Azure metrics Dashboard for Azure Synapse Analytics – Part 1

Azure metrics Dashboard for Azure Synapse Analytics – Part 1

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

This article is part 1 of a 3 part monitoring series to meet the increasing needs of customers to proactively monitor the Synapse pool resource consumption, workload patterns and other key performance metrics.


 


In this post, we will cover the dashboards that are available today for us on the Azure portal. These don’t require heavy customization and are very easy to set up.


 


To create your dashboard, navigate to the Azure Portal Home page -> Synapse Pool resource blade -> Monitoring -> Metrics


 


prvemula_14-1609052505630.png


 


Although numerous metrics are available for building dashboards, this segment will cover the 4 most important ones for monitoring your DataWarehouse in this article. We will be using these metrics in the upcoming posts in the series as well.


prvemula_0-1609054865842.png


 


1. Resource Utilization – CPU, DWU, IO percentages


 


From the drop down shown above choose max CPU percentage, add max DWU percentage metric and max Data IO Percentage as shown below.


prvemula_1-1609054931515.png


Click on the pencil symbol and edit the name of the chart to your preference.


prvemula_17-1609052505611.png


 


Please note that DWU Percentage and CPU percentage overlap and you may see only one of them. The DWU percentage is usually either the CPU or IO percentage, whichever is higher.


prvemula_18-1609052505614.png


 


 


Now save the chart to a dashboard by clicking the ‘pin to dashboard’ option on the top righthand corner. You will be asked to choose between pinning it to an existing dashboard vs a new one as shown below.


prvemula_19-1609052505616.png


 


prvemula_20-1609052505617.png


 


Once the chart is saved/pinned to the dashboard, follow the same process to create the remaining charts as well, as shown below.  


 


2. Active and Queued queries – Concurrency details


 


Following the same process as above, create another chart on the same dashboard blade by adding active queries and queued queries aggregating on ‘Sum’


prvemula_21-1609052505618.png


prvemula_22-1609052505620.png


 


3. Workload Group Allocation – Resource classes and their percentage allocation details


 


For this chart, select workload group allocation by system percent aggregating on ‘Max’ and split by ‘Workload group’. Please note that there is a limit on the number of workload groups you can monitor.


 


prvemula_23-1609052505621.png


prvemula_24-1609052505623.png


 


4. Tempdb Utilization – tempdb usage across all the nodes



 


Add the below mentioned metric to your chart aggregating on ‘Max’. It is important to note that the chart below is the minimum, average or maximum value over a 5 minute window of the average tempdb utilization across all the nodes. In general, tempdb is located on each of the nodes, however, Azure metrics do not show  the individual node level tempdb utilization as of yet. This has been brought to the attention of the development teams.


prvemula_25-1609052505625.png


prvemula_26-1609052505626.png


 


Once all the 4 charts are pinned to the dashboard, resize the charts so that they all fit on one screen like below.


prvemula_27-1609052505633.png


 


Now that you have the important dashboards setup, you can build additional custom dashboards to get into more granular details about what queries/workloads are affecting your resources. This is not done by graphical user interface entirely and the second part of this post will provide you the step by step process for setting up the same.

Christmas Friday Five: Azure Migration, Power BI Models, More!

Christmas Friday Five: Azure Migration, Power BI Models, More!

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

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A lap around the Microsoft MVVM Toolkit

Diederik Krols lives in Antwerp, Belgium. He is a principal consultant at U2U Consult where he leads, designs and develops C# and XAML apps for the enterprise and the store. He’s a Windows Development MVP since 2014. Diederik runs the XamlBrewer blog on WordPress and the XamlBrewer repositories on GitHub. Follow him on Twitter @diederikkrols.

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Azure Migration Services – Easy Cloud Migration Service

Robert Smit is a EMEA Cloud Solution Architect at Insight.de and is a current Microsoft MVP Cloud and Datacenter as of 2009. Robert has over 20 years experience in IT with experience in the educational, health-care and finance industries. Robert’s past IT experience in the trenches of IT gives him the knowledge and insight that allows him to communicate effectively with IT professionals. Follow him on Twitter at @clusterMVP

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Will query folding apply to Power BI Composite models?

Marc Lelijveld is a Data Platform MVP, Power BI enthusiast, and public speaker who is passionate about anything which transforms data into action. Currently employed as a Data & AI consultant in The Netherlands, Marc is often sharing his thoughts, experience, and best-practices about Microsoft Data Platform with others. For more on Marc, check out his blog.

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Teams Real Simple with Pictures: Opting into SharePoint/OneDrive for Business as the location for Teams Meeting Recordings

Chris Hoard is a Microsoft Certified Trainer Regional Lead (MCT RL), Educator (MCEd) and Teams MVP. With over 10 years of cloud computing experience, he is currently building an education practice for Vuzion (Tier 2 UK CSP). His focus areas are Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 and entry-level Azure. Follow Chris on Twitter at @Microsoft365Pro and check out his blog here.

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C#.NET: HOW TO CONVERT DATE/TIME TO FORMATTED STRING

Asma Khalid is an Entrepreneur, ISV, Product Manager, Full Stack .Net Expert, Community Speaker, Contributor, and Aspiring YouTuber. Asma counts more than 7 years of hands-on experience in Leading, Developing & Managing IT related projects and products as an IT industry professional. Asma is the first woman from Pakistan to receive the MVP award three times, and the first to receive C-sharp corner online developer community MVP award four times. See her blog here.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint  MacOS Big Sur Upgrade Readiness

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint  MacOS Big Sur Upgrade Readiness

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Hi IT Pros,


Today we discuss about preparing our MD for Endpoint on Organization’s MacOS Systems and make them ready for “Big Sur”, the greatest and latest version of Mac operating system which is released by Apple on the 12th of November, 2020.  Big Sur enhance MDM (Mobile Device Management) protocol as key for automated device enrollment, content caching and managing apps. Big Sur’s code running process has been moved from kernel extensions (KEXTs) to system extensions for security reason.


Microsoft Endpoint Manager now supports the following new device configurations on MacOS Big Sur :



  • Non-OS software updates deferral

  • “Enable direct download” setting for associated domains · 4096-bit SCEP certificate keys

  • Prevent users from disabling automatic VPN

  • Excluded Domains for per-app VPN connections


For Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (WD ATP), Microsoft released an update to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint MacOS that will leverage new system extensions instead of kernel extensions with the following details:



  • An update to the Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac agent is required on all eligible macOS devices prior to moving these devices to macOS 11.

  • The update is applicable to devices running macOS version 10.15.4 or later.

  • To ensure that the Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac update is delivered and applied seamlessly from an end-user experience perspective, a new remote configuration must be deployed to all eligible macOS devices before Microsoft publishes the new agent version.

  • If the configuration is not deployed prior to the Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac agent update, end-users will be presented with a series of system dialogs asking to grant the agent all necessary permissions associated with the new system extensions.


Even though Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac new implementation based on system extensions is only applicable to devices running macOS version 10.15.4 or later, deploying configuration proactively across the entire macOS fleet will have two benefits:



  • ensure that even down-level devices are ready for macOS 11 Big Sur upgrade

  •  ensure that Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac continues protecting all macOS devices regardless OS version they were running prior to the Big Sur upgrade.


 


New configuration profiles for macOS Catalina and newer versions of macOS


You could deploy the Configuration Profile Policies by JAMF or Microsoft Endpoint Manager as your deployment tool. There are Configuration Profiles and  Preference Control Policy that need to be deployed:



  • System Extension configuration profile

  • Privacy Preferences Policy Control, granting Full Disk Access to the Microsoft Defender ATP Endpoint Security Extension

  • Network Extension configuration profile


 



  • Option 1: JAMF Deployment


 



  • System Extension configuration profile


 



  • In Computers > Configuration Profiles select Options > System Extensions.


Select Allowed System Extensions from the System Extension Types drop-down list.


Use UBF8T346G9 for Team Id.


Add the following bundle identifiers to the Allowed System Extensions list:


com.microsoft.wdav.epsext


com.microsoft.wdav.netext


             


m1.png


 



  • Privacy Preferences Policy Control


Add the following JAMF payload to grant Full Disk Access to the Microsoft Defender ATP Endpoint Security Extension. This policy is a pre-requisite for running the extension on your device.



  • Select Options > Privacy Preferences Policy Control.


Use com.microsoft.wdav.epsext as the Identifier and Bundle ID as Bundle type.


Set Code Requirement to identifier “com.microsoft.wdav.epsext” and anchor apple generic and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.6] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.1.13] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[subject.OU] = UBF8T346G9


Set App or service to SystemPolicyAllFiles and access to Allow. 


m2.png


 



  • Network Extension Policy


As part of the Endpoint Detection and Response capabilities, Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac inspects socket traffic and reports this information to the Microsoft Defender Security Center portal. The following policy allows the network extension to perform this functionality.


 Note


JAMF doesn’t have built-in support for content filtering policies, which are a pre-requisite for enabling the network extensions that Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac installs on the device. Furthermore, JAMF sometimes changes the content of the policies being deployed. As such, the following steps provide a workaround that involve signing the configuration profile.


Save the following content to your device as com.microsoft.network-extension.mobileconfig using a text editor:XML


<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?><!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd“>


<plist version=”1″>


    <dict>


        <key>PayloadUUID</key>


        <string>DA2CC794-488B-4AFF-89F7-6686A7E7B8AB</string>


        <key>PayloadType</key>


        <string>Configuration</string>


        <key>PayloadOrganization</key>


        <string>Microsoft Corporation</string>


        <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>


        <string>DA2CC794-488B-4AFF-89F7-6686A7E7B8AB</string>


        <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>


        <string>Microsoft Defender ATP Network Extension</string>


        <key>PayloadDescription</key>


        <string/>


        <key>PayloadVersion</key>


        <integer>1</integer>


        <key>PayloadEnabled</key>


        <true/>


        <key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>


        <true/>


        <key>PayloadScope</key>


        <string>System</string>


        <key>PayloadContent</key>


        <array>


            <dict>


                <key>PayloadUUID</key>


                <string>2BA070D9-2233-4827-AFC1-1F44C8C8E527</string>


                <key>PayloadType</key>


                <string>com.apple.webcontent-filter</string>


                <key>PayloadOrganization</key>


                <string>Microsoft Corporation</string>


                <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>


                <string>CEBF7A71-D9A1-48BD-8CCF-BD9D18EC155A</string>


                <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>


                <string>Approved Network Extension</string>


                <key>PayloadDescription</key>


                <string/>


                <key>PayloadVersion</key>


                <integer>1</integer>


                <key>PayloadEnabled</key>


                <true/>


                <key>FilterType</key>


                <string>Plugin</string>


                <key>UserDefinedName</key>


                <string>Microsoft Defender ATP Network Extension</string>


                <key>PluginBundleID</key>


                <string>com.microsoft.wdav</string>


                <key>FilterSockets</key>


                <true/>


                <key>FilterDataProviderBundleIdentifier</key>


                <string>com.microsoft.wdav.netext</string>


                <key>FilterDataProviderDesignatedRequirement</key>


                <string>identifier “com.microsoft.wdav.netext” and anchor apple generic and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.6] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.1.13] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[subject.OU] = UBF8T346G9</string>


            </dict>


        </array>


    </dict>


</plist>


Verify that the above file was copied correctly by running the plutil utility in the Terminal:


 


m3.png


 


From the JAMF portal, navigate to Configuration Profiles and click the Upload button. Select com.microsoft.network-extension.signed.mobileconfig when prompted for the file.


 


Option 2: Endpoint Manager Deployment



  • System Extensions Policy


To approve the system extensions:



  • In Intune, open Manage > Device configuration. Select Manage > Profiles > Create Profile.


Choose a name for the profile. Change Platform=macOS to Profile type=Extensions. Select Create.


      m5.png


 


In the Basics tab, give a name to this new profile.



  • In the Configuration settings tab, add the following entries in the Allowed system extensions section:


















Bundle identifier



Team identifier



com.microsoft.wdav.epsext



UBF8T346G9



com.microsoft.wdav.netext



UBF8T346G9



 


 m6.png


m7.png


  



  • In the Assignments tab, assign this profile to All Users & All devices.


                             Review and create this configuration profile.



  • Create and deploy the Endpoint Manager Custom Configuration Profile for MacOS Network Extension, Full Disk Access Policies


The following configuration profile enables the network extension and grants Full Disk Access to the Endpoint Security system extension.


Save the following content to a file named sysext.xml:


<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?><!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd“>


<plist version=”1″>


    <dict>


        <key>PayloadUUID</key>


        <string>7E53AC50-B88D-4132-99B6-29F7974EAA3C</string>


        <key>PayloadType</key>


        <string>Configuration</string>


        <key>PayloadOrganization</key>


        <string>Microsoft Corporation</string>


        <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>


        <string>7E53AC50-B88D-4132-99B6-29F7974EAA3C</string>


        <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>


        <string>Microsoft Defender ATP System Extensions</string>


        <key>PayloadDescription</key>


        <string/>


        <key>PayloadVersion</key>


        <integer>1</integer>


        <key>PayloadEnabled</key>


        <true/>


        <key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>


        <true/>


        <key>PayloadScope</key>


        <string>System</string>


        <key>PayloadContent</key>


        <array>


            <dict>


                <key>PayloadUUID</key>


                <string>2BA070D9-2233-4827-AFC1-1F44C8C8E527</string>


                <key>PayloadType</key>


                <string>com.apple.webcontent-filter</string>


                <key>PayloadOrganization</key>


                <string>Microsoft Corporation</string>


                <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>


                <string>CEBF7A71-D9A1-48BD-8CCF-BD9D18EC155A</string>


                <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>


                <string>Approved Network Extension</string>


                <key>PayloadDescription</key>


                <string/>


                <key>PayloadVersion</key>


                <integer>1</integer>


                <key>PayloadEnabled</key>


                <true/>


                <key>FilterType</key>


                <string>Plugin</string>


                <key>UserDefinedName</key>


                <string>Microsoft Defender ATP Network Extension</string>


                <key>PluginBundleID</key>


                <string>com.microsoft.wdav</string>


                <key>FilterSockets</key>


                <true/>


                <key>FilterDataProviderBundleIdentifier</key>


                <string>com.microsoft.wdav.netext</string>


                <key>FilterDataProviderDesignatedRequirement</key>


                <string>identifier &quot;com.microsoft.wdav.netext&quot; and anchor apple generic and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.6] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.1.13] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[subject.OU] = UBF8T346G9</string>


            </dict>


            <dict>


                <key>PayloadUUID</key>


                <string>56105E89-C7C8-4A95-AEE6-E11B8BEA0366</string>


                <key>PayloadType</key>


                <string>com.apple.TCC.configuration-profile-policy</string>


                <key>PayloadOrganization</key>


                <string>Microsoft Corporation</string>


                <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>


                <string>56105E89-C7C8-4A95-AEE6-E11B8BEA0366</string>


                <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>


                <string>Privacy Preferences Policy Control</string>


                <key>PayloadDescription</key>


                <string/>


                <key>PayloadVersion</key>


                <integer>1</integer>


                <key>PayloadEnabled</key>


                <true/>


                <key>Services</key>


                <dict>


                    <key>SystemPolicyAllFiles</key>


                    <array>


                        <dict>


                            <key>Identifier</key>


                            <string>com.microsoft.wdav.epsext</string>


                            <key>CodeRequirement</key>


                            <string>identifier “com.microsoft.wdav.epsext” and anchor apple generic and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.6] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.1.13] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[subject.OU] = UBF8T346G9</string>


                            <key>IdentifierType</key>


                            <string>bundleID</string>


                            <key>StaticCode</key>


                            <integer>0</integer>


                            <key>Allowed</key>


                            <integer>1</integer>


                        </dict>


                    </array>


                </dict>


            </dict>


        </array>


    </dict>


</plist>


Verify that the above file was copied correctly. From the Terminal, run the following command and verify that it outputs OK:


Bash


$ plutil -lint sysext.xml


sysext.xml: OK



  • To deploy this custom configuration profile:                                                                               > In Intune, open Manage > Device configuration. Select Manage > Profiles > Create               profile.


Choose a name for the profile. Change Platform=macOS and Profile type=Custom. Select Configure.


                 > Open the configuration profile and upload sysext.xml. This file was created in the preceding step.


                     Select OK.


m8.png


 


       > In the Assignments tab, assign this profile to All Users & All devices.


       > Review and create this configuration profile.


          


After this point, your environment is ready for MacOS devices to be upgraded to Big Sur, the MacOS newest version. MD for Endpoint on MacOS Devices will continue functioning normally after a successful OS upgrade.


 


                           TanTran_6-1608747428500.png


Reference


#DevDecember Week 4 Recap: Looking forward

#DevDecember Week 4 Recap: Looking forward

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Blog-images_week4.png

2021 is right around the corner, and with it comes the optimism a new year brings. A clean slate, a new story to write.  

 

So this week, we invite you to share what you hope to achieve in 2021and the activities that will get you there.    

 

Do you plan to spend more time listening in and sharing on live stream channels? Are there areas you want to brush up on? Do you have projects and goals you can’t wait to work on? Use our fill-in-the-blank to share your can-do items for 2021. 

Slide_8_2.png

 

We shared these resources recently that support developer efforts, whether you’re just starting out or are ready to kick it up a notch: 

Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors  

In 2020, we launched the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program, where students can join a global community of peers, connect with mentors, learn the skills they need to land a dream job, and make a difference. Applications are open year-round, and we will accept hundreds more Student Ambassadors in 2021

Learn more about the program 

 

Speed up development 

What does it take to go from idea to development without detours? Best-in-class tools and product management are two of the things that boost velocity, a new McKinsey report found. Find out how to get stuff done faster in 2021 with this and other real-world strategies.  

Read the McKinsey report on how to boost developer velocity  

 

Learning to code 

Intimidated by the idea of learning a new programming language? We’ve got a few ways to make it easier so 2021 is the year you make it happen. Download Visual Studio Code, then dive into tutorials and other resources that you can go through at your own pace. 

Learn to program with Visual Studio Code 

 

Predicting meteor showers using Python and VS Code 

Shooting for the moon in 2021? This session may provide inspiration. Dr G explains what meteor showers are and how data science is used to predict these events. No coding experience required. 

Watch the recorded live stream (50 min)  

 

We’ve got one more thing to mention before we close out week 4 of #DevDecember: 

  • #DevWithABev is still going strong. It’s simple. Snap a pic of you with your fav bev and post on Twitter with the hashtag #DevWithABev. 

 

There are only a few more days left in 2020 but we’ve got a final surprise in storekeep following #DevDecember to find out what it is. 

 
Missed a day or a week? Head over to our #DevDecember homepage. 

CISA Releases Free Detection Tool for Azure/M365 Environment

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Original release date: December 24, 2020

CISA has created a free tool for detecting unusual and potentially malicious activity that threatens users and applications in an Azure/Microsoft O365 environment. The tool is intended for use by incident responders and is narrowly focused on activity that is endemic to the recent identity- and authentication-based attacks seen in multiple sectors.

CISA strongly encourages users and administrators to visit the following GitHub page for additional information and detection countermeasures.

This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.