Microsoft Azure Insights: Overseeing VM processes with Log Analytics; Image Builder; Autopilot; Azure Bastion; Kubeconfig credentials; Storage APIs

This week, Microsoft Azure pros share their insights on using Log Analytics to keep track of VM processes, working with Azure Image Builder, Azure Bastion, and more.

Auditing VM processes with Log Analytics

Richard Hooper, writing on Pixel Robots, shared how to use Azure Log Analytics and Peformance Counters to audit whether a process has run on a VM.

Users will need to have the Log Analytics workspace connected to servers they want to monitor, with a performance counter in place. Hooper showed how to find the percent of processor time for an instance. By default, the system only displays what has run in the past 24 hours, meaning users need to change the start and end date. Once it is clear that something is running, users can stop it running if they want to save data or prevent data loss.

Azure Image Builder

During the Microsoft Build event this year, Bas Wassenaar attended a session demonstrating a Linux distro being added as an image to an Azure tenant. Writing on Azure Stack, Wassenaar explained more about what Azure Image Builder does to automate VM image creation. Built off of the HashiCorp Packer, the system places a VHD-file or managed image in Azure Shared Image Gallery. For now, it remains in public preview. He wrote:

When it comes to Azure Stack you can think of disconnected scenarios or connected Stacks in the field. With this tool you’ll be able to create "golden images" in a consistent and effective manner and distribute them to your Azure Stacks wherever they are.

Wassenaar also shared how to use Azure CLI to upload a VHD-file to Azure Stack.

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