Deploy the CAF Foundation blueprint sample

Important

On July 11, 2026, Blueprints (Preview) will be deprecated. Migrate your existing blueprint definitions and assignments to Template Specs and Deployment Stacks. Blueprint artifacts are to be converted to ARM JSON templates or Bicep files used to define deployment stacks. To learn how to author an artifact as an ARM resource, see:

• Policy
• RBAC
• Deployments

To deploy the CAF Foundation blueprint sample (provided by the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure), the following steps must be taken:

• Create a new blueprint from the sample
• Mark your copy of the sample as Published
• Assign your copy of the blueprint to an existing subscription

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Create blueprint from sample

First, implement the blueprint sample by creating a new blueprint in your environment using the sample as a starter.

1. Select All services in the left pane. Search for and select Blueprints.

2. From the Getting started page on the left, select the Create button under Create a blueprint.

3. Find the CAF Foundation blueprint sample under Other Samples and select Use this sample.

4. Enter the Basics of the blueprint sample:

   • Blueprint name: Provide a name for your copy of the CAF Foundation blueprint sample.
   • Definition location: Use the ellipsis and select the management group to save your copy of the sample to.

5. Select the Artifacts tab at the top of the page or Next: Artifacts at the bottom of the page.

6. Review the list of artifacts that make up the blueprint sample. Many of the artifacts have parameters that we'll define later. Select Save Draft when you've finished reviewing the blueprint sample.

Publish the sample copy

Your copy of the blueprint sample has now been created in your environment. It's created in Draft mode and must be Published before it can be assigned and deployed. The copy of the blueprint sample can be customized to your environment and needs, but that modification may move it away from the CAF Foundation blueprint.

1. Select All services in the left pane. Search for and select Blueprints.

2. Select the Blueprint definitions page on the left. Use the filters to find your copy of the blueprint sample and then select it.

3. Select Publish blueprint at the top of the page. In the new page on the right, provide a Version for your copy of the blueprint sample. This property is useful for if you make a modification later. Provide Change notes such as "First version published from the CAF Foundation blueprint sample." Then select Publish at the bottom of the page.

Assign the sample copy

Once the copy of the blueprint sample has been successfully Published, it can be assigned to a subscription within the management group it was saved to. This step is where parameters are provided to make each deployment of the copy of the blueprint sample unique.

1. Select All services in the left pane. Search for and select Blueprints.

2. Select the Blueprint definitions page on the left. Use the filters to find your copy of the blueprint sample and then select it.

3. Select Assign blueprint at the top of the blueprint definition page.

4. Provide the parameter values for the blueprint assignment:

   • Basics

     • Subscriptions: Select one or more of the subscriptions that are in the management group you saved your copy of the blueprint sample to. If you select more than one subscription, an assignment will be created for each using the parameters entered.
     • Assignment name: The name is pre-populated for you based on the name of the blueprint. Change as needed or leave as is.
     • Location: Select a region for the managed identity to be created in.
     • Azure Blueprints uses this managed identity to deploy all artifacts in the assigned blueprint. To learn more, see managed identities for Azure resources.
     • Blueprint definition version: Pick a Published version of your copy of the blueprint sample.

   • Lock Assignment

     Select the blueprint lock setting for your environment. For more information, see blueprints resource locking.

   • Managed Identity

     Choose either the default system assigned managed identity option or the user assigned identity option.

   • Blueprint parameters

     The parameters defined in this section are used by many of the artifacts in the blueprint definition to provide consistency.

     • Organization: Enter your organization name, such as Contoso, must be unique.
     • Azure Region: Select the Azure Region for Deployment.
     • Allowed locations: Which Azure Regions will you allow resources to be built in?

   • Artifact parameters

     The parameters defined in this section apply to the artifact under which it's defined. These parameters are dynamic parameters since they're defined during the assignment of the blueprint. For a full list or artifact parameters and their descriptions, see Artifact parameters table.

5. Once all parameters have been entered, select Assign at the bottom of the page. The blueprint assignment is created and artifact deployment begins. Deployment takes roughly an hour. To check on the status of deployment, open the blueprint assignment.

Warning

The Azure Blueprints service and the built-in blueprint samples are free of cost. Azure resources are priced by product. Use the pricing calculator to estimate the cost of running resources deployed by this blueprint sample.

Artifact parameters table

The following table provides a list of the blueprint artifact parameters:

Artifact name	Artifact type	Parameter name	Description
Allowed storage account SKUs	Policy assignment	Policy_Allowed-StorageAccount-SKUs	SKU used in Diagnostic Log storage accounts
Allowed virtual machine SKUs	Policy assignment	Policy_Allowed-VM-SKUs	Allowed virtual machine SKUs
Append CostCenter TAG to Resource Groups	Policy assignment	Policy_CostCenter_Tag	Append CostCenter TAG and its value from the Resource Group
Resource Types that you do not want to allow in your environment	Policy assignment	Policy _Allowed-Resource-Types	Which Azure Resources you want to allow in your environment
Deploy Key Vault	Resource Manager template	KV-AccessPolicy	Locked - Azure AD Group or User <Object ID> to grant permissions to in Key Vault
Deploy Log Analytics	Resource Manager template	LogAnalytics_DataRetention	Locked - Number of days data will be retained in Log Analytics
Deploy Log Analytics	Resource Manager template	LogAnalytics_Location	Locked - Region used when establishing the workspace

Next steps

Now that you've reviewed the steps to deploy the CAF Foundation blueprint sample, visit the following article to learn about the architecture:

CAF Foundation blueprint - Overview

Additional articles about blueprints and how to use them:

• Learn about the blueprint lifecycle.
• Understand how to use static and dynamic parameters.
• Learn to customize the blueprint sequencing order.
• Find out how to make use of blueprint resource locking.
• Learn how to update existing assignments.