Azure Monitor Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Monitor. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

• Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
• Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category	Location	Description
Troubleshooting	L37-L110	Diagnosing and fixing Azure Monitor data collection, agents, alerts, pipelines, workspaces, Application Insights, containers, DevCenter, and VM performance issues using logs, tools, and troubleshooters
Best Practices	L111-L148	Best practices for configuring, scaling, alerting, querying, and cost-optimizing Azure Monitor (logs, metrics, autoscale, AKS/Kubernetes, VMs, Prometheus/OpenTelemetry).
Decision Making	L149-L186	Guides for choosing Azure Monitor agents, alerts, metrics/logs options, cost planning, and migration paths from legacy tools (MMA, WAD/LAD, SCOM, Splunk, Prometheus, SDKs) to modern Azure Monitor.
Architecture & Design Patterns	L187-L192	Designing end-to-end Azure Monitor architectures, including enterprise-scale layouts, data flows, and secure network topologies using Private Link for monitoring traffic.
Limits & Quotas	L193-L220	Limits, quotas, performance, and scale behavior for Azure Monitor alerts, logs, metrics, Prometheus, Container Insights, Application Insights, Workbooks, and supported regions/resources.
Security	L221-L290	Securing Azure Monitor and related services: auth, RBAC, network/TLS, policy, private link, secure ingestion, and querying/auditing security and compliance logs across many Azure products.
Configuration	configuration.md	Configuring Azure Monitor: agents, data collection rules, pipelines, alerts, diagnostics, logs/metrics schemas, resource-specific monitoring, workbooks, and integration with OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and Sentinel.
Integrations & Coding Patterns	integrations.md	Integrating Azure Monitor with apps and tools: agents, REST/CLI, webhooks, ITSM, Prometheus/Grafana, and KQL patterns for querying many Azure/third‑party log tables.
Deployment	deployment.md	Deploying and configuring Azure Monitor agents, VM insights, policies, and .NET profiling/snapshot debugging tools across VMs, App Service, Functions, containers, and Service Fabric.

Troubleshooting

Topic	URL
Troubleshoot Azure Log Analytics Linux agent issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/agent-linux-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Log Analytics agent for Windows	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/agent-windows-troubleshoot
Monitor and troubleshoot Azure Monitor Agent health at scale	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-health
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor agent on Linux VMs and scale sets	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-troubleshoot-linux-vm
Fix syslog collection issues with Azure Monitor Agent on Linux	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-troubleshoot-linux-vm-rsyslog
Fix Azure Monitor agent problems on Windows Arc servers	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-troubleshoot-windows-arc
Diagnose Azure Monitor agent issues on Windows VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-troubleshoot-windows-vm
Install and troubleshoot Azure Monitor Agent on Windows clients	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/azure-monitor-agent-windows-client
Troubleshoot Azure Diagnostics extension issues on Azure resources	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/diagnostics-extension-troubleshooting
Use Azure Monitor Agent Linux troubleshooter effectively	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/troubleshooter-ama-linux
Use AMA Windows troubleshooter to diagnose agent issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/troubleshooter-ama-windows
Diagnose issues with Azure Log Analytics VM extension	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/vmext-troubleshoot
Use deep investigation examples to diagnose incidents	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/aiops/observability-agent-deep-investigation-examples
Troubleshoot Azure Copilot Observability Agent issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/aiops/observability-agent-troubleshooting
Troubleshoot tenant-level Azure service health alerts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-create-tenant-level-service-heath-alerts
Diagnose and fix common Azure Monitor alert issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-troubleshoot
Diagnose and fix Azure Monitor log alert issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-troubleshoot-log
Resolve problems with Azure Monitor metric alerts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-troubleshoot-metric
Resolve ITSMC dashboard connector status errors	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/itsmc-dashboard-errors
Fix ServiceNow sync and token issues for ITSMC	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/itsmc-resync-servicenow
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor ITSM Connector issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/itsmc-troubleshoot-overview
Interpret and resolve test action group error codes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/test-action-group-errors
Investigate failures and performance with Application Insights views	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/failures-performance-transactions
Troubleshoot telemetry issues using Application Insights SDK stats	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/sdk-stats
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor autoscale behavior and actions	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-troubleshoot
Use Live Data in Container insights for real-time AKS troubleshooting	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/container-insights-livedata-overview
Diagnose and fix Azure Monitor container log issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/container-insights-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Prometheus metrics collection in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/prometheus-metrics-troubleshoot
Monitor and troubleshoot DCR-based data collection in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/data-collection/data-collection-monitor
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor pipeline issues and errors	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/data-collection/pipeline-faq
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor pipeline deployment and data issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/data-collection/pipeline-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot stopped data collection in Azure Monitor Logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/data-collection-troubleshoot
Diagnose and alert on Log Analytics workspace health	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/log-analytics-workspace-health
Monitor and troubleshoot Log Analytics workspace health	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/monitor-workspace
Create and manage Azure Monitor summary rules	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/summary-rules
Monitor and troubleshoot ingestion and query issues in Azure Monitor workspaces	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/azure-monitor-workspace-monitor-health
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor metric chart issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/metrics-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Application Insights Code Optimizations setup issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/optimization-insights/code-optimizations-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Application Insights .NET Profiler issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/profiler/profiler-troubleshooting
Query AzureMonitorPipelineLogErrors for ingestion issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/azuremonitorpipelinelogerrors
Investigate CloudAuditEvents with Kusto queries	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/cloudauditevents
Analyze CloudProcessEvents for suspicious activity	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/cloudprocessevents
Detect risky CloudStorageAggregatedEvents with queries	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/cloudstorageaggregatedevents
Query and analyze EdgeActionServiceLog in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/edgeactionservicelog
Use ZTSJobStatus log queries to diagnose workspace connectivity	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/queries/ztsjobstatus
Investigate Grafana alert authentication failures in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/agsgrafanaalertauthfailure
Interpret AzureMonitorPipelineLogErrors table entries	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/azuremonitorpipelinelogerrors
Investigate DCR-based data collection log errors	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/dcrlogerrors
Use DCRLogTroubleshooting for DCR flow diagnostics	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/dcrlogtroubleshooting
Diagnose DevCenter dev box agent health issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/devcenteragenthealthlogs
Troubleshoot DevCenter dev box connection events	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/devcenterconnectionlogs
Investigate DevCenter dev box and environment operations	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/devcenterdiagnosticlogs
Analyze DevCenter resource operation and health logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/devcenterresourceoperationlogs
Investigate DCR-based data collection errors via logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/microsoft-insights-datacollectionrules
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor pipeline groups with error logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/microsoft-monitor-pipelinegroups
Diagnose failed Synapse DX ingestion operations	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/synapsedxfailedingestion
Audit Toolchain orchestrator API interactions	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/touseraudits
Diagnose Toolchain orchestrator user request failures	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/touserdiagnostics
Investigate Azure Time Series Insights ingress errors	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/tsiingress
Monitor device-specific update compliance alerts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/ucdevicealert
Investigate update compliance alerts per device	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/tables/ucupdatealert
Troubleshoot Application Insights Snapshot Debugger issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/snapshot-debugger/snapshot-debugger-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot workbook-based insights in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/visualize/troubleshoot-workbooks
Access deprecated troubleshooting guides in Workbooks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/visualize/workbooks-access-troubleshooting-guide
Troubleshoot Copilot issues in Azure Workbooks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/visualize/workbooks-copilot-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Azure VM performance with PerfInsights	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/performance-diagnostics
Analyze Azure VM PerfInsights diagnostic reports	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/performance-diagnostics-analyze
Use Azure Performance Diagnostics extension for VM issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/performance-diagnostics-extension
Use Performance Diagnostics to troubleshoot Azure VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/performance-diagnostics-run
Troubleshoot Azure Monitor VM agent onboarding issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/vm-enable-troubleshoot

Best Practices

Topic	URL
Optimize telemetry for accurate Observability Agent investigations	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/aiops/observability-agent-best-practices
Author custom instructions for Observability Agent correlation	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/aiops/observability-agent-custom-instructions
Optimize Azure Monitor log alert queries for performance	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-log-query
Configure single metric alerts for multiple time series	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/alerts-metric-multiple-time-series-single-rule
Apply architectural best practices for Azure Monitor alerts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/best-practices-alerts
Configure OpenTelemetry sampling for Application Insights	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/opentelemetry-sampling
Apply Azure Monitor autoscale best practices across services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-best-practices
Implement common autoscale patterns in Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-common-scale-patterns
Avoid and mitigate autoscale flapping scenarios	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-flapping
Use multiple autoscale profiles for time-based scaling	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-multiprofile
Apply Azure Monitor best practices for AKS clusters	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/best-practices-containers
Optimize Container Insights monitoring costs and configuration	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/container-insights-cost
Design cost-effective alerting for AKS in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/cost-effective-alerting
Configure recommended Kubernetes metric alerts in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/kubernetes-metric-alerts
Apply Azure Monitor best practices for Kubernetes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/containers/monitor-kubernetes
Apply best practices for Azure Monitor data collection rules	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/data-collection/data-collection-rule-best-practices
Apply sample Azure Monitor transformation queries	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/data-collection/data-collection-transformations-samples
Optimize Azure Monitor configuration to reduce cost	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/fundamentals/best-practices-cost
Apply Azure Monitor best practices for multicloud	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/fundamentals/best-practices-multicloud
Configure Azure Monitor for operational excellence	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/fundamentals/best-practices-operation
Apply performance best practices in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/fundamentals/best-practices-performance
Apply reliability best practices in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/fundamentals/best-practices-reliability
Analyze Log Analytics usage to control Azure Monitor costs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/analyze-usage
Apply architectural best practices for Azure Monitor Logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/best-practices-logs
Parse and structure text data in Azure Monitor logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/parse-text
Optimize Azure Monitor Logs query performance	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/query-optimization
Best practices for scaling Azure Monitor workspaces with Prometheus	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/azure-monitor-workspace-scaling-best-practice
Migrate from metrics API to getBatch for performance	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/migrate-to-batch-api
Best practices for PromQL on OpenTelemetry metrics in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/prometheus-opentelemetry-best-practices
Query system and Guest OS metrics with PromQL in Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/metrics/prometheus-system-metrics-best-practices
Optimize workbook performance with criteria parameters	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/visualize/workbooks-criteria
Apply Azure Monitor best practices for VM monitoring	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/best-practices-vm
Design effective VM alerts with Azure Monitor	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/monitor-virtual-machine-alerts
Configure Azure Monitor data collection for virtual machines	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/vm/monitor-virtual-machine-data-collection