Azure Monitor Application Insights Auto-Instrumentation for Java and Node Microservices on AKS
Key Takeaways (TLDR) Monitor Java and Node applications with zero code changes Fast onboarding: just 2 steps Supports distributed tracing, logs, and metrics Correlates application-level telemetry in Application Insights with infrastructure-level telemetry in Container Insights Available today in public preview Introduction Monitoring your applications is now easier than ever with the public preview release of Auto-Instrumentation for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). You can now easily monitor your Java and Node deployments without changing your code by leveraging auto-instrumentation that is integrated into the AKS cluster. This feature is ideal for developers or operators who are... Looking to add monitoring in the easiest way possible, without modifying code and avoiding ongoing SDK update maintenance. Starting out on their monitoring journey and looking to benefit from carefully chosen default configurations with the ability to tweak them over time. Working with someone else’s code and looking to instrument at scale. Or considering monitoring for the first time at the time of deployment. Before the introduction of this feature, users needed to manually instrument code, install language-specific SDKs, and manage updates on their own—a process that involved significant effort and numerous opportunities for errors. Now, all you need to do is follow a simple two-step process to instrument your applications and automatically send correlated OpenTelemetry-based application-level logs, metrics, and distributed tracing to your Application Insights resource. With AKS Auto-Instrumentation, you will be able to assess the performance of your application and identify the cause of any incidents more efficiently using the robust application performance monitoring capabilities of Azure Monitor Application Insights. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also ensures that your monitoring setup is both reliable and scalable. Feature Enablement and Onboarding To onboard to this feature, you will need to follow a two-step process: Prepare your cluster by installing the application monitoring webhook. Choose between namespace-wide onboarding or per-deployment onboarding by creating K8’s custom resources. Namespace-wide onboarding is the easiest method. It allows you to instrument all Java or Node deployments in your namespace and direct telemetry to a single Application Insights resource. Per-deployment onboarding allows more control by targeting specific deployments and directing telemetry to different Application Insights resources. Once the custom resource is created, you will need to deploy or redeploy your application, and telemetry will start flowing to Application Insights. For step-by-step instructions and to learn more about onboarding visit our official documentation on MS Learn. The Application Insights experience Once telemetry begins flowing, you can take advantage of Application Insights features such as Application Map, Failures/Performance Views, Availability, and more to help you efficiently diagnose and troubleshoot application issues. Let’s look at an example: I have an auto-instrumented distributed application running in the demoapp namespace of my AKS cluster. It consists of: One Java microservice Two Node.js microservices MongoDB and Redis as its data layer Scenario: End users have been complaining about some latency in the application. As the DRI, I can start my troubleshooting journey by going to the Application Map to get a topological view of my distributed application. I open Application Map and notice MicroserviceA has a red border - 50% of calls are erroring. The Container Insights card shows healthy pods - no failed pods or high CPU/memory usage. I can eliminate infrastructure issues as the cause of the slowness. In the Performance card, I spot that the rescuepet operation has an average duration of 10 seconds. That's pretty long. I drill in to get a distributed trace of the operation and find the root cause: an OutOfMemoryError. In this scenario, the issue has been identified as an out-of-memory error at the application layer. However, when the root cause is not in the code but in the infrastructure I get a full set of resource properties with every distributed trace so I can easily identify the infra resources running each span of my trace. I can click the investigate pods button to transition to Azure Monitor Container Insights and investigate my pods further. This correlation between application-level and infrastructure-level telemetry makes it much easier to determine whether the issue is caused by the application or the infrastructure. Pricing There is no additional cost to use AKS auto-instrumentation to send data to Azure Monitor. You will be only charged as per the current pricing. What’s Next Language Support This integration supports Java and Node workloads by leveraging the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry distro. We have distros for .NET and Python as well and we are working to integrate these distros into this solution. At that point, this integration will support .NET, Python, Java and Node.js. For customers that want to instrument workloads in other languages such as Go, Ruby, PHP, etc. we plan to leverage open-source instrumentations available in the Open Telemetry community. In this scenario, customers will instrument their code using open source OpenTelemetry instrumentations, and we will provide mechanisms that will make it easy to channel the telemetry to Application Insights. Application Insights will expose an endpoint that accepts OpenTelemetry Language Protocol (OTLP) signals and configure the instrumented workload to channel the telemetry to this endpoint. Operating Systems and K8’s Controllers Right now, you can only instrument kubernetes deployments running on Linux node pools, but we plan to expand support to introduce support for Linux ARM64 node pools as well as support for StatefulSet, Job, Cronjob, and Replicaset controller types. Portal Experiences We are also working on Azure portal experiences to make onboarding easier. When our portal experiences for onboarding are released, users will be able to install the Application Insights extension for AKS using the portal and use a portal user interface to instrument their workloads instead of having to create custom resources. Beyond onboarding, we are working to build Application Insights consumption experiences within the AKS namespace and workloads blade. You will be able to see application-level telemetry right there in the AKS portal without having to navigate away from your cluster to Application Insights. FAQs: What are the advantages of AKS Auto-Instrumentation? No code changes required No access to source code required No configuration changes required Eliminates instrumentation maintenance What languages are supported by AKS Auto-Instrumentation? Currently, AKS Auto-Instrumentation supports Java and Node.js applications. Python and .NET support is coming soon. Moreover, we will be adding support for all OTel supported languages like Go soon via native OTLP ingestion. Does AKS Auto-Instrumentation support custom metrics? For Node.js applications, custom metrics require manual instrumentation with the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro. Java applications allow custom metrics with auto-instrumentation. Click here for more FAQs. This article was co-authored by Rishab Jolly and Abinet AbateAzure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) Scale Limits Increased by 10x!
What is Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS)? Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) is a feature that allows you to securely connect Azure Monitor resources to your virtual network using private endpoints. This ensures that your monitoring data is accessed only through authorized private networks, preventing data exfiltration and keeping all traffic inside the Azure backbone network. AMPLS – Scale Limits Increased by 10x in Public Cloud - Public Preview In a groundbreaking development, we are excited to share that the scale limits for Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) have been significantly increased by tenfold (10x) in Public Cloud regions as part of the Public Preview! This substantial enhancement empowers our customers to manage their resources more efficiently and securely with private links using AMPLS, ensuring that workload logs are routed via the Microsoft backbone network. Addressing Customer Challenges Top Azure Strategic 500 customers, including leading Telecom service providers, Banking & Financial services customers, have reported that the previous limits of AMPLS were insufficient to meet their growing demands. The need for private links has surged 3-5 times beyond capacity, impacting network isolation and integration of critical workloads. Real-World Impact Our solution now enables customers to scale their Azure Monitor resources significantly, ensuring seamless network configurations and enhanced performance. Scenario 1: A Leading Telecom Service Provider known for its micro-segmentation architecture, have faced challenges with large-scale monitoring and reporting due to limitations on AMPLS. With the new solution, the customer can now scale up to 3,000 Log Analytics and 10,000 Application Insights workspaces with a single AMPLS resource, allowing them to configure over 13,000 Azure Monitor resources effortlessly. Scenario 2: A Leading Banking & Financial Services Customer have faced the scale challenges in delivering personalized insights due to complex workflows. By utilizing Azure Monitor with network isolation configurations, the customer can now scale their Azure Monitor resources to ensure secure telemetry flow and compliance. They have enabled thousands of Azure Monitor resources configured with AMPLS. Key Benefits to the Customer We believe that the solution our team has developed will significantly improve our customers' experience, allowing them to manage their resources more efficiently and effectively with private links using AMPLS. An AMPLS object can now connect up to 3,000 Log Analytics workspaces and 10,000 Application Insights components. (10x Increase) The Log Analytics workspace limit has been increased from 300 to 3,000 (10x increase). The Application Insights limit has increased from 1,000 to 10,000 (10x increase). An Azure Monitor resources can now connect up to 100 AMPLSs (20x increase). Data Collection Endpoint (DCE) Log Analytics Workspace (LA WS) Application Insights components (AI) An AMPLS object can connect to 10 private endpoints at most. Redesign of AMPLS – User experience to load 13K+ resources with Pagination Call to Action Explore the new capabilities of Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) and see how it can transform your network isolation and resource management. Visit our Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) documentation page for more details and start leveraging these enhancements today! For detailed information on configuring Azure Monitor private link scope and azure monitor resources, please refer to the following link: Configure Azure Monitor Private Link Scope (AMPLS) Configure Private Link for Azure MonitorAzure Monitor Network Security Perimeter - Features available in 56 Public Cloud Regions
What is Network Security Perimeter? The Network Security Perimeter is a feature designed to enhance the security of Azure PaaS resources by creating a logical network isolation boundary. This allows Azure PaaS resources to communicate within an explicit trusted boundary, ensuring that external access is limited based on network controls defined across all Private Link Resources within the perimeter. Azure Monitor - Network Security Perimeter - Public Cloud Regions - Update We are pleased to announce the expansion of Network Security Perimeter features in Azure Monitor services from 6 to 56 Azure regions. This significant milestone enables us to reach a broader audience and serve a larger customer base. It underscores our continuous growth and dedication to meeting the security needs of our global customers. The Network Security Perimeter feature, now available in these additional regions, is designed to enhance the security and monitoring capabilities of our customers' networks. By utilizing our solution, customers can achieve a more secure and isolated network environment, which is crucial in today's dynamic threat landscape. Currently, NSP is in Public Preview with Azure Global customers, and we have expanded Azure Monitor region support for NSP from 6 regions to 56 regions. The region rollout has enabled our customers to meet their network isolation and monitoring requirements for implementing the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) security waves. Key Benefits to Azure Customers The Network Security Perimeter (NSP) provides several key benefits for securing and managing Azure PaaS resources: Enhances security by allowing communication within a trusted boundary and limiting external access based on network controls. Provides centralized management, enabling administrators to define network boundaries and configure access controls through a uniform API in Azure Core Network. Offers granular access control with NSP rules based on IP addresses or subscriptions. Includes logging and monitoring capabilities for visibility into traffic patterns, aiding in auditing, compliance, and threat identification. Integrates seamlessly with other Azure services and supports complex network setups by associating multiple Private Link Resources with a single perimeter. These characteristics highlight NSP as an excellent instrument for enhancing network security and ensuring data integrity based on the network isolation configuration. For detailed information on configuring Azure Monitor with a Network Security Perimeter, please refer to the following link: Configure Azure Monitor with Network Security Perimeter (Preview) Reference documentation links: Network Security Perimeter - Concepts Transition to a network security perimeter in Azure Have a Question / Any Feedback? Reach us at [email protected]Azure Managed Grafana Brings Grafana 11 and More
We’re thrilled to announce the public preview of Grafana 11 and several feature enhancements in Azure Managed Grafana based on your feedback. We continue to evolve our service to deliver what matters most to our customers. Grafana 11 This annual major update to Grafana includes new functionality and improvements across dashboards, panels, queries, and alerts. The current preview in Managed Grafana offers Grafana v11.2. It includes the following key features: Explore Metrics Scenes powered dashboards Subfolders Numerous improvements to canvas visualization and alerting For more information on Grafana 11, please refer What’s new in Grafana v11.0, v11.1, and v11.2 and consider how the breaking changes may impact your specific use cases. You’ll need to create a new Managed Grafana instance to use Grafana 11 preview. Upgrading from Grafana 10 directly isn’t supported yet. You can copy over dashboards from your current Managed Grafana instance by following the steps in Migrate to Azure Managed Grafana. Please note that not all Grafana 11 features are available in Managed Grafana at present; if applicable, more features will be added over time. Azure Monitor Updates for Grafana 11 Improved Azure Monitor Logs visualizations This update extends Azure Monitor logs visualizations to support Basic Logs. This enables you to view Azure Monitor Log tables that have been configured with the lower cost Basic Log tier in Explore and dashboard panels. Additionally, Azure Monitor Logs details can now be viewed in Grafana Explore and Logs panels. You can filter query results by column values, run ad-hoc statistics and choose which column to display using simple point and click interaction without needing to modify the query text. Explore views also include options to view JSON data in dynamic columns. Azure Kubernetes Service users can leverage these views in a new Container Log dashboard. Prometheus Exemplars support for Azure Monitor Application Insight traces You can now drill down from Prometheus exemplars to Application Insights traces in Grafana. Using Exemplars in your troubleshooting workflow improves triage and analysis response times by allowing you to navigate from metrics to sample traces related to errors and exceptions and easily compare performance of transactions. To take advantage of this capability, the application needs to be instrumented to emit Prometheus metrics with Exemplars and traces to Azure Monitor Application Insights. Sign up for the Private Preview of Exemplars support in your Azure Monitor Workspace. User-Assigned Managed Identity Since its inception, Managed Grafana sets up a system-assigned managed identity for a new Grafana workspace by default. You can use this managed identity as the security principal to access backend data sources connected to your workspace. While it’s convenient to use, system-assigned managed identity isn’t always suitable. Enterprise customers who have stricter identity management policies typically create and manage all Entra ID identities by themselves. Managed Grafana now allows these customers to use identities defined in their Entra ID tenants instead. With the user-assigned managed identity feature, you can select an existing Entra ID identity to be used for authentication and authorization with your data sources. Please note that you can choose only one type of managed identity for each workspace. You can’t enable both system-assigned and user-assigned managed identities simultaneously. Grafana Settings Grafana server settings allow you to customize specific server behaviors. Managed Grafana configures and manages these settings automatically, so you don’t have to deal with them. There are some settings where usage varies from user to user. Managed Grafana now gives you the option to change their default values. The currently supported ones are: viewers_can_edit – determines whether users with the Grafana Viewer role can edit dashboards external_enabled – controls the public sharing of snapshots Grafana Migration Tool If you have a self-hosted Grafana server on-premises or in the cloud that you’d like to migrate to Managed Grafana, you can perform this operation with one command in the Azure CLI. The new az grafana migrate command automates the process of copying your existing dashboards from any Grafana server to your Managed Grafana workspace. It supports several options that control how the content migration should be conducted as well as a dry-run option for you to test and see the migration results before committing to the operation. Let Us Know How We’re Doing If you’re a current user of Managed Grafana, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment and fill out this online survey. It will help us further improve our service to better serve you. Thank you!
Announcing the Public Preview of Azure Monitor – Network Security Perimeter Features
Azure Monitor services now extend support to Network Security Perimeter (NSP) features, enabling Azure PaaS resources to communicate securely within a trusted boundary. The integration of NSP features in Azure Monitor services enhances security and monitoring capabilities across 6 Azure cloud regions (East US, East US 2, North Central US, South Central US, West US, West US 2).Optimizing Cost using the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro
Immediately after Willow deployed the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro, their Azure Costs spiked, and they approached Azure Monitor Team for strategies to optimize cost. By following the strategies in this blog, they were able to reduce costs by over 90%!
