Mastering Azure Control Panel for Efficient Resource Management

The Azure Control Panel is a centralized hub for managing all your Azure resources, making it easier to keep track of your subscriptions, services, and usage.

It's essential to understand the different types of subscriptions available, such as Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Partner Network, and Cloud Solution Provider, to ensure you're using the right one for your needs.

The Azure Resource Manager (ARM) is a powerful tool for managing resources, allowing you to group related resources together, such as virtual machines, storage, and networking.

With the ARM, you can also create and manage resource groups, which is a crucial step in organizing your resources for efficient management.

The Azure Control Panel is a web-based interface that allows you to manage your Azure resources.

You can access the Azure Control Panel by navigating to the Azure portal and clicking on the "Azure Control Panel" link.

From the Azure Control Panel, you can view and manage your subscriptions, including subscription details and billing information.

In the Azure Control Panel, you can also view and manage your resources, including virtual machines, storage accounts, and databases.

Directories and Subscriptions are an essential part of Azure Control Panel Settings, allowing you to manage directories and set subscription filters.

Directories + subscriptions lets you manage directories (Azure tenants) and set subscription filters. This feature is particularly useful for organizations with multiple Azure tenants, as it enables you to centralize management and control.

You can use Directories + subscriptions to manage your Azure resources across different tenants, making it easier to track and monitor your resources.

Restoring default settings in the Azure portal is a straightforward process. You can do this by selecting Restore default settings from the top of the My information pane.

If you're unsure about making changes, you can always restore default settings to start from a clean slate. Any changes you've made to your Azure portal settings will be lost.

You'll be prompted to confirm this action, so be sure to click through with caution. This option doesn't affect dashboard customizations, so you can rest easy knowing your dashboard will remain intact.

The Appearance and Customization section of the Azure control panel allows you to personalize your experience. You can choose from four preset color themes in the Theme section, selecting each thumbnail to find the one that suits you best.

The theme you choose affects the background and font colors in the Azure portal. Alternatively, you can select a high-contrast theme from the High contrast theme section, which can make the portal easier to read if you have a visual impairment.

You can export your custom settings, including private dashboards, user settings, and themes, to help provide relevant tips and recommendations in the portal. To do this, select one or more items from the list in the Portal personalization section.

Portal personalization is a great way to tailor your Azure experience to your needs. You can share information about how you plan to use Azure, and this helps us provide tips, tools, and recommendations that are relevant to your tasks and services.

To provide this information, you can select one or more items from the list. You can change your selections at any time. Information about your custom settings is stored in Azure, and you can export the following user data:

This information is useful for deleting personal data from the device or service, which can support your obligations under the GDPR.

You can create up to ten filters to help you manage your subscriptions. Each filter must have a unique name between 8 and 50 characters long, and can only contain letters, numbers, and hyphens.

To get started, select Create a filter and name your filter accordingly.

In the Filter type field, you'll need to select Management group, Subscription ID, Subscription name, or Subscription state. Then, choose an operator and the value to filter on.

After adding conditions, select Create to bring your filter to life. Your new filter will then appear in the list in Active filters.

You can set your individual timeout setting in the Azure portal to determine how long you can be inactive before your session is signed out. This setting is separate from the directory-level setting enforced by your admin.

If your admin has enabled an inactivity timeout policy, you can still choose your own timeout duration, but it must be shorter than the directory-level setting.

To change your individual timeout setting, select the duration next to Sign me out when inactive and choose Apply to save your changes.

As a user, you can't change your individual timeout setting to a longer interval than the current option set by a Global Administrator.

Global Administrators can enforce the maximum idle time before a session is signed out for all users in the Azure tenant.

To do this, they sign in with a Global Administrator account and select Enable directory level idle timeout.

They then enter the Hours and Minutes for the maximum time that a user can be inactive before their session is automatically signed out and select Apply.

If a Global Administrator unchecks the box for Enable directory level idle timeout, the previous setting will remain in place by default for all users.

To create a custom RBAC role in the Azure portal, you must first create a role document and then create a custom role in the Azure portal. You can find more information about Azure RBAC or managing roles with command-line applications by visiting the links provided.

You can assign the role to the app registration by following these steps: In the Azure portal, click Subscriptions, select the subscription you want Alert Logic to protect, and then click Access control (IAM). Note the subscription ID, which you will need when you create an Azure deployment.

To assign the role to the app registration, you must repeat these steps to assign a role for each subscription if you have more than one subscription ID. The steps include clicking +Add, then clicking Add role assignment, and then searching for the RBAC role you created.

Creating a custom RBAC role is a crucial step in granting Alert Logic permission to monitor your environments. You must assign an RBAC role to the app registration to grant limited and controlled access.

To create a custom RBAC role, you can use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell. First, create a role document, which can be done by copying the text from a link and pasting it into the JSON window in the Azure portal.

If you're using the Azure portal, click the search bar and select Subscriptions. Select your subscription, copy the Subscription ID, and then click Access control (IAM). Next, click + Add and select Add custom role. Make sure to replace the subscription ID in the JSON window with the actual ID from your Azure portal Subscriptions blade.

Alternatively, you can use the Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell to create a custom role. You'll need to create a new text file, copy the Alert Logic role into it, and make changes to the file. Save the text file as a JSON file and then use the Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell to create your custom role.

Here are the steps to create a custom role in the Azure portal:

1. Click the search bar and select Subscriptions.

2. Select your subscription, copy the Subscription ID, and then click Access control (IAM).

3. Click + Add and select Add custom role.

4. Click the JSON tab and then click Edit.

5. Delete everything in the window and paste the text from the link.

6. Replace the subscription ID in the JSON window with the actual ID from your Azure portal Subscriptions blade.

7. Click Save, click Review + create, and then click Create.

If you have more than one subscription ID, you can make a list of them in the custom role. The format should look like this: "assignableScopes": ["/subscriptions/00xxx000-x-000-0x0x-0000-000xx000000x", "/subscriptions/00xxx000-x-000-0x0x-0000-000xx000000x", "/subscriptions/00xxx000-x-000-0x0x-0000-000xx000000x"].

If you're patching your servers using a WSUS server, you need to ensure that you add the specific products and classifications to your configuration.

You'll need to add the Azure Connected Machine Agent, selecting all three options, and the classifications Critical Updates and Update.

This will ensure that your servers download and distribute the Azure Arc agent updates correctly.

For example, you can add the following to your WSUS configuration:

This step is crucial if you're using a WSUS server to patch your Windows Servers.