Azure API Access Test

The Azure Resource Manager provides a consistent management layer for the tasks performed through Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, REST API, and development tools. All the tools use a common set of operations. These tools can be chosen and used in a hassle free manner. The Azure Resource Manager communicates with the development tools using the Azure Resource manager API. The API passes requests from the tools to the Resource Manager service, which authenticates and authorizes the requests. Resource Manager then routes the requests to the appropriate resource providers. If the Resource Manager API is not accessible, then the tools hosted on the Azure cloud may not be available. Therefore it is necessary to periodically check the accessibility of the Resource manager API. The Azure API Access test helps administrators in this regard.

This test helps administrators figure out whether/not the API is accessible.

Target of the Test : A Microsoft Azure Subscription

Agent deploying the test: A remote agent

Output of the test: One set of results the target Microsoft Azure Subscription

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Subscription ID

Specify the GUID which uniquely identifies the Microsoft Azure Subscription to be monitored. To know the ID that maps to the target subscription, do the following:

  1. Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal.

  2. When the portal opens, click on the Subscriptions option (as indicated by Figure 1).

    Figure 1 : Clicking on the Subscriptions option

  3. Figure 2 that appears next will list all the subscriptions that have been configured for the target Azure AD tenant. Locate the subscription that is being monitored in the list, and check the value displayed for that subscription in the Subscription ID column.

    Figure 2 : Determining the Subscription ID

  4. Copy the Subscription ID in Figure 2 to the text box corresponding to the SUBSCRIPTION ID parameter in the test configuration page.

Tenant ID

Specify the Directory ID of the Azure AD tenant to which the target subscription belongs. To know how to determine the Directory ID, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API.

Client ID, Client Password, and Confirm Password

To connect to the target subscription, the eG agent requires an Access token in the form of an Application ID and the client secret value. For this purpose, you should register a new application with the Azure AD tenant. To know how to create such an application and determine its Application ID and client secret, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API. Specify the Application ID of the created Application in the Client ID text box and the client secret value in the Client Password text box. Confirm the Client Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Proxy Host and Proxy Port

In some environments, all communication with the Azure cloud be routed through a proxy server. In such environments, you should make sure that the eG agent connects to the cloud via the proxy server and collects metrics. To enable metrics collection via a proxy, specify the IP address of the proxy server and the port at which the server listens against the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the eG agent is not configured to communicate via a proxy, by default.

Proxy Username, Proxy Password and Confirm Password

If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy Username and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Measures made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Is API accessible?

Indicates whether/not the API is accessible.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Yes 1
No 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not the API is accessible. The graph of this measure however, represents the status of a server using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0 or 1.