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How Do I Search Azure Portal?

Published in Azure Portal Search 6 mins read

Searching within the Azure portal can refer to two distinct actions: finding resources and services directly within the portal's user interface, or creating and utilizing an Azure AI Search service to enable powerful search capabilities for your applications. This guide will cover both.

1. Searching for Resources and Services in the Azure Portal

The Azure portal provides a robust search bar at the top of the interface, designed to help you quickly locate specific resources, services, documentation, or even marketplace offerings. This is your primary tool for navigating the vast ecosystem of Azure.

How to Use the Portal Search Bar

  1. Locate the Search Bar: You'll find a prominent search bar at the very top of the Azure portal, often labeled "Search resources, services, and docs (G+/)".
  2. Type Your Query: Simply click on the search bar and start typing keywords related to what you're looking for.
    • Resource Names: Enter the name of a specific Virtual Machine, Storage Account, or Web App.
    • Service Names: Search for "Virtual Machines," "Storage Accounts," "Azure Cosmos DB," or "Azure Functions."
    • Settings/Features: Look for "subscriptions," "resource groups," "billing," or "cost management."
    • Documentation: The search results can also include relevant official Azure documentation to help you understand and configure services.
  3. Review Results: As you type, the portal will display a dropdown list of matching results, categorized for easier selection.
    • All: A consolidated view of all matches.
    • Resources: Shows existing resources you have access to.
    • Services: Lists Azure services you can create or manage.
    • Marketplace: Displays relevant solutions from the Azure Marketplace.
    • Documentation: Direct links to official Microsoft Learn articles.
  4. Select an Item: Click on the desired item from the search results to navigate directly to its page or initiate its creation.

Practical Insights for Efficient Portal Searching

  • Be Specific: Using more specific terms (e.g., "SQL Database" instead of "database") often yields better results.
  • Partial Matches: The search bar supports partial matches, so you don't always need the full name.
  • Keyboard Shortcut: Use the / (slash) key or G+/ to quickly activate the search bar from anywhere in the portal.

2. Creating and Utilizing an Azure AI Search Service in the Azure Portal

Beyond navigating the portal itself, Azure also offers a powerful cloud search service called Azure AI Search (formerly Azure Cognitive Search). This service allows you to build sophisticated search experiences into your own applications, websites, and data, making it easy for users to find information within your data, not within the Azure portal. The Azure portal is where you create and manage these search services.

Understanding Azure AI Search

Azure AI Search is a managed service that provides full-text search, faceted navigation, type-ahead queries, and other advanced search capabilities. It's designed to offload the complexities of search implementation from your application.

Steps to Create and Utilize an Azure AI Search Service

Follow these steps within the Azure portal to set up your own Azure AI Search service:

Step 1: Decide on a Tier and Region

Before creating your service, you need to determine the right pricing tier and geographic region.

  • Tiers: Azure AI Search offers various tiers to suit different needs, from free development to high-scale production workloads.
    • Free: Ideal for development and evaluation. One free search service is allowed per subscription. It comes with limitations on storage, query volume, and index size.
    • Basic: Suitable for smaller production workloads.
    • Standard (S1, S2, S3): Designed for larger production workloads with higher throughput and storage needs.
    • Storage Optimized (L1, L2): For scenarios requiring vast amounts of storage.
  • Region: Choose an Azure region that is geographically close to your data sources and your application's users to minimize latency.

Step 2: Create a Search Service in the Azure Portal

  1. Search for "Azure AI Search": In the Azure portal's top search bar, type "Azure AI Search" and select the service from the results.
  2. Add a New Service: Click + Create or Create search service.
  3. Configure Basics:
    • Subscription: Select the Azure subscription you want to use.
    • Resource Group: Choose an existing resource group or create a new one to organize your search service.
    • Service Name: Provide a unique name for your search service (e.g., my-app-search-service).
    • Location (Region): Select the chosen geographic region.
    • Pricing Tier: Select your desired pricing tier (e.g., Free, Basic, Standard).
  4. Review and Create: Review your settings and click Review + create, then Create.
    The deployment process will begin, and your search service will be available in a few minutes.

Step 3: Start with the Import Data Wizard

Once your search service is deployed, the quickest way to get started with indexing your data is using the Import data wizard.

  1. Navigate to your Search Service: From the Azure portal, find and click on your newly created Azure AI Search service.
  2. Launch Import Data: On the service's overview page, locate and click on Import data.
  3. Connect to Your Data:
    • Select your data source type (e.g., Azure SQL Database, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Cosmos DB, SharePoint, etc.).
    • Provide the necessary connection details and credentials.
  4. Configure Index:
    • The wizard will help you define the index schema by mapping fields from your data source to searchable fields in your index.
    • You can set attributes like filterable, sortable, searchable, facetable, and retrievable for each field.
  5. Configure Indexer:
    • An indexer automates the data ingestion process. Configure its schedule (e.g., hourly, daily) to keep your index updated.
  6. Create Indexer: Finalize the process, and the wizard will create your index, indexer, and potentially a data source, then start the initial indexing run.

Step 4: Finish with Search Explorer to Query the Search Index

After your data is indexed, you can test and experiment with queries using the Search Explorer directly within the Azure portal. This acts as a portal client to query the search index you just created.

  1. Access Search Explorer: On your Azure AI Search service page, in the left-hand navigation pane, click on Search explorer.
  2. Run Queries:
    • In the query bar, type your search terms (e.g., * to see all documents, or specific keywords like product "laptop").
    • You can also specify query parameters like select (which fields to return), orderby (sort results), filter (apply filters), and count (get total results).
    • Click Search to execute the query.
  3. Review Results: The results pane will display the JSON response, showing the documents that match your query, along with any relevant facets or scoring information.
  4. Refine Queries: Use Search Explorer to fine-tune your queries and understand how your data is being retrieved before integrating the search functionality into your application using client SDKs or REST APIs.

The Azure portal serves as a central hub for both managing your cloud resources and for deploying advanced services like Azure AI Search, empowering you to effectively navigate the Azure ecosystem and build powerful applications.

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