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Virtual machines and other compute resources require an agent to collect monitoring data to measure the performance and availability of their guest operating system and workloads. This article describes the agents used by Azure Monitor and helps you determine which you need to meet the requirements for your particular environment.
Note
Azure Monitor currently has multiple agents because of recent consolidation of Azure Monitor and Log Analytics. While there may be overlap in their features, each has unique capabilities. Depending on your requirements, you may need one or more of the agents on your virtual machines.
You may have a specific set of requirements that can't be completely met with a single agent for a particular virtual machine. For example, you may want to use metric alerts which requires Azure diagnostics extension but also want to leverage the functionality of Azure Monitor for VMs which requires the Log Analytics agent and the Dependency agent. In cases such as this, you can use multiple agents, and this is a common scenario for customers who require functionality from each.
Summary of agents
The following tables provide a quick comparison of the Azure Monitor agents for Windows and Linux. Further detail on each is provided in the section below.
Windows agents
Diagnostics extension (WAD) | Log Analytics agent | Dependency agent | |
---|---|---|---|
Environments supported | Azure | Azure Other cloud On-premises | Azure Other cloud On-premises |
Agent requirements | None | None | Requires Log Analytics agent |
Data collected | Event Logs ETW events Performance File based logs IIS logs .NET app logs Crash dumps Agent diagnostics logs | Event Logs Performance
Limitations of the Log Analytics agent include:
Azure diagnostics extensionThe Azure Diagnostics extension collects monitoring data from the guest operating system and workloads of Azure virtual machines and other compute resources. It primarily collects data into Azure Storage but also allows you to define data sinks to also send data to other destinations such as Azure Monitor Metrics and Azure Event Hubs. Use Azure diagnostic extension if you need to:
Limitations of Azure diagnostics extension include:
Advanced Monitoring Agent NetworkTelegraf agentThe InfluxData Telegraf agent is used to collect performance data from Linux computers to Azure Monitor Metrics. Creative cloud app not loading mac. Use Telegraf agent if you need to:
Dependency agentThe Dependency agent collects discovered data about processes running on the virtual machine and external process dependencies. https://skyeyread448.weebly.com/top-news-apps-for-mac.html. Use the Dependency agent if you need to: Which app on mac can edit videos download.
Advanced Monitoring Agent App Mac FreeConsider the following when using the Dependency agent:
Extensions compared to agentsThe Log Analytics extension for Windows and Linux install the Log Analytics agent on Azure virtual machines. The Azure Monitor Dependency extension for Windows and Linux install the Dependency agent on Azure virtual machines. These are the same agents described above but allow you to manage them through virtual machine extensions. You should use extensions to install and manage the agents whenever possible. Next stepsGet more details on each of the agents at the following: |