Azure Policy is a service within Microsoft Azure that allows organizations to create, assign, and enforce policies across their cloud resources. Policies are sets of rules that govern how Azure resources are configured and used. They can be used to enforce compliance with regulatory requirements, ensure security best practices, and optimize costs.
Azure Policy provides a centralized location for creating and managing policies across Azure resources. Policies are created using JSON-based policy definitions, which can be customized to meet the specific needs of an organization. Policy definitions can be created from scratch, or they can be based on pre-defined templates that are provided by Microsoft or the community.
Once policies have been defined, they can be assigned to resources such as virtual machines, storage accounts, or Azure Active Directory. When a policy is assigned to a resource, it is evaluated against the current state of the resource to determine if it is compliant with the policy. If the resource is not compliant, Azure Policy can automatically remediate the issue by taking actions such as notifying administrators, blocking access to the resource, or even automatically making changes to the resource to bring it into compliance.
Azure Policy provides a powerful tool for ensuring that cloud resources are configured and used in a secure and compliant manner. It helps organizations to reduce risk, improve governance, and optimize costs in their Azure environment.
What are Azure Policy Definitions ?
In Microsoft Azure, a policy definition is a JSON document that describes the rules for enforcing policies on resources in your Azure environment. A policy definition specifies the conditions that must be met for a resource to be compliant with the policy, as well as the actions that should be taken if a resource is found to be non-compliant.
A policy definition consists of several elements, including:
- Name and description: A unique name and description that help identify and describe the policy.
- Policy rule: The main element of the policy definition, which specifies the conditions that resources must meet to be compliant with the policy. The policy rule is written in JSON format and can include conditions based on resource properties, tags, location, or other criteria.
- Parameters: Optional inputs that allow you to customize the policy rule for specific scenarios or resource types.
- Effects: Specifies the actions that should be taken if a resource is found to be non-compliant with the policy. Effects can be set to Deny, Audit, or Disabled.
Once you create a policy definition, you can assign it to a scope, which can be a subscription, resource group, or management group. When a policy definition is assigned to a scope, it is evaluated against all resources within that scope, and non-compliant resources are flagged or remediated based on the effect specified in the policy definition.
Azure Policy Definitions are a powerful tool for enforcing governance and compliance requirements across your Azure environment. By creating and assigning policy definitions, you can ensure that your resources are configured correctly and meet the necessary compliance standards, reducing the risk of security breaches and compliance violations.
What are Azure Policy Assignments?
In Microsoft Azure, a policy assignment is a way to apply a policy definition to a specific scope within your Azure environment, such as a subscription, resource group, or management group. When you assign a policy to a scope, it is evaluated against all resources within that scope, and non-compliant resources are flagged or remediated based on the effect specified in the policy definition.
When you create a policy assignment, you can configure it with the following elements:
- Policy definition: The policy definition that you want to apply to the scope.
- Scope: The Azure scope to which you want to apply the policy assignment, such as a subscription, resource group, or management group.
- Parameters: Optional inputs that allow you to customize the policy definition for specific scenarios or resource types.
- Enforcement mode: Specifies how the policy should be enforced. Enforcement mode can be set to Default, which means that the policy is enforced immediately upon assignment, or to Do Not Modify, which means that existing non-compliant resources are not remediated.
- Audit: Specifies whether the policy should only audit resources for compliance violations, or whether it should also take remediation actions.
Azure Policy Assignments are a powerful tool for enforcing governance and compliance requirements across your Azure environment. By assigning policy definitions to specific scopes, you can ensure that your resources are configured correctly and meet the necessary compliance standards, reducing the risk of security breaches and compliance violations.
