Table of Contents
Introducing Agentic AI: The Agent Volume Scan
Enhanced Natural Language Interface
AI-Powered Analysis and Templates
Abstract
The Azure NetApp Files VS Code Extension v1.2.0 introduces a major leap toward agentic, AI‑informed cloud operations with the debut of the agentic scanning of the volumes. Moving beyond traditional assistive AI, this release enables intelligent infrastructure analysis that can detect configuration risks, recommend remediations, and execute approved changes under user governance. Complemented by an expanded natural language interface, developers can now manage, optimize, and troubleshoot Azure NetApp Files resources through conversational commands - from performance monitoring to cross‑region replication, backup orchestration, and ARM template generation. Version 1.2.0 establishes the foundation for a multi‑agent system built to reduce operational toil and accelerate a shift toward self-managing enterprise storage in the cloud.
Co-authors:
- Prabu Arjunan, Product Manager, NetApp
- Sagar Gupta, Product Manager, NetApp
- Nitya Gupta, Director of Product, NetApp
We are excited to announce Azure NetApp Files VS Code Extension v1.2.0, marking a significant evolution in how we approach cloud storage management. This release moves beyond assistive AI toward AI-informed infrastructure operations powered by our new Agentic Framework.
Introducing Agentic AI: The Agent Volume Scan
This release introduces our first agentic framework—the agent volume scan—which doesn’t just alert you to problems, it actively generates recommended action plans and can execute approved changes with your governance.
Key capabilities include:
- Agentic scanning across all ANF volumes in your subscription to trigger comprehensive infrastructure health checks whenever needed.
- AI-powered risk detection for configuration gaps that could cause outages, including:
- Capacity risks: Usage threshold violations and approaching quota limits.
- Security vulnerabilities: Overly permissive export policies (0.0.0.0/0 exposure) and incorrect subnet restrictions (e.g., 10.0.0.0/24).
- Performance optimization: Cool access enablement opportunities for infrequently accessed data.
- One-click execution of approved changes directly to your Azure infrastructure.
Why This Matters
This release establishes the foundation for a multi-agent system designed to eliminate operational toils and make enterprise storage self-managing. The Agentic Volume Scanner demonstrates the model, and future agents will handle capacity planning, cost optimization, compliance auditing, and cross-cloud orchestration.
Why AI-Informed Operations
The Agentic Volume Scanner uses AI to analyze your infrastructure state, detect risks, and generate actionable remediation plans. Scanning is AI-based and initiated through user input. Currently, a scan is triggered when the user clicks "yes" on a notification after they select or change a subscription while the agent is active. Additionally, users can perform on-demand scans using the prompt "scan volumes." The plan is to schedule one scan every two hours during business days.
This is not code generation or chat assistance. It is actionable intelligence where agents detect issues, generate remediation plans, and execute approved infrastructure changes while you maintain complete control.
Core Components
- VS Code Extension (TypeScript): Developer-facing UI, commands, and agent interaction prompts
- Agentic Framework: Orchestrates scanning, analysis, recommends plan generation, and execution flow (with approval)
- Cloud APIs (REST): Reads infrastructure state and applies approved configuration changes
- GitHub Copilot Integration: Natural language understanding and context-aware recommendations
- Generated Templates: ARM/Bicep/Terraform/PowerShell templates generated automatically for deployment
- Authentication (IAM): Secure enterprise identity and access control
Enhanced Natural Language Interface
This release significantly expands natural language capabilities to make storage management conversational.
Enabling Azure NetApp Files Data Lifecycle Management Agent
Landing Page after the Azure NetApp Files VS Code extension installation and subscription selectionAI-Powered Analysis and Templates
The extension introduces a natural language chat interface through the @anf participant in GitHub Copilot Chat, allowing developers to manage Azure NetApp Files storage directly from VS Code using plain English commands — without leaving their editor. This is the first step toward a fully conversational storage management experience, covering four key areas: storage analysis and template generation, volume operations, cross-region replication, and backup and recovery.
|
Prompts |
What it does |
|
@anf analyze this volume |
Reviews performance and gives specific recommendations |
|
@anf generate Terraform/ARM/Bicep template |
Generates a ready-to-deploy template based on actual usage |
|
@anf what is this volume |
Retrieve detailed resource information |
|
@anf create a snapshot |
Takes an immediate point-in-time copy of the volume |
|
@anf set quota limit to 500GB |
Configure volume quota limits |
|
@anf configure export policy |
Set up NFS export policies and rules |
|
@anf monitor performance |
Shows live IOPS, throughput, and latency for the volume |
|
@anf replicate this volume to <DR region> |
Sets up disaster recovery to a secondary region |
|
@anf failover replication to secondary |
Execute disaster recover failover |
|
@anf resync replication |
Re-establish replication after failover |
|
@anf create a backup policy |
Schedules automatic backups for the volume |
|
@anf take a manual backup |
Create immediate backups |
|
@anf create backup vault |
Set up a new backup vault |
|
@anf assign volume to backup vault |
Link a volume to a backup vault |
For the full list of supported prompts, refer the documentation.
Leveraging @anf agent to perform operations using the VS Code extension.
For e.g. PowerShell module creation for the given ANF architecture.
What are the Benefits?
Business Benefits
- Accelerated remediation: Identify risks and move from detection → plan → approved execution in minutes
- Reduced operational friction: Standardized recommendations and approvals streamline collaboration between Dev, Ops, and IT
- Developer-first workflow: Storage operations stay inside VS Code, keeping teams in flow
Economic Benefits
- Lower waste: Proactively prevent over-provisioning and optimize for infrequently accessed data (cool access opportunities)
- Higher efficiency at scale: Reduce repeated manual checks by detecting common risks consistently across subscriptions.
- On-demand control: Trigger scans and automation only when needed, keeping approvals and governance in place while avoiding continuous background operations.
Technical Benefits
- AI-informed risk detection: Identify capacity, security, and performance risks early
- Governed action: The agent recommends and executes only approved changes
- Template generation in preferred formats: ARM/Bicep/Terraform/PowerShell for standardized deployments
Real‑World Scenario
Meet Sarah, an engineer supporting a production application:
Classic way: She signs into the Azure portal and navigates through multiple blades to locate the volume. From there, she manually checks performance metrics, reviews export policies for potential security gaps, and inspects quota thresholds to assess capacity risks. Each insight requires switching between different screens, cross-verifying details, and documenting findings separately. This fragmented workflow often stretches beyond 20 minutes, leaving room for interruptions, inconsistent documentation, and potential misconfigurations.
New way with v1.2.0: Sarah simply triggers the Volume Scanner inside VS Code. Within seconds, the agent analyzes the volume, surfaces prioritized risks, and generates a clear remediation plan. With one approval, the recommended fix is executed automatically—no portal hopping, no context switching, and no manual verification.
Result: Significantly faster resolution, fewer outages caused by overlooked risks, and consistently applied configurations—all completed without ever leaving the editor.
Learn more
- Install: VS Code Marketplace – Azure NetApp Files Extension
- Learn: Quick Start Guide & Documentation
- Build: Azure NetApp Files Storage Templates
- PostgreSQL with Azure NetApp Files – Specialized ARM template for PostgreSQL deployments.
- Microsoft Tech Community – Learn how AI accelerates cloud-native development
- Azure NetApp Files VS Code Extension: https://github.com/NetApp/anf-vscode-extension
- Feedback: https://github.com/NetApp/anf-vscode-extension/issues
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