Azure Application Insights
Deploys an Azure Application Insights resource backed by a Log Analytics Workspace, with configurable application type, data retention, daily ingestion cap, and sampling percentage. The component exports the connection string, instrumentation key, and application ID consumed by downstream compute resources for APM telemetry.
What Gets Created
When you deploy an AzureApplicationInsights resource, OpenMCF provisions:
- Application Insights — an
appinsights.Insightsresource in the specified region and resource group, configured with the chosen application type, retention period, daily data cap, and sampling percentage, linked to a Log Analytics Workspace - Azure Tags — resource metadata tags applied to the Application Insights resource for tracking and governance (resource name, kind, organization, environment)
Prerequisites
- Azure credentials configured via environment variables or OpenMCF provider config
- An Azure Resource Group where the Application Insights resource will be created (can reference an AzureResourceGroup resource)
- A Log Analytics Workspace for storing telemetry data (can reference an AzureLogAnalyticsWorkspace resource). Classic (non-workspace) Application Insights is deprecated by Microsoft and is not supported.
Quick Start
Create a file app-insights.yaml:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: my-app-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: dev.AzureApplicationInsights.my-app-insights
spec:
region: eastus
resourceGroup: my-rg
name: my-app-insights
workspaceId: /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/my-rg/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/my-workspace
Deploy:
openmcf apply -f app-insights.yaml
This creates a workspace-based Application Insights resource with the default application type (web), 90-day retention, 100 GB daily data cap, and 100% sampling (full fidelity).
Configuration Reference
Required Fields
| Field | Type | Description | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
region | string | Azure region for the Application Insights resource (e.g., eastus, westeurope). Should match the region of the applications being monitored. | Required, minimum length 1 |
resourceGroup | StringValueOrRef | Azure Resource Group name. Can reference an AzureResourceGroup resource via valueFrom. | Required |
name | string | Name of the Application Insights resource. Must be unique within the resource group. | Required, 1-260 characters |
workspaceId | StringValueOrRef | Log Analytics Workspace resource ID. Can reference an AzureLogAnalyticsWorkspace resource via valueFrom. Workspace-based mode is the only supported mode. | Required |
Optional Fields
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
applicationType | string | web | The type of application being monitored. Values: web (web applications), java (standalone Java), Node.JS (Node.js applications), other (all other types). This field is ForceNew in Azure -- changing it requires resource recreation. |
retentionInDays | int32 | 90 | Number of days to retain telemetry data. Allowed values: 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 270, 365, 550, 730. Free tier includes 90 days; beyond that, retention is billed per GB per month. |
dailyDataCapInGb | double | 100 | Daily telemetry ingestion cap in GB. When the cap is reached, ingestion stops until the next UTC day. Useful for controlling costs in development or staging environments. Minimum: 0. |
samplingPercentage | double | 100 | Percentage of telemetry data to sample (0-100). Reducing sampling lowers data volume and cost while still providing statistically representative telemetry. Common production values are 25-50%. Set to 100 for full fidelity. |
Examples
Basic Web Application Monitoring
A minimal Application Insights resource for monitoring a web application in development:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: dev-web-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: dev.AzureApplicationInsights.dev-web-insights
spec:
region: eastus
resourceGroup: dev-rg
name: dev-web-insights
workspaceId: /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/dev-rg/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/dev-workspace
Cost-Controlled Staging Environment
An Application Insights resource with a low daily data cap and reduced retention for a staging environment:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: staging-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: staging.AzureApplicationInsights.staging-insights
spec:
region: westeurope
resourceGroup: staging-rg
name: staging-insights
workspaceId: /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/staging-rg/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/staging-workspace
applicationType: web
retentionInDays: 30
dailyDataCapInGb: 5
samplingPercentage: 50
Production with Full Retention
A production Application Insights resource with extended retention and full-fidelity telemetry:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: prod-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: prod.AzureApplicationInsights.prod-insights
spec:
region: eastus
resourceGroup: prod-rg
name: prod-insights
workspaceId: /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/prod-workspace
applicationType: web
retentionInDays: 365
dailyDataCapInGb: 100
samplingPercentage: 100
Node.js Application with Sampled Telemetry
An Application Insights resource configured for a Node.js application with 25% sampling to reduce costs at scale:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: nodejs-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: prod.AzureApplicationInsights.nodejs-insights
spec:
region: southeastasia
resourceGroup: api-rg
name: nodejs-insights
workspaceId: /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/api-rg/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/api-workspace
applicationType: "Node.JS"
retentionInDays: 90
dailyDataCapInGb: 25
samplingPercentage: 25
Using Foreign Key References
Reference OpenMCF-managed resources for the resource group and Log Analytics Workspace instead of hardcoding values:
apiVersion: azure.openmcf.org/v1
kind: AzureApplicationInsights
metadata:
name: ref-insights
labels:
openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
pulumi.openmcf.org/organization: my-org
pulumi.openmcf.org/project: my-project
pulumi.openmcf.org/stack.name: prod.AzureApplicationInsights.ref-insights
spec:
region: eastus
resourceGroup:
valueFrom:
kind: AzureResourceGroup
name: my-rg
field: status.outputs.resource_group_name
name: ref-insights
workspaceId:
valueFrom:
kind: AzureLogAnalyticsWorkspace
name: my-workspace
field: status.outputs.workspace_id
retentionInDays: 90
Stack Outputs
After deployment, the following outputs are available in status.outputs:
| Output | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
appInsightsId | string | Azure Resource Manager ID of the Application Insights resource |
instrumentationKey | string | Instrumentation key for classic SDK configuration. Sensitive. Microsoft recommends using connectionString for new applications. |
connectionString | string | Connection string for SDK configuration. Contains the instrumentation key, ingestion endpoint, and other configuration in a single string. This is the recommended way to configure Application Insights SDKs. Referenced by AzureFunctionApp, AzureLinuxWebApp, and AzureContainerApp. |
appId | string | Application ID for programmatic access to Application Insights data via the REST API |
Related Components
- AzureResourceGroup -- provides the resource group for Application Insights placement
- AzureLogAnalyticsWorkspace -- provides the workspace for storing telemetry data
- AzureFunctionApp -- references the connection string for APM telemetry
- AzureLinuxWebApp -- references the connection string for APM telemetry
- AzureContainerApp -- references the connection string for APM telemetry
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