How to login to Azure with GitHub Actions

The first step is to create an Azure Service Principal account. You'll need the following:

1. An Azure subscription ID (find it here) or follow this guide.
2. A Service Principal with the following details the AppID, password, and tenant information. Create one with:

    az ad sp create-for-rbac --name "CICD" --role contributor --scopes /subscriptions/$AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID --sdk-auth

   Replace "$AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID" with the id from step 1.

Next, in your GitHub repository, add the output from the Service Principal (should be a JSON blob) as an Action Secret. You do this in your repository Settings.

Finally, create a GitHub workflow file by going to the "Actions" tab. Make sure you use the Azure login action:

 - uses: azure/login@v1
   with:
     creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}

The full running example is in the sample GitHub repository which you can use to get started, or use the YouTube video for a detailed walk-through!

Useful resources:

• Sample GitHub repository
• Create an Azure Service Principal  
• Install Azure CLI  
• Free Azure Certification for Students  
• Introduction to GitHub Actions  

All of the steps are also covered in this short video: