Azure cloud metrics

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Azure cloud metrics

    Azure cloud metrics gather performance data from Azure virtual machines (VMs) and Azure storage account policies, enabling you to monitor your Azure resources effectively. To start collecting these metrics, you select the desired metrics to add to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and configure your system accordingly.

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    Using Azure policies

    You can utilize preconfigured Azure policies for metric collection or create custom ones. When using preconfigured policies, the process involves:

    • Preparing an instance with an active MID Server and metric base
    • Installing the Agent Client Collector Framework and Agent Client Collector Monitoring
    • Running Discovery on the Azure cloud account to populate the CMDB with configuration items (CIs) to monitor
    • Configuring a proxy agent to monitor CIs in the cloud and assigning appropriate credentials to allow access to Azure policies

    The base system provides several preconfigured Azure policies for metric collection, including:

    • Azure Load Balancer metrics: Monitors Azure load balancers
    • Azure Gateway metrics: Monitors Azure network gateways
    • Azure Redis Cache metrics: Monitors Azure Redis cache
    • Azure Storage Account metrics: Monitors Azure storage accounts
    • Azure Virtual Machine (VM) metrics: Monitors Azure VMs

    Specifying the CIs for metric collection

    When creating policies, you must specify which CIs to monitor in the CMDB. These CIs are typically discovered through Discovery processes that identify applications and devices on your network.

    To enable monitoring for selected CIs, you need to:

    • Configure the Azure Metrics Collector check within the policy
    • Set credentials for the Azure Metrics Collector check to allow retrieval of metrics via the Agent Client Collector agent
    • Generate a JSON file listing the Azure resources to be monitored
    • Generate a JSON file specifying the metrics to retrieve from those resources

    This setup ensures targeted and efficient metric collection from your Azure resources, allowing you to maintain comprehensive visibility and performance monitoring within ServiceNow.

    Azure cloud metrics are gathered from Azure virtual machines (VMs) and Azure storage account policies. Collecting the cloud metrics enables you to monitor the performance of your Azure resources.

    Azure cloud metrics collection - Overview

    To begin collecting Azure cloud metrics, you must select the metrics that you want to add to the CMDB and set the relevant system configurations. For example, you can monitor the number of bytes sent and received from Azure resources. For details, see Agent Client Collector for Visibility - Content reference.

    Using Azure policies

    You can use preconfigured Azure policies for metric collection, or you can create your own Azure policies.

    When using a preconfigured policy, you do the following tasks:
    • Prepare an instance with an active MID Server and metric base.
    • Install Agent Client Collector Framework and Agent Client Collector Monitoring.
    • Run Discovery on the Azure cloud account to populate the CMDB with the configuration items (CIs) to be monitored.
    • Configure a proxy agent and assign credentials to the policy. Proxy agents monitor CIs for agents that are in the cloud. Credentials enable the agent to access the Azure policy.
    The policies available with the base system for you to activate and configure are described in the following table.
    Table 1. Azure policies available with base system
    Policy name Description Link to supported metrics
    Azure Load Balancer metrics Collects the metrics for the Azure load balancers. Supported metrics for Microsoft Load Balancers
    Azure Gateway metrics Collects the metrics for the Azure network gateway. Supported metrics for Microsoft Network Gateways
    Azure Redis Cache metrics Collects the metrics for the Azure Redis cache. Supported metrics for Microsoft Redis cache
    Azure Storage Account metrics Collects the metrics for the Azure storage accounts. Supported metrics for Microsoft storage accounts
    Azure Virtual Machine (VM) metrics Collects the metrics for the VMs, which help you monitor Azure VMs. Supported metrics for Microsoft virtual machines

    Specifying the CIs for metric collection

    When creating policies, you must include the CIs that you want to collect the metrics for in the CMDB. The CIs are typically populated during Discovery, which finds applications and devices on your network and updates the CMDB accordingly.

    When creating a policy, you must decide which CIs you want the policy to monitor. To enable monitoring CIs, you do the following tasks:
    1. Configure the Azure Metrics Collector check in the policy.
    2. Set the credentials for the Azure Metrics Collector check to enable retrieving metrics from Azure to the Agent Client Collector agent.
    3. Generate a .json file that specifies the list of resources to be monitored.
    4. Generate a .json file that specifies the list of metrics to be retrieved from monitored resources.
    For details on the Azure policies, see Create Azure policies for metric collection.

    For details on the Azure Metrics Batch API, see the Metrics Batch API page.