Control: 3.1.1.1 Ensure that Auto provisioning of 'Log Analytics agent for Azure VMs' is Set to 'On'

Description

Enable automatic provisioning of the monitoring agent to collect security data.

DEPRECATION PLANNED: The Log Analytics Agent is slated for deprecation in August 2024. The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint agent, in tandem with new agentless capabilities will be providing replacement functionality. More detail is available here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-defender-for-cloud/microsoft-defender-for-cloud-strategy-and-plan-towards-log/ba-p/3883341.

When Log Analytics agent for Azure VMs is turned on, Microsoft Defender for Cloud provisions the Microsoft Monitoring Agent on all existing supported Azure virtual machines and any new ones that are created. The Microsoft Monitoring Agent scans for various security-related configurations and events such as system updates, OS vulnerabilities, endpoint protection, and provides alerts.

Remediation

From Azure Portal

1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu.
2. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
3. Under Management, select Environment Settings.
4. Select a subscription.
5. Click on Settings & monitoring.
6. Set the Status of Log Analytics agent to On.
7. Select a Workspace.
8. Click Apply.
9. Click Continue.

Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions.

From Azure CLI

Use the below command to set Automatic provisioning of monitoring agent to On.

az account get-access-token --query "{subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken}" --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $1" -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/subscriptionID/providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings/default?api-version=2017-08-01-preview -d@"input.json"'

Where input.json contains the Request body json data as mentioned below.

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings/default",
  "name": "default",
  "type": "Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings",
  "properties": {
    "autoProvision": "On"
  }
}

Default Value

By default, Automatic provisioning of monitoring agent is set to On.