The template reference 'not valid error in arm template - azure

Question

I am deploying resource group using arm templates
Below is the command and error I am getting
az deployment create --name test-deployment --template-file azuredeploy.json --parameters azuredeploy.parameters.json -l westus2
This command has been deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Use 'deployment sub create' instead.
{'additionalProperties': {}, 'code': 'InvalidTemplate', 'message': "Deployment template validation failed: 'The template reference 'DEV-AI-POC-WESTUS2-RG' is not valid: could not find template resource or resource copy with this name. Please see https://aka.ms/arm-template-expressions/#reference for usage details.'.", 'target': None, 'details': None, 'additionalInfo': [{'additionalProperties': {}, 'type': 'TemplateViolation', 'info': {'lineNumber': 0, 'linePosition': 0, 'path': ''}}]}
azuredeploy.json:
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2018-05-01/subscriptionDeploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"enviroment": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "poc"
},
"location": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "West US"
},
"depattmentName": {
"type": "string"
},
"project": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"variables": {
"rgName": "[concat(toupper(parameters('depattmentName')), '-', toupper(parameters('project')), '-', toupper(parameters('enviroment')), '-', toupper(replace(parameters('location'), ' ', '')), '-', 'RG')]",
"rgDeploymentName": "[concat(deployment().name, '-rg')]",
"_artifactsLocation": "https://xxxxxxx/xxxxxx"
},
"resources": [
{
"name": "[variables('rgDeploymentName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Resources/deployments",
"apiVersion": "2018-05-01",
"ResourceGroup": "[variables('rgName')]",
"properties": {
"mode": "Incremental",
"templateLink": {
"uri": "[concat(variables('_artifactsLocation'),'/src/arm/templates/resourcegroup.json')]",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0"
},
"parameters": {
"rgName": {
"value": "[variables('rgName')]"
},
"rgLocation": {
"value": "[parameters('location')]"
}
}
}
}
],
"outputs": {
"resourceGroups": {
"type": "object",
"value": "[reference(variables('rgName'))]"
}
}
}
azuredeploy.parameters.json:
{
"$schema": "http://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentParameters.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"location": {
"value": "westus2"
},
"depattmentName": {
"value": "Dev"
},
"project": {
"value": "AI"
},
"enviroment": {
"value": "poc"
}
}
}
resourcegroup.json(calling template)
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"storageAccountName": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"variables": {
"storageAccountType": "Standard_LRS"
},
"resources": [
{
"type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
"name": "[parameters('storageAccountName')]",
"apiVersion": "2018-02-01",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"sku": {
"name": "[variables('storageAccountType')]"
},
"kind": "Storage"
}
],
"outputs": {
"storageDetails": {
"type": "string",
"value": "[concat(parameters('storageAccountName'), '-', variables('storageAccountType'))]"
}
}
}
Can anyone please help me to fix,
I have to deploy/crease resource group if not exist in azure portal using arm template. arm template should be called through uri in blob storage.

Answer 1

what it tells you is that your output is not valid, you dont have a resource or resource copy with that name, because you are attempting to create a deployment (not a resource group) in another resource group, so the reference function doesnt know about that and hence fails.
So you need to first create the resource group and then create a deployment to that group