Azure Quotas

Name: Azure Quotas
Author: microsoft

335

The Azure Quotas skill provides authoritative guidance for managing and validating resource limits across Azure regions, essential for planning deployments, troubleshooting quota errors, and requesting increases. It emphasizes using Azure CLI (`az quota`) as the primary and most reliable tool for checking quotas, understanding resource name mappings, and comparing regional capacities. This skill is ideal for Azure administrators and developers seeking to ensure resource availability aligns with deployment needs and capacity planning.

npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-quotas

Azure Quotas - Service Limits & Capacity Management

AUTHORITATIVE GUIDANCE — Follow these instructions exactly for quota management and capacity validation.

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

Property Details Primary Tool Azure CLI (az quota) - USE THIS FIRST, ALWAYS Extension Required az extension add --name quota (MUST install first) Key Commands az quota list, az quota show, az quota usage list, az quota usage show Complete CLI Reference commands.md Azure Portal My quotas - Use only as fallback REST API Microsoft.Quota provider - Unreliable, do NOT use first Required Permission Reader (view) or Quota Request Operator (manage)

⚠️ CRITICAL: ALWAYS USE CLI FIRST

Azure CLI (az quota) is the ONLY reliable method for checking quotas. Use CLI FIRST, always.

DO NOT use REST API or Portal as your first approach. They are unreliable and misleading.

Why you must use CLI first:

REST API is unreliable and shows misleading results

REST API "No Limit" or "Unlimited" values DO NOT mean unlimited capacity

"No Limit" typically means the resource doesn't support quota API (not unlimited!)

CLI provides clear BadRequest errors when providers aren't supported

CLI has consistent output format and better error messages

Portal may show incomplete or cached data

Mandatory workflow:

FIRST: Try az quota list / az quota show / az quota usage show

If CLI returns BadRequest: Then use Azure service limits docs

Never start with REST API or Portal - only use as last resort

If you see "No Limit" in REST API/Portal: This is NOT unlimited capacity. It means:

The quota API doesn't support that resource type, OR

The quota isn't enforced via the API, OR

Service-specific limits still apply (check documentation)

For complete CLI command reference and examples, see commands.md.

Quota Types

Type Adjustability Approval Examples Adjustable Can increase via Portal/CLI/API Usually auto-approved VM vCPUs, Public IPs, Storage accounts Non-adjustable Fixed limits Cannot be changed Subscription-wide hard limits 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

ARM Resource Type Quota Resource Name Microsoft.App/managedEnvironments ManagedEnvironmentCount Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines standardDSv3Family, cores, virtualMachines Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses PublicIPAddresses, IPv4StandardSkuPublicIpAddresses

Discovery Workflow

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

List all quotas for the resource provider:

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

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

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 - Understanding Resource Name Mapping

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Check Quota for a Specific Resource

Scenario: Verify quota limit and current usage before deployment

# 1. Install quota extension (if not already installed)
az extension add --name quota
# 2. List all quotas for the provider to find the quota resource name
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus
# 3. Show quota limit for a specific resource
az quota show \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus
# 4. Show current usage
az quota usage show \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

Example Output Analysis:

Quota limit: 350 vCPUs
Current usage: 50 vCPUs
Available capacity: 300 vCPUs (350 - 50)

📖 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: Multi-region comparison scripts (Bash & PowerShell)

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

Error Cause Solution REST API "No Limit" REST API showing misleading "unlimited" values CRITICAL: "No Limit" ≠ unlimited! Use CLI instead. See warning above. Check service limits docs REST API failures REST API unreliable and misleading Always use Azure CLI - See commands.md for complete CLI reference ExtensionNotFound Quota extension not installed az extension add --name quota BadRequest Resource provider not supported by quota API Use CLI (preferred) or service limits docs MissingRegistration Microsoft.Quota provider not registered az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Quota QuotaExceeded Deployment would exceed quota Request increase or choose different region InvalidScope Incorrect scope format Use pattern: /subscriptions/<id>/providers/<namespace>/locations/<region>

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

Resource Link CLI Commands Reference commands.md - Complete syntax, parameters, examples Azure Quotas Overview Microsoft Learn Service Limits Documentation Azure subscription limits Azure Portal - My Quotas Portal Link Request Quota Increases How to request increases

Best Practices

✅ Always check quotas before deployment - Prevent quota exceeded errors
✅ Run az quota list first - Discover correct quota resource names
✅ Compare regions - Find regions with available capacity
✅ Account for growth - Request 20% buffer above immediate needs
✅ Use table output for overview - --output table for quick scanning
✅ Document quota sources - Track whether from quota API or official docs
✅ Monitor usage trends - Set up alerts at 80% threshold (via Portal)

Workflow Summary

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Install quota extension             │
│     az extension add --name quota       │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  2. Discover quota resource names       │
│     az quota list --scope ...           │
│     (Match by localizedValue)           │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  3. Check current usage                 │
│     az quota usage show                 │
│     --resource-name <name>              │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  4. Check quota limit                   │
│     az quota show                       │
│     --resource-name <name>              │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  5. Validate capacity                   │
│     Available = Limit - (Usage + Need)  │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
         ┌────────┴────────┐
         │                 │
    ✅ Sufficient     ❌ Insufficient
         │                 │
         ▼                 ▼
    Proceed          Request increase
                     or change region

GitHub Owner

Owner: microsoft

GitHub Links

Website: https://opensource.microsoft.com
Email: opensource@microsoft.com
Verified domains: microsoft, opensource.microsoft.com, microsoft.com

Files

Azure Quotas - Service Limits & Capacity Management

Overview

When to Use This Skill

Quick Reference

Quota Types

Understanding Resource Name Mapping

Example Mappings

Discovery Workflow

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Check Quota for a Specific Resource

Workflow 2: Compare Quotas Across Regions

Workflow 3: Request Quota Increase

Workflow 4: List All Quotas for Planning

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

Unsupported Resource Providers

Additional Resources

Best Practices

Workflow Summary

GitHub Owner

GitHub Links

Files

commands.md

commands.md

commands.md - Understanding Resource Name Mapping

az quota show

az quota usage show

Multi-region comparison scripts

az quota update

az quota request status

az quota list

commands.md

Troubleshooting Guide

commands.md

More skills

`commands.md`

`commands.md`

`commands.md - Understanding Resource Name Mapping`

`az quota show`

`az quota usage show`

`Multi-region comparison scripts`

`az quota update`

`az quota request status`

`az quota list`

`commands.md`

`Troubleshooting Guide`

`commands.md`