Tech Trends and Insights

 Want to keep an eye on your Azure subscription’s performance? Azure Resource Manager metrics in Azure Monitor let you track operations like read, write, or delete requests, helping you spot issues and optimize resources. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to get started using the Azure Portal’s graphical interface. What You’ll Need An active Azure subscription. Access to the Azure Portal. Step-by-Step Instructions Log into Azure Portal Open portal.azure.com and sign in with your Azure account. Go to Azure Monitor In the left menu, click Monitor (or search for “Monitor” in the top search bar). Under Monitoring , select Metrics . Select Your Subscription and Metric In Metrics Explorer , click the Scope dropdown and choose your subscription. For Metric Namespace , select microsoft.resources/subscriptions (Azure Resource Manager). Pick a metric: Latency : Measures request response time (in seconds). Traffic : Counts the number of requests. Choose an Aggregation (e.g., Average for ...

Guide for Migrating Azure OS-Disks from Standard HDD to Standard SSD   Guide for Migrating Azure OS-Disks from Standard HDD to Standard SSD Overview: Why Do This? Microsoft has announced that Standard HDD will no longer be supported as OS-disks (boot volumes for virtual machines) in Azure after September 8, 2028. After this date, these disks will be automatically converted to Standard SSD of the same size, which may cause disruptions if not planned in advance. Standard SSD offers better performance and reliability than Standard HDD, though it may incur slightly higher costs. Migrating proactively avoids issues and improves virtual machine (VM) performance. Important : This applies only to OS-disks, not data disks or ephemeral disks. The migration process does not cause data loss if done correctly. Key Prerequisites Plan a maintenance window : Migration requires stopping the VM, causing downtime. Ensure the disk is managed : If your di...

n8n on Azure Ubuntu VM Guide   This guide shows you how to launch a fully functional n8n instance on an Azure Ubuntu VM entirely through the Azure Portal. No local SSH or CLI needed – everything is done with clicks and the Run Command feature. It includes steps to create the VM and configure network access for port 5678. 1️⃣ Create an Ubuntu VM in Azure Portal Follow these steps to create your Ubuntu VM: Sign in to Azure Portal portal.azure.com and ensure you’re in the correct subscription. Search for "Virtual Machines" in the top search bar and click to open the service. Click "+ Create" > "Virtual Machine" to start the creation wizard. Basics tab : Subscription: Select your subscription. Resource group: Create a new one (e.g., "n8n-rg") or use an existing one. Virtual machine name: Enter a name (e.g., "n8n-vm"). Re...

  Overview Microsoft Copilot in Azure is a powerful tool that helps you diagnose and resolve Virtual Machine (VM) issues, such as disk and network performance bottlenecks, by analyzing metrics and providing actionable solutions directly in the Azure portal. Prerequisites An active Azure subscription with Microsoft Copilot enabled. Check your subscription settings in the Azure portal or refer to Microsoft Azure Documentation for activation steps. VMs with attached managed disks and network interfaces, running during the issue timeframe. Basic familiarity with Azure portal navigation. Step-by-Step Instructions Access Copilot : In the Azure portal, navigate to Microsoft Copilot (typically found in the search bar or under the “Help” section). Ensure you have the necessary permissions to access Copilot features. Start Troubleshooting : Enter a specific prompt related to your issue. Examples: For disk issues: “Why is my disk slow?” or “Analyze disk performance bottlene...

Azure Role JSON Viewer   As an IT professional working with Azure, it’s important to quickly explore and understand what a role actually contains. With PowerShell you can export the full role definition as JSON and then paste it into the interactive viewer below. This makes it easier to explain role contents in detail and share them with your team or customers. 🚀 📌 Steps to get started: Install and import the Az PowerShell module if not already available. Log in to Azure with sufficient permissions ( Reader or above). Run the script below to export any role as JSON. Copy the JSON output and paste it into the tool further down to view it nicely formatted. 💡 Note: Replace "Any role" with the actual role name you want to inspect (e.g. "Reader" , "Contributor" , "User Access Administrator" ). PowerShell Command # Export any Azure role definition to JSON Get-AzRoleDefin...

  As an IT professional working with Azure, it’s essential to assign the right roles to manage resources efficiently while following the principle of least privilege. My new PowerShell script helps you identify the appropriate Azure roles for managing specific resources (e.g., storage, resource groups) by displaying detailed role information in an interactive window. This tool is perfect for simplifying role assignments and enhancing security. 📌 Key points to consider: The script requires the Az PowerShell module to be installed. You must be logged into Azure with sufficient permissions (e.g., Reader or Contributor) to retrieve role definitions. The output is sorted from least privilege to most privilege, aiding zero trust implementations. 💡 Note: Ensure you’re connected to the correct Azure subscription, as role data depends on your context. Test the script in a non-production environment first! This script is a great way to streamline role management for your...

  Introduction Microsoft has recently updated the default security settings for Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) . As of now, when you create a new host pool , several device redirection features—such as clipboard sharing, drive access, USB devices, and printer redirection—are disabled by default . This change is designed to reduce the risk of data exfiltration and malware injection , making AVD more secure out of the box. However, if your organization requires these features for productivity or workflow reasons, you can easily enable them manually. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to re-enable device redirection using the Azure portal. 🛠️ Step-by-Step: Enable Device Redirection in Azure Portal Log in to Azure Portal Go to portal.azure.com and sign in with your administrator account. Navigate to Your Host Pool In the left-hand menu, search for "Azure Virtual Desktop" and select "Host pools" . Click on the host pool you want to configure. Open RDP Prop...

🛡️ Azure IAM: Report Explicit Role Assignments This PowerShell script collects all explicit role assignments across your Azure environment – including Management Groups, Subscriptions, Resource Groups, and Resources – and generates an easy-to-read HTML report . ✅ What It Does: Skips inherited permissions – only shows direct (explicit) role assignments Lists user/group/service principal roles by scope Exports a local HTML report you can archive or review Explicit IAM Report – PowerShell Connect-AzAccount function Get-ExplicitRoleAssignments { param ([string]$Scope) Write-Host "Fetching role assignments for scope: $Scope" try { $roleAssignments = Get-AzRoleAssignment -Scope $Scope -ErrorAction Stop $explicitAssignments = $roleAssignments | Where-Object { $_.Scope -eq $Scope } return $explicitAssignments } catch { Write-Host "Error fetching assignments...

🔧 Expand Virtual Hard Disks on Azure Windows VMs 🚀 This guide helps you quickly understand how to expand virtual disks for Windows VMs on Azure. ✅ Applies to: Windows VMs Flexible Scale Sets 📌 Key Points: Default OS disk: 127 GiB Max OS disk: 4,095 GiB (limited to 2 TiB if MBR) Use GPT if you need more than 2 TiB on OS disk Cannot shrink existing disks 🕒 Expand Without Downtime (Data Disks Only): Works if disk is already > 4 TiB (Standard or Premium) Use Azure CLI, PowerShell, Portal, or ARM templates Not supported for OS disks or shared disks 📍 Resize via Azure Portal: Go to the VM and click Stop to deallocate (if required) Under Settings , click Disks Select the disk you want to resize Click Size + performance Select a new (larger) size and click Resize 🔄 After Resizing: Extend volume in Windows Disk Management If size is not visible: re...

 Want to protect your Azure virtual machines with a robust, agentless backup solution? This guide walks you through configuring agentless crash-consistent backup for a new Azure virtual machine (VM) with multiple disks and how to switch an existing VM from application/filesystem-consistent to crash-consistent backup. All steps are performed easily via the Azure portal using the Enhanced Policy. What is Agentless Crash-Consistent Backup? Azure Backup supports agentless backups for VMs by creating crash-consistent snapshots across multiple disks. This eliminates the need to install an agent on the VM, simplifying the process. Crash-consistent backups are ideal when application-consistent snapshots fail or when you prefer a streamlined approach. Note that this feature requires the Enhanced Policy , as application/filesystem-consistent backup is the default setting. Note : Check pricing details and supported scenarios before starting, as there may be limitations for certain VM config...