Azure Deployment Stacks - 2025 GA Features

Complete knowledge base for Azure Deployment Stacks, the successor to Azure Blueprints (GA 2024, best practices 2025).

Overview

Azure Deployment Stacks is a resource type for managing a collection of Azure resources as a single, atomic unit. It provides unified lifecycle management, resource protection, and automatic cleanup capabilities.

Key Features

1. Unified Resource Management

Manage multiple resources as a single entity
Update, export, and delete operations on the entire stack
Track all managed resources in one place
Consistent deployment across environments

2. Deny Settings (Resource Protection)

Prevent unauthorized modifications to managed resources:

None: No restrictions (default)
DenyDelete: Prevent resource deletion
DenyWriteAndDelete: Prevent updates and deletions

3. ActionOnUnmanage (Cleanup Policies)

Control what happens to resources no longer in template:

detachAll: Remove from stack management, keep resources
deleteAll: Delete resources not in template
deleteResources: Delete unmanaged resources, keep resource groups

4. Scope Flexibility

Deploy stacks at:

Resource group scope
Subscription scope
Management group scope

5. Replaces Azure Blueprints

Azure Blueprints will be deprecated in July 2026. Deployment Stacks is the recommended replacement.

Prerequisites

Azure CLI Version

# Requires Azure CLI 2.61.0 or later
az version

# Upgrade if needed
az upgrade

Azure PowerShell Version

# Requires Azure PowerShell 12.0.0 or later
Get-InstalledModule -Name Az
Update-Module -Name Az

Creating Deployment Stacks

Subscription Scope Stack

# Create deployment stack at subscription level
az stack sub create \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --parameters @parameters.json \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals <devops-service-principal-id> <admin-group-id> \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll \
  --description "Production infrastructure managed by deployment stack" \
  --tags Environment=Production ManagedBy=DeploymentStack CostCenter=Engineering

# What-if analysis before deployment
az stack sub what-if \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --parameters @parameters.json

# Create with confirmation prompt disabled
az stack sub create \
  --name MyDevStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --deny-settings-mode None \
  --action-on-unmanage detachAll \
  --yes

Resource Group Scope Stack

# Create resource group
az group create \
  --name MyRG \
  --location eastus \
  --tags Environment=Production

# Create deployment stack
az stack group create \
  --name MyAppStack \
  --resource-group MyRG \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --parameters environment=production \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyDelete \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll \
  --description "Application infrastructure stack"

Management Group Scope Stack

# Create stack at management group level
az stack mg create \
  --name MyEnterpriseStack \
  --management-group-id MyMgmtGroup \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --action-on-unmanage detachAll

Bicep Template for Deployment Stack

Production Stack Template

// main.bicep
targetScope = 'subscription'

@description('Environment name')
@allowed([
  'dev'
  'staging'
  'production'
])
param environment string = 'production'

@description('Primary location')
param location string = 'eastus'

@description('Secondary location for geo-replication')
param secondaryLocation string = 'westus'

// Resource naming
var namingPrefix = 'myapp-${environment}'

// Resource Group for core infrastructure
resource coreRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2024-03-01' = {
  name: '${namingPrefix}-core-rg'
  location: location
  tags: {
    Environment: environment
    ManagedBy: 'DeploymentStack'
    Purpose: 'Core Infrastructure'
  }
}

// Resource Group for data services
resource dataRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2024-03-01' = {
  name: '${namingPrefix}-data-rg'
  location: location
  tags: {
    Environment: environment
    ManagedBy: 'DeploymentStack'
    Purpose: 'Data Services'
  }
}

// Log Analytics Workspace
module logAnalytics 'modules/log-analytics.bicep' = {
  name: 'logAnalyticsDeploy'
  scope: coreRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-logs'
    location: location
    retentionInDays: environment == 'production' ? 90 : 30
  }
}

// AKS Automatic Cluster
module aksCluster 'modules/aks-automatic.bicep' = {
  name: 'aksClusterDeploy'
  scope: coreRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-aks'
    location: location
    kubernetesVersion: '1.34'
    workspaceId: logAnalytics.outputs.workspaceId
    enableZoneRedundancy: environment == 'production'
  }
}

// Container Apps Environment
module containerEnv 'modules/container-env.bicep' = {
  name: 'containerEnvDeploy'
  scope: coreRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-containerenv'
    location: location
    workspaceId: logAnalytics.outputs.workspaceId
    zoneRedundant: environment == 'production'
  }
}

// Azure OpenAI
module openAI 'modules/openai.bicep' = {
  name: 'openAIDeploy'
  scope: dataRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-openai'
    location: location
    deployGPT5: environment == 'production'
  }
}

// Cosmos DB with geo-replication
module cosmosDB 'modules/cosmos-db.bicep' = {
  name: 'cosmosDBDeploy'
  scope: dataRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-cosmos'
    primaryLocation: location
    secondaryLocation: secondaryLocation
    enableAutomaticFailover: environment == 'production'
  }
}

// Key Vault
module keyVault 'modules/key-vault.bicep' = {
  name: 'keyVaultDeploy'
  scope: coreRG
  params: {
    name: '${namingPrefix}-kv'
    location: location
    enablePurgeProtection: environment == 'production'
  }
}

// Outputs
output aksClusterName string = aksCluster.outputs.clusterName
output containerEnvId string = containerEnv.outputs.environmentId
output openAIEndpoint string = openAI.outputs.endpoint
output cosmosDBEndpoint string = cosmosDB.outputs.endpoint
output keyVaultUri string = keyVault.outputs.vaultUri

AKS Automatic Module

// modules/aks-automatic.bicep
@description('Cluster name')
param name string

@description('Location')
param location string

@description('Kubernetes version')
param kubernetesVersion string = '1.34'

@description('Log Analytics workspace ID')
param workspaceId string

@description('Enable zone redundancy')
param enableZoneRedundancy bool = true

resource aksCluster 'Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters@2025-01-01' = {
  name: name
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: 'Automatic'
    tier: 'Standard'
  }
  identity: {
    type: 'SystemAssigned'
  }
  properties: {
    kubernetesVersion: kubernetesVersion
    dnsPrefix: '${name}-dns'
    enableRBAC: true
    aadProfile: {
      managed: true
      enableAzureRBAC: true
    }
    networkProfile: {
      networkPlugin: 'azure'
      networkPluginMode: 'overlay'
      networkDataplane: 'cilium'
      serviceCidr: '10.0.0.0/16'
      dnsServiceIP: '10.0.0.10'
    }
    autoScalerProfile: {
      'balance-similar-node-groups': 'true'
      expander: 'least-waste'
    }
    autoUpgradeProfile: {
      upgradeChannel: 'stable'
      nodeOSUpgradeChannel: 'NodeImage'
    }
    securityProfile: {
      defender: {
        securityMonitoring: {
          enabled: true
        }
      }
      workloadIdentity: {
        enabled: true
      }
    }
    oidcIssuerProfile: {
      enabled: true
    }
    addonProfiles: {
      omsagent: {
        enabled: true
        config: {
          logAnalyticsWorkspaceResourceID: workspaceId
        }
      }
      azurePolicy: {
        enabled: true
      }
    }
  }
  zones: enableZoneRedundancy ? ['1', '2', '3'] : null
}

output clusterName string = aksCluster.name
output clusterId string = aksCluster.id
output oidcIssuerUrl string = aksCluster.properties.oidcIssuerProfile.issuerUrl
output kubeletIdentity string = aksCluster.properties.identityProfile.kubeletidentity.objectId

Managing Deployment Stacks

Update Stack

# Update with new template version
az stack sub update \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --parameters @parameters.json \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll

# Update deny settings
az stack sub update \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals <new-principal-id>

View Stack Details

# Show stack information
az stack sub show \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --output json

# List all stacks in subscription
az stack sub list --output table

# List stacks in resource group
az stack group list \
  --resource-group MyRG \
  --output table

Export Stack Template

# Export template from deployed stack
az stack sub export \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --output-file exported-stack.json

# Export and save parameters
az stack sub show \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --query "parameters" \
  --output json > parameters-backup.json

Delete Stack

# Delete stack and all managed resources
az stack sub delete \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll \
  --yes

# Delete stack but keep resources
az stack sub delete \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --action-on-unmanage detachAll \
  --yes

# Delete with confirmation prompt
az stack sub delete --name MyProductionStack

Deny Settings in Detail

DenyDelete Mode

Prevents deletion but allows updates:

az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyDelete \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals \
    <emergency-access-principal-id> \
    <devops-service-principal-id>

Use cases:

Protect production databases
Prevent accidental resource deletion
Allow configuration updates

DenyWriteAndDelete Mode

Prevents both updates and deletions:

az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals <break-glass-principal-id>

Use cases:

Immutable infrastructure
Compliance requirements
Critical production workloads

Excluded Principals

Bypass deny settings for specific identities:

# Get principal IDs
SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_ID=$(az ad sp show --id <app-id> --query id -o tsv)
ADMIN_GROUP_ID=$(az ad group show --group "Cloud Admins" --query id -o tsv)

# Apply with exclusions
az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals $SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_ID $ADMIN_GROUP_ID

ActionOnUnmanage Policies

detachAll

Resources are removed from stack management but not deleted:

az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --action-on-unmanage detachAll

Use when:

Testing deployment changes
Migrating resources to another stack
Temporary stack management

deleteAll

All unmanaged resources are deleted:

az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll

Use when:

Ephemeral environments (dev, test)
Clean slate deployments
Strict infrastructure-as-code enforcement

deleteResources

Delete resources but keep resource groups:

az stack sub create \
  --name MyStack \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteResources

RBAC for Deployment Stacks

Built-in Roles

Azure Deployment Stack Contributor

Manage deployment stacks
Cannot create or delete deny-assignments

Azure Deployment Stack Owner

Full stack management
Can create and delete deny-assignments

Assign Roles

# Assign Stack Contributor role
az role assignment create \
  --assignee <user-or-service-principal-id> \
  --role "Azure Deployment Stack Contributor" \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>

# Assign Stack Owner role
az role assignment create \
  --assignee <admin-principal-id> \
  --role "Azure Deployment Stack Owner" \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Deploy Deployment Stack

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Azure Login
        uses: azure/login@v2
        with:
          client-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
          tenant-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
          subscription-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}

      - name: What-if Analysis
        run: |
          az stack sub what-if \
            --name MyProductionStack \
            --location eastus \
            --template-file main.bicep \
            --parameters @parameters.json

      - name: Deploy Stack
        run: |
          az stack sub create \
            --name MyProductionStack \
            --location eastus \
            --template-file main.bicep \
            --parameters @parameters.json \
            --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
            --deny-settings-excluded-principals ${{ secrets.DEVOPS_PRINCIPAL_ID }} \
            --action-on-unmanage deleteAll \
            --yes

Azure DevOps Pipeline

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

variables:
  azureSubscription: 'MyAzureConnection'
  stackName: 'MyProductionStack'
  location: 'eastus'

steps:
  - task: AzureCLI@2
    displayName: 'What-if Analysis'
    inputs:
      azureSubscription: $(azureSubscription)
      scriptType: 'bash'
      scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
      inlineScript: |
        az stack sub what-if \
          --name $(stackName) \
          --location $(location) \
          --template-file main.bicep \
          --parameters @parameters.json

  - task: AzureCLI@2
    displayName: 'Deploy Stack'
    inputs:
      azureSubscription: $(azureSubscription)
      scriptType: 'bash'
      scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
      inlineScript: |
        az stack sub create \
          --name $(stackName) \
          --location $(location) \
          --template-file main.bicep \
          --parameters @parameters.json \
          --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
          --action-on-unmanage deleteAll \
          --yes

Monitoring and Auditing

View Stack Events

# Get deployment operations
az stack sub show \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --query "deploymentId" \
  --output tsv | \
  xargs -I {} az deployment sub show --name {}

# List managed resources
az stack sub show \
  --name MyProductionStack \
  --query "resources[].id" \
  --output table

Activity Logs

# Query stack operations
az monitor activity-log list \
  --resource-group MyRG \
  --namespace Microsoft.Resources \
  --start-time 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z \
  --query "[?contains(authorization.action, 'Microsoft.Resources/deploymentStacks')]" \
  --output table

Migration from Azure Blueprints

Assessment

Inventory Blueprints: List all blueprints and assignments
Document Parameters: Export parameters and configurations
Plan Conversion: Map blueprints to deployment stacks
Test in Dev: Validate converted templates

Conversion Steps

# 1. Export Blueprint as ARM template
# (Use Azure Portal or PowerShell)

# 2. Convert ARM to Bicep
az bicep decompile --file blueprint-template.json

# 3. Create Deployment Stack
az stack sub create \
  --name ConvertedFromBlueprint \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file converted.bicep \
  --parameters @blueprint-parameters.json \
  --deny-settings-mode DenyWriteAndDelete \
  --action-on-unmanage detachAll

# 4. Validate resources
az stack sub show --name ConvertedFromBlueprint

# 5. Delete Blueprint assignment (after validation)
# Remove-AzBlueprintAssignment -Name MyBlueprintAssignment

Best Practices

✓ Use Deployment Stacks for all new infrastructure ✓ Always run what-if analysis before deployment ✓ Use DenyWriteAndDelete for production stacks ✓ Exclude break-glass principals from deny settings ✓ Tag stacks with Environment, CostCenter, Owner ✓ Use deleteAll for ephemeral environments ✓ Use detachAll for migration scenarios ✓ Implement CI/CD pipelines for stack deployment ✓ Monitor stack operations via activity logs ✓ Document stack architecture and dependencies

Troubleshooting

Stack Creation Fails

# Check deployment errors
az stack sub show \
  --name MyStack \
  --query "error" \
  --output json

# Validate template
az deployment sub validate \
  --location eastus \
  --template-file main.bicep \
  --parameters @parameters.json

Deny Settings Blocking Operations

# Check deny assignments
az role assignment list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id> \
  --include-inherited \
  --query "[?type=='Microsoft.Authorization/denyAssignments']"

# Add principal to exclusions
az stack sub update \
  --name MyStack \
  --deny-settings-excluded-principals <new-principal-id>

Resources Not Deleted

# Check action-on-unmanage setting
az stack sub show \
  --name MyStack \
  --query "actionOnUnmanage" \
  --output tsv

# Update to deleteAll
az stack sub update \
  --name MyStack \
  --action-on-unmanage deleteAll

References

Deployment Stacks represents the future of Azure infrastructure lifecycle management!

deployment-stacks-2025