Understanding Azure Diagnostic Settings Categories

Azure diagnostic settings categories help you monitor and troubleshoot your Azure resources more effectively. There are three main categories: Application, Guest, and Host.

Application category logs events related to your application's performance and usage. This includes metrics like request latency and error rates.

Guest category logs events related to your virtual machine or container, such as system errors and security alerts.

Host category logs events related to the underlying Azure infrastructure, such as network traffic and security group rules.

To set up Azure diagnostic settings categories, you'll need to meet some prerequisites. You'll need an Azure subscription, which is free to sign up for if you don't already have one.

You'll also need Security Administrator access to create general diagnostic settings for your Microsoft Entra tenant. This will allow you to configure settings for your security logs.

Attribute Log Administrator access is required to create diagnostic settings for custom security attribute logs. This will enable you to tailor your diagnostic settings to your specific needs.

Before you can configure diagnostic settings, you'll need to set up a destination. This could be an event hub, for example, where you want to stream your logs.

To access Azure diagnostic settings, you'll need to sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Security Administrator. This is a crucial step to ensure you have the necessary permissions to view and edit diagnostic settings.

Once you're signed in, browse to Identity > Monitoring & health > Diagnostic settings. The General settings will appear by default, giving you a starting point to work from.

Existing diagnostic settings will be listed in a table, making it easy to see what's already been set up. To change an existing setting, select "Edit settings", or to create a new one, select "Add diagnostic setting".

Customizing Security is a crucial aspect of Azure diagnostic settings categories. To configure diagnostic settings for custom security attributes, you must have the Attribute Log Administrator role active.

You can do this by selecting Custom security attributes, which is a subset of standard audit logs. The process to configure diagnostic settings is the same for both categories of logs.

Microsoft recommends keeping custom security attribute audit logs separate from directory audit logs to avoid revealing attribute assignments inadvertently. This is a good practice to follow to ensure your security logs are secure.

To ensure security measures are properly logged, determine the areas in which diagnostic settings are configured to monitor security-related activities. This can aid in identifying potential security risks or breaches.

You can choose which logs to include in your diagnostic setting and where to send them. It might take up to three days for the logs to start appearing in the destination.

To select the destination, you have two options: Dedicated and null (null is default). The null option uses the default destination type, AzureDiagnostics.

If you choose Dedicated, you can construct a custom destination type by using the _. The provider name for this option is properties.logAnalyticsDestinationType.

Managing diagnostic settings is crucial for maintaining your system's operational health. Determining the areas in which diagnostic settings are actively monitoring alerts is beneficial for this purpose.

By enabling diagnostic settings, you can capture Alert category logs, which is essential for ensuring your system is properly tracking potential issues.

To achieve this, you need to list the diagnostic settings that capture Alert category logs. This will help you identify the areas where your system is actively monitoring alerts.

Diagnostic settings can be used to monitor various aspects of your system, including performance, security, and reliability.

Administrative category logs are captured in specific diagnostic settings.

These settings are essential for maintaining security and compliance by monitoring administrative activities.

You can discover the segments capturing administrative logs by reviewing your Azure diagnostic settings.

The Workspace Id is a crucial piece of information when it comes to sending Diagnostic Logs to a Log Analytics workspace. It's a unique string identifier that identifies the workspace.

This string is in the format of an ARM resource ID, which includes the subscription ID, resource group, and workspace name. For example, /subscriptions/4b9e8510-67ab-4e9a-95a9-e2f1e570ea9c/resourceGroups/insights-integration/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/viruela2.

The Workspace Id can be retrieved from the properties.workspaceId provider name, which is a specific value that can be accessed in your workspace settings.

Administrative Categories are crucial for maintaining security and compliance in Azure. This is where you want to ensure that administrative activities are being properly monitored and logged.

To capture administrative logs, you need to explore the diagnostic settings in Azure. Specifically, look for settings that are set to capture logs in the 'Administrative' category.

Discovering the segments that are capturing administrative logs in your Azure diagnostic settings can be a game-changer. This helps you stay on top of security and compliance, and ensures that you're not missing any critical information.

Administrative logs are essential for auditing and troubleshooting purposes. By capturing these logs, you can identify potential issues and take corrective action before they become major problems.

To ensure that administrative activities are being properly monitored and logged, you need to list the diagnostic settings that capture Administrative category logs. This is a straightforward process that can be completed in just a few steps.