Implementing Azure Monitor for application and infrastructure monitoring

Posted on by Panther

Azure Monitor is a comprehensive, fully managed solution for monitoring applications and infrastructure in the cloud. This service provides a single platform for monitoring and analyzing metrics, logs, and events from various Azure resources. Azure Monitor is designed to provide deep insights into the applications and services deployed in the Azure cloud environment, as well as the underlying infrastructure.

In this tutorial, we will explore how to leverage the capabilities of Azure Monitor to monitor both applications and infrastructure. We will start by examining the various components of Azure Monitor and how they work together to provide a full picture of the system’s health. Then we will delve deeper into how to set up and configure Azure Monitor to monitor your applications and infrastructure, including creating and managing alerts and dashboards.

Azure Monitor Components

Azure Monitor is composed of several components that work together to provide comprehensive monitoring and reporting capabilities. These components include:

Azure Monitor Logs

Azure Monitor logs is a centralized log management solution that collects logs from various Azure services and third-party applications. With Azure Monitor logs, you can collect and analyze logs from different sources such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Functions, and many more. Azure Monitor logs integrates with Azure Log Analytics and provides advanced querying capabilities that allow you to search, filter, and analyze log data.

Azure Monitor Metrics

Azure Monitor metrics is a service that collects and analyzes performance metrics from various Azure services. Metrics are numerical data that can be measured over time, such as CPU usage, disk usage, network traffic, and more. Azure Monitor metrics collects and stores metric data at a selected frequency, enabling you to retrieve and analyze data with ease. You can also set alerts based on metrics to notify you when specific values are triggered.

Azure Application Insights

Azure Application Insights is an application performance management (APM) service that provides a comprehensive view of the performance of your application. This service provides insights into how your application performs in production, including telemetry data such as request rates, response times, and failure rates. With Azure Application Insights, you can also monitor dependencies and track custom events.

Azure Alerts

Azure Alerts is a notification service that allows you to create alerts based on metrics or log data. Alerts can be configured to send notifications via email, SMS, webhook, or integration with popular collaboration tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. With Azure Alerts, you can set up alert rules for specific metric thresholds or log queries.

Azure Dashboards

Azure Dashboards is a customizable workspace within Azure Monitor that allows you to create and share visualizations of your monitoring data. With Azure Dashboards, you can quickly create and share live visualizations of your data for quick insights into the health and performance of your applications.

Configuring Azure Monitor

To get started with Azure Monitor, you will first need an Azure subscription. Once you have an Azure subscription, you can create an Azure Monitor workspace to begin collecting and analyzing monitoring data. You can create an Azure Monitor workspace using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI.

Creating an Azure Monitor Workspace

To create an Azure Monitor workspace using the Azure portal, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Azure portal, and navigate to the Azure Monitor menu.

  2. Click the + Create a resource button.

  3. In the New menu, search for Log Analytics, and click the Log Analytics result.

  4. Click the Create button to open the Log Analytics workspace creation blade.

  5. In the Basics tab, specify the following details:

  • Name: A unique name for your workspace.
  • Subscription: Select the Azure subscription that you want to use.
  • Resource group: Select an existing resource group or create a new one.
  • Region: Select the region where you want the workspace to be created.
  • Pricing tier: Choose a pricing tier that meets your needs.

  1. After completing the Basics tab, click the Review + create button to review your settings.

  2. Once you have reviewed your settings, click the Create button to create your Azure Monitor workspace.

Collecting Data with Azure Monitor

After creating an Azure Monitor workspace, you can begin collecting data from various sources such as Azure applications, virtual machines, and third-party applications. Azure Monitor collects data using agents and connectors, which are installed on the sources you want to monitor.

Collecting Data from Azure Resources

To begin collecting data from Azure resources, you will need to enable diagnostic settings for the resource. Diagnostic settings allow you to collect logs and metrics from the resource and send them to an Azure Monitor workspace. To enable diagnostic settings, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the resource you want to monitor, and open the Diagnostic settings menu.

  2. Click the + Add diagnostic setting button.

  3. In the Add diagnostic setting blade, specify the following details:

  • Name: A unique name for your diagnostic setting.
  • Log: Select the log categories you want to collect, such as application logs, security logs, or system logs.
  • Metrics: Select the metric categories you want to collect, such as CPU usage, network traffic, or available memory.
  • Destination: Select your Azure Monitor workspace.
  1. After specifying the details, click the Save button to save your diagnostic settings.

Once you have enabled diagnostic settings, data will start to flow into your Azure Monitor workspace. You can then use the Azure Monitor dashboard, Azure Monitor logs, or Azure Monitor metrics to view and analyze the data.

Collecting Data from Non-Azure Sources

To collect data from non-Azure sources, you will need to install an Azure Monitor agent or a connector on the source. Azure Monitor supports various agents and connectors, depending on the type of source you want to monitor.

Azure Monitor provides agents for collecting monitoring data from virtual machines and container workloads running on Azure Kubernetes Service. For other non-Azure sources, such as on-premise servers or third-party applications, you can use the Log Analytics agent or the Azure Monitor Data Collector API to connect to your Azure Monitor workspace.

To install the Azure Monitor agent on a virtual machine, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Azure portal, and navigate to the virtual machine you want to monitor.

  2. Open the Extensions menu, and click the + Add button.

  3. In the Add Extension blade, select the Azure Monitor for VMs extension.

  4. Select the workspace you want to associate the extension with.

  5. After specifying the details, click the OK button to save your configuration.

Once you have installed the Azure Monitor agent, data from the virtual machine will flow into your Azure Monitor workspace.

To install the Log Analytics agent or the Azure Monitor Data Collector API, you will need to follow the installation instructions provided by Microsoft.

Creating Alerts with Azure Monitor

Azure Monitor alerts allow you to create notifications based on specific conditions or thresholds. To create an alert in Azure Monitor, you will need to create an alert rule based on a metric or log query. Alert rules can be created using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI.

Creating an Alert Rule

To create an alert rule using the Azure portal, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Azure portal, and navigate to the Azure Monitor workspace.

  2. Click the Alerts menu, and click the + New alert rule button.

  3. Specify the following details:

  • Resource type: The type of resource you want to create an alert for.
  • Condition: The condition that must be met for the alert to trigger, such as a metric threshold or a log event.
  • Action: The action that should be taken when the alert is triggered, such as sending an email, webhook, or SMS notification.
  1. After specifying the details, click the Create Alert Rule button to create your alert rule.

Creating an Alert Action

Once you have created an alert rule, you can create an action that will be triggered when the alert is fired. Alert actions can be triggered via email, SMS, webhook, or integration with popular collaboration tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.

To create an alert action using the Azure portal, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Azure portal, and navigate to the Azure Monitor workspace.

  2. Click the Alerts menu, and click the alert rule you want to configure.

  3. In the Actions tab, click the + Add action group button.

  4. In the Add action group blade, specify the following details:

  • Name: A unique name for your action group.
  • Email/SMS/Webhook: Specify the destination for the alert notification.
  1. After specifying the details, click the Create action group button to create your alert action.

Creating Dashboards with Azure Monitor

Azure Monitor dashboards allow you to visualize and analyze your monitoring data. Dashboards can contain various kinds of visualizations, such as charts, tables, and maps. Azure Monitor dashboards can be created using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI.

Creating a Dashboard

To create a dashboard using the Azure portal, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Azure portal, and navigate to the Azure Monitor workspace.

  2. Click the Dashboards menu, and click the + New dashboard button.

  3. Specify a name and layout for your dashboard.

  4. Click the Add tile button to add one of the following types of tile:

  • Chart: A chart that displays metric data.
  • Grid: A table that displays log data.
  • Map: A map that displays location data.

  1. After adding a tile, you can configure it to display the data you want to see.

  2. After configuring your dashboard, click the Save button to save your changes.

Conclusion

Azure Monitor provides a comprehensive solution for monitoring applications and infrastructure in the cloud. This service allows you to collect and analyze data from various sources and gain insights into the health and performance of your systems. In this tutorial, we explored the different components of Azure Monitor, how to set up and configure Azure Monitor to monitor your applications and infrastructure, and how to create and manage alerts and dashboards. With Azure Monitor, you can ensure that your cloud-based applications and services are operating at optimal levels.

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