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--- title: Cluster Template Reference - Environment description: Environment reference for cluster templates for use with Azure CycleCloud author: adriankjohnson ms.date: 06/19/2026 ms.topic: reference ms.update-cycle: 3650-days ms.author: adjohnso ms.service: azure-cyclecloud ms.custom: compute-evergreen --- # Environment Environment is rank 1. An environment corresponds to a [Resource Manager Deployment](/azure/azure-resource-manager/resource-group-template-deploy). CycleCloud can now manage Azure Resource Manager deployments with ARM templates. You can refer to these environments from within CycleCloud template objects. While environment is rank 1, a cluster object is required in the cluster template file. ## Example ```ini [environment vnet] ManagedLifecycle=true TemplateURL = az://mystorageaccount/mycontainer/${ProjectVersion}/vnet.json ParameterValues.backendIpAddress1 = 10.0.1.4 VariableOverrides.virtualNetworkName = azure-vnet [environment appgateway] TemplateURL = https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/azure-quickstart-templates/master/101-application-gateway-waf/azuredeploy.json ParameterValues.virtualNetworkName = ${vnet.Parameters.virtualNetworkName} [environment existing] Azure.ResourceGroup = existingrg ManagedLifecycle = false [cluster my-cluster] ``` The `$` is a reference to a parameter name. The `${}` is another way of referencing a parameter name and allows reference to an environment. This example launches the ARM template existing at _az://mystorageaccount/mycontainer/${ProjectVersion}/vnet.json_ as an ARM deployment, and provides the **Resource** and **Outputs** as nested data within the `vnet` variable. ## Attribute reference Attribute | Type | Definition ------ | ----- | ---------- Credentials | String | Name of cloud provider account Region | String | Azure location, such as westus2 TemplateURL | String | Valid URL for ARM template location on the web. Use only one Template* attribute. TemplateContents | String | Template JSON read in as a string with `@parametername` reference. Use only one Template* attribute. TemplatePath | String | For use with Locker. Appends path to locker for ARM template location. Use only one Template* attribute. Locker | String | For use with TemplatePath. Supports pulling ARM template from locker. ParameterValues. | ARM Parameter | ParameterValues.my-parameter where my-parameter is a parameter. Parameters in ARM templates support string, list, integers, boolean. VariableOverrides. | ARM Variable | VariableOverrides.my-variable where my-variable is a variable name in the ARM template. Variables in ARM templates support string, list, integers, boolean. `ParameterizeVariables` | Boolean | Use with `VariableValues`. Expose ARM template variables in cluster UI menu and cluster template. `VariableValues` | ARM Variable | Use `VariableValues.my-variable`. Alternative to `VariableOverrides`. Use with `ParameterizeVariables`. `Azure.ResourceGroup` | String | Name of Azure Resource Group for deployment. `ManagedLifecycle` | Boolean | Use with existing deployment. Default is true. `Name` | String | Name of pre-exiting resource group. `Tags` | String | Use `tags.my-tag = my-tag-value` to add tags to the resource group possessing the deployment in addition to the tags assigned by CycleCloud by default. For pre-existing deployments, the environment object name refers to the ARM deployment name. ## Using environment resources and outputs ```ini [environment vnet] ManagedLifecycle=true TemplateURL = az://mystorageaccount/mycontainer/${ProjectVersion}/vnet.json [cluster my-cluster] [[node proxy]] IsReturnProxy = True SubnetId = ${vnet.resources.'azure-vnet/ProxySubnet'.id} ``` Following the ARM deployment model, environments create resources and expose those resources to the other Cluster Template objects for use. Using the `${}` notation, you can refer to created ARM resources in their native schema. Attribute | Definition ------ | ----- | ---------- Outputs. | Use as `${environment-name.Outputs.my-output}` in template where `my-output` is the name of an output in the ARM template. Resources. | Use as `${environment-name.Resources.my-resource-name.key1.key2}` in template where `my-resource-name` is the name of a resource in the ARM template and `key1`, `key2` are related keys in the resource object. ### Referring to nested resources CycleCloud represents environments with a nested data structure. You often need to reference data within this structure. ```ini [environment db] TemplateContents = @raw-db-json ParameterValues.DBName = @DBNameParameter [cluster my-cluster] [[node my-node]] SubnetId = ${network.resources.'vnet/ComputeSubnet'.id} [[[configuration database]]] connection_string = ${db.Outputs.JDBCConnectionString} database_id = ${db.resources[ClusterName].id} ``` The indices of nested variables can depend on the ARM resource type you're creating. The following formats are all valid for references to nested variables: `env.resources.my-resource-name.id`, `env.resources['my-resource-name'].id`, and `env.resources[MyResourceParam]`.