{"code": "InvalidTemplateDeployment", "message": "The template deployment 'option3' is not valid according to the validation procedure. The tracking id i [REDACTED]s''. See inner errors for details."}

Hello Jay Pickett

Thank you for reaching out Q/A. While deploying an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template using Azure CLI, the following error is encountered:

{

"code": "InvalidTemplateDeployment",

"message": "The template deployment 'option3' is not valid according to the validation procedure. See inner errors for details."

}

This error indicates that the ARM template (mainTemplate.json) or the parameters file (testparams.json) failed validation during the Azure Resource Manager deployment process. Azure performs a validation step before provisioning any resources, and if validation fails, the deployment is blocked.

To determine the exact cause, run the following command to retrieve the detailed error information:

1.Run your deployment again with full debugging enabled:

az deployment group create --name NAME --resource-group <RG-Name>--template-file mainTemplate.json --parameters @testparams.json --debug

The --debug flag produces detailed validation logs and shows the exact property that failed (for example: imageReference, vmSize, parameter mismatch, missing required fields, invalid names, etc.).

2. Validate the Template Before Deployment

You can also validate the template without deploying resources, which often returns clearer error messages:

az deployment group validate --resource-group <RGName> --template-file mainTemplate.json --parameters @testparams.json

This step is recommended before attempting deployment, especially when troubleshooting template issues.

3.Check Deployment History

If the deployment already exists, you can review the deployment history and error details directly from Azure Resource Manager:

az deployment group show --name <VM NAME> --resource-group <RG NAME> --query "properties.error" --output json

This command returns the inner error object that explains why validation failed.

View deployment history with Azure Resource Manager

Quickstart: Troubleshoot ARM template JSON deployments

Resolve errors for invalid template

To identify and resolve the issue, the inner error must be retrieved using debug output, template validation, or deployment history. Once the inner error is identified, the template or parameters can be corrected accordingly.

Hi @Jay Pickett ,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A!

The error message indicates that the ARM template failed during the validation stage. Unfortunately, the az deployment group create command does not always surface the specific reason for the failure and instead returns a generic InvalidTemplateDeployment error.

Potential fix:

Please run a validation against the template to identify the underlying issue:

az deployment group validate 
	--resource-group rg-sub-test \
	--template-file mainTemplate.json \
	--parameters @testparams.json

This command will return more detailed error information, such as missing parameters, invalid values, invalid syntax, or unsupported API versions, which should help identify the root cause.

Once you have the validation output, please share the results here and I will be happy to assist you further.

References:

• Azure CLI - az deployment group validate

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