Managing Azure Connections
IT Asset Management
(Cloud)
Tip: If you have configured your existing connection to Microsoft Azure
using the original AzureRM module (downloaded from Microsoft), and you do
not wish to import inventory from instances in Azure that might make use
of the Azure Hybrid Benefit, and you do not want improved performance,
then you do not need to make any changes to your existing configuration.
(However, note that the AzureRM module will shortly stop receiving bug fixes,
and that enhancements will be added that work only with the Microsoft Az module,
and not the older module. Furthermore, there are considerable performance
improvements, especially for large-scale implementations, with recent versions
of the newer Az module. Therefore best practice is to follow at least the first
two steps in the procedure below to uninstall the old module and replace it with
the newer Az module.)
If you now want your Azure connector to import inventory that takes account of
the Azure Hybrid Benefit, there are two slightly different processes depending on
where you are starting from:
- If you have previously used your Azure connector with the older Azure Resource Manager (AzureRM) module from Microsoft, you must first uninstall this older module. Thereafter, the configuration follows the same process shown below.
- If you are making your first connection to Azure from an inventory beacon with the Azure connector, naturally skip the uninstall step, and then follow the remaining process.
A connection to your chosen Microsoft Azure environment requires three
elements:
- Installation of the newer Azure Resource Manager (Az) module, downloaded from Microsoft.
- An Azure service principal identity that is required to have access to Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines and Microsoft.SqlVirtualMachine/sqlVirtualMachines with read permissions, or you can use the built-in role Virtual machine contributor.
- Configuration of the inventory beacon to make the connection to Azure. You must specify the connection details which can be obtained from Azure Active Directory (which, by default, does not have a schedule, so you may wish to add one).
Prerequisites
To complete this process, your chosen inventory beacon must meet the following requirements, some of which should have been fulfilled when the FlexNet Beacon software was installed:- PowerShell 5.1 or later is running on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later, or Windows 7 SP1 or later; with the PowerShell execution policy set to RemoteSigned.
- Install .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later (installation instructions and downloads start from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/).
- Ensure that the Windows Environment Variable PSModulePath includes the
following path:
%ProgramFiles%\WindowsPowerShell\Modules
- The FlexNet Beacon software installed on the inventory beacon must be release 16.3.0 (shipped with IT Asset Management 2020 R2.3) or later.
- A web browser is installed and enabled on the inventory beacon.
- You must log onto the inventory beacon, and run FlexNet Beacon, using an account with administrator privileges.
- Install the Microsoft Az module, version 6.1.0 or later. Instructions are
included in the process below.Tip: Although the connector is compatible with the Microsoft Az module version 5.2.0 or later, version 6.1.0 or later is required for compatibility with the Azure Resource Graph module which provides the latest performance improvements.
- Install Microsoft Azure Resource Graph module version 0.11 or later (remembering that this requires Microsoft Az for Windows PowerShell version 6.1.0 or later, as mentioned above). Instructions are included below. Flexera recommends that you install this as it optimizes performance, especially for large-scale implementations in Azure.
To configure your connection to Microsoft Azure:
- Azure virtual machines and instances running SQL Server
- Data for licensing Windows Server Datacenter Edition and Standard Edition for the 2008R2, 2012, 2012 R2, and 2016 releases
- Data for licensing SQL Server virtual machines running either the Enterprise Edition or the Standard Edition.
Connect-AzAccount
— To log into Microsoft AzureDisconnect-AzAccount
— To log out of Microsoft AzureGet-AzEnvironment
— To identify the environments currently available in Microsoft Azure (such as AzureChinaCloud, AzureCloud, AzureGermanCloud, AzureUSGovernment)Get-AzLocation
— To identify the available Azure geographic regions of the instance type (size in Microsoft term) where your instances may be runningGet-AzSqlVM
— To return the list of the SQL virtual machines you own, and then collect the cloud license modelGet-AzVMSize
— To return the list of the instances type based on locationGet-AzVM
— To return the list of the instances (virtual machines) you own, and then collect summary inventory details on each oneSearch-AzGraph
— To return a list of instance for a batch of subscriptions.
IT Asset Management (Cloud)
Current