Azure Diagnostics Manager for Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Azure Diagnostics Manager is a powerful tool for monitoring and troubleshooting Azure resources. It provides a centralized platform for collecting, storing, and analyzing diagnostic data.

With Azure Diagnostics Manager, you can collect diagnostic data from various sources, including Azure Compute, Azure Storage, and Azure Networking. This data can be used to identify issues, troubleshoot problems, and optimize resource performance.

The manager allows you to configure and manage diagnostic settings for your Azure resources, ensuring that you have the right data to analyze and troubleshoot issues. You can also use it to set alerts and notifications for critical issues, so you can take action quickly.

You can install and configure the Azure Diagnostics extension in various ways, including using Azure Resource Manager templates, PowerShell, and the Azure CLI. The extension is also available in the Azure portal under Diagnostic settings in the Monitoring section of the virtual machine's menu.

To install the diagnostics extension in the Azure portal, you can follow these steps: open the menu for a virtual machine, select Diagnostic settings in the Monitoring section, and then select Enable guest-level monitoring. A new Azure Storage account will be created for the VM, and you can select the guest metrics and logs to collect from the virtual machine.

The diagnostics extension can be configured in either JSON or XML, but any configuration done in the Azure portal will always be stored as JSON. You can also use PowerShell or the Azure CLI to deploy the extension, which allows you to specify the details of the storage account as parameters of the Set-AzVMDiagnosticsExtension cmdlet or the az vm extension set command, respectively.

Here are the steps to install the diagnostics extension using the Azure portal:

You can install and configure the diagnostics extension on an individual virtual machine in the Azure portal. This is a great option if you're not comfortable working directly with the configuration.

The Azure portal offers a user-friendly interface to enable the diagnostics extension, which will automatically use a default configuration with the most common performance counters and events.

To install the diagnostics extension in the Azure portal, you'll need to follow these steps: open the menu for a virtual machine, select Diagnostic settings in the Monitoring section, select Enable guest-level monitoring, and then configure the default settings according to your requirements.

A new Azure Storage account will be created for the VM, and you can customize the guest performance counters and logs to collect the data you need. You can also specify whether to send the data to locations other than Azure storage.

Here are the specific steps to install and configure the diagnostics extension in the Azure portal:

Note that any configuration done in the Azure portal will always be stored as JSON, and there's no option to set up the retention period for these logs.

Azure offers native monitoring tools to ensure your integration is monitored under the same roof.

Azure itself provides hands-on native monitoring tools to ensure your Azure integration is properly monitored.

These native monitoring tools are offered by Azure to help you troubleshoot and identify issues with your integration.

You can use Azure's native monitoring tools to get a comprehensive view of your integration's performance and identify areas for improvement.

Azure's native monitoring tools are designed to help you identify and resolve issues quickly, reducing downtime and improving overall system reliability.

The Azure Diagnostics Manager allows you to collect data from your virtual machines and send it to various destinations for analysis and monitoring.

You can configure the Azure Diagnostics extension to collect data into an Azure Storage account, where it will be stored in specific tables and blobs.

There are several data sinks available for the Windows and Linux diagnostics extension, which enable you to send data to other destinations.

The Azure Monitor Metrics sink collects performance data and sends it to the Azure Monitor metric database.

Event Hubs can be used to send data outside of Azure, and it's also a destination for the Log Analytics agent (LAD).

You can write data to blobs in Azure Storage in addition to tables using the Azure Storage blobs sink.

The Azure Monitor Metrics sink requires the Telegraf agent to be installed in addition to LAD, in order to collect custom metrics for a Linux VM.

Here's a summary of the available data sinks for the Windows and Linux diagnostics extension:

Azure offers several tools to view diagnostic data after it's transferred to storage. You can use Server Explorer in Visual Studio to view read-only blob and table data from your Azure Storage accounts.

Server Explorer in Visual Studio is a powerful tool that allows you to display data from your local storage emulator account and from storage accounts you've created for Azure. Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer is another standalone app that enables you to easily work with Azure Storage data on Windows, OSX, and Linux.

Azure Management Studio includes Azure Diagnostics Manager, which allows you to view, download, and manage the diagnostics data collected by the applications running on Azure. This tool is especially useful for managing large amounts of diagnostic data.

Here are some of the tools available for viewing diagnostic data:

If you're looking to view diagnostic data, you're in luck because several tools are available to help you do just that.

Server Explorer in Visual Studio is one of the tools at your disposal. If you've installed the Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio, you can use the Azure Storage node in Server Explorer to view read-only blob and table data from your Azure Storage accounts.

Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer is another tool that's worth mentioning. This standalone app enables you to easily work with Azure Storage data on Windows, OSX, and Linux.

Azure Management Studio is also a useful tool for viewing diagnostic data. It includes Azure Diagnostics Manager, which allows you to view, download, and manage the diagnostics data collected by the applications running on Azure.

Here are the tools mentioned, summarized in a handy list:

Product Integrations are a crucial aspect of any tool or service.

The product in question saves data in a Log Analytics workspace, allowing it to be analyzed alongside other log data from Azure Monitor.

This integration enables users to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their data.

By saving data in a Log Analytics workspace, the product becomes part of a larger ecosystem, making it easier to track and analyze performance.

Third-Party Tools are essential for getting customized monitoring in Azure, as the native tools can't provide that.

With native Azure monitoring tools, you can't get application-level consolidated monitoring, which is where third-party tools come in to fill the gaps.

Third-party Azure monitoring tools are available in the market to complement the limitations of Azure Monitor.

These tools offer more flexibility and control over your monitoring setup, allowing you to tailor it to your specific needs.

In fact, some third-party tools can even provide real-time monitoring and alerting, giving you a more responsive and proactive approach to issue resolution.

Azure Monitor is the central plane for all monitoring toolsets, and it's recommended to start with Azure Monitor even if you want to look at metrics or Application Insights. It provides a comprehensive solution for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry from your cloud and on-premises environments.

You can set up monitoring using pre-defined templates to minimize manual effort, and continuously monitor Azure services on different metrics/properties at no additional cost. This includes metrics such as CPU utilization, storage, and network latency.

Azure Monitor collects data from various sources, including Azure resources, operating systems, and custom sources. The data can be obtained from a range of sources through Azure Control, and users can opt for monitoring data at different levels across the application, operating system, and resources it depends on.

Here are the three types of Azure Alerts available:

Azure Monitor receives data from target resources like applications, operating systems, Azure resources, Azure subscriptions, and Azure tenants. This data can be in the form of metrics, logs, or both.

The focus for metric-based data types is on numerical time-sensitive values that represent some aspect of the target resource. For example, metrics can provide performance statistics for different resources and the operating system in a virtual machine.

Azure Monitor processes this data to perform different functions such as analysis, visualization, alerting, automation, and integrations. It's like having a centralized hub that collects and analyzes data from various sources.

The nature of the resource defines which data types are available. For instance, activity logs are subscription-level logs that provide insight into operations performed on resources in your subscription. Resource logs, on the other hand, are resource-level logs that provide insight into operations performed within a resource itself.

Here are the different types of data that Azure Monitor receives:

Metric Alerts are a powerful tool in Azure Monitor, allowing you to set regular threshold monitoring for your Azure resources. They run evaluation conditions at regular intervals and send notifications when the conditions are met.

Metric Alerts are stateful, which means they only send notifications when the prerequisite conditions are met. This ensures you get the alerts you need without unnecessary noise. For example, you can set up a Metric Alert to notify you when your server CPU utilization reaches a critical threshold of 90%.

Metric Alerts can be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as monitoring server CPU utilization, database storage levels, or network latency. They help you stay on top of potential issues before they become major problems.

Here are some examples of Metric Alerts:

By setting up Metric Alerts, you can move from reactive to proactive monitoring and reduce downtime. This is especially important in DevSecOps environments where visibility and monitoring are crucial.

Log Alerts are a powerful tool for monitoring your Azure resources. They use log data to assess rule logic and trigger alerts if necessary. This data can come from any Azure resource: server logs, application server logs, or application logs.

Log Alerts are focused on analytics and trends, making them ideal for historical data analysis. For example, you can use Log Alerts to assess if any of your servers have exceeded their CPU utilization by a given threshold during the last 30 minutes.

You can also use Log Alerts to evaluate response codes issued on your web application server in the last hour. This can help you identify any issues with your application and take corrective action.

Log Alerts can be used to monitor a variety of metrics, including CPU utilization, memory usage, and disk space. They can also be used to monitor custom metrics, such as the number of failed login attempts.

Here are some key benefits of using Log Alerts:

By using Log Alerts, you can gain valuable insights into your Azure resources and take proactive steps to prevent issues from occurring.