Azure tags

A tag is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tag) as the following:

"a label attached to someone or something for the purpose of identification or to give other information."

Azure allows the tagging of resource groups and resources with name-value pairs. Tagging helps in the logical organization and categorization of resources. Azure also allows the tagging of 15 name-value pairs for a resource group and its resources. Although a resource group is a container for resources, tagging a resource group does not mean the tagging of its constituent resources. Resource groups and resources should be tagged based on their usage, which will be explained later in this section. Tags work at a subscription level. Azure accepts any name-value pairs, and so it is important for an organization to define both the names and their possible values.

But why is tagging important? In other words, what problems can be solved using tagging? Tagging has the following benefits:

Tags in Azure do have certain limitations, however:

Tags can be assigned to resources and resource groups using PowerShell, Azure CLI 2.0, Azure Resource Manager templates, the Azure portal, and the Azure Resource Manager REST APIs.

An example of information management categorization using Azure tags is shown here. In this example, the Department, Project, Environment, Owner, Approver, Maintainer, Start Date, Retire Date, and Patched Date name-value pairs are used to tag resources. It is extremely easy to find all the resources for a particular tag or a combination of tags using PowerShell, the Azure CLI, or REST APIs: