Azure Windows VMs Monitoring

Setup Azure Monitor Logs

This Opspack utilises Azure Monitor Logs to collect data directly from your Azure Virtual Machines. To enable Azure Monitor Logs follow the steps outlined below. If you already have an Azure Workspace, you can skip Step 1.

Step 1: Create a Workspace

In the Azure portal, click All Services and filter for Log Analytics workspaces. Select Log Analytics workspaces.

Click Create, and then fill in the fields as described:

• Select a Subscription from the drop-down list.
• Select an existing Resource Group or create a new one.
• Provide a Name such as DefaultWorkspace.
• Select the Region your VMs are deployed to.
• Optionally, you can click Next : Pricing tier to select the Pricing Tier you use.

After providing the required fields click Review + Create and then Create.

From the list of Log Analytics workspaces, select the workspace you just created.

From the left-hand menu, select Overview.

Make a note of the Workspace ID as this will be required when configuring the Opspack.

Step 2: Enable the Azure Monitor Agent and collect performance data

Log Analytics can be enabled on existing Azure Linux and Windows VMs using the Azure Monitor Agent.

In the Azure portal, click All Services and filter for Data collection rules. Select Data collection rules.

Create a new Data Collection rule

In Basics, select 'Windows' as the Platform Type. Don't forget to specify the name of your data collection rule.

In Resources, click on 'Add resources' and select the necessary virtual machine(s). Click 'Apply' to add the resources.

In Collect and Deliver tab, click on 'Add data source' and select Performance Counters as the Data Source type.

Switch to Custom. We don't need to include all performance counters, so just make sure the following performance counters are ticked. You can use the search bar to filter the list:

• \LogicalDisk(_Total)\% Free Space
• \LogicalDisk(_Total)\Free Megabytes

• \Memory\% Committed Bytes In Use
• \Memory\Available Bytes

• \Processor Information(_Total)\% Processor Time

• \System\Processor Queue Length
• \System\System Up Time

In Destination, click 'Add destination' and specify destination type as "Azure Monitor Logs". Specify your Log Analytics workspace in Destination Details.

After that, click on 'Add data source'.

After adding the performance counter data source, add a 'Windows Event Logs' data source.

Under Basic, make sure all checkboxes under Error, Warning, and Information for the following data sources are ticked as shown:

• System
• Application

In Destination, click 'Add destination' and specify destination type as "Azure Monitor Logs". Specify your Log Analytics workspace in Destination Details.

After that, click on 'Add data source'.

Once you have added the necessary data sources, click on 'Review + create' to review the configurations.

The status should show Validation passed. Finally, click 'Create' to deploy the resource for agent installation.

The deployment should complete with no issues.

You can confirm that the provisioning has succeeded by clicking on 'Go to resource'. Then, the following page shows up.

Another way to verify the successful Azure Monitor Agent installation is by navigating to the respective virtual machine and then selecting 'Extensions + applications' under 'Settings' in the Left Panel. Confirm the status is 'Provisioning succeeded' for AzureMonitorWindowsAgent.

 

Finally, select the Legacy storage account logs option under your workspace, and add the storage account related to your virtual machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usage Instructions

To use this Host Template you will need to provide access to the subscription you wish to monitor

Navigate to the Subscriptions section and select your Subscription.

In the Subscription to be monitored, click Access Control (IAM).

Then click the Add button, select the required role and select the application, once for each of the following roles:

• Reader

Repeat these steps for each subscription you wish to monitor.

Step 1: Add this Host Template

Add the Cloud - Azure - Windows VMs Host Template to your Opsview Monitor host. If the resource you're monitoring has no hostname or public IP, then open the Advanced settings pane and change Host Check Command to Always assumed to be UP.

For more information, refer to Opsview Knowledge Center - Adding Host Templates to Hosts.

Step 2: Add and configure variables required for this Host Template

The Service Checks in this Host Template use the following variables, and they will be added to your Opsview Monitor instance when you import the Opspack:

AZURE_CREDENTIALS

The Value is not used and therefore can be set to anything. Override the arguments with your Azure Credentials.

AZURE_RESOURCE_DETAILS

The Value is not used and therefore can be set to anything. Override the arguments with your Azure Resource Details.

AZURE_LOG_ANALYTICS_DETAILS

The Value is not used and therefore can be set to anything. Override the arguments with your Log Analytics Details.

AZURE_COMPUTER_NAME

Set this value to the hostname of the Azure VM you want to monitor if it is different from the resource name. If your VM has been joined to a domain you will need to specify the FQDN.

For more information, refer to Opsview Knowledge Center - Adding Variables to Hosts.

For mode-specific help, run the plugin with the -h -m <mode> flags. This will list the required and optional Variable Arguments for that mode. The appropriate mode for each Service Check is listed here:

Step 3: Apply changes and the system will now be monitored