Configuring Azure Monitor for Virtual Machines

Platform metrics are collected automatically for the VM host, but an agent is required for guest OS monitoring.
Resource logs are not generated by default; an agent is needed to collect logs from the guest OS.
Diagnostic settings for VMs cannot be configured in the Azure portal but can send data to storage or Event Hubs.

Virtual Machine Host:
- Platform Metrics (collected automatically) – Requires diagnostics extension for guest OS metrics.
- Activity Log – Tracks VM lifecycle events like start/stop and configuration changes.
Guest Operating System (Requires Agents):
- Log Analytics Agent – Collects logs from VMs (Azure, on-prem, and other clouds).
- Dependency Agent – Tracks running processes and dependencies.
- Azure Diagnostic Extension – Primarily for guest performance data in Azure Monitor Metrics.
- Telegraf Agent – Collects Linux VM performance data.

Step	Actions	Features Enabled
No Configuration	Host platform metrics & activity logs collected.	Metrics explorer & alerts for host, activity log alerts.
Enable Azure Monitor for VMs	Install Log Analytics & Dependency Agents.	Performance charts, log queries/alerts, dependency map.
Install Diagnostics Extension & Telegraf Agent	Collect guest performance data to Metrics.	Metrics explorer & alerts for guest OS.

For complete monitoring, collect data from both the host and guest OS using Azure Monitor Metrics and Azure Monitor Logs.

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