Ansible on Azure: Accessing logs of the Managed Application
About this Article:
This article is intended for any current or future users of the Azure marketplace offering of Ansible Application Platform. In this article we hope to address questions related to visibility in terms of logs for Azure resources deployed and used by the managed application, along with work or changes being performed to the environment.
As a consumer of Ansible Automation Platform on Azure what tools are available to me?
Azure Log Analytics and Activity Log are two powerful tools that enable you to gain insights into the performance and behavior of your Azure resources.
What is Azure Log Analytics?
Azure Log Analytics is a cloud-based service that provides a central repository for collecting, storing, and analyzing log data from various sources. With Log Analytics, you can monitor the performance of your Azure resources, troubleshoot issues, and gain insights into user behavior.
The quickest way to to get started using Azure Log Analytics is by selecting the Resource Group of the managed application and then following the path Monitoring-->Logs.
Information on getting started with Log Queries can be found here: Content from learn.microsoft.com is not included.Azure Log Queries
What is Azure Activity Log?
Azure Activity Log on the other hand, is a service that provides insights into the operations that are performed on your Azure resources. With Activity Log, you can track changes to your resources, such as when a resource was created, modified, or deleted. You can also view the results of resource operations, such as successful or failed deployments.
To use Activity Log, you do not need to configure anything as it is automatically enabled for all Azure resources. You can access Activity Log from the Azure portal, where you can view resource events and filter them by resource type, operation type, and time range.
Useful Links:
1. Azure Log Analytics: Content from learn.microsoft.com is not included.Azure Log Analytics
2. Activity Log: Content from learn.microsoft.com is not included.Activity Log
These links provide detailed information on how to get started with each tool, how to configure them, and how to use them to gain insights into your Azure resources. Additionally, the Microsoft Azure website also provides a wealth of resources and documentation on other Azure services and features.
Managing Log Analytics Costs by Capping Data Ingestion
While Azure Log Analytics is a powerful tool, the data it collects can incur costs. To help manage these expenses, you can request a daily cap on the amount of data ingested into your Log Analytics workspace for the managed application.
However, it is crucial to understand the implications of this action.
Important Considerations for Capping Data
Setting a data cap is a trade-off between cost control and data completeness. Once the daily ingestion limit is reached, Azure will stop collecting log data for the remainder of the day. This means you could miss important diagnostic information or security events.
Before requesting a cap, please be aware of the following:
- Risk of Data Loss: By requesting a cap, you acknowledge and accept the risk that critical log data may be skipped once your daily limit is met.
- Alternative Solutions: We recommend you investigate other activity stream solutions to ensure you do not miss essential data that would be skipped by a cap.
How to Request a Data Ingestion Cap
To enable, modify, or remove a daily data cap, you must submit a support ticket through the Red Hat Customer Portal. Your ticket must include the following information:
- A clear request to enable, update, or remove the data cap.
- The specific daily data limit you wish to set (e.g., 10 GB/day).
- A written acknowledgment that you understand and accept the risk of data loss associated with enabling this cap.
Our support team will implement the change upon receiving your formal, written request with all the required details.
Additional Information:
Use this link for information on planned maintenance/upgrade windows of the Manged Application: Upgrade Windows