Class & Module AZ-104T00A: Microsoft Azure Administrator
IU 11: Implement Monitoring
Name Azfar Bin Azmi
Date & Time 05/12/2022 , 1.34am
Disclaimer
The content in this lab is presented as designed by Microsoft. Any bugs or errors contained in these
materials are maintained by Microsoft. The content provided has been adapted to Skillable’s
environment, optimizing user experience within the platform. If lab issues are identified that do not
pertain directly to Skillable’s platform, you can send feedback to Microsoft Learning through the Partner
Resource Center at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/certification-and-training-
help.
Table of Contents
Required Lab Setup
Exercise 1 - Instructions
Exercise 1 - Review Questions
Required Lab Setup
Login
1. Hello Benjamin, on SEA-Dev click Ctrl+Alt+Delete to activate the Ctrl + Alt + Delete sequence and
bring up the logon page.
Any links like the one above will send Ctrl+Alt+Delete to the selected machine. This can also be
done the Commands menu (lightning bolt) in the upper-left hand corner of the screen.
2. Sign in as Admin with the password Pa55w.rd.
Download Files
Click the button below to copy lab files from GitHub. This step is required for lab completion.
Once you have received the 'Success!' message, click Next to proceed to the lab.
Lab 11 - Implement Monitoring
Student lab manual
Lab scenario
You need to evaluate Azure functionality that would provide insight into performance and configuration
of Azure resources, focusing in particular on Azure virtual machines. To accomplish this, you intend to
examine the capabilities of Azure Monitor, including Log Analytics.
Note: An interactive lab simulation is available that allows you to click through this lab at your own
pace. You may find slight differences between the interactive simulation and the hosted lab, but the
core concepts and ideas being demonstrated are the same.
Objectives
In this lab, you will:
Task 1: Provision the lab environment
Task 2: Register the Microsoft.Insights and Microsoft.AlertsManagement resource providers
Task 3: Create and configure an Azure Log Analytics workspace and Azure Automation-based
solutions
Task 4: Review default monitoring settings of Azure virtual machines
Task 5: Configure Azure virtual machine diagnostic settings
Task 6: Review Azure Monitor functionality
Task 7: Review Azure Log Analytics functionality
Estimated timing: 45 minutes
Architecture diagram
Instructions
Exercise 1
Task 1: Provision the lab environment
In this task, you will deploy a virtual machine that will be used to test monitoring scenarios.
1. Sign in to the https://portal.azure.com.
2. In the Azure portal, open the Azure Cloud Shell by clicking on the icon in the top right of the
Azure Portal.
3. If prompted to select either Bash or PowerShell, select PowerShell.
If this is the first time you are starting Cloud Shell and you are presented with the You have no
storage mounted message, select the subscription you are using in this lab, and click Create
storage.
4. In the toolbar of the Cloud Shell pane, click the Upload/Download files icon, in the drop-down
menu, click Upload and upload the files \Allfiles\Labs\11\az104-11-vm-template.json and \
Allfiles\Labs\11\az104-11-vm-parameters.json into the Cloud Shell home directory.
5. Edit the Parameters file you just uploaded and change the password. If you need help editing
the file in the Shell please ask your instructor for assistance. As a best practice, secrets, like
passwords, should be more securely stored in the Key Vault.
6. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to create the resource group that will be hosting
the virtual machines (replace the [Azure_region] placeholder with the name of an Azure region
where you intend to deploy Azure virtual machines):
Make sure to choose one of the regions listed as Log Analytics Workspace Region in the
referenced in Workspace mappings documentation
$location = '[Azure_region]'
$rgName = 'az104-11-rg0'
New-AzResourceGroup -Name $rgName -Location $location
7. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to create the first virtual network and deploy a
virtual machine into it by using the template and parameter files you uploaded:
New-AzResourceGroupDeployment `
-ResourceGroupName $rgName `
-TemplateFile $HOME/az104-11-vm-template.json `
-TemplateParameterFile $HOME/az104-11-vm-parameters.json `
-AsJob
Do not wait for the deployment to complete but instead proceed to the next task. The
deployment should take about 3 minutes.
Task 2: Register the Microsoft.Insights and Microsoft.AlertsManagement resource
providers.
1. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to register the Microsoft.Insights and
Microsoft.AlertsManagement resource providers.
Register-AzResourceProvider -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.Insights
Register-AzResourceProvider -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.AlertsManagement
2. Minimize Cloud Shell pane (but do not close it).
Task 3: Create and configure an Azure Log Analytics workspace and Azure
Automation-based solutions
In this task, you will create and configure an Azure Log Analytics workspace and Azure Automation-
based solutions
1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Log Analytics workspaces and, on the Log Analytics
workspaces blade, click + Create.
2. On the Basics tab of the Create Log Analytics workspace blade, enter the following settings,
click Review + Create and then click Create:
Settings Value
Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
Resource group the name of a new resource group az104-11-rg1
Log Analytics any unique name
Workspace
the name of the Azure region into which you deployed the virtual
Region
machine in the previous task
Make sure that you specify the same region into which you deployed virtual machines in the
previous task.
Wait for the deployment to complete. The deployment should take about 1 minute.
3. In the Azure portal, search for and select Automation Accounts, and on the Automation
Accounts blade, click + Create.
4. On the Create an Automation Account blade, specify the following settings, and click Review +
Create upon validation click Create:
Settings Value
Automation account
any unique name
name
Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
Resource group az104-11-rg1
the name of the Azure region determined based on Workspace
Region
mappings documentation
Make sure that you specify the Azure region based on the Workspace mappings documentation
Wait for the deployment to complete. The deployment might take about 3 minutes.
5. Click Go to resource.
6. On the Automation account blade, in the Configuration Management section, click Inventory.
7. In the Inventory pane, in the Log Analytics workspace drop-down list, select the Log Analytics
workspace you created earlier in this task and click Enable.
Wait for the installation of the corresponding Log Analytics solution to complete. This might take
about 3 minutes.
This automatically installs the Change tracking solution as well.
8. On the Automation account blade, in the Update Management section, click Update
management and click Enable.
Wait for the installation to complete. This might take about 5 minutes.
Task 4: Review default monitoring settings of Azure virtual machines
In this task, you will review default monitoring settings of Azure virtual machines
1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Virtual machines, and on the Virtual machines blade,
click az104-11-vm0.
2. On the az104-11-vm0 blade, in the Monitoring section, click Metrics.
3. On the az104-11-vm0 | Metrics blade, on the default chart, note that the only available Metrics
Namespace is Virtual Machine Host.
This is expected, since no guest-level diagnostic settings have been configured yet. You do have,
however, the option of enabling guest memory metrics directly from the Metrics Namespace
drop down-list. You will enable it later in this exercise.
4. In the Metric drop-down list, review the list of available metrics.
The list includes a range of CPU, disk, and network-related metrics that can be collected from
the virtual machine host, without having access into guest-level metrics.
5. In the Metric drop-down list, select Percentage CPU, in the Aggregation drop-down list, select
Avg, and review the resulting chart.
Task 5: Configure Azure virtual machine diagnostic settings
In this task, you will configure Azure virtual machine diagnostic settings.
1. On the az104-11-vm0 blade, in the Monitoring section, click Diagnostic settings.
2. On the Overview tab of the az104-11-vm0 | Diagnostic settings blade, click Enable guest-level
monitoring.
Wait for the operation to take effect. This might take about 3 minutes.
3. Switch to the Performance counters tab of the az104-11-vm0 | Diagnostic settings blade and
review the available counters.
By default, CPU, memory, disk, and network counters are enabled. You can switch to the
Custom view for more detailed listing.
4. Switch to the Logs tab of the az104-11-vm0 | Diagnostic settings blade and review the available
event log collection options.
By default, log collection includes critical, error, and warning entries from the Application Log
and System log, as well as Audit failure entries from the Security log. Here as well you can switch
to the Custom view for more detailed configuration settings.
5. On the az104-11-vm0 blade, in the Monitoring section, click Log Analytics Agent and then click
Enable.
6. On the az104-11-vm0 - Logs blade, ensure that the Log Analytics workspace you created earlier
in this lab is selected in the Choose a Log Analytics Workspace drop-down list and click Enable.
Do not wait for the operation to complete but instead proceed to the next step. The operation
might take about 5 minutes.
7. On the az104-11-vm0 | Logs blade, in the Monitoring section, click Metrics.
8. On the az104-11-vm0 | Metrics blade, on the default chart, note that at this point, the Metrics
Namespace drop-down list, in addition to the Virtual Machine Host entry includes also the
Guest (classic) entry.
This is expected, since you enabled guest-level diagnostic settings. You also have the option to
Enable new guest memory metrics.
9. In the Metrics Namespace drop-down list, select the Guest (classic) entry.
10. In the Metric drop-down list, review the list of available metrics.
The list includes additional guest-level metrics not available when relying on the host-level
monitoring only.
11. In the Metric drop-down list, select Memory\Available Bytes, in the Aggregation drop-down
list, select Max, and review the resulting chart.
Create a screenshot showing the result.
Task 6: Review Azure Monitor functionality
1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Monitor and, on the Monitor | Overview blade, click
Metrics.
2. On the Select a scope blade, on the Browse tab, navigate to the az104-11-rg0 resource group,
expand it, select the checkbox next to the az104-11-vm0 virtual machine entry within that
resource group, and click Apply.
This gives you the same view and options as those available from the az104-11-vm0 - Metrics
blade.
3. In the Metric drop-down list, select Percentage CPU, in the Aggregation drop-down list, select
Avg, and review the resulting chart.
4. On the Monitor | Metrics blade, on the Avg Percentage CPU for az104-11-vm0 pane, click New
alert rule.
Creating an alert rule from Metrics is not supported for metrics from the Guest (classic) metric
namespace. This can be accomplished by using Azure Resource Manager templates, as
described in the document Send Guest OS metrics to the Azure Monitor metric store using a
Resource Manager template for a Windows virtual machine
5. On the Create alert rule blade, in the Condition section, click the existing condition entry.
6. On the Configure signal logic blade, in the list of signals, in the Alert logic section, specify the
following settings (leave others with their default values) and click Done:
Settings Value
Threshold Static
Operator Greater than
Aggregation type Average
Threshold value 2
Aggregation granularity (Period) 1 minute
Frequency of evaluation Every 1 Minute
7. Click Next: Actions >, on the Create an alert rule blade, in the Action group section, click the +
Create action group button.
8. On the Basics tab of the Create action group blade, specify the following settings (leave others
with their default values) and select Next: Notifications >:
Settings Value
Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
Resource group az104-11-rg1
Action group name az104-11-ag1
Display name az104-11-ag1
9. On the Notifications tab of the Create an action group blade, in the Notification type drop-
down list, select Email/SMS message/Push/Voice. In the Name text box, type admin email.
Click the Edit details (pencil) icon.
10. On the Email/SMS message/Push/Voice blade, select the Email checkbox, type your email
address in the Email textbox, leave others with their default values, click OK, back on the
Notifications tab of the Create an action group blade, select Next: Actions >.
11. On the Actions tab of the Create action group blade, review items available in the Action type
drop-down list without making any changes and select Review + create.
12. On the Review + create tab of the Create action group blade, select Create.
13. Back on the Create alert rule blade, click Next: Details >, and in the Alert rule details section,
specify the following settings (leave others with their default values):
Settings Value
Alert rule name CPU Percentage above the test threshold
Alert rule description CPU Percentage above the test threshold
Severity Sev 3
Enable upon creation Yes
14. Click Review + create and on the Review + create tab click Create.
It can take up to 10 minutes for a metric alert rule to become active.
15. In the Azure portal, search for and select Virtual machines, and on the Virtual machines blade,
click az104-11-vm0.
16. On the az104-11-vm0 blade, click Connect, in the drop-down menu, click RDP, on the Connect
with RDP blade, click Download RDP File and follow the prompts to start the Remote Desktop
session.
This step refers to connecting via Remote Desktop from a Windows computer. On a Mac, you
can use Remote Desktop Client from the Mac App Store and on Linux computers you can use an
open source RDP client software.
You can ignore any warning prompts when connecting to the target virtual machines.
17. When prompted, sign in by using the Student username and the password from the parameters
file.
18. Within the Remote Desktop session, click Start, expand the Windows System folder, and click
Command Prompt.
19. From the Command Prompt, run the following to trigger increased CPU utilization on the az104-
11-vm0 Azure VM:
for /l %a in (0,0,1) do echo a
This will initiate the infinite loop that should increase the CPU utilization above the threshold of
the newly created alert rule.
20. Leave the Remote Desktop session open and switch back to the browser window displaying the
Azure portal on your lab computer.
21. In the Azure portal, navigate back to the Monitor blade and click Alerts.
22. Note the number of Sev 3 alerts and then click the Sev 3 row.
You might need to wait for a few minutes and click Refresh.
23. On the All Alerts blade, review generated alerts.
Task 7: Review Azure Log Analytics functionality
1. In the Azure portal, navigate back to the Monitor blade, click Logs.
You might need to click Get Started if this is the first time you access Log Analytics.
2. If necessary, click Select scope, on the Select a scope blade, select the Recent tab, select az104-
11-vm0, and click Apply.
3. In the query window, paste the following query, click Run, and review the resulting chart:
// Virtual Machine available memory
// Chart the VM's available memory over the last hour.
InsightsMetrics
| where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
| where Name == "AvailableMB"
| project TimeGenerated, Name, Val
| render timechart
The query should not have any errors (indicated by red blocks on the right scroll bar). If the
query will not paste without errors directly from the instructions, paste the query code into a
text editor such as Notepad, and then copy and paste it into the query window from there.
4. Click Queries in the toolbar, on the Queries pane, locate the Track VM availability tile and
double-click it to fill the query window, click the Run command button in the tile, and review the
results.
5. On the New Query 1 tab, select the Tables header, and review the list of tables in the Virtual
machines section.
The names of several tables correspond to the solutions you installed earlier in this lab.
6. Hover the mouse over the VMComputer entry and click the See Preview data icon.
7. If any data is available, in the Update pane, click Use in editor.
You might need to wait a few minutes before the update data becomes available.
Create a screenshot showing the result.
Clean up resources
Remember to remove any newly created Azure resources that you no longer use. Removing unused
resources ensures you will not see unexpected charges. [!note] Don't worry if the lab resources cannot
be immediately removed. Sometimes resources have dependencies and take a longer time to delete. It
is a common Administrator task to monitor resource usage, so just periodically review your resources in
the Portal to see how the cleanup is going.
1. In the Azure portal, open the PowerShell session within the Cloud Shell pane.
2. List all resource groups created throughout the labs of this module by running the following
command:
Get-AzResourceGroup -Name 'az104-11*'
3. Delete all resource groups you created throughout the labs of this module by running the
following command:
Get-AzResourceGroup -Name 'az104-11*' | Remove-AzResourceGroup -Force -AsJob
The command executes asynchronously (as determined by the -AsJob parameter), so while you
will be able to run another PowerShell command immediately afterwards within the same
PowerShell session, it will take a few minutes before the resource groups are actually removed.
Review
In this lab, you have:
Provisioned the lab environment
Created and configured an Azure Log Analytics workspace and Azure Automation-based
solutions
Reviewed default monitoring settings of Azure virtual machines
Configured Azure virtual machine diagnostic settings
Reviewed Azure Monitor functionality
Reviewed Azure Log Analytics functionality
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed this Course. Click End to mark the lab as Complete.
