AZ-104 Exam EP 06: Azure Policy

Summary

In this Azure Administrator Associate A Z104 examination course, the trainer Sushant introduces Azure Policy and Management Groups. The lesson covers the creation and implementation of policies to enforce corporate standards and compliance. It explains how to organize subscriptions into management groups, apply policies, and evaluate compliance with a focus on governance, scaling, and remediation. The trainer guides viewers through the Azure portal, showcasing policy definitions, initiative definitions, and real-time policy enforcement.

Takeaways

• 📘 Welcome to the Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 course. This session focuses on Azure policy.
• 🗂️ Management groups provide a scope above subscriptions to manage access, policies, and compliance effectively.
• 🔧 Management groups allow you to organize subscriptions into containers and apply governance conditions to them.
• 📜 Azure Policy is used to create, assign, and manage policies that enforce rules over your resources to ensure compliance.
• 📊 Azure Policy helps with enforcement, scaling, and remediation of resources to maintain compliance with corporate standards.
• ⚙️ To implement an Azure Policy, follow these steps: browse policy definitions, create initiative definitions, scope the initiative, and view policy evaluation results.
• 🌐 Policy definitions express what to evaluate and actions to take, with conditions and accompanying effects.
• 📂 Initiative definitions are sets of policy definitions aimed at tracking compliance for larger goals.
• 🎯 Scoping an initiative definition limits its application to specific management groups, subscriptions, or resource groups.
• 🔍 Azure policies include built-in definitions and the ability to create custom policies in JSON format for specific compliance needs.

Q & A

What is the purpose of Azure Policy?

Azure Policy is a service in Azure that allows you to create, assign, and manage policies to enforce rules over your resources, ensuring they stay compliant with corporate standards and service level agreements.

What are the main advantages of using Azure Policy?

The main advantages of Azure Policy include enforcement, scaling, and remediation. It enables real-time policy evaluation and enforcement, can apply policies across an entire organization, and supports real-time remediation as well as remediation on existing resources.

What is a Management Group in Azure?

A Management Group in Azure is a container that provides a level of scope above subscriptions, allowing you to organize subscriptions and apply governance conditions to them, ensuring organizational alignment and compliance.

How can you apply policies to a Management Group in Azure?

You can apply policies to a Management Group in Azure through the Azure portal, PowerShell, or Azure CLI. Policies applied to a Management Group will be inherited by all subscriptions and resources under that group.

What is an Initiative Definition in Azure Policy?

An Initiative Definition in Azure Policy is a set of policy definitions that help track compliance state for a larger goal, such as ensuring a branch office is compliant with certain standards.

What are the steps involved in implementing an Azure Policy?

The steps to implement an Azure Policy are: 1) Browse for policy definitions, 2) Create initiative definitions, 3) Scope the initiative definition, and 4) View policy evaluation results.

How can you find and select policy definitions in the Azure portal?

In the Azure portal, you can find and select policy definitions by clicking on 'Policy' and then 'Definitions'. You can sort by category to locate the policies you need.

What is the maximum number of policies an Initiative Definition can include?

An Initiative Definition can include up to 100 policies.

How does the scope of an Initiative Definition affect policy enforcement?

The scope of an Initiative Definition determines what resources or grouping of resources the policy assignment gets enforced on, which can be at the level of management groups, subscriptions, or resource groups.

How can you determine the compliance state of your resources with Azure Policy?

You can determine the compliance state of your resources by using the 'Compliance' blade in the Azure portal, which shows non-compliant initiatives, policies, and resources.

What happens when a policy condition is evaluated against existing resources?

When a policy condition is evaluated against existing resources and found to be true, those resources are marked as non-compliant with the policies.

How often does Azure Policy evaluation occur?

Azure Policy evaluation happens approximately every hour, meaning any changes to policy definitions and assignments will be re-evaluated over your resources within that timeframe.