A terminal running in the browser, already signed in to Azure, with a choice of Bash or PowerShell and both Azure command-line toolsets ready. It is somewhere to run commands rather than a language, and only its optional storage costs money.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Azure Cloud Shell in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- Bash
Command shell originating on Unix. In Azure Cloud Shell you can pick a Bash session that already has the Azure CLI, and scripts written with the Azure CLI look a lot like ordinary Bash.
- RAMP
The approach used by the Cloud Adoption Framework's Manage methodology to structure cloud operations: teams, duties, processes and tools. It divides what the central platform handles from what each workload handles.
- General-purpose v1
The older storage account kind (
Storage), which lacks access tiers, Archive and premium file shares and retires on 13 October 2026. Converting to ZRS requires first upgrading to GPv2, a one-way change.
Related terms
- Ephemeral session
An Azure Cloud Shell mode that runs without any attached storage account. It launches the quickest, but nothing written during it survives once it closes.