Azure Automanage for Azure VM Management

What is this mystical service that does everything?

Azure Automanage is a service provided by Microsoft Azure that simplifies the management of your Azure resources. It is designed to automate and streamline the management of your Azure resources, so you can focus on your business objectives without worrying about the technical details of managing your infrastructure.

One of the main benefits of using Azure Automanage is that it helps you reduce the complexity of managing your resources. It does this by automating many of the tasks that would normally require manual intervention, such as patching, updating, and configuring your virtual machines. This saves you time and resources, allowing you to focus on your core business objectives.

Another benefit of using Azure Automanage is that it ensures that your resources are always up-to-date and secure. It does this by applying the latest security patches and updates to your virtual machines, as well as configuring them to comply with industry-standard security practices. This reduces the risk of security breaches and helps ensure that your business data is protected.

Azure Automanage can be used with the following: Linux, Windows server, and Azure Arc-enabled servers. (I’ll explain more about Arc in another blog 😊)

Finally, Azure Automanage is easy to set up and use, even if you are not a technical expert. It provides a simple, user-friendly interface that makes it easy to configure and manage your Azure resources. This means that you can get up and running quickly, without needing to invest in additional technical resources.

What are the Underlying Services?

Azure Automanage leverages several underlying Azure services to provide its automation and management capabilities. These services include:

1. Azure Policy: A service that allows you to enforce rules and policies for Azure resources.
2. Microsoft Defender for Cloud:  Automanage will configure your subscriptions to use the free tier offering of Microsoft Defender for Cloud (Enhanced security     off).
3. Azure Update Management: A service that automates the process of installing updates and patches for virtual machines.
4. Azure Backup: A service that provides backup and recovery solutions for Azure resources.
5. Azure Monitor: A service that collects and analyses telemetry data from Azure resources to provide insights into their performance and health.
6. Azure Log Analytics: Azure Monitor stores log data in a Log Analytics workspace (“Collect resource logs from an Azure resource - Azure Monitor.”)
7. Azure Automation: A service that provides a solution for automating Azure resource management tasks.
8. Microsoft Anti-malware: Microsoft Anti-malware for Azure is a free real-time protection that helps identify and remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. "It generates alerts when known malicious or unwanted software tries to install itself or run on your Azure systems."
9. Change Tracking and Inventory: Azure Change Tracking and Inventory is a service that combines change tracking and inventory functions to provide insights     into the configuration changes happening in your virtual machines and servers.
10. Azure Automanage Machine Configuration: Machine configuration policy is used to monitor the configuration and report on the compliance of the machine.
11. Windows  Admin Centre: Use Windows Admin Centre (preview) in the Azure portal to manage the Windows Server operating system inside an Azure VM. This is only supported for machines using Windows Server 2016 or higher (“Azure Automanage for Windows Server | Microsoft Learn.”)

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These services work together to provide the automation and management capabilities of Azure Automanage.

Let’s recap!

Using Azure Automanage is like having a robot minion that takes care of your virtual machines. Just make sure it doesn't become self-aware and start a robot rebellion 😊. It reduces complexity of managing the above underlying services in through one portal. In short it offers the following:

• Simplifies the management of Azure resources by automating many tasks.
• Ensures resources are up-to-date and secure by applying the latest     patches and updates.
• Easy to set up and use, even for non-technical employees.
• Provides a user-friendly interface for configuration and     management.
• Saves time and resources, allowing you to focus on business     objectives.
• Reduces the risk of security breaches and ensures data protection.
• Complies with industry-standard security practices.

As always, Azure can be daunting, but TIEVA can help take away the burden of configuring Azure Automanage.  If you would like any advice, technical skills to get this solution implemented, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Cheers,

Chris.