azure-quotas

Azure Quotas - Service Limits & Capacity Management

Overview

What are Azure Quotas?

Azure quotas (also called service limits) are the maximum number of resources you can deploy in a subscription. Quotas:

• Prevent accidental over-provisioning
• Ensure fair resource distribution across Azure
• Represent available capacity in each region
• Can be increased (adjustable quotas) or are fixed (non-adjustable)

Key Concept: Quotas = Resource Availability

If you don't have quota, you cannot deploy resources. Always check quotas when planning deployments or selecting regions.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• Planning a new deployment - Validate capacity before deployment
• Selecting an Azure region - Compare quota availability across regions
• Troubleshooting quota exceeded errors - Check current usage vs limits
• Requesting quota increases - Submit increase requests via CLI or Portal
• Comparing regional capacity - Find regions with available quota
• Validating provisioning limits - Ensure deployment won't exceed quotas

Quick Reference

⚠️ ALWAYS USE CLI FIRST REST API and Portal can show misleading "No Limit" values — this does not mean unlimited capacity. It means the quota API doesn't support that resource type. Always start with az quota commands; fall back to Azure service limits docs if CLI returns BadRequest. For complete CLI reference, see commands.md.

Quota Types

Important: Requesting quota increases is free. You only pay for resources you actually use, not for quota allocation.

Understanding Resource Name Mapping

⚠️ CRITICAL: There is NO 1:1 mapping between ARM resource types and quota resource names.

Example Mappings

Discovery Workflow

Never assume the quota resource name from the ARM type. Always use this workflow:

1. List all quotas for the resource provider:

   az quota list --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/<ProviderNamespace>/locations/<region>

2. Match by localizedValue (human-readable description) to find the relevant quota

3. Use the name field (not ARM resource type) in subsequent commands:

   az quota show --resource-name ManagedEnvironmentCount --scope ...
   az quota usage show --resource-name ManagedEnvironmentCount --scope ...

📖 Detailed mapping examples and workflow: See commands.md - Resource Name Mapping

Scripts

Pre-built scripts handle usage queries and capacity calculation. A single call returns limits, usage, and available capacity.

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Check Quota for a Specific Resource

Scenario: Verify quota limits and current usage before deployment

Run the script with the resource provider and region. It returns a table of all quotas with their limit, current usage, and available capacity in a single call:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider <provider> -Region <region>

./scripts/check-quota.sh <provider> <region>

To check a single resource, add the resource name:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider <provider> -Region <region> -ResourceName <resource-name>

./scripts/check-quota.sh <provider> <region> <resource-name>

Example:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider Microsoft.Compute -Region eastus

Example Output:

📖 See also: az quota show, az quota usage show

Workflow 2: Compare Quotas Across Regions

Scenario: Find the best region for deployment based on available capacity

# Define candidate regions
REGIONS=("eastus" "eastus2" "westus2" "centralus")
VM_FAMILY="standardDSv3Family"
SUBSCRIPTION_ID="<subscription-id>"

# Check quota availability across regions
for region in "${REGIONS[@]}"; do
  echo "=== Checking $region ==="
  
  # Get limit
  LIMIT=$(az quota show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.limit.value" -o tsv)
  
  # Get current usage
  USAGE=$(az quota usage show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.usages.value" -o tsv)
  
  # Calculate available
  AVAILABLE=$((LIMIT - USAGE))
  
  echo "Region: $region | Limit: $LIMIT | Usage: $USAGE | Available: $AVAILABLE"
done

📖 See also: commands.md for full scripted multi-region loop patterns

Workflow 3: Request Quota Increase

Scenario: Current quota is insufficient for deployment

# Request increase for VM quota
az quota update \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --limit-object value=500 \
  --resource-type dedicated

# Check request status
az quota request status list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

Approval Process:

• Most adjustable quotas are auto-approved within minutes
• Some requests require manual review (hours to days)
• Non-adjustable quotas require Azure Support ticket

📖 See also: az quota update, az quota request status

Workflow 4: List All Quotas for Planning

Scenario: Understand all quotas for a resource provider in a region

# List all compute quotas in East US (table format)
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --output table

# List all network quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Network/locations/eastus \
  --output table

# List all Container Apps quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.App/locations/eastus \
  --output table

📖 See also: az quota list

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

Unsupported Resource Providers

Known unsupported providers:

• ❌ Microsoft.DocumentDB (Cosmos DB) - Use Portal or Cosmos DB limits docs

Confirmed working providers:

• ✅ Microsoft.Compute (VMs, disks, cores)
• ✅ Microsoft.Network (VNets, IPs, load balancers)
• ✅ Microsoft.App (Container Apps)
• ✅ Microsoft.Storage (storage accounts)
• ✅ Microsoft.MachineLearningServices (ML compute)

📖 See also: Troubleshooting Guide

Additional Resources

Best Practices

1. ✅ Always check quotas before deployment - Prevent quota exceeded errors
2. ✅ Run az quota list first - Discover correct quota resource names
3. ✅ Compare regions - Find regions with available capacity
4. ✅ Account for growth
5. ✅ Use table output for overview - --output table for quick scanning
6. ✅ Monitor usage trends - Set up alerts at 80% threshold (via Portal)