How to create a machine configuration assignment using an Azure Resource Manager template

You can deploy an Azure Resource Manager template containing machine configuration assignment resources. This article shows examples for deploying both custom and built-in configurations.

In each of the following sections, the example includes a type property where the name starts with Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines. The guest configuration resource provider Microsoft.GuestConfiguration is an extension resource that must reference a parent type.

To modify the example for other resource types such as Arc-enabled servers, change the parent type to the name of the resource provider. For Arc-enabled servers, the resource provider is Microsoft.HybridCompute/machines.

Replace the following "<>" fields with values specific to your environment:

• <vm_name>: Specify the name of the machine resource to apply the configuration on.
• <configuration_name>: Specify the name of the configuration to apply.
• <vm_location>: Specify the Azure region to create the machine configuration assignment in.
• <Url_to_Package.zip>: Specify an HTTPS link to the .zip file for your custom content package.
• <SHA256_hash_of_package.zip>: Specify the SHA256 hash of the .zip file for your custom content package.

Assign a custom configuration

The following example assigns a custom configuration.

{
    "apiVersion": "2020-06-25",
    "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/providers/guestConfigurationAssignments",
    "name": "<vm_name>/Microsoft.GuestConfiguration/<configuration_name>",
    "location": "<vm_location>",
    "dependsOn": [
        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm_name>"
    ],
    "properties": {
        "guestConfiguration": {
            "name": "<configuration_name>",
            "contentUri": "<Url_to_Package.zip>",
            "contentHash": "<SHA256_hash_of_package.zip>",
            "assignmentType": "ApplyAndMonitor"
        }
    }
}

Assign a built-in configuration

The following example assigns the AzureWindowBaseline built-in configuration.

{
    "apiVersion": "2020-06-25",
    "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/providers/guestConfigurationAssignments",
    "name": "<vm_name>/Microsoft.GuestConfiguration/<configuration_name>",
    "location": "<vm_location>",
    "dependsOn": [
        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm_name>"
    ],
    "properties": {
        "guestConfiguration": {
            "name": "AzureWindowsBaseline",
            "version": "1.*",
            "assignmentType": "ApplyAndMonitor",
            "configurationParameter": [
                {
                    "name": "Minimum Password Length;ExpectedValue",
                    "value": "16"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Minimum Password Length;RemediateValue",
                    "value": "16"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Maximum Password Age;ExpectedValue",
                    "value": "75"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Maximum Password Age;RemediateValue",
                    "value": "75"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}