FinOps topics

Error on deployment on a CHE

MinaAdelKondos — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:10:20 GMT

I'm experiencing an error during the deployment of any package to a cloud-hosted environment. The error occurs specifically at step 11, 'Global Update script for service model: AOS Service,' and results in a failure to resume the deployment process.

The issue happens on the DB sync, however if I tried to sync the DB from the visual studio it succeeded without any errors. And If I tried to restore another empty DB for example, the deployment will succeed.

And if I tried to restore the DB on another CHE, the same issue happens.

The issue is that we need this DB, because it is the Master configuration DB, so we cannot delete it.

So my question is what is the best way to solve this issue and how can we know what is the issue with this DB?

Thanks in advance.

FOCUS data

Neha_Sandhu — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 03:41:45 GMT

Is FOCUS data important or essential for FinOps Toolkit? Can we not use normal Cost Management Actual and Amortized data to feed into FinOps toolkit?

How RI data appears in FOCUS

Mira1845 — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 08:11:22 GMT

The customer plans to export the billing report using FOCUS but is unsure how RI data will be displayed in FOCUS. Is there an example available that demonstrates how RI data appears in FOCUS? Thank you!

MCA Pricing

sushmadhas — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 04:08:45 GMT

Hi, I am trying to get organization pricing for MCA customer using an api. Is there any api available for getting the organization discount pricing. For EA account, i found this api is available for fetching the pricing . https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Billing/EA/agreements?api-version=2020-05-01

Like this is any api avilable for getting MCA account organization discount pricing.

Setup of FinOps Toolkit

Hareth — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:04:50 GMT

OK, so I've deployed the toolkit, setup the exports on an MCA account with 9x billing profiles, created FOCUS + Price Sheet exports for each billing profile followed by reservation details, transactions and recommendations for each billing profile.

Where it's failing for me is that I try to run the msexports_ExecuteETL and msexports_ETL_ingestion and it prompting me for

msexports_ETL_ingestion:

blobPath

destinationFile
destinationFolder
ingestionId
schemaFile
exportDatasetType
exportDatasetVersion

msexports_ExecuteETL:

folderPath
fileName

What should these value be?

Also we are currently migrating from EA agreement, to MCA, on the Cost Management Exports I can't see the subscription residing in the MCA agreement and therefore can't select the storage account in there to export to, why might that be?

finops toolkit - missing clusterUri

sergiovarga — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 20:14:43 GMT

I installed finops toolkit but I did not get any value in the clusterURI from my hub. Any thoughts on how to fix it? thanks

instructions:

Copy the Data Explorer cluster URI:

Select the resource group where your FinOps hub instance was deployed.

Select Settings > Deployments > hub > Outputs.

Copy the clusterUri output value.

Understanding Cloud Cost Fluctuations with Power BI

Adeelaziz — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 14:44:58 GMT

Staying on top of your cloud costs requires regular reviews. There are many ways to slice and dice your cloud costs; one approach I find helpful is comparing daily and monthly cost deltas.

Below is a visual from my Power BI report showing how my previous month’s costs compare to the month prior. The visual is filtered to only show delta increases/decreases over $1K. I can quickly see we spent $5K more on Azure SQL Database in the selected month compared to the previous month. I call this my 'large cost swings' graph.

I understand that everything is not linear, nor do things translate nicely from one day or month to the next. However, the data has a story to tell. What I ask my team to focus on is the story the data is telling. In this case, we made some modifications to ADF and SQL, leading to a $4K net reduction in costs.

Some stories explain the outcome of one or more actions. Then there are those stories which can help shape your future consumption and spending.

Navigating Azure Retail Pricing Data in Power BI: My Journey

Adeelaziz — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 14:28:47 GMT

Recently, I embarked on integrating Azure Retail Pricing data into my Power BI Cost Management dashboard. Initially, this seemed daunting, but with the right orientation and assistance from Copilot, I successfully navigated through it.

Did you know? Microsoft offers a Retail Pricing API that allows you to import data into Power BI in your preferred currency. The first hurdle I encountered was the API’s paginated results. To overcome this, I created a function in Power BI that iterates through the paginated results using a base URL.

To my surprise, both the Retail Price table and the Azure Cost Management table had only one common column: meterID. This led to a many-to-many relationship, which is less than ideal as it introduces data ambiguity. Since there were multiple matching meterIDs with different retail prices, I addressed this by creating Measures. Additionally, I created another measure to calculate the retail cost, as the Retail Price table did not contain any consumption data.

Happy to share more details if anyone's interested.

#Azure #PowerBi #AzureCostManagement #AzureRetailPricing

Step by Step to Create a Tag Filter in FinOps Hub (Portuguese)

SoniaCuff — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 04:48:12 GMT

Now live on the Azure InfraGurus regional blog, is guidance on filtering by tags using FinOps hubs. This local language blog is published in Portuguese.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-infragurus/passo-a-passo-para-criar-um-filtro-de-tag-no-finops-hub/ba-p/4249215

If you'e looking for more Infrastructure guidance in Portuguese, check out the rest of the blog: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-infragurus/bg-p/AzureInfraGurus

Cost Optimization to help Finance Team

Mohamed_Hashim — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:01:27 GMT

Dear All,

I would need all the possibilities in Azure to optimize the cost which will help the finance and IT team with the budget. How can we control the cost while using Azure resources like virtual machines, virtual networks, load balancers, app gateway, storage, and other developer team tasks which is spinning the cost like water.

Need the steps to manage the cost and is there any alternative way to use the Azure resources with cost effective?

Fin All new Resources and ideally their cost

Oleg_A — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 03:31:47 GMT

Hello:

I wonder if there is a way to find out ALL Resources in our tenant that were created since specific date (like last 7 days) and their cost for the same period.

Ideally I'd like to run it via PowerShell...

How can I do it?

We are not enforcing "create date" tags...

Thank you!

Selecting Tables to Sync from finance and operations | programmatically

Mahmoud_Elgendi — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 04:47:21 GMT

Dears, I've some important questions please

Is there any option to programmatically select Tables to Sync from finance and operations, currently it’s a manual process and time-consuming task? We’re open to any tool: PowerShell, Python, Power Automate & etc
Is there any option to force the sync to start without waiting the interval settings in the advanced configuration?

Choose finance and operations data in Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse - Power Apps | Microsoft Learn

while running azure cost management API from Azure Devops pipeline its fail

santopat — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:42:50 GMT

Hi,

I struggle in running one PowerShell script in Azure Pipeline. The PowerShell works fine under windows 11. but when I run the same script in the azure pipeline with "Windows-latest" its fails with stating error "the remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request".

script contets:

---------------------------

$currentDate = get-date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd"

$startDateOfLastMonth = (get-date $currentDate -Day 1).AddMonths(-1)

$endDateOfLastMonth=GET-DATE $startDateOfLastMonth.AddMonths(1).AddSeconds(-1)

$billingPeriod = (get-date).AddMonths(-1).ToString('yyyyMM') #get-date -format 'yyyyMM'

function get-token(){

$token = (Get-AzAccessToken -ResourceUrl 'https://management.azure.com' ).Token

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"

$headers.Add("Authorization","Bearer $token")

return $headers

}

$headers = get-token

$subscriptions = Get-AzSubscription

$usageUri = "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$($subId)/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingPeriods/$($billingPeriod)/providers/Microsoft.Consumption/usageDetails?api-version=2018-03-31&$filter=properties/usageStart ge $startDateOfLastMonth AND properties/usageEnd le $endDateOfLastMonth"

Invoke-RestMethod $usageUri -Headers $headers -ContentType "application/json" -Verbose

---------------------------------------

The above code failed on the last command when trying to run "Invoke-RestMethod"

Azure compute reservation exchanges will remain available until further notice

SoniaCuff — Fri, 17 May 2024 06:06:00 GMT

The availability of Azure compute reservation exchanges for Azure Virtual Machine, Azure Dedicated Host and Azure App Service has been extended until further notice. Originally with a deadline of 1 July 2024, we have extended this and customers may continue exchanging their compute reservations for different instance series and regions until we notify them again, which will be at least 6 months in advance of the new deadline.

Learn more: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/reservation-exchange-policy-changes?WT.mc_id=modinfra-0000-socuff

Standardization on the lowest sku for App Service Plan

Edward_Olne — Tue, 07 May 2024 10:32:36 GMT

Hi,

Do you know if it's possible to standardize on the lowest SKU of an App Service Plan Premium V3 (P0v3) and then purchase reservations? Would these reservations be usable on P2v3 and P3v3, provided that the VM type is the same within all the SKUs?

Buying reservations for App Service Plan

Edward_Olne — Tue, 07 May 2024 09:32:05 GMT

Hi,

I have a question regarding the purchase of reservations for the App Service Plan. Does it work similarly to VMs? Meaning, if I have a premium V3 App Service Plan that can scale the number of VMs up and down, but I know that the average number of VMs on that specific App Service Plan is 2-3. Do I then purchase 2-3 reservations of premium V3, or does one reservation cover all instances?

Changes to Azure billing meter IDs

SoniaCuff — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 02:12:43 GMT

Do you use billing meter IDs in your Azure cost reporting? They show up on your invoice, price sheets, API calls etc. We're making some changes so they are unique, so they might appear differently (with a new ID) on some of your resources over the next few months.

Learn more: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-governance-and-management/azure-billing-meters-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-upcoming/ba-p/4106465?WT.mc_id=modinfra-117912-socuff

How we get Actual saving number once into Cost management portal of Azure for VM reservation

vipeshdeore82 — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:06:12 GMT

We have done multiple reservations for VM,SQL pass services but unable to find any kind of details for actual realise Saving numbers at anywhere in the Azure Cost management portal

same is for saving plan commitment as well how to find actual-realise saving when we do commitment of saving plan for 3 years.

also we do not have saving plan coverage or utilisation report at Azure cost management portal.

all above features are available at GCP and Azure

Optimalizácia nákladov na Azure: Komplexný sprievodca (Čast 1)

LeonidChetverikov — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 10:19:10 GMT

V snahe o efektívnosť cloudu je kľúčové efektívne spravovanie zdrojov. Tento článok poskytuje podrobný sprievodca odporúčaniami na šetrenie nákladov prostredníctvom identifikácie a vypnutia nepoužívaných zdrojov v Azure.

Krok 1: Identifikácia nepoužívaných zdrojov

Azure Advisor je vaším nástrojom pre identifikáciu nečinných virtuálnych strojov (VM) a ďalších nedostatočne využívaných zdrojov. Postupujte podľa týchto krokov, aby ste využili jeho možnosti:

Prístup k Azure Advisor

Prihlásenie: Prejdite na Azure Portal a prihláste sa svojimi prihlasovacími údajmi.
Nájdenie Advisor: Pomocou vyhľadávacej funkcie portálu lokalizujte 'Advisor'.
Záložka Cost: Na paneli Advisor kliknite na záložku 'Cost', aby ste videli finančné rady.
Analýza odporúčaní: Azure Advisor využíva strojové učenie na navrhovanie optimalizácií pre vaše zdroje.
Konanie podľa návrhov: Identifikuje zdroje, ktoré boli neaktívne viac ako týždeň, a odporúča ich vypnutie na základe metrík CPU a sieťovej prevádzky.

Krok 2: Automatické vypnutie VM

Aby ste predišli plytvaniu, možno nakonfigurovať funkciu automatického vypnutia Azure, ktorá môže vypnúť VM počas nepracovných hodín. Pôvodne bola táto funkcia exkluzívna pre DevTest Labs, teraz je všeobecne dostupná pre všetky ARM-based Azure VM.

Konfigurácia automatického vypnutia s Azure CLI Tu je príklad skriptu na nastavenie automatického vypnutia:

#Definícia názvu skupiny zdrojov a VM
RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME="myResourceGroup"
VM_NAME="myVM"
#Nastavenie požadovaného času vypnutia v UTC (HH:MM)
SHUTDOWN_TIME="20:00"
#Použitie konfigurácie automatického vypnutia
az vm auto-shutdown --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $VM_NAME --time $SHUTDOWN_TIME

Prispôsobte SHUTDOWN_TIME tak, aby zodpovedal ekvivalentu UTC vo vašom miestnom časovom pásme.

Krok 3: Odstránenie osamotených zdrojov

Osamotené zdroje, ako sú nepripojené disky a nepoužité sieťové rozhrania, môžu ticho vyčerpávať váš rozpočet.

Identifikácia osamotených zdrojov

Využite Azure Resource Graph s Kusto Query Language (KQL) na lokalizáciu týchto zdrojov. Napríklad na nájdenie nepripojených diskov:

Resources
| where type has "microsoft.compute/disks"
| extend diskState = tostring(properties.diskState)
| where managedBy == "" or diskState == 'Unattached'
| project id, diskState, resourceGroup, location, subscriptionId

Odstránenie osamotených zdrojov

Pred pokračovaním v odstraňovaní ich cez Azure portal alebo pomocou príkazov Azure CLI/PowerShell potvrďte stav osamotenosti.

Automatizácia a údržba

Zvážte automatizáciu procesu čistenia s Azure Automation alebo Azure Logic Apps. Pravidelné monitorovanie je kľúčové na predchádzanie zbytočným výdavkom.

Záver

Vždy dôkladne skontrolujte potrebu zdrojov pred ich odstránením, aby ste predišli nezvratným akciám. Dodržiavaním týchto krokov môžete udržať nákladovo efektívne a upratané prostredie Azure.

NEW: Set reservation to automatically renew

SoniaCuff — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 00:36:59 GMT

You can now opt in for your reservation to automatically renew. Your reservations will then automatically purchase a replacement when an existing reservation expires.

Automatic renewal provides an easy way to continue getting reservation discounts. It also saves you from having to closely monitor a reservation's expiration or miss savings benefits until you manually renew. The renewal setting is turned off by default, but you can enable or disable the renewal setting anytime, up to the expiration of the existing reservation.

Learn more here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/reservation-renew?WT.mc_id=modinfra-117912-socuff