How to Replicate an Azure Resource Group

Question

I have built a system to store data collected by IoT devices in CosmosDB and display it in a web application. I am looking for a simple way to duplicate the resource group including the resources. The system overview and resources included in the resource group are as follows

System Overview

• IoT devices collect data and send to IoT Hub
• IoT Hub calls Azure Function to store data in CosmosDB
• Display stored data on Web Apps (website)

Resources included in resource group

• CosmosDB
• Web Apps
• IoT Hub
• Azure Function

Goal

• Replicate the entire resource as a separate resource, including resources in the resource group
• Do not use ARM templates

Tried

• Import resource group exports using ARM templates

Problem

• Importing the exported template as is causes errors due to duplicate content names, empty values in parameters, etc., which makes modifying the ARM template costly.
• Functions in Azure Function and resources on the website are not duplicated, so separate duplication work is required.
• To begin with, exporting/importing a resource group using an ARM template does not include all the information of the resource group from which it was exported, so it cannot be called a duplication.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation with the above.

Answer 1

I have been struggling with this as well. I have found some success with decompiling the ARM templates to Bicep and modifying there. Main thing is to have a consistent naming convention so that you can search and replace "PROD" with "DEV" or "TEST" where appropriate, and search and replace hard-coded subscription and tenant id's with variables created from Bicep functions. Apps usually don't have a set naming standard for the default URL's, so you have to search and replace those manually. Other hard-coded references I replace with resources using the "Existing" keyword