Edit

Share via

Data collection rule (DCR) structure for metrics export

Metrics export in Azure Monitor uses data collection rules (DCRs) to define which metrics to collect from which resources and where to send them. When you use the Azure portal to configure this feature, you don't need to understand the structure of DCR. Using other methods though, you may need to understand the structure so you can modify it for your requirements. This article describes the details of DCRs used for metrics export.

DCR properties

Property Description
dataSources.platformTelemetry.streams Lists the resource types and the metrics. Specify Metrics-Group-All to collect all metrics for the resource or specify individual metrics. Format: <resource type>:Metrics-Group-All \| <metric name>

Example: Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU
dataSources.platformTelemetry.name The name of the data source.
destinations The destination for the metrics. Only one destination is supported per DCR.
Valid Destinations types:
storageAccounts
logAnalytics
eventHubs
dataflows.streams A list of streams to pass to the destination in the format: <resource type>:Metrics-Group-All \| <metric name>

Example: Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU
dataflows.destinations The destination to pass the streams to as defined in the destinations property.
identity.type The identity type to use for the DCR. Required for storage account destinations.
Valid values:
systemAssigned
userAssigned
kind The kind of data collection rule. Set to PlatformTelemetry for metrics export.
location The location of the DCR.

Note

Only one destination type can be specified per DCR.

JSON structure

Use the format in the following generic JSON object to create a DCR for metrics export. Remove the unwanted destinations when copying the example.

{
    "properties": {
        "dataSources": {
            "platformTelemetry": [
                {
                    "streams": [
                    // a list of resource types and metrics to collect metrics from
                        "<resourcetype>:<metric name> | Metrics-Group-All", 
                        "<resourcetype>:<metric name> | Metrics-Group-All"
                    ],
                    "name": "<data sources name>"
                }
            ]
        },
        "destinations": {
            // Choose a single destination type of either logAnalytics, storageAccounts, or eventHubs
            "logAnalytics": [
                {
                    "workspaceResourceId": "workspace Id",
                    "name": "<destination name>"
                }
            ],
            "storageAccounts": [
                {
                    "storageAccountResourceId": "<storage account Id>", 
                    "containerName": "<container name>",
                    "name": "<destination name>"
                }
            ],
            "eventHubs": [ 
                 { 
                    "eventHubResourceId": "event hub id", 
                     "name": "<destination name>" 
                 } 
             ],
        },
        "dataFlows": [
            {
                "streams": [
                 // a list of resource types and metrics to pass to the destination
                        "<resourcetype>:<metric name> | Metrics-Group-All", 
                        "<resourcetype>:<metric name> | Metrics-Group-All"
                         ],
                "destinations": [
                    "<destination name>"
                ]
            }
        ]
    },
    // identity is required for Storage Account and Event Hubs destinations
    "identity": {
        "type": "userassigned", 
        "userAssignedIdentities": {
            "/subscriptions/aaaa0a0a-bb1b-cc2c-dd3d-eeeeee4e4e4e/resourceGroups/rg-001/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/DRCIdentity": {} 
        }
    },
"kind": "PlatformTelemetry",
    "location": "eastus"
}

Note

When creating a DCR for metrics export using the CLI, kind, location, and identity are passed as arguments and must be removed from the JSON object.

User and system assigned identities

Both user and system assigned identities are supported when creating DCRs. An identity is required for Storage Account and Event Hubs destinations. You can use a system assigned or user assigned identity. For more information, see Assign Azure roles to a managed identity.

To use a system assigned identity, add the identity object as follows:

    "identity": {
         "type": "systemAssigned"
    },

To use a user assigned identity, add the identity object as follows:

    "identity": {
        "type": "userassigned", 

        "userAssignedIdentities": { 
            "/subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/resourceGroups/<resource group name>/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/<identity name>": {} 
        }

    }

Filtering metrics

When specifying the metrics to export, you can filter the metrics by name or request all metrics by using Metrics-Group-All. For a list of supported metrics, see Supported metrics and log categories by resource type.

To specify more than one metric from the same resource type, create a separate stream item for each metric.

The following example shows how to filter metrics by name.

{
    "properties": {
        "dataSources": {
            "platformTelemetry": [
                {
                    "streams": [
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Disk Read Bytes",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Inbound Flows",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets:Percentage CPU",
                        "Microsoft.Cache/redis:Cache Hits"
                    ],
                    "name": "myPlatformTelemetryDataSource"
                }
            ]
        },
        "destinations": {
            "logAnalytics": [
                {
                    "workspaceResourceId": "/subscriptions/aaaa0a0a-bb1b-cc2c-dd3d-eeeeee4e4e4e/resourcegroups/arg-001/providers/microsoft.operationalinsights/workspaces/loganalyticsworkspace001",
                    "name": "destinationName"
                }
            ]
        },
        "dataFlows": [
            {
                "streams": [
                    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU",
                    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Disk Read Bytes",
                    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Inbound Flows",
                    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets:Percentage CPU",
                    "Microsoft.Cache/redis:Cache Hits"
                ],
                "destinations": [
                    "destinationName"
                ]
            }
        ]
    },
    "kind": "PlatformTelemetry",
    "location": "eastus"
}

Metrics export samples

The following examples show sample DCR JSON objects for metrics export to each destination type.

Log Analytics workspaces

The following example shows a data collection rule for metrics that sends specific metrics from virtual machines, virtual machine scale sets, and all key vault metrics to a Log Analytics workspace:

{
    "properties": {
        "dataSources": {
            "platformTelemetry": [
                {
                    "streams": [
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Disk Read Bytes",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Inbound Flows",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets:Available Memory Bytes",
                         "Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults:Metrics-Group-All"
                    ],
                    "name": "myPlatformTelemetryDataSource"
                }
            ]
        },
        "destinations": {
            "logAnalytics": [ 
                { 
                    "workspaceResourceId": "/subscriptions/aaaa0a0a-bb1b-cc2c-dd3d-eeeeee4e4e4e/resourcegroups/rg-001/providers/microsoft.operationalinsights/workspaces/laworkspace001", 
                    "name": "ladestination" 
                } 
            ] 
        },
        "dataFlows": [
            {
                "streams": [
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Percentage CPU",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Disk Read Bytes",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines:Inbound Flows",
                        "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets:Available Memory Bytes",
                        "Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults:Metrics-Group-All"
                        ],
                "destinations": [
                    "ladestination"
                    
                ]
            }
        ]
    },

"kind": "PlatformTelemetry",
    "location": "centralus"
}

Next steps

  • Last updated on