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Configure VM watch

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VM watch signals are logically grouped into Collectors Suite, which can be categorized into two groups: core and optional. By default, only core group collectors are enabled with default configurations. However, these default settings can be easily overwritten from vmWatchSettings using either ARM template, Azure CLI, or PowerShell.

This article describes how to configure VM watch to suit your specific requirements.

Prerequisites

This article assumes that you're familiar with:

Access vmWatchSettings on Azure virtual machines

Important

The code segment is identical for both Windows and Linux except for the value of the parameter <application health extension type> passed into the Extension Type. Replace <application health extension type> with ApplicationHealthLinux for Linux and ApplicationHealthWindows for Windows installations.

  1. Navigate to the Overview page on Azure portal and click on the JSON view for the VM to find the code segment below.
  2. Copy the code segment to an IDE such as Visual Studio Code and make customizations as needed
{
   "settings": {
      "vmWatchSettings": {
         "enabled": true
      }
   }
}

Customize VM watch configurations

VM watch signals can be customized by configuring the vmWatchSettings properties to meet specific requirements. The following table lists the properties for vmWatchSettings.

vmWatchSettings Properties

Name Type Description Is Required
enabled bool This allows you to enable or disable VM watch true
signalFilters object This filters the enabled / disabled signals, either by tag or collector name. false
parameterOverrides object This specifies the parameters that can be overwritten for each signal execution. The full list of overwritable parameters can be found in the VM watch Collectors Suite page. false
environmentAttributes object This specifies any environment attributes that help decide if a test is eligible to execute or not. false

Important

For the full list of collectors, associated signals, tags, overwritable parameters, and environment attributes, visit VM watch Collectors Suite page

Switch on/off VM watch

VM watch can be switched on / off by configuring the enabled property, as shown in the code segment.

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true
   }
}

Note

Name Description
true This setting enables VM watch
false This setting disables VM watch

Enable/Disable signal execution

By default, only the core group signals are enabled. However, the signalFilters property can be used to control and configure the signals to be executed. This property includes the following subfields.

Subfields Description
enabledTags This enables the signals in the optional group specified with tags provided by the user
disabledTags This disables the signals in the core and optional groups specified with tags provided by the user
enabledOptionalSignals This enables signals specified in optional group. Provide collector name(s) as parameter
disabledSignals This disables the signals specified in the core and optional groups. Provide collector name(s) as parameter

For instance, to enable signals in the optional group containing Network tag and disable signals containing Disk tag, specify such tags under the enabledTags and disabledTags as shown:

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true,
      "signalFilters": {
         "enabledTags": [
            "Network"
         ],
         "disabledTags": [
            "Disk"
         ]
      }
   }
}

Similarly, to enable an optional group signal with name hardware_health_monitor, and disable signals with name process and dns, specify such names under the enabledOptionalSignals and disabledSignals as shown:

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true,
      "signalFilters": {
         "enabledOptionalSignals": [
            "hardware_health_monitor"
         ],
         "disabledSignals": [
            "process",
            "dns"
         ]
      }
   }
}

Configure signal execution frequency

The signal execution frequency can be customized by adjusting the parameterOverrides property. For instance, to set the outbound_connectivity test execution frequency to 120 seconds, specify the following configuration:

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true,
      "parameterOverrides": {
         "OUTBOUND_CONNECTIVITY_INTERVAL": "120s"
      }
   }
}

Override default signal execution parameters

Signal execution parameters can be overwritten by setting the parameterOverrides property. For instance, to set disk_io signal mount point to /mnt, the following configuration can be specified:

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true,
      "parameterOverrides": {
         "DISK_IO_MOUNT_POINTS": "/mnt"
      }
   }
}

Environment attribute enrichments

In addition to tags, VM watch also checks the eligibility of the signals before execution. The environmentAttributes can be specified to help VM watch determine the eligibility of each signal for execution. For instance, if outbound traffic has been disabled on a VM, this information can be provided to VM watch. This ensures that any outbound network-related signal execution will be marked as ineligible.

{
   "vmWatchSettings": {
      "enabled": true,
      "environmentAttributes": {
         "OutboundConnectivityDisabled": true
      }
   }
}

Next steps