Azure ARM Template with VM and subnet - azure

Question

I have a resource group called network-rg containing a virtual network. I am trying to deploy a Virual Machine in a new resource group vm-rg. The VM should be connected to a new subnet on the vnet in network-rg. I am using one single ARM template with both the subnet and the VM and deploying to vm-rg. How do I specify the subnet in the ARM template when its vnet is in another resource group than the primary/default group for the deployment?
I would need to explicitly reference the vnet with the resource group. This would be similar to how a Network Interface deploy is referencing the subnet ID in its ipConfigurations properties list:
"apiVersion": "2015-05-01-preview",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
"name": "[parameters('nicName')]",
"location": "[parameters('location')]",
"properties": {
"ipConfigurations": [{
"name": "ipconfig1",
"properties": {
"subnet": {
"id": "[variables('subnet1Ref')]"
}
}
}]
}

Answer 1

It seems you cannot create a subnet in another resource group in one template when you create a new resource group with resources. There no property for you to refer to the Vnet in another group.
If you really want to create a new subnet in another group in one template, you could take a look at linked and nested template. Hope this will help you.

Answer 2

You will need to add a variables (Resource in the template that references the parameter file) example below:
In the main.JSON file:
{
"name": "[parameters('networkInterfaceName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
"apiVersion": "2018-04-01",
"location": "[parameters('location')]",
"dependsOn": [
"[concat('Microsoft.Network/publicIpAddresses/', parameters('publicIpAddressName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"ipConfigurations": [
{
"name": "ipconfig1",
"properties": {
"subnet": {
"id": "[variables('subnetRef')]"
},
"privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic",
"publicIpAddress": {
"id": "[resourceId(parameters('resourceGroupName'),'Microsoft.Network/publicIpAddresses', parameters('publicIpAddressName'))]"
}
}
}
],
"enableAcceleratedNetworking": true,
"networkSecurityGroup": {
"id": "[resourceId(parameters('nsgResourceGroupName'), 'Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', parameters('networkSecurityGroupName'))]"
}
}
}
Add the following variables in main.JSON:
{
"name": "[parameters('networkInterfaceName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
"apiVersion": "2018-04-01",
"location": "[parameters('location')]",
"dependsOn": [
"[concat('Microsoft.Network/publicIpAddresses/', parameters('publicIpAddressName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"ipConfigurations": [
{
"name": "ipconfig1",
"properties": {
"subnet": {
"id": "[variables('subnetRef')]"
},
"privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic",
}
}
],
}
}
Then add the following parameters in the main.JSON file:
"parameters": {
"virtualNetworkName": {
"type": "string"
},
"subnetName": {
"type": "string"
},
In the main.parameters.json add the variable information:
"virtualNetworkName": {
"value": "<vnet name>"
},
"resourceGroupName": {
"value": "<whatever the rg is for the Network>"
},
"subnetName": {
"value": "<subnet name>"
},
Hope that helps.