SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Overview
Table of Contents What is Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server? Connecting SQL Server to Azure Arc (4-step onboarding) Your SQL Server is Now in Azure (unified management) SQL Best Practices Assessment Monitoring and Governance Troubleshooting Guide Azure Arc Demo What You Can Learn from This Article This article walks you through the end-to-end journey of bringing external SQL Servers (on-prem, AWS, GCP, edge) under Azure management using Azure Arc. Specifically, you'll learn how to onboard SQL Server instances via the Arc agent and PowerShell script, navigate the unified Azure Portal experience for hybrid SQL estates, enable and interpret SQL Best Practices Assessments with Log Analytics, apply Azure Policy and performance monitoring across all environments, leverage Azure Hybrid Benefit for cost savings, and troubleshoot common issues like assessment upload failures, Wire Server 403 errors, and IMDS connectivity problem, with a real case study distinguishing Azure VM vs. Arc-enabled server scenarios. 1. What is Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server? Azure Arc helps you connect your SQL Server to Azure wherever it runs. Whether your SQL Server is running on-premises in your datacenter, on AWS EC2, Google Cloud, or at an edge location Azure Arc brings it under Azure management. This means you get the same governance, security, and monitoring capabilities as native Azure resources and streamline migration journey to Azure, effectively manage SQL estate at scale and strengthen security and governance posture Cloud innovation. Anywhere. SQL Server migration in Azure Arc includes an end-to-end migration journey with the following capabilities: Continuous database migration assessments with Azure SQL target recommendations and cost estimates. Seamless provisioning of Azure SQL Managed Instance as destination target, also with an option of free instance evaluation. Option to choose between two built-in migration methods: real-time database replication using Distributed Availability Groups (powered by the Managed Instance link feature), or log shipping via backup and restore (powered by Log Replay Service feature). Unified interface that eliminates the need to use multiple tools or to jump between various places in Azure portal. Microsoft Copilot is integrated to assist you at select points during the migration journey. learn more in SQL Server migration in Azure Arc – Generally Available | Microsoft Community Hub 1.1 The Problem Azure Arc Solves Organizations typically have SQL Servers scattered across multiple environments: Location Challenge Without Azure Arc On-premises datacenter Separate management tools, no unified view AWS EC2 instances Multi-cloud complexity, different monitoring Google Cloud VMs Inconsistent governance and policies Edge / Branch offices Limited visibility, manual compliance VMware / Hyper-V No cloud-native management features Azure Arc solves this by extending a single Azure control plane to ALL your SQL Servers regardless of where they physically run Azure Arc Overview Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/overview Architecture Reference — Administer SQL Server with Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-arc-sql-server Documentation Index — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/?view=sql-server-ver17 SQL Server migration in Azure Arc (Community Hub): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azuresqlblog/sql-server-migration-in-azure-arc-generally-av... 2. Connecting SQL Server to Azure Arc Connecting SQL Server to Azure Arc This section shows how to onboard your SQL Server to Azure Arc. Once connected, your SQL Server appears in Azure Portal alongside your other Azure resources. 2.1 Step 1: Access Azure Arc Portal Navigation: Azure Portal → Azure Arc → Machines Figure 1: Azure Arc | Machines, Starting Point for Onboarding Description: The Azure Arc Machines blade is your entry point for connecting servers outside Azure. Click 'Onboard/Create' dropdown and select 'Onboard existing machines' to begin. The left menu shows Azure Arc capabilities: Machines, Kubernetes clusters, Data services, Licenses, etc. This is where ALL your Azure Arc-enabled servers will appear after onboarding. 2.2 Step 2: Configure Onboarding Options Select your operating system, enable SQL Server auto-discovery, and choose connectivity method: Figure 2: Onboarding Configuration, Enable SQL Server Auto-Discovery Description: Key settings: (1) Operating System select Windows or Linux, (2) SQL Server checkbox, 'Automatically connect any SQL Server instances to Azure Arc' enables auto-discovery of SQL instances on the server, (3) Connectivity method, 'Public endpoint' for direct internet access or 'Private endpoint' for VPN/ExpressRoute. The SQL Server checkbox is crucial, it installs the SQL Server extension automatically. 💡 Important: Check the 'Connect SQL Server' option! This ensures SQL Server instances are automatically discovered and connected to Azure Arc. 2.3 Step 3: Download the Onboarding Script Azure generates a customized PowerShell script containing your subscription details and configuration: Figure 3: Generated Onboarding Script, Ready to Download Description: The portal generates a PowerShell script customized for your environment. Key components: (1) Agent download from Azure CDN, (2) Installation commands, (3) Pre-configured connection parameters (subscription, resource group, location). Click 'Download' to save the script. Requirements note: Server needs HTTPS (port 443) access to Azure endpoints. 2.4 Step 4: Run the Script on Your Server Copy the script to your SQL Server and execute it in PowerShell as Administrator: Figure 4: Executing OnboardingScript.ps1 on the SQL Server Description: PowerShell console showing script execution from D:\Azure Arch directory. The script (OnboardingScript.ps1, 3214 bytes) installs the Azure Connected Machine Agent and registers the server with Azure Arc. During execution, a browser window opens for Azure authentication. After completion, the server appears in Azure Arc within minutes. What happens during onboarding: Azure Connected Machine Agent is downloaded and installed Agent establishes secure connection to Azure Server is registered as an Azure Arc resource SQL Server extension is installed (if checkbox was enabled) SQL Server instance appears in Azure Arc → SQL Server Connect Your SQL Server to Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/connect?view=sql-server-ver17 Prerequisites — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/prerequisites?view=sql-server-ver17 Manage Automatic Connection — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-autodeploy?view=sql-server-ver17 3. Your SQL Server is Now Visible in the Azure Control Plane Once connected via Azure Arc, your SQL Server is projected as a resource in the Azure Portal,right alongside your native Azure SQL resources. This is the power of Azure Arc: your SQL Server remains where it runs (on-premises, in AWS, or anywhere else), but Azure's management plane now extends to it. You can govern, monitor, and secure it with the same tools you use for Azure-native resources, without migrating the workload. 3.1 Unified View in Azure Portal After onboarding, you can see your Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server through two paths: Navigation Path What You See Azure Arc → SQL Server All Azure Arc-enabled SQL instances Azure Arc → Machines The host server with extensions 3.2 Management Experience Similar to SQL Server on Azure VM The management capabilities for Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server are very similar to SQL Server on Azure VM. The screenshots below show the SQL Server on Azure VM experience Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server provides nearly identical functionality. Whether your SQL Server runs natively on an Azure VM or is connected from outside Azure via Azure Arc, you get access to a consistent management experience including: Figure 5: SQL Server Management Overview — Consistent Experience Description: This shows the management experience for SQL Server in Azure. Whether connected via Azure Arc or running on Azure VM, you see: SQL Server version and edition, VM details, License type configuration, Storage configuration, and feature status. Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server provides a nearly identical dashboard experience, extending this unified view to your on-premises and multi-cloud servers. 3.3 Azure Hybrid Benefit - Use Your Existing Licenses One of the key cost-saving advantages which is you can apply Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) to Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, saving up to 30% or more on licensing costs by leveraging your existing Software Assurance-enabled SQL Server licenses. Note: Azure Hybrid Benefit applies to Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance. For SQL Server running on-premises or in other clouds managed via Azure Arc, AHB does not apply directly. However, Arc-enabled SQL Server provides other benefits such as centralized management, Azure-integrated security, and access to Extended Security Updates (ESUs). Figure 6: Azure Hybrid Benefit Configuration Description: License configuration for SQL Server on Azure VM, showing three options: Pay As You Go, Azure Hybrid Benefit (selected), and HA/DR. With Azure Hybrid Benefit, organizations with existing SQL Server licenses and active Software Assurance can save up to 30% or more on SQL Server licensing costs running on Azure VMs (as reflected in the Azure portal configuration blade). Free SQL Server licenses for High Availability and Disaster Recovery are also available for Standard and Enterprise editions. Configure SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-configuration?view=sql-server-ver1... Manage Licensing and Billing — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-license-billing?view=sql-server-ve... 4. SQL Best Practices Assessment One of the most valuable features available to Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server is the Best Practices Assessment — automatically evaluating your SQL Server configuration against Microsoft's recommendations. 4.1 Prerequisites: Log Analytics Workspace Before enabling assessment, you need a Log Analytics Workspace to store the results: Figure 7: Create Log Analytics Workspace Description: Log Analytics workspace creation form. Fill in: Subscription, Resource Group, Name (green checkmark indicates valid name), and Region (choose same region as your resources). This workspace stores assessment results, performance metrics, and logs from ALL your SQL Servers both Azure Arc-enabled and Azure VMs. Figure 8: Log Analytics Workspace Ready for Use Description: Workspace overview showing: Status (Active), Pricing tier (Pay-as-you-go), and Operational issues (OK). The 'Get Started' section guides you through: (1) Connect a data source, (2) Configure monitoring solutions, (3) Monitor workspace health. This workspace becomes the central repository for all your SQL Server insights. 4.2 Enable SQL Best Practices Assessment Navigate to your SQL Server (Azure Arc-enabled or Azure VM) and enable the assessment: Figure 9: SQL Best Practices Assessment Enable Feature Description: Assessment landing page explaining the feature: evaluates indexes, deprecated features, trace flags, statistics, etc. Results are uploaded via Azure Monitor Agent (AMA). Click 'Enable SQL best practices assessments' to begin configuration. This feature is available for BOTH Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server and Azure SQL VMs. Figure 10: Assessment Configuration Select Log Analytics Workspace Description: Configuration panel requiring: (1) Enable checkbox, (2) Log Analytics workspace selection, (3) Resource group for AMA. The warning 'No Log Analytics workspace is found' appears if you haven't created one yet, see Section 4.1. Once configured, assessments run on schedule and upload results to your workspace. 4.3 Run and Review Assessment Figure 11: Run Assessment Button Description: After configuration, click 'Run assessment' to start evaluation. Assessment duration varies: 5-10 minutes for small environments, 30-60 minutes for large ones. The 'View latest successful assessment' button (disabled until first run completes) opens the results workbook. Figure 12: Assessment Results History Description: Assessment history showing multiple runs with different statuses: 'Scheduled' (pending), 'Completed' (results available), 'Failed - result expired' (data retention exceeded). Regular assessments help catch configuration drift over time. If you see 'Failed - upload failed', see the Troubleshooting section. Figure 13: Assessment Recommendations Actionable Insights Description: Best practices workbook showing three panels: (1) Recommendation Summary with severity (High, Medium) and categories (DBConfiguration, Performance, Index, Backup), (2) Recommendation Details with target and name, (3) Details panel showing selected item — example: 'Enable instant file initialization' for performance improvement. High severity items should be addressed immediately. Severity Levels: Severity Description Action Timeline 🔴 High Critical issues affecting performance or security Address immediately 🟡 Medium Important optimizations recommended Within 30 days 🟢 Low Nice-to-have improvements As time permits ℹ️ Info Informational findings Review and acknowledge Configure Best Practices Assessment — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/assess?view=sql-server-ver17 Troubleshoot Best Practices Assessment — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/troubleshoot-assessment?view=sql-server-v... Assess Migration Readiness — SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/migration-assessment?view=sql-server-ver1... Log Analytics Workspace creation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/quick-create-workspace 5. Monitoring and Governance With your SQL Servers connected to Azure (via Azure Arc or native), you gain access to Azure's full monitoring and governance capabilities. 5.1 Azure Policy Compliance Apply consistent governance policies across ALL your SQL Servers — regardless of where they run: Figure 14: Azure Policy Compliance Dashboard Description: Compliance dashboard showing: 28% overall compliance (5 of 18 resources), pie chart with Compliant (green), Exempt, and Non-compliant (red). The table lists non-compliant resources (microsoft.hybridcompute type = Azure Arc-enabled servers). Use this to ensure ALL SQL Servers, on-premises, cloud, edge meet your organization's standards. 5.2 Performance Monitoring Figure 15: Performance Monitoring Unified Dashboard Description: Performance dashboard showing: Logical Disk Performance (C: drive 30% used), CPU Utilization (1.75% average, 5.73% 95th percentile), Available Memory (3.1GB average). This same dashboard works for Azure Arc-enabled servers, giving you consistent visibility across your entire SQL Server estate. 5.3 Service Dependency Mapping Figure 16: Service Map Visualize Dependencies Description: Map view showing server FNPSVR01 with 17 processes connecting to Port 443 (7 servers) and Port 53 (1 server). Machine Summary shows FQDN, OS (Windows Server 2016), IP address. Use this to understand application dependencies before maintenance or migration available for both Azure Arc-enabled and Azure-native servers. 6. Troubleshooting Guide This section covers common issues encountered when working with Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server and Azure SQL VMs. 6.1 Common Issues Overview Issue Symptoms Azure Arc-enabled Azure VM Assessment Upload Failed Status: 'Failed - upload failed' ✅ Applies ✅ Applies Wire Server 403 Agent cannot connect ❌ N/A ✅ Applies IMDS Disabled Cannot obtain token ❌ N/A ✅ Applies Azure Arc Agent Connectivity Server not appearing ✅ Applies ❌ N/A SQL Login Failed Machine account denied ✅ Applies ✅ Applies 6.2 Real Case Study: Assessment Upload Failed on Azure VM Note: This case study is from an Azure VM (not Azure Arc-enabled). The Wire Server and IMDS issues are specific to Azure VMs. Azure Arc-enabled servers use different connectivity mechanisms. Symptoms observed: Assessment status: 'Failed - upload failed' Local data collected successfully (415 issues) Data not appearing in Log Analytics workspace Root causes identified from logs: Error 1 (ExtensionLog ): [ERROR] Customer disable the IMDS service, cannot obtain IMDS token. Error 2 (WaAppAgent.log): [WARN] GetMachineGoalState() failed: 403 (Forbidden) to 168.63.129.16 Resolution for Azure VMs Fix Wire Server (168.63.129.16) connectivity: # Test connectivity Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 168.63.129.16 -Port 80 # Add route if missing route add 168.63.129.16 mask 255.255.255.255 <gateway> -p # Add firewall rule if needed New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow Azure Wire Server" -Direction Outbound -RemoteAddress 168.63.129.16 -Action Allow Fix IMDS (169.254.169.254) connectivity: # Test IMDS Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/instance?api-version=2021-02-01" -Headers @{Metadata="true"} # Add firewall rule if blocked New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow Azure IMDS" -Direction Outbound -RemoteAddress 169.254.169.254 -Action Allow Test Azure Arc agent connectivity: # Check Arc agent status & "$env:ProgramW6432\AzureConnectedMachineAgent\azcmagent.exe" show # Test connectivity to Azure endpoints & "$env:ProgramW6432\AzureConnectedMachineAgent\azcmagent.exe" check 6.3 Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server Connectivity Issues For Azure Arc-enabled servers (not Azure VMs), connectivity issues are different: Required Azure endpoints for Azure Arc agent: Endpoint Port Purpose management.azure.com 443 Azure Resource Manager login.microsoftonline.com 443 Azure AD authentication *.his.arc.azure.com 443 Azure Arc Hybrid Identity *.guestconfiguration.azure.com 443 Guest configuration Troubleshoot Best Practices Assessment Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/troubleshoot-assessment?view=sql-server-v... What is IP Address 168.63.129.16 (Wire Server) Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/what-is-ip-address-168-63-129-16 Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/instance-metadata-service Troubleshoot IMDS Connection Issues on Windows VMs Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-imds-connec... Troubleshoot Azure Windows VM Agent Issues Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-azure-guest-ag... 7. Troubleshooting Guide Demo Deck: Azure Arc for Windows Server and SQL Server More Additional Resources : Learn more about the new migration capability in Azure Arc on Microsoft Learn. Onboard your SQL Server to Azure Arc today. Learn more about continuous migration assessment from SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc. Download resources on github.com/microsoft/sql-server-samples
Mailbox for Service Account (exchange online)
Hi Our organisation isn't ready to move to Exchange Online yet, though we have Office 365 e3 licencing. I need to create a service account that can send emails via Outlook 365 for use In Power Automate. The documentation I have seen for adding a mailbox to an existing AAD user requires assigning an exchange licence to the account via the licence portal. I can't see any such licences though we do have e3 licencing which are visible that I assume covers this? Unfortunately the admin who did the original configuration has moved on and I don't have a global admin role so have to go through a support team that can't help me with my lack of knowledge in the area! Any advice would be very much appreciated as what ( i think) should be a simple task has taken a lot of time to try and get to the bottom of! Thanks, Dale.Azure Arc Server Mar 2026 Forum Recap
Please find the recording for the monthly Azure Arc Server Forum on YouTube! During the March 2026 Azure Arc Server Forum, we discussed: Deploying Ansible Playbooks through Machine Configuration as Azure Policy (Learn more: Announcing Private Preview: Deploy Ansible Playbooks using Azure Policy via Machine Configuration) and sign up at https://aka.ms/ansible-arc-signup New MECM (SCCM) connector supporting Cloud Native Server Management, sign up for Private Preview at aka.ms/arc-mecm/preview Automatic Agent Upgrade at Scale Enablement (Learn more: Run the latest Azure Arc agent with Automatic Agent Upgrade (Public Preview)) TPM-backed Identity for Secure Onboarding, sign up for Private Preview at https://aka.ms/arc-tpm-backed-identity/preview/ To sign up for the Azure Arc Server Forum and newsletter, please register with contact details at https://aka.ms/arcserverforumsignup/. For the latest agent release notes, check out What's new with Azure Connected Machine agent - Azure Arc | Microsoft Learn. Our April 2026 forum will be held on Thursday, April 16 at 9:30 AM PST / 12:30 PM EST. We look forward to you joining us, thank you!Cross Tenant Mailbox Migration: NotAcceptedDomainException
This week I'm performing a new cross tenant mailbox migration. I have some experience with this kind of migrations, ( it's the third one I'm in charge of ), and with the new procedure, ( will paste the link with the instructions at the end of this article ), an Azure Key Vault is no longer required, so I was very confident and thought that I would no have any issue. But, as sometimes occurs, I was wrong The setup was quite easy, and the mail users configuration was like always, so no a big deal. But now comes the point... Once I launched the migration batch, half of the users started syncing correctly and the ther ones failed, ( neither a MoveRequest was able to start for them ). Once I checked the errors, I got the same for all the failed ones: " NotAcceptedDomainException: You can't use the domain because it's not an accepted domain for your organization ". Ok. No problem... ( I thought ). I work with Exchange since more than 10 years and this is a common error message. ( Again I was wrong ). I started to check the mail users, looking for some misspelled domain, missing alias, spaces, etc... Basically, the troubleshooting for this kind of errors. But from my perspective all looked good. So, I decided to reconfigure all the mailusers with a script, launch a delta sync, and resume the failed moverequest. But again, same error for all of them. Checked again, with PS, from source and target tenant, checked in AD, all the proxy addresses... Nothing, all was correct! Non sense... Ok. At that point I decid to compare some syncing mail users with some failed ones, looking for anything that could be a pattern. And "voilá"! The syncing users were all licensed in O365... The failed ones not! After assigning a license to the failed ones and resume the MoveRequest, all started to work smoothly. For sure, I would have saved many hours of work if the error message had been: " The user is not licensed ". But, yeah... It would have been too simple 🙂 Summarizing, make sure that the mail users have an O365 license before you start the migration batch. And remember, not always the error messages are what they seems to be 🙂 Cross Tenant Mailbox Migration procedure, ( Preview 😞 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/cross-tenant-mailbox-migration?view=o365-worldwideAnnouncing Private Preview: Deploy Ansible Playbooks using Azure Policy via Machine Configuration
Azure Arc is on a mission to unify security, compliance, and management for Windows and Linux machines—anywhere. By extending Azure’s control plane beyond the cloud, Azure Arc enables organizations to unify governance, compliance, security and management of servers across on‑premises, edge, and multicloud environments using a consistent set of Azure tools and policies. Building on this mission, we’re excited to announce the private preview of deploying Ansible playbooks through Azure Policy using Machine Configuration, bringing Ansible‑driven automation into Azure Arc’s policy‑based governance model for Azure and Arc‑enabled Linux machines. This new capability enables you to orchestrate Ansible playbook execution directly from Azure Policy (via Machine Configuration) without requiring an Ansible control node, while benefiting from built‑in compliance reporting and remediation. Why this matters As organizations manage increasingly diverse server estates, they often rely on different tools for Windows and Linux, cloud, on-premises, or at the edge—creating fragmented security, compliance, and operational workflows. Many organizations rely on Ansible for OS configuration and application setup, but struggle with: Enforcing consistent configuration across distributed environments Detecting and correcting drift over time Integrating Ansible automation with centralized governance and compliance workflows With this private preview, Azure Policy becomes the single control plane for applying and monitoring Ansible‑based configuration, bringing Linux automation into the same governance model already used for Windows. Configuration is treated as policy—declarative, auditable, and continuously enforced—with compliance results surfaced in familiar Azure dashboards. What’s included in the private preview In this preview, you can: Use Azure Policy to trigger Ansible playbook execution on Azure and Azure Arc–enabled Linux machines Execute playbooks locally on each target machine, triggered by policy. Enable drift detection and automatic remediation by default View playbook execution status and compliance results directly in the Azure Policy compliance dashboard, alongside your other policies This provides a unified security, compliance and management experience across Windows and Linux machines—whether they’re running in Azure or connected through Azure Arc—while using your existing Ansible investments. Join the private preview If you’re interested in helping shape the future of Ansible‑based configuration management in Azure Arc, we’d love to partner with you. We’re especially interested in hearing your stories around usability, compliance reporting, and real‑world operational workflows. 👉 Sign up for the private preview and we'll reach out to you. We’ll continue investing in deeper Linux parity, broader scenarios, and tighter integration across Azure Arc’s security, governance and compliance experiences. We look forward to enhancing your unified Azure Arc experience for deploying, governing, and remediating configuration with Ansible—bringing consistent security, compliance, and management to Windows and Linux machines not only in Azure, but also across on‑premises and other public clouds.Simplify Azure Arc Server Onboarding with Ansible and the New Onboarding Role
If you’re already using Ansible to manage your infrastructure, there’s now a simpler—and more secure—way to bring machines under Azure Arc management. We’ve introduced a new Azure Arc onboarding role designed specifically for automated scenarios like Ansible playbooks. This role follows the principle of least privilege, giving your automation exactly what it needs to onboard servers—nothing more. A better way to onboard at scale Many customers want to standardize Azure Arc onboarding across hybrid and multicloud environments, but run into common challenges: Over‑privileged service principals Manual steps that don’t scale Inconsistent onboarding across environments By combining Ansible with the Azure Arc onboarding role, you can: Automate server onboarding end‑to‑end Reduce permissions risk with a purpose‑built role Scale confidently across thousands of machines Integrate Arc onboarding into existing Ansible workflows Built for automation, designed for security The new onboarding role removes the need to assign broader Azure roles just to connect servers to Azure Arc. Instead, your Ansible automation can authenticate using a tightly scoped identity that’s purpose‑built for Arc onboarding—making security teams happier without slowing down operations. Whether you’re modernizing existing datacenters or managing servers across multiple clouds, this new approach makes Azure Arc onboarding simpler, safer, and repeatable. Get started in minutes Our Microsoft Learn documentation provides guidance to help you get started quickly: Connect machines to Azure Arc at scale with Ansible Check out the Arc onboarding role, part of the Azure collection in Ansible Galaxy: Ansible Galaxy - azure.azcollection - Arc onboarding role Anything else you’d like to see with Azure Arc + Linux? Drop us a comment!Run the latest Azure Arc agent with Automatic Agent Upgrade (Public Preview)
Customers managing large fleets of Azure Arc servers need a scalable way to ensure the Azure Arc agent stays up to date without manual intervention. Per server configuration does not scale, and gaps in upgrade coverage can lead to operational drift, missed features, and delayed security updates. To address this, we’re introducing two new options to help customers enable Automatic Agent Upgrade at scale: applied as a built-in Azure Policy and a new onboarding CLI flag. The built-in policy makes it easy to check whether Automatic Agent Upgrade is enabled across a given scope and automatically remediates servers that are not compliant. For servers being newly onboarded, customers can enable the feature at onboarding by adding the --enable-automatic-upgrade flag to the azcmagent connect command, ensuring the agent is configured correctly from the start. What is Automatic Agent Upgrade? Automatic Agent Upgrade is a feature, in public preview, that automatically keeps the Azure Connected Machine agent (Arc agent) up to date. Updates are managed by Microsoft, so once enabled, customers no longer need to manually manage agent upgrades. By always running the latest agent version, customers receive all the newest capabilities, security updates, and bug fixes as soon as they’re released. Learn more: What's new with Azure Connected Machine agent - Azure Arc | Microsoft Learn. Getting Started Apply automatic agent upgrade policy Navigate to the ‘Policy’ blade in the Azure Portal Navigate to the ‘Compliance’ section and click ‘Assign Policy’ Fill out the required sections Scope: Subscription and resource group (optional) that policy will apply to Policy definition: Configure Azure Arc-enabled Servers to enable automatic upgrades Navigate to the ‘Remediation’ tab and check the box next to ‘Create a remediation task’ Navigate to the ‘Review + create’ tab and press ‘Create’. The Policy has been successfully applied to the scope. For more information on this process, please visit this article Quickstart: Create policy assignment using Azure portal - Azure Policy | Microsoft Learn. Apply automatic agent upgrade CLI Flag Adding the following flag enables automatic agent upgrade during onboarding --enable-automatic-upgrade While this flag can be used on a single server, it can also be applied at scale using one of the existing Azure Arc at scale onboarding methods and adding the flag Connect hybrid machines to Azure at scale - Azure Arc | Microsoft Learn. Here is an at scale onboarding sample using a basic script. azcmagent connect --resource-group {rg} --location {location} --subscription-id {subid} --service-principal-id {service principal id} --service-principal-secret {service principal secret} --tenant-id {tenant id} --enable-automatic-upgrade To get started with this feature or learn more, please refer to this article Manage and maintain the Azure Connected Machine agent - Azure Arc | Microsoft Learn.
Preserving permissions during EXO migration
Hi, Can you help me understand the outcome of preserving the permissions in our scenario. Exchange Server 2016 (soon Exchange SE) in a hybrid with Exchange Online. We are moving 75% of the mailboxes to Exchange Online. What ways will preserve or break the full-access or sendas permissions? I guess best way would be to migrate both the user and the shared mailbox at the same time in the same batch to keep the permission? If we migrate the user in batch 1 and shared mailbox in batch 2 will that preserve/break the full access/send as? If we migrate the shared mailbox in batch 1 and usermailbox in batch 2 will that preserve/break the full access/send as? If the permission is linked directly on the shared mailbox or via a security group is there a difference? Thanks!I built a free, open-source M365 security assessment tool - looking for feedback
I work as an IT consultant, and a good chunk of my time is spent assessing Microsoft 365 environments for small and mid-sized businesses. Every engagement started the same way: connect to five different PowerShell modules, run dozens of commands across Entra ID, Exchange Online, Defender, SharePoint, and Teams, manually compare each setting against CIS benchmarks, then spend hours assembling everything into a report the client could actually read. The tools that automate this either cost thousands per year, require standing up Azure infrastructure just to run, or only cover one service area. I wanted something simpler: one command that connects, assesses, and produces a client-ready deliverable. So I built it. What M365 Assess does https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess is a PowerShell-based security assessment tool that runs against a Microsoft 365 tenant and produces a comprehensive set of reports. Here is what you get from a single run: 57 automated security checks aligned to the CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark v6.0.1, covering Entra ID, Exchange Online, Defender for Office 365, SharePoint Online, and Teams 12 compliance frameworks mapped simultaneously -- every finding is cross-referenced against NIST 800-53, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS v4.0.1, CMMC 2.0, CISA SCuBA, and DISA STIG (plus CIS profiles for E3 L1/L2 and E5 L1/L2) 20+ CSV exports covering users, mailboxes, MFA status, admin roles, conditional access policies, mail flow rules, device compliance, and more A self-contained HTML report with an executive summary, severity badges, sortable tables, and a compliance overview dashboard -- no external dependencies, fully base64-encoded, just open it in any browser or email it directly The entire assessment is read-only. It never modifies tenant settings. Only Get-* cmdlets are used. A few things I'm proud of Real-time progress in the console. As the assessment runs, you see each check complete with live status indicators and timing. No staring at a blank terminal wondering if it hung. The HTML report is a single file. Logos, backgrounds, fonts -- everything is embedded. You can email the report as an attachment and it renders perfectly. It supports dark mode (auto-detects system preference), and all tables are sortable by clicking column headers. Compliance framework mapping. This was the feature that took the most work. The compliance overview shows coverage percentages across all 12 frameworks, with drill-down to individual controls. Each finding links back to its CIS control ID and maps to every applicable framework control. Pass/Fail detail tables. Each security check shows the CIS control reference, what was checked, what the expected value is, what the actual value is, and a clear Pass/Fail/Warning status. Findings include remediation descriptions to help prioritize fixes. Quick start If you want to try it out, it takes about 5 minutes to get running: # Install prerequisites (if you don't have them already) Install-Module Microsoft.Graph, ExchangeOnlineManagement -Scope CurrentUser Clone and run git clone https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess.git cd M365-Assess .\Invoke-M365Assessment.ps1 The interactive wizard walks you through selecting assessment sections, entering your tenant ID, and choosing an authentication method (interactive browser login, certificate-based, or pre-existing connections). Results land in a timestamped folder with all CSVs and the HTML report. Requires PowerShell 7.x and runs on Windows (macOS and Linux are experimental -- I would love help testing those platforms). Cloud support M365 Assess works with: Commercial (global) tenants GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments If you work in government cloud, the tool handles the different endpoint URIs automatically. What is next This is actively maintained and I have a roadmap of improvements: More automated checks -- 140 CIS v6.0.1 controls are tracked in the registry, with 57 automated today. Expanding coverage is the top priority. Remediation commands -- PowerShell snippets and portal steps for each finding, so you can fix issues directly from the report. XLSX compliance matrix -- A spreadsheet export for audit teams who need to work in Excel. Standalone report regeneration -- Re-run the report from existing CSV data without re-assessing the tenant. I would love your feedback I have been building this for my own consulting work, but I think it could be useful to the broader community. If you try it, I would genuinely appreciate hearing: What checks should I prioritize next? Which security controls matter most in your environment? What compliance frameworks are most requested by your clients or auditors? How does the report land with non-technical stakeholders? Is the executive summary useful, or does it need work? macOS/Linux users -- does it run? What breaks? I have tested it on macOS, but not extensively. Bug reports, feature requests, and contributions are all welcome on GitHub. Repository: https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess License: MIT (free for commercial and personal use) Runtime: PowerShell 7.x Thanks for reading. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.
