage access, check costs and launch Cloud Shell. Every action goes through Azure Resource Manager, the same as the CLI and PowerShell.

Real-world business scenario

Enterprise

A small accounting firm

The problem
The office manager needed to check VM status and costs without learning command-line tools.
What they used
A custom Azure portal dashboard showing VM status, costs and alerts.
Why that choice
A graphical, at-a-glance view anyone can use.
The result
The manager checks health and spend in seconds each morning.

When to use it and when not to

✓ Use it when…

  • Learning, exploring, quick checks and troubleshooting.
  • Dashboards for monitoring.

✕ Think twice when…

  • Repetitive or production deployments (use scripts or IaC).
Ready for more?The full lesson adds the technical explanation, when to use it, interview questions and revision notes.

Interview preparation

Say your answer out loud first, then open the model answer. Interviewers care more about your reasoning than the exact words.

Beginner What is the Azure portal?

Model answer

The website at portal.azure.com where I can create, manage and monitor Azure resources by clicking, without writing commands.

Intermediate What can you do in the Azure portal?

Model answer

Create and manage resources, organise them, build custom dashboards, view monitoring data and costs, configure access control, and open Cloud Shell for commands.

Experienced developer When should a team stop using the portal for changes?

Model answer

For repeatable or production changes. The portal is great for learning, exploring and troubleshooting, but production deployments should use infrastructure as code through pipelines, so changes are reviewed, consistent and reproducible.

Test yourself with exercises

3 original practice questions in the AZ-900 style. Pick your answers, then check them. You will see why each option is right or wrong. Score 75% or more and this topic is marked complete.

Question 1

Question 1 of 3

Which tool lets you manage Azure through a web-based graphical interface?

Question 2

Question 2 of 3

What can you customise in the Azure portal to show your key resources and metrics?

Question 3

Question 3 of 3

Which shell can you launch directly from the Azure portal?

Quick revision

Key points

  • The portal is a web-based GUI for Azure.
  • Build, manage and monitor resources.
  • Customisable dashboards.
  • Cloud Shell is available from the portal.

Important terminology

Azure portal
The browser-based graphical console for Azure.
Dashboard
A customisable view of tiles showing the resources and metrics you care about.
Blade
A panel in the portal that opens to show a resource or setting.

Common mistakes

  • Thinking the portal is the only way to manage Azure.

Exam tips

  • "Manage Azure through a web browser with a graphical interface" = Azure portal.

Five quick revision questions

  1. 1.What is the address of the Azure portal?Show

    portal.azure.com

  2. 2.Is the portal graphical or command-line?Show

    Graphical (web-based).

  3. 3.What can you customise in the portal?Show

    Dashboards.

  4. 4.Which shell can you open from the portal?Show

    Azure Cloud Shell.

  5. 5.Is the portal good for repeatable production deployments?Show

    Not ideal. Use infrastructure as code for those.

Official references

Make it stick: play a quick gameSort It, Match the Pairs, Lightning Round and Who Am I? Earn XP and badges. Play ❯

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Next up: Cloud Shell, Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell