Create and manage action groups in the Azure portal

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In this tutorial, we will learn how to create and manage action groups in the Azure portal. Action Groups in Azure are a way to group a set of notification preferences and actions that can be used to notify appropriate personnel when an alert is triggered. These groups allow users to easily configure and manage alerts for Azure resources such as Virtual Machines, App Services, and Storage Accounts.

Create an action group by using the Azure portal

In Azure, Action Groups are a collection of notification preferences and actions that can be used to notify the appropriate personnel when an alert is triggered. Here are the steps to create and manage Action Groups in the Azure portal:

1. Log in to the Azure portal and navigate to the Monitor tab.
2. Under Monitor, select Alerts.
3. Click on Manage action groups.
4. Click on + New action group to create a new Action Group.
5. Provide a name and a short description for the Action Group.
6. Under the Notifications section, select the desired notification type(s) such as Email, SMS, Voice, or Webhook, and provide the necessary information for each.
7. Under the Actions section, select the desired action type(s) such as Azure Function, Logic App, or Automation Runbook, and provide the necessary information for each.
8. Click on Create to save the Action Group.

Configure basic action group settings

Under Project details:

• Select the Subscription and Resource group in which the action group is saved.

Under Instance details:

• Firstly, enter an Action group name.
• Secondly, enter a Display name. The display name is used in place of a full action group name when notifications are sent using this group.

Configure notifications

• Firstly, click the Next: Notifications > button to move to the Notifications tab, or select the Notifications tab at the top of the screen.
• Secondly, define a list of notifications to send when an alert is triggered. Provide the following for each notification:
  • Notification type: Select the type of notification you want to send. The available options are:
    • Email Azure Resource Manager Role – Send an email to users assigned to certain subscription-level ARM roles.
    • Email/SMS/Push/Voice – Send these notification types to specific recipients.
  • Name: Enter a unique name for the notification.
  • Details: Based on the selected notification type, enter an email address, phone number, etc.
  • Common alert schema: You can choose to enable the common alert schema, which provides the advantage of having a single extensible and unified alert payload across all the alert services in Azure Monitor.

Configure actions

• Firstly, click the Next: Actions > button to move to the Actions tab, or select the Actions tab at the top of the screen.
• Secondly, define a list of actions to trigger when an alert is triggered. Provide the following for each action:
  • Action type: Select Automation Runbook, Azure Function, ITSM, Logic App, Secure Webhook, Webhook.
  • Name: Enter a unique name for the action.
  • Details: Based on the action type, enter a webhook URI, Azure app, ITSM connection, or Automation runbook. For ITSM Action, additionally specify Work Item and other fields your ITSM tool requires.
  • Common alert schema: You can choose to enable the common alert schema, which provides the advantage of having a single extensible and unified alert payload across all the alert services in Azure Monitor.

Manage your action groups

Once the Action Group is created, it can be used to configure alerts for Azure resources such as Virtual Machines, App Services, and Storage Accounts. To manage an existing Action Group, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Azure portal and navigate to the Monitor tab.
2. Under Monitor, select Alerts.
3. Click on Manage action groups.
4. Select the Action Group that you want to manage.
5. Make the necessary changes to the Notifications and Actions sections.
6. Click on Save to update the Action Group.

By creating and managing Action Groups in Azure, you can easily configure alerts and notifications to ensure that the right people are notified when issues arise with your Azure resources.

AZ-104 Exam Practice Questions

Question 1: Jane is a cloud administrator responsible for monitoring the performance of the Azure resources used by her organization. She wants to receive an email notification whenever there is a high CPU usage on any of the virtual machines (VMs). What should she do?

A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with an email notification.

B. Create a new virtual machine and configure it with a high-performance CPU.

C. Use Azure Monitor to view the CPU usage of each virtual machine manually.

D. Create a new virtual network and move all the virtual machines to it.

Answer: A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with an email notification.

Explanation: To receive an email notification when there is a high CPU usage on any of the VMs, Jane needs to create an alert rule and configure an action group with an email notification. An action group is a collection of notification preferences and actions that can be triggered by an alert rule. In this case, Jane can create an alert rule that monitors the CPU usage of the VMs and configure an action group to send an email notification to her when the usage exceeds a certain threshold.

Question 2: John is a DevOps engineer responsible for managing Azure resources. He wants to configure an action group to trigger a webhook whenever there is a failure in the deployment pipeline. What should he do?

A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with a webhook action.

B. Create a new Azure function to handle the webhook.

C. Use Azure DevOps to view the deployment pipeline status manually.

D. Create a new virtual network and move all the resources to it.

Answer: A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with a webhook action.

Explanation: To trigger a webhook whenever there is a failure in the deployment pipeline, John needs to create an alert rule and configure an action group with a webhook action. A webhook is a mechanism for invoking a custom HTTP endpoint in response to an event. In this case, John can create an alert rule that monitors the deployment pipeline status and configure an action group to trigger a webhook when the status is “failed”.

Question 3: Sarah is a security analyst responsible for monitoring the security of Azure resources. She wants to receive a text message whenever there is a security breach in the Azure Active Directory (AAD). What should she do?

A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with a SMS notification.

B. Create a new virtual machine and install a security monitoring tool on it.

C. Use Azure Security Center to view the security status of each resource manually.

D. Create a new virtual network and move all the resources to it.

Answer: A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with a SMS notification.

Explanation: To receive a text message when there is a security breach in the AAD, Sarah needs to create an alert rule and configure an action group with a SMS notification. In this case, Sarah can create an alert rule that monitors the security events in the AAD and configure an action group to send a SMS notification to her when a breach occurs.

Question 4: Tom is a cloud architect responsible for managing the cost of Azure resources. He wants to configure an action group to trigger an email notification whenever the cost of a resource exceeds a certain threshold. What should he do?

A. Create an alert rule and configure an action group with an email notification.

B. Create a new Azure policy to enforce cost limits.

C. Use Azure Cost Management to view the cost of each resource manually.

D. Create a new virtual network and move all the resources to it.

Answer: A. Create

Reference: Microsoft Documentation

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