Programmatically create Azure subscriptions for a Microsoft Customer Agreement with the latest APIs

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This article helps you programmatically create Azure subscriptions for a Microsoft Customer Agreement using the most recent API versions. If you're still using the older preview version, see Programmatically create Azure subscriptions with legacy APIs.

In this article, you learn how to create subscriptions programmatically using Azure Resource Manager.

If you need to create an Azure MCA subscription across Microsoft Entra tenants, see Programmatically create MCA subscriptions across Microsoft Entra tenants.

When you create an Azure subscription programmatically, that subscription is governed by the agreement under which you obtained Azure services from Microsoft or an authorized reseller. For more information, see Azure Legal Information.

Note

We recommend that you use the Azure Az PowerShell module to interact with Azure. See Install Azure PowerShell to get started. To learn how to migrate to the Az PowerShell module, see Migrate Azure PowerShell from AzureRM to Az.

You can't create support plans programmatically. You can buy a new support plan or upgrade one in the Azure portal. Navigate to Help + support and then at the top of the page, select Choose the right support plan.

Prerequisites

You must have an owner, contributor, or Azure subscription creator role on an invoice section or owner or contributor role on a billing profile or a billing account to create subscriptions. You can also give the same role to a service principal name (SPN). For more information about roles and assigning permission to them, see Subscription billing roles and tasks.

If you're using an SPN to create subscriptions, use the ObjectId of the Microsoft Entra Enterprise application as the Principal ID using Microsoft Graph PowerShell or Azure CLI.

Note

Permissions differ between the legacy API (api-version=2018-03-01-preview) and the latest API (api-version=2020-05-01). Although you may have a role sufficient to use the legacy API, you might need an EA admin to delegate you a role to use the latest API.

If you don't know whether you have access to a Microsoft Customer Agreement account, see Check access to a Microsoft Customer Agreement.

Find billing accounts that you have access to

Make the following request to list all the billing accounts.

GET https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingaccounts/?api-version=2020-05-01

The API response lists the billing accounts that you have access to.

{
  "value": [
    {
      "id": "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx",
      "name": "5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx",
      "properties": {
        "accountStatus": "Active",
        "accountType": "Enterprise",
        "agreementType": "MicrosoftCustomerAgreement",
        "billingProfiles": {
          "hasMoreResults": false
        },
        "displayName": "Contoso",
        "hasReadAccess": false
      },
      "type": "Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts"
    }
  ]
}

Use the displayName property to identify the billing account for which you want to create subscriptions. Ensure, the agreementType of the account is MicrosoftCustomerAgreement. Copy the name of the account. For example, to create a subscription for the Contoso billing account, copy 5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx. Paste the value somewhere so that you can use it in the next step.

Find billing profiles & invoice sections to create subscriptions

The charges for your subscription appear on a section of a billing profile's invoice. Use the following API to get the list of billing profiles and invoice sections on which you have permission to create Azure subscriptions.

First you get the list of billing profiles under the billing account that you have access to (Use the name that you got from the previous step)

GET https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingaccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingprofiles/?api-version=2020-05-01

The API response lists all the billing profiles on which you have access to create subscriptions:

{
  "value": [
    {
      "id": "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
      "name": "AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
      "properties": {
        "billingRelationshipType": "Direct",
        "billTo": {
          "addressLine1": "One Microsoft Way",
          "city": "Redmond",
          "companyName": "Contoso",
          "country": "US",
          "email": "kenny@contoso.com",
          "phoneNumber": "425xxxxxxx",
          "postalCode": "98052",
          "region": "WA"
        },
        "currency": "USD",
        "displayName": "Contoso Billing Profile",
        "enabledAzurePlans": [
          {
            "skuId": "0002",
            "skuDescription": "Azure Plan for DevTest"
          },
          {
            "skuId": "0001",
            "skuDescription": "Azure Plan"
          }
        ],
        "hasReadAccess": true,
        "invoiceDay": 5,
        "invoiceEmailOptIn": false,
        "invoiceSections": {
          "hasMoreResults": false
        },
        "poNumber": "001",
        "spendingLimit": "Off",
        "status": "Active",
        "systemId": "AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
        "targetClouds": []
      },
      "type": "Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/billingProfiles"
    }
  ]
}

Copy the id to next identify the invoice sections underneath the billing profile. For example, copy /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx and call the following API.

GET https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoicesections?api-version=2020-05-01

Response

{
  "totalCount": 1,
  "value": [
    {
      "id": "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoiceSections/SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
      "name": "SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
      "properties": {
        "displayName": "Development",
        "state": "Active",
        "systemId": "SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx"
      },
      "type": "Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/billingProfiles/invoiceSections"
    }
  ]
}

Use the id property to identify the invoice section for which you want to create subscriptions. Copy the entire string. For example, /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoiceSections/SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx.

Create a subscription for an invoice section

The following example creates a subscription named Dev Team subscription for the Development invoice section. The subscription is billed to the Contoso Billing Profile billing profile and appears on the Development section of its invoice. You use the copied billing scope from the previous step: /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoiceSections/SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx.

Replace the placeholder value sampleAlias as needed. For more information on these REST calls, see Create and Get.

PUT https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Subscription/aliases/{{guid}}?api-version=2021-10-01api-version=2021-10-01

Request body

{
  "properties":
    {
        "billingScope": "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoiceSections/SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx",
        "DisplayName": "Dev Team subscription",
        "Workload": "Production"
    }
}

Response

{
  "id": "/providers/Microsoft.Subscription/aliases/sampleAlias",
  "name": "sampleAlias",
  "type": "Microsoft.Subscription/aliases",
  "properties": {
    "subscriptionId": "aaaa0a0a-bb1b-cc2c-dd3d-eeeeee4e4e4e",
    "provisioningState": "Accepted"
  }
}

You can do a GET on the same URL to get the status of the request.

Request

GET https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Subscription/aliases/{{guid}}?api-version=2021-10-01

Response

{
  "id": "/providers/Microsoft.Subscription/aliases/sampleAlias",
  "name": "sampleAlias",
  "type": "Microsoft.Subscription/aliases",
  "properties": {
    "subscriptionId": "aaaa0a0a-bb1b-cc2c-dd3d-eeeeee4e4e4e",
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  }
}

An in-progress status is returned as an Accepted state under provisioningState.

Use ARM template or Bicep

The previous section showed how to create a subscription with PowerShell, CLI, or REST API. If you need to automate creating subscriptions, consider using an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template) or Bicep file.

The following template creates a subscription. For billingScope, provide the invoice section ID. The subscription is created in the root management group. After creating the subscription, you can move it to another management group.

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-08-01/managementGroupDeploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "subscriptionAliasName": {
            "type": "string",
            "metadata": {
                "description": "Provide a name for the alias. This name will also be the display name of the subscription."
            }
        },
        "billingScope": {
            "type": "string",
            "metadata": {
                "description": "Provide the full resource ID of billing scope to use for subscription creation."
            }
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "scope": "/",
            "name": "[parameters('subscriptionAliasName')]",
            "type": "Microsoft.Subscription/aliases",
            "apiVersion": "2021-10-01",
            "properties": {
                "workLoad": "Production",
                "displayName": "[parameters('subscriptionAliasName')]",
                "billingScope": "[parameters('billingScope')]"
            }
        }
    ],
    "outputs": {}
}

Or, use a Bicep file to create the subscription.

targetScope = 'managementGroup'

@description('Provide a name for the alias. This name will also be the display name of the subscription.')
param subscriptionAliasName string

@description('Provide the full resource ID of billing scope to use for subscription creation.')
param billingScope string

resource subscriptionAlias 'Microsoft.Subscription/aliases@2021-10-01' = {
  scope: tenant()
  name: subscriptionAliasName
  properties: {
    workload: 'Production'
    displayName: subscriptionAliasName
    billingScope: billingScope
  }
}

Deploy the template at the management group level. The following examples show deploying the JSON ARM template, but you can deploy a Bicep file instead.

PUT https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/mg1/providers/Microsoft.Resources/deployments/exampledeployment?api-version=2020-06-01

With a request body:

{
  "location": "chinanorth3",
  "properties": {
    "templateLink": {
      "uri": "http://mystorageaccount.blob.core.chinacloudapi.cn/templates/template.json"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "subscriptionAliasName": {
        "value": "sampleAlias"
      },
      "billingScope": {
        "value": "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/5e98e158-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx-xx-xx/billingProfiles/AW4F-xxxx-xxx-xxx/invoiceSections/SH3V-xxxx-xxx-xxx"
      }
    },
    "mode": "Incremental"
  }
}

To move a subscription to a new management group, use the following ARM template.

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-08-01/managementGroupDeploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "targetMgId": {
            "type": "string",
            "metadata": {
                "description": "Provide the ID of the management group that you want to move the subscription to."
            }
        },
        "subscriptionId": {
            "type": "string",
            "metadata": {
                "description": "Provide the ID of the existing subscription to move."
            }
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "scope": "/",
            "type": "Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/subscriptions",
            "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
            "name": "[concat(parameters('targetMgId'), '/', parameters('subscriptionId'))]",
            "properties": {
            }
        }
    ],
    "outputs": {}
}

Or, the following Bicep file.

targetScope = 'managementGroup'

@description('Provide the ID of the management group that you want to move the subscription to.')
param targetMgId string

@description('Provide the ID of the existing subscription to move.')
param subscriptionId string

resource subToMG 'Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/subscriptions@2020-05-01' = {
  scope: tenant()
  name: '${targetMgId}/${subscriptionId}'
}

Next steps