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IP Groups in Azure Firewall

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IP Groups allow you to group and manage IP addresses for Azure Firewall rules in the following ways:

  • As a source address in DNAT rules
  • As a source or destination address in network rules
  • As a source address in application rules

An IP Group can have a single IP address, multiple IP addresses, one or more IP address ranges or addresses and ranges in combination.

IP Groups can be reused in Azure Firewall DNAT, network, and application rules for multiple firewalls across regions and subscriptions in Azure. Group names must be unique. You can configure an IP Group in the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or REST API. A sample template is provided to help you get started.

Sample format

The following IPv4 address format examples are valid to use in IP Groups:

  • Single address: 10.0.0.0
  • CIDR notation: 10.1.0.0/32
  • Address range: 10.2.0.0-10.2.0.31

Create an IP Group

An IP Group can be created using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or REST API. For more information, see Create an IP Group.

Browse IP Groups

  1. In the Azure portal search bar, type IP Groups and select it. You can see the list of the IP Groups, or you can select Add to create a new IP Group.
  2. Select an IP Group to open the overview page. You can edit, add, or delete IP addresses or IP Groups.

Manage an IP Group

You can see all the IP addresses in the IP Group and the rules or resources that are associated with it. To delete an IP Group, you must first dissociate the IP Group from the resource that is using it.

  1. To view or edit the IP addresses, select IP Addresses under Settings on the left pane.
  2. To add a single or multiple IP address(es), select Add IP Addresses. This opens the Drag or Browse page for an upload, or you can enter the address manually.
  3. Selecting the ellipses (…) to the right to edit or delete IP addresses. To edit or delete multiple IP addresses, select the boxes and select Edit or Delete at the top.
  4. Finally, can export the file in the CSV file format.

Note

If you delete all the IP addresses in an IP Group while it is still in use in a rule, that rule is skipped.

Use an IP Group

You can now select IP Group as a Source type or Destination type for the IP address(es) when you create Azure Firewall DNAT, application, or network rules.

Parallel IP Group updates

You can now update multiple IP Groups in parallel at the same time. This is particularly useful for environments requiring faster changes at scale, especially when making those changes using a dev ops approach (templates, ARM, CLI, and Azure PowerShell).

With this support, you can perform the following:

  • Update 20 IP Groups at a time: Perform simultaneous updates up to 20 IP Groups in one operation, referenced by firewall policy or classic firewall.

  • Update Azure Firewall and IP Groups together: You can update IP Groups simultaneously with the firewall or with firewall policies.

  • Improved efficiency: Parallel IP Group updates now run twice as fast.

  • Receive new and improved error messages:

    Error message Description Recommended action
    In failed state (skipping update) Azure Firewall or Firewall Policy is in a failed state. Updates cannot proceed until the resource is healthy. Review previous operations and correct any misconfigurations to ensure the resource is healthy.
    Backend server could not update Firewall at this time The backend server was unable to successfully process the request. Create a support request.
    Error occurred during FW update The error is related to the underlying backend servers. Retry the operation or create a support request if the issue persists.
    Internal server error An unexpected backend error has occurred. Retry the operation or create a support request.

Additionally, note the following status updates:

  • One or more IP Group failure: If one IP Group update (out of 20 parallel updates) fails, the provisioning state changes to "Failed" while the remaining IP Groups will continue to update and succeed.
  • Status update: If an IP Group update fails, and if the firewall remains healthy, its state will still show as "Succeeded." To verify, check the status on the IP Group resource itself.

Region availability

IP Groups are available in all public cloud regions.

IP address limits

For IP Group limits, see Azure subscription and service limits, quotas, and constraints

The following Azure PowerShell cmdlets can be used to create and manage IP Groups:

Next steps