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bicep_linter

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Bicep is a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for deploying Azure resources that provides a cleaner, more maintainable alternative to ARM templates. It serves as a transparent abstraction over ARM templates while offering significantly improved authoring experience and enhanced type safety.

Key Features:

  • Simplified Syntax: Drastically cleaner and more readable syntax compared to equivalent ARM Template JSON
  • Day 0 Resource Support: Any Azure resource can be provisioned using Bicep on the day it's available
  • Advanced Type Validation: Built-in type checking based on Azure resource type API definitions
  • No State Management: All deployment state is stored in Azure, eliminating external state file management
  • Native Modularity: Built-in module system for code reuse and better organization
  • ARM Template Compatibility: Transpiles to standard ARM Template JSON files, treating ARM as Intermediate Language
  • Built-in Linting: Comprehensive linting with customizable rules via bicepconfig.json
  • Zero-Downtime Deployment: Supports incremental deployments and what-if operations for safe infrastructure changes

By default, Bicep linter errors are set as warnings. To customize linter settings, use a bicepconfig.json file. For more information, see the documentation for the Bicep Linter

bicep_linter documentation

bicep - GitHub

Configuration in MegaLinter

Variable Description Default value
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_ARGUMENTS User custom arguments to add in linter CLI call
Ex: -s --foo "bar"
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_COMMAND_REMOVE_ARGUMENTS User custom arguments to remove from command line before calling the linter
Ex: -s --foo "bar"
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_FILTER_REGEX_INCLUDE Custom regex including filter
Ex: (src\|lib)		 Include every file
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_FILTER_REGEX_EXCLUDE Custom regex excluding filter
Ex: (test\|examples)		 Exclude no file
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_CLI_LINT_MODE Override default CLI lint mode
- file: Calls the linter for each file
- project: Call the linter from the root of the project		 file
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_FILE_EXTENSIONS Allowed file extensions. "*" matches any extension, "" matches empty extension. Empty list excludes all files
Ex: [".py", ""]		 [".bicep"]
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_FILE_NAMES_REGEX File name regex filters. Regular expression list for filtering files by their base names using regex full match. Empty list includes all files
Ex: ["Dockerfile(-.+)?", "Jenkinsfile"]		 Include every file
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_PRE_COMMANDS List of bash commands to run before the linter None
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_POST_COMMANDS List of bash commands to run after the linter None
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_UNSECURED_ENV_VARIABLES List of env variables explicitly not filtered before calling BICEP_BICEP_LINTER and its pre/post commands None
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_DISABLE_ERRORS Run linter but consider errors as warnings false
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_DISABLE_ERRORS_IF_LESS_THAN Maximum number of errors allowed 0
BICEP_BICEP_LINTER_CLI_EXECUTABLE Override CLI executable ['bicep']

IDE Integration

Use bicep_linter in your favorite IDE to catch errors before MegaLinter !

IDE Extension Name Install
Visual Studio Code VSCode Bicep Install in VSCode

MegaLinter Flavors

This linter is available in the following flavors

Flavor Description Embedded linters Info
all Default MegaLinter Flavor 136 Docker Image Size (tag) Docker Pulls
dotnet Optimized for C, C++, C# or VB based projects 67 Docker Image Size (tag) Docker Pulls
dotnetweb Optimized for C, C++, C# or VB based projects with JS/TS 76 Docker Image Size (tag) Docker Pulls

Behind the scenes

How are identified applicable files

  • File extensions: .bicep

How the linting is performed

  • bicep_linter is called one time by identified file (file CLI lint mode)

Example calls

# Bicep CLI 
bicep build infra.bicep;

# Azure CLI 
az bicep build -f infra.bicep

Help content

Description:
  Bicep CLI

Usage:
  bicep [command] [options]

Options:
  -v, --version          Shows bicep version information.
  --license              Prints license information.
  --third-party-notices  Prints third-party notices.
  -?, -h, --help         Show help and usage information

Commands:
  build <Input file>              Builds a .bicep file.
  test <Input file>               Runs tests in a .bicep file.
  build-params <Input file>       Builds a .json file from a .bicepparam file.
  format <Input file>             Formats a .bicep file.
  generate-params <Input file>    Builds parameters file from the given bicep file, updates if there is an existing parameters file.
  decompile <Input file>          Attempts to decompile a template .json file to .bicep.
  decompile-params <Input file>   Attempts to decompile a parameters .json file to .bicepparam.
  publish <Input file>            Publishes the .bicep file to the module registry.
  publish-extension <Index file>  [Experimental] Publishes a Bicep extension to a registry.
  restore <Input file>            Restores external modules from the specified Bicep file to the local module cache.
  lint <Input file>               Lints a .bicep file.
  jsonrpc                         Starts the Bicep CLI listening for JSONRPC messages, for programatically interacting with Bicep.
  local-deploy <Parameters file>  [Experimental] Performs a local deployment.
  snapshot <Parameters file>      Generates or validates a deployment snapshot from a .bicepparam file.
  deploy <Parameters file>        [Experimental] Deploys infrastructure using a .bicepparam file.
  what-if <Parameters file>       [Experimental] Previews the changes a deployment would make.
  teardown <Parameters file>      [Experimental] Tears down resources deployed by a .bicepparam file.
  console                         Opens an interactive Bicep console.

Installation on mega-linter Docker image

  • Dockerfile commands :
ARG TARGETPLATFORM
# renovate: datasource=github-tags depName=Azure/bicep
ARG BICEP_VERSION=0.44.1
ARG BICEP_EXE='bicep'
ARG BICEP_DIR='/usr/local/bin'
RUN case ${TARGETPLATFORM} in \
  "linux/amd64")  BICEP_ARCH=musl-x64 ;; \
  "linux/arm64")  BICEP_ARCH=arm64    ;; \
esac \
&& curl --retry 5 --retry-delay 5 -sLo ${BICEP_EXE} "https://github.com/Azure/bicep/releases/download/v${BICEP_VERSION}/bicep-linux-${BICEP_ARCH}" \
&& chmod +x "${BICEP_EXE}" \
&& mv "${BICEP_EXE}" "${BICEP_DIR}"