Azure Quotas

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

Overview

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) 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.

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`
Azure Portal	My quotas — Use only as fallback
REST API	Unreliable, do NOT use first — can show misleading "No Limit" values
MCP Server	`azure-quota` MCP — NEVER use. It is unreliable. Always use `az quota` CLI instead.
Required Permission	Reader (view) or Quota Request Operator (manage)

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.

Resource Name Mapping

⚠️ CRITICAL: There is NO 1:1 mapping between ARM resource types and quota resource names. Never assume the quota resource name from the ARM type. Always discover it first.

Discovery Workflow

# 1. Install quota extension
az extension add --name quota

# 2. List all quotas for the provider to find the quota resource name
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/<ProviderNamespace>/locations/<region>

# 3. Match by localizedValue (human-readable description)
# 4. Use the name field (not ARM resource type) in subsequent commands
az quota show --resource-name ManagedEnvironmentCount --scope ...

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Check Quota for a Specific Resource

az extension add --name quota

# List all quotas to find the resource name
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

# Show quota limit
az quota show \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

# Show current usage
az quota usage show \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

Workflow 2: Compare Quotas Across Regions

REGIONS=("eastus" "eastus2" "westus2" "centralus")
VM_FAMILY="standardDSv3Family"
SUBSCRIPTION_ID="<subscription-id>"

for region in "${REGIONS[@]}"; do
  LIMIT=$(az quota show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.limit.value" -o tsv)

  USAGE=$(az quota usage show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.usages.value" -o tsv)

  echo "Region: $region | Limit: $LIMIT | Usage: $USAGE | Available: $((LIMIT - USAGE))"
done

Workflow 3: Request Quota Increase

az quota update \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --limit-object value=500 \
  --resource-type dedicated

# Check request status
az quota request status list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

Workflow 4: List All Quotas

# Compute quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --output table

# Network quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/Microsoft.Network/locations/eastus \
  --output table

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
REST API "No Limit"	Misleading — not unlimited	Use CLI instead
`ExtensionNotFound`	Quota extension not installed	`az extension add --name quota`
`BadRequest`	Resource provider not supported	Check service limits docs
`MissingRegistration`	Microsoft.Quota not registered	`az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Quota`
`QuotaExceeded`	Would exceed quota	Request increase or choose different region

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)
❌ Microsoft.DocumentDB (Cosmos DB) — Use Portal instead

Best Practices

Always check quotas before deployment
Run az quota list first to discover correct resource names
Compare regions to find available capacity
Request 20% buffer above immediate needs
Use --output table for quick overview scanning
Set up Portal alerts at 80% threshold

Installation

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

Mirrored from https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills — original author: microsoft, license: MIT. This is an unclaimed mirror. Content and ownership transfer to the author when they claim this account.