Enable Azure Automanage best practices

100 XP
  • 15 minutes

Azure Automanage can be enabled on existing or new virtual machines using the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), or Azure Policy.

Enable Azure Automanage using the Azure portal

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

Note

Free trial accounts don't have access to the virtual machines used in this tutorial. Please upgrade to a pay-as-you-go subscription.

Important

You need to have the Contributor role on the resource group containing your VMs to enable Automanage. If you're enabling Automanage for the first time on a subscription, you need the following permissions: Owner role or Contributor along with User Access Administrator roles on your subscription.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. In the search bar, search for and select Automanage.
  3. In the menu, select Automanage machines.
  4. Select Enable on existing machine. Screenshot of enablement on existing VM.
  5. On the Basics tab, select your profile type: Azure best practices: Production or Azure best practices: Dev/Test: Screenshot of choices for configuration profiles. The profile type you select determines the services and settings applied to your machine(s). To view the details for the different profiles, select View Azure best practices profiles: Screenshot of services and settings for each profile.
  6. Select the Machines tab, then check the box for the machine(s) you want to enable for Automanage: Screenshot showing how to select from a list of available virtual machines.
  7. Select the Review + Create tab to review the machine(s) that you chose, then select the Create button.

Enable Azure Automanage using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates

You can onboard a VM to Automanage using an ARM template using the following template. This ARM template creates a configuration profile assignment for your specified Azure Arc-enabled machine:

JSON 
{
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "machineName": {
            "type": "String"
        },
        "configurationProfile": {
            "type": "String"
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "type": "Microsoft.HybridCompute/machines/providers/configurationProfileAssignments",
            "apiVersion": "2022-05-04",
            "name": "[concat(parameters('machineName'), '/Microsoft.Automanage/default')]",
            "properties": {
                "configurationProfile": "[parameters('configurationProfile')]"
            }
        }
    ]
}

The configurationProfile value can be one of the following values:

  • "/providers/Microsoft.Automanage/bestPractices/AzureBestPracticesProduction"
  • "/providers/Microsoft.Automanage/bestPractices/AzureBestPracticesDevTest"
  • "/subscriptions/[sub ID]/resourceGroups/resourceGroupName/providers/Microsoft.Automanage/configurationProfiles/customProfileName (for custom profiles)"

To deploy the templates, follow these steps:

  1. Save this ARM template as azuredeploy.json.
  2. Run this ARM template deployment with az deployment group create --resource-group myResourceGroup --template-file azuredeploy.json.
  3. Provide the values for machineName and configurationProfileAssignment when prompted.
  4. You're ready to deploy.

As with any ARM template, it's possible to factor out the parameters into a separate azuredeploy.parameters.json file and use that as an argument when deploying.

Enable Azure Automanage using Azure Policy

You can enable Automanage for multiple VMs using a built-in Azure policy.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. In the search bar, search for and select Policy.
  3. In the menu, select Definitions.
  4. In the Categories drop-down, select Automanage. The list updates to include the following policies:
    • Configure virtual machines to be onboarded to Azure Automanage
    • Configure virtual machines to be onboarded to Azure Automanage with Custom Configuration Profile
  5. Select the applicable policy. After selection, you're able to view its Definition tab.

    Note

    The Azure Policy definition is used to set Automanage parameters like the configuration profile. It also sets filters that ensure the policy applies only to the correct VMs.

  6. Select the Assign button to create an assignment.
  7. Under the Basics tab, fill out Scope by setting the Subscription and Resource Group.

    Note

    The Scope lets you define which VMs this policy applies to. Policies can be applied at the subscription level or the resource group level. If you set a resource group, all VMs that are currently in that resource group or any future VMs added to it will have Automanage automatically enabled.

  8. Select the Parameters tab, uncheck the box for Only show parameters that need input or review (if necessary), and then set the Configuration Profile and desired Effect.
  9. Under the Review + create tab, review the settings.
  10. Apply the assignment by selecting Create.
  11. View your assignments in the Assignments tab next to Definition.

Next unit: Create and assign a custom configuration profile

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