Create a Log Analytics workspace with Azure PowerShell

  • 4 minutes to read

The Azure PowerShell module is used to create and manage Azure resources from the PowerShell command line or in scripts. This quickstart shows you how to use the Azure PowerShell module to deploy a Log Analytics workspace in Azure Monitor. A Log Analytics workspace is a unique environment for Azure Monitor log data. Each workspace has its own data repository and configuration, and data sources and solutions are configured to store their data in a particular workspace. You require a Log Analytics workspace if you intend on collecting data from the following sources:

  • Azure resources in your subscription
  • On-premises computers monitored by System Center Operations Manager
  • Device collections from System Center Configuration Manager
  • Diagnostic or log data from Azure storage

For other sources, such as Azure VMs and Windows or Linux VMs in your environment, see the following topics:

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Note

This article has been updated to use the new Azure PowerShell Az module. You can still use the AzureRM module, which will continue to receive bug fixes until at least December 2020. To learn more about the new Az module and AzureRM compatibility, see Introducing the new Azure PowerShell Az module. For Az module installation instructions, see Install Azure PowerShell.

Use Azure Cloud Shell

Azure hosts Azure Cloud Shell, an interactive shell environment that you can use through your browser. You can use either Bash or PowerShell with Cloud Shell to work with Azure services. You can use the Cloud Shell preinstalled commands to run the code in this article without having to install anything on your local environment.

To start Azure Cloud Shell:

Option Example/Link
Select Try It in the upper-right corner of a code block. Selecting Try It doesn't automatically copy the code to Cloud Shell. Example of Try It for Azure Cloud Shell
Go to https://shell.azure.com, or select the Launch Cloud Shell button to open Cloud Shell in your browser. Launch Cloud Shell in a new window
Select the Cloud Shell button on the top-right menu bar in the Azure portal. Cloud Shell button in the Azure portal

To run the code in this article in Azure Cloud Shell:

  1. Start Cloud Shell.

  2. Select the Copy button on a code block to copy the code.

  3. Paste the code into the Cloud Shell session by selecting Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows and Linux or by selecting Cmd+Shift+V on macOS.

  4. Select Enter to run the code.

If you choose to install and use the PowerShell locally, this tutorial requires the Azure PowerShell Az module. Run Get-Module -ListAvailable Az to find the version. If you need to upgrade, see Install the Azure PowerShell module. If you are running PowerShell locally, you also need to run Connect-AzAccount to create a connection with Azure.

Create a workspace

Create a workspace with New-AzResourceGroupDeployment. The following example creates a workspace in the eastus location using a Resource Manager template from your local machine. The JSON template is configured to only prompt you for the name of the workspace, and specifies a default value for the other parameters that would likely be used as a standard configuration in your environment.

For information about regions supported, see regions Log Analytics is available in and search for Azure Monitor from the Search for a product field.

The following parameters set a default value:

  • location - defaults to East US
  • sku - defaults to the new Per-GB pricing tier released in the April 2018 pricing model

Warning

If creating or configuring a Log Analytics workspace in a subscription that has opted into the new April 2018 pricing model, the only valid Log Analytics pricing tier is PerGB2018.

Create and deploy template

  1. Copy and paste the following JSON syntax into your file:

    {
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2014-04-01-preview/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
    "workspaceName": {
        "type": "String",
 		"metadata": {
          "description": "Specifies the name of the workspace."
        }
    },
    "location": {
        "type": "String",
 		"allowedValues": [
 		  "eastus",
 		  "westus"
 		],
 		"defaultValue": "eastus",
 		"metadata": {
 		  "description": "Specifies the location in which to create the workspace."
 		}
    },
    "sku": {
        "type": "String",
 		"allowedValues": [
          "Standalone",
          "PerNode",
 	      "PerGB2018"
        ],
 		"defaultValue": "PerGB2018",
         "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the service tier of the workspace: Standalone, PerNode, Per-GB"
 	}
      }
},
"resources": [
    {
        "type": "Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces",
        "name": "[parameters('workspaceName')]",
        "apiVersion": "2015-11-01-preview",
        "location": "[parameters('location')]",
        "properties": {
            "sku": {
                "Name": "[parameters('sku')]"
            },
            "features": {
                "searchVersion": 1
            }
        }
      }
   ]
}

  2. Edit the template to meet your requirements. Review Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces template reference to learn what properties and values are supported.

  3. Save this file as deploylaworkspacetemplate.json to a local folder.

  4. You are ready to deploy this template. Use the following commands from the folder containing the template. When you're prompted for a workspace name, provide a name that is globally unique across all Azure subscriptions.

        New-AzResourceGroupDeployment -Name <deployment-name> -ResourceGroupName <resource-group-name> -TemplateFile deploylaworkspacetemplate.json

The deployment can take a few minutes to complete. When it finishes, you see a message similar to the following that includes the result:

Example result when deployment is complete

Next steps

Now that you have a workspace available, you can configure collection of monitoring telemetry, run log searches to analyze that data, and add a management solution to provide additional data and analytic insights.