Azure Monitor is a comprehensive, highly integrated and powerful tool that provides deep insights into applications, infrastructure, and network activities. It enables you to maximize performance and availability while ensuring excellent user experiences through proactive monitoring and diagnostics. Azure Monitor, offering built-in integration with most Azure services, provides rich, out-of-the-box metrics and logs, in addition to advanced queries, analysis, and alerting capabilities.
Unarguably, one of the key tasks in keeping your Azure environment secure is configuring diagnostic logging and log retention for your resources.
Diagnostic Logging in Azure Monitor
Diagnostic logging is Azure’s feature for accessing raw data about the operation of a service. This data can tell you important detailed information about operations performed by the service, the commands used to perform these operations, etc.
In order to configure diagnostic settings in Azure portal, follow these steps:
- In the Azure portal, search for the desired resource (e.g., Azure Virtual Machine).
- Once in the selected resource, find the “Diagnostic settings” under the “Monitoring” section.
- Click on “Add diagnostic setting”.
- Define the setting, specify the details of the logs and metrics you want to capture, and where they should be stored or streamed (Log Analytics, Event Hubs or Storage Account).
- Click on “Save”.
For example, for a storage account, it would look like this:
{
“properties”: {
“storageAccountId”: “/subscriptions/your_subscription_ID/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/examplestorage”,
“logs”: [
{
“category”: “AuditEvent”,
“enabled”: true,
“retentionPolicy”: {
“enabled”: true,
“days”: 7
}
}
],
“metrics”: [
{
“category”: “AllMetrics”,
“enabled”: true,
“retentionPolicy”: {
“enabled”: true,
“days”: 7
}
}
]
}
}
Log Retention in Azure Monitor
For retaining logs, Azure Monitor provides policies that can be configured per data type. For instance, you can retain activity log data for 365 days and retain metric data for only 90 days.
To configure log retention settings in Azure portal:
- In the Azure Portal, search for Log Analytics Workspaces.
- Click on the workspace in which you wish to adjust settings.
- Under the workspace, find the “Usage and estimated costs” section.
- Under “Data Retention”, select the number of days you wish to retain data.
It’s important to note that retention days can have an impact on costs, as the more days the data is stored, the higher would be the cost implications.
Understanding how to configure and manage diagnostic logging and log retention in Azure Monitor is a crucial part of the AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies exam. The ability to configure and manage these settings effectively contributes to maintaining a secure and efficient Azure environment.
Practice Test
True or False: Azure Monitor can collect data from multiple sources into one consolidated platform.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Azure Monitor can collect data from a variety of sources such as applications, operating systems, and Azure resources, providing a consolidated view for monitoring.
Which of the following is not a feature of Azure Monitor?
- a) Log Analysis
- b) Data Collection
- c) Virtual Network Configuration
- d) Alerting and notifying
Answer: c) Virtual Network Configuration.
Explanation: Azure Monitor doesn’t configure virtual networks. It focuses on data collection, analysis, and alerting.
True or False: Diagnostic logs are stored indefinitely in Azure Monitor.
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Although Azure Monitor collects and stores diagnostic log data, the retention period is not indefinite and can be specified based on the requirements, with a maximum of 2 years.
Which Azure service is primarily used for log retention and analysis?
- a) Azure Cosmos DB
- b) Azure SQL Database
- c) Azure Logic Apps
- d) Azure Log Analytics
Answer: d) Azure Log Analytics.
Explanation: Azure Log Analytics is the primary tool in Azure Monitor for detailed analysis and exploration of log data.
Choose two primary categories of data collected by Azure Monitor?
- a) Logs
- b) Metrics
- c) Load Balancer
- d) VPN Gateway
Answer: a) Logs, b) Metrics.
Explanation: Azure Monitor collects two primary types of monitoring data: logs (records of events) and metrics (numerical values that describe some aspect of a system).
True or False: Metric data is typically stored cost-free for 90 days.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Azure Monitor retains metric data for free for 90 days.
Azure Monitor can be configured to send an alert when a certain log activity occurs. Choose the correct statement?
- a) Azure Monitor supports sending alerts via email, SMS and webhook.
- b) Azure Monitor supports sending alerts via email only.
- c) Azure Monitor does not support sending alerts.
Answer: a) Azure Monitor supports sending alerts via email, SMS and webhook.
Explanation: Azure Monitor can be configured to send alerts to specified individuals using different communication channels, not just email.
True or False: Diagnostic logs are disabled by default in Azure Monitor.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Diagnostic logs are not enabled by default and must be manually enabled based on the monitoring requirements.
While configuring log retention in Azure Monitor, can retention period be configured for individual logs?
- Yes
- No
Answer: No.
Explanation: Azure Monitor log retention applies to all logs and cannot be configured for individual logs.
Azure Monitor supports integration with which of the following third-party tools for log analysis?
- a) Grafana
- b) Splunk
- c) Both A and B
- d) None of the above
Answer: c) Both A and B.
Explanation: Azure Monitor supports integration with various popular third-party tools for log analysis and visualization like Grafana and Splunk.
Interview Questions
What is Azure Monitor used for in the realm of diagnostic logging and log retention?
Azure Monitor collects, aggregates, and organizes log data from your applications, the operating system, system services, and the Azure infrastructure, providing a unified and in-depth set of data to enable robust resource diagnostics and troubleshooting.
What are the two types of logs that Azure Monitor can produce?
Azure Monitor produces Activity logs and Diagnostic logs. Activity logs provide insight into operations performed on resources in a subscription. Diagnostic logs offer details about the operation of a specific resource, such as a VM or web app.
What does log retention in Azure Monitor allow us to do?
Log retention in Azure Monitor allows us to set the period of time that log data is retained, thus ensuring that we comply with any regulations or company policies on data retention, and manage costs associated with storing log data.
How do you configure the diagnostic settings to export Azure Monitor logs to different destinations?
You can use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, PowerShell, or the REST API to configure the diagnostic settings and export the logs to different destinations like Log Analytics workspace, Event Hubs, or Azure Storage Account.
Where are the diagnostic logs stored by default in Azure Monitor?
By default, Azure Monitor doesn’t store diagnostic logs. However, when you enable diagnostics, you can choose to store them in a storage account for archival, stream them to an event hub for telemetry, or send them to Log Analytics for log search and custom dashboarding.
How can you configure log retention for Azure Storage Account?
You can configure log retention for Azure Storage Account by navigating to the Diagnostic settings pane in your Azure Storage Account and fine-tuning the Data Retention settings according to your specific needs.
What types of data are stored in Azure Diagnostic logs?
Azure Diagnostic logs contain all types of operations data, including resource-specific data, control/management operations, and data-plane operations.
How long can log data be retained in Azure Monitor?
The length of log data retention in Azure Monitor varies according to the data type and workspace pricing tier. Data can be retained from 31 to 730 days.
How can you configure the retention period for Azure Monitor logs?
The retention period for Azure Monitor logs can be configured in the Log Analytics workspace by navigating to the Usage and estimated costs page and adjusting the Data Retention settings.
Can Azure Monitor logs be exported to a third-party SIEM tool?
Yes, Azure Monitor logs can be exported to a non-Azure location for scenarios such as long-term archiving, backup, and integration with third-party Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools.
What is the purpose of the Azure Monitor Logs API?
The Azure Monitor Logs API allows developers to fully automate their Azure Monitor workflows, including log query execution, alert rule creation, and setting up diagnostics.
Can you limit access to Azure Monitor Logs?
Yes, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can be used to limit who can view and manage Azure Monitor Logs. The built-in roles for Azure Monitor provide specific access to view and work with logs.
How can you monitor the costs related to log data retention in Azure Monitor?
You can monitor the costs related to log data retention in Azure Monitor by viewing the usage and cost data in the Azure portal, specifically within the Log Analytics workspace.
Can you delete Azure Monitor Logs manually?
No, data in Azure Monitor Logs is automatically deleted after the retention period you specify, but you can’t manually delete data before the end of this period.
How can you send Azure Monitor logs to a Log Analytics workspace?
You can send Azure Monitor Logs to a Log Analytics workspace by enabling the settings under the Diagnostic settings page for the resource in the Azure portal, and selecting the desired Log Analytics workspace as your destination.
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