Azure Monitor Setup Guide

Task

• Create a VM

Assign the Following Roles

• Log Analytics Contributor
• Monitoring Contributor

Enable AMA

Create a Table and DCR

PART 1 — Generate Sample Logs

Follow the steps below to generate sample logs.

Step 1.1 — Install Flask

Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

Linux:

sudo apt-get install python3 -y
sudo apt install python3-pip -y
pip install flask

Windows:

choco install python3 -y
python get-pip.py

Step 1.2 — Create the Application File

Create a folder called mywebapp and inside it, create a file called app.py:

# app.py — Sample Flask Web App with Logging

import logging
import random
import time
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
from datetime import datetime

app = Flask(__name__)

# ─── Configure File Logger ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
logging.basicConfig(
    filename="C:/logs/webapp.log",        # Windows path
    # filename="/var/log/webapp/webapp.log",  # Linux path (uncomment for Linux)
    level=logging.DEBUG,
    format="%(asctime)s  %(levelname)s  %(message)s",
    datefmt="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S"
)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# ─── Routes ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@app.route("/")
def home():
    logger.info("Home page visited from IP: %s", request.remote_addr)
    return "Welcome to the Sample Web App!"

@app.route("/order")
def order():
    order_id = random.randint(1000, 9999)
    logger.info("New order created. OrderID=%s", order_id)
    return jsonify({"status": "success", "order_id": order_id})

@app.route("/error")
def trigger_error():
    logger.error("Simulated ERROR: Payment gateway timeout at %s", datetime.now().isoformat())
    return jsonify({"status": "error", "message": "Payment failed"}), 500

@app.route("/warning")
def trigger_warning():
    logger.warning("Simulated WARNING: High memory usage detected — 87%%")
    return jsonify({"status": "warning"})

# ─── Run ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
if __name__ == "__main__":
    logger.info("Application starting up...")
    app.run(debug=False, port=5000)

Step 1.3 — Create the Log Folder

On Windows (run as Administrator):

mkdir C:\logs

On Linux:

sudo mkdir -p /var/log/webapp
sudo chmod 777 /var/log/webapp

---

Step 1.4 — Run the App

cd mywebapp
python app.py

Visit these URLs in your browser to generate logs:

URL	Log Type Generated
http://localhost:5000/	INFO
http://localhost:5000/order	INFO
http://localhost:5000/warning	WARNING
http://localhost:5000/error	ERROR

PART 2 — Add Dummy Logs (Optional — No App Needed)

💡 Use this method if you just want to test Azure Monitor without running an app.

Step 2.1 — Create a Dummy Log Generator Script

Create a file called generate_dummy_logs.py:

# generate_dummy_logs.py — Writes fake logs every few seconds

import random
import time
from datetime import datetime

# LOG_FILE = "C:/logs/webapp.log"         # Windows
LOG_FILE = "/var/log/webapp/webapp.log"   # Linux

LEVELS   = ["INFO", "WARNING", "ERROR", "DEBUG"]
MESSAGES = [
    "User login successful. UserID={}",
    "Order placed. OrderID={}",
    "Payment failed. TransactionID={}",
    "High CPU usage: {}%",
    "Database connection timeout. RetryAttempt={}",
    "Cache miss for key: session_{}",
    "Email sent to user_{}@example.com",
    "API response time: {}ms",
]

print(f"Writing dummy logs to: {LOG_FILE}")
print("Press Ctrl+C to stop.\n")

while True:
    timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
    level     = random.choice(LEVELS)
    message   = random.choice(MESSAGES).format(random.randint(100, 9999))
    log_line  = f"{timestamp}  {level}  {message}\n"

    with open(LOG_FILE, "a") as f:
        f.write(log_line)

    print(log_line.strip())
    time.sleep(2)   # writes a new log every 2 seconds

Run it:

python generate_dummy_logs.py

Your C:\logs\webapp.log (or /var/log/webapp/webapp.log) will now be populated with a new log entry every 2 seconds.