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What is applicability in Azure Policy?

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When a policy definition is assigned to a scope, Azure Policy determines which resources in that scope should be considered for compliance evaluation. A resource will only be assessed for compliance if it's considered applicable to the given policy assignment.

Applicability is determined by several factors:

  • Conditions in the if block of the policy rule.
  • Mode of the policy definition.
  • Excluded scopes specified in the assignment.
  • Resource selectors specified in the assignment.
  • Exemptions of resources or resource hierarchies.

Condition(s) in the if block of the policy rule are evaluated for applicability in slightly different ways based on the effect.

Note

Applicability is different from compliance, and the logic used to determine each is different. If a resource is applicable that means it is relevant to the policy. If a resource is compliant that means it adheres to the policy. Sometimes only certain conditions from the policy rule impact applicability, while all conditions of the policy rule impact compliance state.

Resource Manager modes

-IfNotExists policy effects

The applicability of AuditIfNotExists and DeployIfNotExists policies is based off the entire if condition of the policy rule. When the if evaluates to false, the policy isn't applicable.

All other policy effects

Azure Policy evaluates only type, name, and kind conditions in the policy rule if expression and treats other conditions as true (or false when negated). If the final evaluation result is true, the policy is applicable. Otherwise, it's not applicable.

Following are special cases to the previously described applicability logic:

Scenario Result
Any invalid aliases in the if conditions The policy isn't applicable
When the if conditions consist of only kind conditions The policy is applicable to all resources
When the if conditions consist of only name conditions The policy is applicable to all resources
When the if conditions consist of only type and kind conditions Only type conditions are considered when deciding applicability
When the if conditions consist of only type and name conditions Only type conditions are considered when deciding applicability
When the if conditions consist of type, kind, and other conditions Both type and kind conditions are considered when deciding applicability
When the if conditions consist of type, name, and other conditions Both type and name conditions are considered when deciding applicability
When any conditions (including deployment parameters) include a location condition Won't be applicable to subscriptions

Resource provider modes

Microsoft.Kubernetes.Data

The applicability of Microsoft.Kubernetes.Data policies is based off the entire if condition of the policy rule. When the if evaluates to false, the policy isn't applicable.

Microsoft.KeyVault.Data, Microsoft.ManagedHSM.Data, Microsoft.DataFactory.Data, and Microsoft.MachineLearningServices.v2.Data

Policies with these RP Modes are applicable if the type condition of the policy rule evaluates to true. The type refers to component type.

Key Vault component types:

  • Microsoft.KeyVault.Data/vaults/certificates
  • Microsoft.KeyVault.Data/vaults/keys
  • Microsoft.KeyVault.Data/vaults/secrets

Managed HSM component type:

  • Microsoft.ManagedHSM.Data/managedHsms/keys

Azure Data Factory component type:

  • Microsoft.DataFactory.Data/factories/outboundTraffic

Azure Machine Learning component type:

  • Microsoft.MachineLearningServices.v2.Data/workspaces/deployments

Microsoft.Network.Data

Policies with mode Microsoft.Network.Data are applicable if the type and name conditions of the policy rule evaluate to true. The type refers to component type:

  • Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks

Not Applicable Resources

There could be situations in which resources are applicable to an assignment based on conditions or scope, but they shouldn't be applicable due to business reasons. At that time, it would be best to apply exclusions or exemptions. To learn more on when to use either, review scope comparison

Note

By design, Azure Policy does not evaluate resources under the Microsoft.Resources resource provider (RP) from policy evaluation, except for subscriptions and resource groups.

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