How Long Does Azure Keep Logs and What You Need to Know

Azure keeps logs for a minimum of 30 days, but this can be extended to 365 days or more with the right configuration.

You can customize the retention period to suit your needs, but it's essential to consider the costs and storage implications.

Azure provides a default retention period of 30 days for all logs, which is a good starting point for most users.

This default setting is in place to ensure that logs are available for a reasonable amount of time, while also keeping storage costs manageable.

You can set the Retention Period for your Azure Log Analytics workspace to up to 730 days (2 years) using the Azure Portal.

To do this, sign into the Azure Portal with an account that has Global administrator privileges and is assigned an Azure AD Premium license.

The default retention period for Activity Logs is 90 days, but you can export them manually or send them to a variety of destinations.

You can also configure your workspace to store data for up to 7 years, which is a great option if you need long-term storage.

Here's a quick rundown of the retention periods:

Set your retention period wisely to ensure you're meeting your organization's needs and regulatory requirements.

To configure the retention period for your Azure Log Analytics workspace, you'll need to sign into the Azure Portal with an account that has Global administrator privileges and is assigned an Azure AD Premium license.

First, click on "All services" in the Azure portal and type "Log Analytics" in the search bar. As you begin typing, the list will filter based on your input, and you'll select "Log Analytics workspaces" from the list.

Select the Azure Log Analytics workspace you want to set the retention period for, and the Log Analytics workspace pane will open. Then, in the menu on the left of the pane, choose "Usage and estimated costs."

At the top of the main pane, click on "Data Retention", and the Data Retention blade will open. Here, you can select an appropriate retention period using the slider, up to 730 days (2 years).

To summarize, the steps to configure the retention period are:

By following these steps, you'll be able to configure the retention period for your Azure Log Analytics workspace, ensuring that your data is stored for the desired amount of time.

Log Analytics is a powerful tool for collecting and analyzing log data from various sources. It's a must-have for anyone looking to get the most out of their Azure resources.

To access Log Analytics, you need to sign in to the Azure portal with your Azure account and select Log Analytics from the list of services. Once you're signed in, you can start collecting data from your resources and applications.

Log Analytics supports a wide range of data sources, including Azure resources, on-premises servers, applications, and various types of log and performance data. This makes it easy to get a comprehensive view of your entire infrastructure.

With Log Analytics, you can use the Log Analytics agent or other data collectors or APIs to send data to your workspace, security log repository, or SIEM. This flexibility is a major advantage over other data collection options.

Log Analytics provides a powerful query language that you can use to filter, group, and aggregate data. This means you can quickly and easily find the insights you need to make informed decisions.

Some of the main features of Log Analytics include:

Log Analytics Workspaces are a great option for collecting and analyzing log data, offering features like dashboard creation, alerting from logs, and integration with other Microsoft services. However, they come with higher costs.

Activity logs are generated each time someone logs into an Azure subscription, modifies a resource or service, or takes an action within a subscription.

These actions can include creating virtual machines or other resources, deleting resources, and using Azure PowerShell or CLI to connect or perform actions within your subscription.

Activity logs contain information about Azure resource health, subscription alerts, and more.

By default, these logs are retained within Azure for 90 days.

You can export these logs manually or send them to a variety of destinations.

With activity logs, you can discover incidents of service degradation and validate policies to ensure they are being applied or working as intended.

To access Azure Log Analytics, you need to sign in to the Azure portal with your Azure account. Once you’re signed in, you can access Log Analytics by selecting it from the list of services in the portal.

A Log Analytics workspace is a logical container for data that is collected and analyzed by Log Analytics. You can create multiple workspaces to organize data from different sources, or to use different data retention and access policies.

Some of the main features of Azure Log Analytics include: Wide range of data sources: Once you have a workspace set up, you can start collecting data from your resources and applications.Powerful query language: Log Analytics provides a powerful query language that you can use to filter, group, and aggregate data.Predefined queries and solutions: Use pre-built queries and solutions to get started quickly, or create your own custom queries and solutions.Monitoring and alerting: You can use Log Analytics to set up alerts that trigger when specific events or issues occur.Dashboards: Create dashboards to display real-time and historical data from your resources and applications.

Log Analytics Workspaces offer long-term storage of up to 7 years, allowing you to store and analyze your log data over an extended period. This is a significant advantage over using Azure Storage alone.

Having a clear understanding of what data to collect is crucial for effective log analytics. This means identifying the most relevant logs and metrics that will provide actionable insights.

It's essential to define a data retention policy to prevent log data from becoming overwhelming. This policy should outline how long data will be stored and when it will be deleted.

A well-structured log format is vital for efficient log analytics. This includes using a consistent naming convention and including relevant metadata.

Regularly reviewing and refining your log analytics setup is necessary to ensure it remains effective. This involves monitoring performance, identifying areas for improvement, and making adjustments as needed.

Data aggregation is a powerful tool in log analytics, allowing you to combine data from multiple sources into a single, comprehensive view. This can be done using various aggregation techniques, such as sum, average, and count.

Log Analytics Workspaces are a key feature of Azure Log Analytics that allow you to collect and analyze log data from various sources.

You can create multiple workspaces to organize data from different sources, or to use different data retention and access policies.

A workspace is a logical container for data that is collected and analyzed by Log Analytics.

You can collect data from a wide range of sources, including Azure resources, on-premises servers, applications, and various types of log and performance data.

To use Log Analytics, you need to create a Log Analytics workspace in your Azure subscription.

Some of the main features of Log Analytics Workspaces include:

To collect and monitor your Azure logs, you'll need to create a Log Analytics workspace in your Azure subscription. This workspace is a logical container for data collected and analyzed by Log Analytics.

You can collect data from a wide range of sources, including Azure resources, on-premises servers, applications, and various types of log and performance data. The Log Analytics agent or other data collectors or APIs can be used to send data to your workspace.

Log Analytics provides a powerful query language to filter, group, and aggregate data. You can also use pre-built queries and solutions to get started quickly.

To collect logs, you can enable diagnostic settings for platform logs and other logs through the Diagnostic Settings blade. This allows you to choose where you want these logs to go, such as a SIEM or a data analytics tool.

Here are some ways to collect Azure logs:

Azure Monitor Logs Architecture shows that data is stored in tables in the workspace, with each log type having its own table. The tables have properties defined by the type of data they store, although some properties are shared.

In the realm of security, having access to the right information can be a game-changer. Azure AD Logs contain valuable information such as sign-ins, device information, and group modifications.

These logs can be used to validate conditional access, discover brute force attacks, and even check if a user has disabled multi-factor authentication.

Azure Active Directory (AD) logs are a treasure trove of information, containing sign-ins, device information, and group modifications.

These logs can help you validate that conditional access is working as intended and even detect brute force attacks.

You can extend the default 7-day retention period to 30 days with Azure AD Premium series licenses.

This extended retention period is invaluable for security purposes, allowing you to keep a closer eye on your network.

Blumira alleviates the gaps for organizations with limited resources by automating tasks such as parsing, creating native third-party integrations, and testing and tuning detection rules to reduce noisy alerts.

This approach saves IT teams time and effort, allowing them to focus on other important tasks.

Blumira's unique approach to detections notifies you of threats other security tools may miss, sending real-time alerts in under a minute of initial detection.

This helps you respond to threats faster than ever, giving you a significant advantage in security.

With Blumira, you can easily meet compliance requirements with a year of data retention and deployment that takes minutes to hours.

Blumira's free edition integrates directly with your Microsoft 365 tenant to detect suspicious activity in your environment at no cost, and comes with a variety of Azure-related detections.

Here are some examples of detections included in Blumira's free edition: