Monitoring solutions in Azure Monitor

Article
11/22/2021
8 minutes to read

Caution

Many monitoring solutions are no longer in active development. We suggest you check each solution to see if it has a replacement. We suggest you not deploy new instances of solutions that have other options, even if those solutions are still available. Many have been replaced by a newer curated visualization or insight.

Monitoring solutions in Azure Monitor provide analysis of the operation of an Azure application or service. This article gives a brief overview of monitoring solutions in Azure and details on using and installing them.

You can add monitoring solutions to Azure Monitor for any applications and services that you use. They're typically available at no cost, but they collect data that might invoke usage charges.

Use monitoring solutions

The Overview page in Azure Monitor displays a tile for each solution installed in a Log Analytics workspace. To open this page, go to Azure Monitor in the Azure portal. On the Insights menu, select More to open Insights Hub, and then select Log Analytics workspaces.

Use the dropdown boxes at the top of the screen to change the workspace or the time range that's used for the tiles. Select the tile for a solution to open a view that includes a more detailed analysis of its collected data.

Monitoring solutions can contain multiple types of Azure resources. You can view any resources included with a solution just like any other resource. For example, any log queries included in the solution are listed under Solution Queries in Query Explorer. You can use those queries when you're performing ad hoc analysis with log queries.

List installed monitoring solutions

To list the monitoring solutions installed in your subscription:

Go to the Azure portal. Search for and select Solutions.

Solutions installed in all your workspaces are listed. The name of the solution is followed by the name of the workspace where it's installed.
Use the dropdown boxes at the top of the screen to filter by subscription or resource group.

Screenshot that shows listed solutions.

Select the name of a solution to open its summary page. This page displays any views included in the solution and provides options for the solution itself and its workspace.

Screenshot that shows summary information for a solution.

To list the monitoring solutions installed in your subscription, use the az monitor log-analytics solution list command. Before you run the command, follow the prerequisites in Install a monitoring solution.

# List all log-analytics solutions in the current subscription.
az monitor log-analytics solution list

# List all log-analytics solutions for a specific subscription
az monitor log-analytics solution list --subscription MySubscription

# List all log-analytics solutions in a resource group
az monitor log-analytics solution list --resource-group MyResourceGroup

To list the monitoring solutions installed in your subscription, use the Get-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution cmdlet. Before you run the cmdlet, follow the prerequisites in Install a monitoring solution.

# List all Log Analytics solutions in the current subscription
Get-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution

# List all Log Analytics solutions for a specific subscription
Get-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution -SubscriptionId 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

# List all Log Analytics solutions in a resource group
Get-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup

Install a monitoring solution

Monitoring solutions from Microsoft and partners are available from Azure Marketplace. You can search through available solutions and install them by using the following procedure. When you install a solution, you must select a Log Analytics workspace where the solution will be installed and where its data will be collected.

From the list of solutions for your subscription, select Add.
Browse or search for a solution. You can also use this search link.
Find the monitoring solution that you want and read through its description.
Select Create to start the installation process.
When you're prompted, specify the Log Analytics workspace and provide any required configuration for the solution.

Screenshot that shows solutions on Azure Marketplace.

Install a solution from the community

Members of the community can submit management solutions to Azure Quickstart Templates. You can install these solutions directly or download the templates for later installation.

Follow the process described in Log Analytics workspace and Automation account to link a workspace and account.
Go to Azure Quickstart Templates.
Search for a solution that you're interested in.
Select the solution from the results to view its details.
Select the Deploy to Azure button.
You're prompted to provide information such as the resource group and location, in addition to values for any parameters in the solution.
Select Purchase to install the solution.

Prepare your environment

Install the Azure CLI.

You need to install the Azure CLI before running CLI reference commands. If you prefer, you can also use Azure Cloud Shell to complete the steps in this article. Azure Cloud Shell is an interactive shell environment that you use through your browser. Open Cloud Shell by using one of these methods:
- Go to the Cloud Shell webpage.
- In the Azure portal, on the menu bar at the upper-right corner, select the Cloud Shell button.
Sign in.

If you're using a local installation of the CLI, sign in by using the az login command. Follow the steps displayed in your terminal to complete the authentication process.
```
az login
```
Install the log-analytics-solution extension.

The log-analytics-solution command is an experimental extension of the core Azure CLI. Learn more about extension references in Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
```
az extension add --name log-analytics-solution
```
The following warning is expected.
```
The installed extension `log-analytics-solution` is experimental and not covered by customer support.  Please use with discretion.
```

Install a solution with the Azure CLI

When you install a solution, you must select a Log Analytics workspace where the solution will be installed and where its data will be collected. With the Azure CLI, you manage workspaces by using the az monitor log-analytics workspace reference commands. Follow the process described in Log Analytics workspace and Automation account to link a workspace and account.

Use the az monitor log-analytics solution create command to install a monitoring solution. Parameters in square brackets are optional.

az monitor log-analytics solution create --name
                                         --plan-product
                                         --plan-publisher
                                         --resource-group
                                         --workspace
                                         [--no-wait]
                                         [--tags]

Here's a code sample that creates a Log Analytics solution for the plan product of OMSGallery/Containers.

az monitor log-analytics solution create --resource-group MyResourceGroup \
                                         --name Containers({SolutionName}) \
                                         --tags key=value \
                                         --plan-publisher Microsoft  \
                                         --plan-product "OMSGallery/Containers" \
                                         --workspace "/subscriptions/{SubID}/resourceGroups/{ResourceGroup}/providers/ \
                                           Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/{WorkspaceName}"

Prepare your environment

Install Azure PowerShell.

You need to Install Azure PowerShell before running Azure PowerShell reference commands. If you prefer, you can also use Azure Cloud Shell to complete the steps in this article. Azure Cloud Shell is an interactive shell environment that you use through your browser. Open Cloud Shell by using one of these methods:
- Go to the Cloud Shell webpage.
- In the Azure portal, on the menu bar at the upper-right corner, select the Cloud Shell button.
Important

While the Az.MonitoringSolutions PowerShell module is in preview, you must install it separately by using the Install-Module cmdlet. After this PowerShell module becomes generally available, it will be part of future Az PowerShell module releases and available by default from within Azure Cloud Shell.
```
Install-Module -Name Az.MonitoringSolutions
```
Sign in.

If you're using a local installation of PowerShell, sign in by using the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet. Follow the steps displayed in PowerShell to complete the authentication process.
```
Connect-AzAccount
```

Install a solution with Azure PowerShell

When you install a solution, you must select a Log Analytics workspace where the solution will be installed and where its data will be collected. With Azure PowerShell, you manage workspaces by using the cmdlets in the Az.MonitoringSolutions PowerShell module. Follow the process described in Log Analytics workspace and Automation account to link a workspace and an account.

Use the New-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution cmdlet to install a monitoring solution. Parameters in square brackets are optional.

New-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution -ResourceGroupName <string> -Type <string> -Location <string>
-WorkspaceResourceId <string> [-SubscriptionId <string>] [-Tag <hashtable>]
[-DefaultProfile <psobject>] [-Break] [-HttpPipelineAppend <SendAsyncStep[]>]
[-HttpPipelinePrepend <SendAsyncStep[]>] [-Proxy <uri>] [-ProxyCredential <pscredential>]
[-ProxyUseDefaultCredentials] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [<CommonParameters>]

The following example creates a monitoring solution for the Log Analytics workspace.

$workspace = Get-AzOperationalInsightsWorkspace -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup -Name WorkspaceName
New-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution -Type Containers -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup -Location $workspace.Location -WorkspaceResourceId $workspace.ResourceId

Log Analytics workspace and Automation account

All monitoring solutions require a Log Analytics workspace to store collected data and to host log searches and views. Some solutions also require an Automation account to contain runbooks and related resources. The workspace and account must meet the following requirements:

Each installation of a solution can use only one Log Analytics workspace and one Automation account. You can install the solution separately in multiple workspaces.
If a solution requires an Automation account, then the Log Analytics workspace and Automation account must be linked to one another. A Log Analytics workspace can be linked to only one Automation account, and an Automation account can be linked to only one Log Analytics workspace.

When you install a solution through Azure Marketplace, you're prompted for a workspace and an Automation account. The link between them is created if they aren't already linked.

To verify the link between a Log Analytics workspace and an Automation account:

Select the Automation account in the Azure portal.
Scroll to the Related Resources section of the menu and select Linked workspace.
If the workspace is linked to an Automation account, then this page lists the workspace it's linked to. If you select the name of the listed workspace, you're redirected to the overview page for that workspace.

Remove a monitoring solution

To remove an installed solution by using the portal, find it in the list of installed solutions. Select the name of the solution to open its summary page, and then select Delete.

To remove an installed solution by using the Azure CLI, use the az monitor log-analytics solution delete command.

az monitor log-analytics solution delete --name
                                         --resource-group
                                         [--no-wait]
                                         [--yes]

To remove an installed solution by using Azure PowerShell, use the Remove-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution cmdlet.

Remove-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution  -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup -Name WorkspaceName

Next steps

Get a list of monitoring solutions from Microsoft.
Learn how to create queries to analyze data that monitoring solutions have collected.
See all Azure CLI commands for Azure Monitor.