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Enable VM insights using Azure Policy

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Azure Policy lets you set and enforce requirements for all new resources you create and resources you modify. VM insights policy initiatives, which are predefined sets of policies created for VM insights, install the agents required for VM insights and enable monitoring on all new virtual machines in your Azure environment.

This article explains how to enable VM insights for Azure virtual machines, virtual machine scale sets, and hybrid virtual machines connected with Azure Arc by using predefined VM insights policy initiates.

Prerequisites

Before you can enable VM insights using Azure Policy, you need to have a VM insights DCR created. The DCR specifies what data to collect from the agent and how it should be processed. See VM insights DCR for details on creating this DCR.

VM insights initiatives

VM insights policy initiatives install Azure Monitor Agent and the Dependency agent on new virtual machines in your Azure environment. Assign these initiatives to a management group, subscription, or resource group to install the agents on Windows or Linux Azure virtual machines in the defined scope automatically.

Note

The VM Insights initiatives listed below don't update a Dependency Agent extension that already exists on your VM with Azure Monitoring Agent settings. Make sure to uninstall the Dependency Agent extension from your VM before deploying these initiatives.

Enable Azure Monitor for VMs with Azure Monitoring Agent Enable Azure Monitor for virtual machine scale sets with Azure Monitoring Agent Enable Azure Monitor for Hybrid VMs with Azure Monitoring Agent

The initiatives apply to new machines you create and machines you modify, but not to existing VMs.

Policy Initiative Name Description
Enable Azure Monitor for VMs with Azure Monitoring Agent Installs Azure Monitor Agent and the Dependency agent on Azure VMs.
Enable Azure Monitor for virtual machine scale sets with Azure Monitoring Agent Installs Azure Monitor Agent and the Dependency agent on virtual machine scale sets.
Enable Azure Monitor for Hybrid VMs with Azure Monitoring Agent Installs Azure Monitor Agent and Dependency agent on hybrid VMs connected with Azure Arc.
Legacy: Enable Azure Monitor for VMs Installs the Log Analytics agent and Dependency agent on virtual machine scale sets.
Legacy: Enable Azure Monitor for virtual machine scale sets Installs the Log Analytics agent and Dependency agent on virtual machine scale sets.

Important

The legacy Log Analytics agent is deprecated as of August 31, 2024. Microsoft will no longer provide any support for the Log Analytics agent. If you use the Log Analytics agent to ingest data to Azure Monitor, migrate now to Azure Monitor agent.

Support for custom images

Azure Monitor Agent-based VM insights policy and initiative definitions have a scopeToSupportedImages parameter that's set to true by default to enable onboarding Dependency Agent on supported images only. Set this parameter to false to allow onboarding Dependency Agent on custom images.

Assign a VM insights policy initiative

To assign a VM insights policy initiative to a subscription or management group from the Azure portal:

  1. Search for and open Policy.

  2. Select Assignments > Assign initiative.

    Screenshot that shows the Policy Assignments screen with the Assign initiative button highlighted.

    The Assign initiative screen appears.

    Screenshot that shows Assign initiative.

  3. Configure the initiative assignment:

    1. In the Scope field, select the management group or subscription to which you'll assign the initiative.
    2. (Optional) Select Exclusions to exclude specific resources from the initiative assignment. For example, if your scope is a management group, you might specify a subscription in that management group to be excluded from the assignment.
    3. Select the ellipsis (...) next to Initiative assignment to start the policy definition picker. Select one of the VM insights initiatives.
    4. (Optional) Change the Assignment name and add a Description.
    5. On the Parameters tab, select a Log Analytics workspace to which all virtual machines in the assignment will send data. For virtual machines to send data to different workspaces, create multiple assignments, each with their own scope. This step will have different parameters depending on which Policy Initiative you are working with at the time.

    Screenshot that shows a workspace.

    Note

    If you select a workspace that's not within the scope of the assignment, grant Log Analytics Contributor permissions to the policy assignment's principal ID. Otherwise, you might get a deployment failure like:

    The client '343de0fe-e724-46b8-b1fb-97090f7054ed' with object id '343de0fe-e724-46b8-b1fb-97090f7054ed' does not have authorization to perform action 'microsoft.operationalinsights/workspaces/read' over scope ...

  4. Select Review + create to review the initiative assignment details. Select Create to create the assignment.

    Don't create a remediation task at this point because you'll probably need multiple remediation tasks to enable existing virtual machines. For more information about how to create remediation tasks, see Remediate compliance results.

Review compliance for a VM insights policy initiative

After you assign an initiative, you can review and manage compliance for the initiative across your management groups and subscriptions.

To see how many virtual machines exist in each of the management groups or subscriptions and their compliance status:

  1. Search for and open Azure Monitor.

  2. Select Virtual machines > Overview > Other onboarding options. Then under Enable using policy, select Enable.

    Screenshot that shows other onboarding options page of VM insights with the Enable using policy option.

    The Azure Monitor for VMs Policy Coverage page appears.

    Screenshot that shows the VM insights Azure Monitor for VMs Policy Coverage page.

    The following table describes the compliance information presented on the Azure Monitor for VMs Policy Coverage page.

    Function Description
    Scope Management group or subscription to which the initiative applies.
    My Role Your role in the scope. The role can be Reader, Owner, Contributor, or blank if you have access to the subscription but not to the management group to which it belongs. Your role determines which data you can see and whether you can assign policies or initiatives (owner), edit them, or view compliance.
    Total VMs Total number of VMs in the scope, regardless of their status. For a management group, this number is the sum total of VMs in all related subscriptions or child management groups.
    Assignment Coverage Percentage of VMs covered by the initiative. When you assign the initiative, the scope you select in the assignment could be the scope listed or a subset of it. For instance, if you create an assignment for a subscription (initiative scope) and not a management group (coverage scope), the value of Assignment Coverage indicates the VMs in the initiative scope divided by the VMs in coverage scope. In another case, you might exclude some VMs, resource groups, or a subscription from the policy scope. If the value is blank, it indicates that either the policy or initiative doesn't exist or you don't have permission.
    Assignment Status Success: Azure Monitor Agent or the Log Analytics agent and Dependency agent deployed on all machines in scope.
    Warning: The subscription isn't under a management group.
    Not Started: A new assignment was added.
    Lock: You don't have sufficient privileges to the management group.
    Blank: No VMs exist or a policy isn't assigned.
    Compliant VMs Number of VMs that have both Azure Monitor Agent or Log Analytics agent and Dependency agent installed. This field is blank if there are no assignments, no VMs in the scope, or if you don't have the relevant permissions.
    Compliance The overall compliance number is the sum of distinct compliant resources divided by the sum of all distinct resources.
    Compliance State Compliant: All VMs in the scope have Azure Monitor Agent or the Log Analytics agent and Dependency agent deployed to them, or any new VMs in the scope haven't yet been evaluated.
    Noncompliant: There are VMs that aren't enabled and might need remediation.
    Not Started: A new assignment was added.
    Lock: You don't have sufficient privileges to the management group.
    Blank: No policy assigned.

  3. Select the ellipsis (...) > View Compliance.

    Screenshot that shows View Compliance.

    The Compliance page appears. It lists assignments that match the specified filter and indicates whether they're compliant.

    Screenshot that shows Policy compliance for Azure VMs.

  4. Select an assignment to view its details. The Initiative compliance page appears. It lists the policy definitions in the initiative and whether each is in compliance.

    Screenshot that shows Compliance details.

    Policy definitions are considered noncompliant if:

    • Azure Monitor Agent, the Log Analytics agent, or the Dependency agent aren't deployed. Create a remediation task to mitigate.
    • VM image (OS) isn't identified in the policy definition. Policies can only verify well-known Azure VM images. Check the documentation to see whether the VM OS is supported.
    • Some VMs in the initiative scope are connected to a Log Analytics workspace other than the one that's specified in the policy assignment.

  5. Select a policy definition to open the Policy compliance page.

Create a remediation task

If your assignment doesn't show 100% compliance, create remediation tasks to evaluate and enable existing VMs. You'll most likely need to create multiple remediation tasks, one for each policy definition. You can't create a remediation task for an initiative.

To create a remediation task:

  1. On the Initiative compliance page, select Create Remediation Task.

    Screenshot that shows Policy compliance details.

    The New remediation task page appears.

    Screenshot that shows the New remediation task page.

  2. Review Remediation settings and Resources to remediate and modify as necessary. Then select Remediate to create the task.

    After the remediation tasks are finished, your VMs should be compliant with agents installed and enabled for VM insights.

Track remediation tasks

To track the progress of remediation tasks, on the Policy menu, select Remediation and select the Remediation tasks tab.

Screenshot that shows the Policy Remediation page for Monitor | Virtual Machines.

Next steps

Learn how to: