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

⚠️ ALWAYS USE CLI FIRST

REST API and Portal can show misleading "No Limit" values — this does not mean unlimited capacity. It means the quota API doesn't support that resource type. Always start with az quota commands; fall back to Azure service limits docs if CLI returns BadRequest.

For complete CLI reference, see commands.md.

Quota Types

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

Discovery Workflow

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

1. List all quotas for the resource provider:

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

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

3. 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 - 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: commands.md for full scripted multi-region loop patterns

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

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

Best Practices

1. ✅ Always check quotas before deployment - Prevent quota exceeded errors
2. ✅ Run az quota list first - Discover correct quota resource names
3. ✅ Compare regions - Find regions with available capacity
4. ✅ Account for growth - Request 20% buffer above immediate needs
5. ✅ Use table output for overview - --output table for quick scanning
6. ✅ Monitor usage trends - Set up alerts at 80% threshold (via Portal)