Application Insights for apps in Azure - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Application Insights for apps

App sends telemetry data

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Application Insights collects data

↓

Data is processed and stored

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User views metrics and logs in portal

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Alerts and diagnostics configured

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App performance monitored continuously

Application Insights collects data from your app, processes it, and shows you useful info to monitor and improve your app.

Execution Sample

Azure

1. Enable Application Insights in app
2. App sends telemetry (requests, exceptions)
3. Data stored in Azure Monitor
4. View data in Azure Portal
5. Set alerts for issues

This flow shows how an app sends data to Application Insights and how you monitor it.

Process Table

Step	Action	Data Sent/Processed	Result/Output
1	App starts with AI enabled	No data yet	App ready to send telemetry
2	App sends request telemetry	Request details (URL, duration)	Data received by AI
3	App sends exception telemetry	Exception details (error message)	Data received by AI
4	AI processes data	Aggregates requests and exceptions	Metrics updated
5	User views portal	Metrics and logs displayed	Insight into app health
6	User sets alert	Alert rule created	Notification on issues
7	App continues sending data	Continuous telemetry	Ongoing monitoring

💡 Monitoring continues as long as app runs and AI is enabled

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 4	After Step 5	Final
Telemetry Data	None	Request data sent	Request + Exception data sent	Data aggregated	Data displayed	Continuous data flow
Alerts	None	None	None	None	Alert rule created	Alerts active

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the app send different types of telemetry data?

Because Application Insights collects various info like requests and exceptions separately to give a full picture, as shown in steps 2 and 3 of the execution_table.

How does the user see the app's health status?

The user views processed and aggregated data in the Azure Portal at step 5, which shows metrics and logs for easy understanding.

What happens if the app stops sending telemetry?

Monitoring pauses because Application Insights relies on continuous data from the app, as indicated by the continuous data flow in the final variable_tracker state.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what data is sent at step 3?

A User alert settings

B Request details like URL and duration

C Exception details like error message

D Aggregated metrics

💡 Hint

Check the 'Data Sent/Processed' column at step 3 in execution_table

At which step does the user create an alert?

A Step 2

B Step 6

C Step 5

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' column for alert creation in execution_table

If the app stops sending telemetry after step 3, what happens to monitoring?

A Monitoring pauses due to no data

B Data aggregation increases

C Monitoring continues normally

D Alerts are automatically deleted

💡 Hint

Refer to the 'exit_note' and variable_tracker final state about continuous data flow

Concept Snapshot

Application Insights collects telemetry from your app like requests and errors.
It processes and stores data in Azure Monitor.
You view metrics and logs in Azure Portal.
Set alerts to get notified on issues.
Continuous data helps monitor app health.

Full Transcript

Application Insights is a tool that helps you watch your app's health. Your app sends information like requests and errors to Application Insights. This data is stored and processed in Azure Monitor. You can then see this information in the Azure Portal as charts and logs. You can also set alerts to get notified if something goes wrong. The app keeps sending data so you always know how it is doing.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of Azure Application Insights?

easy

A. To monitor the health and usage of applications

B. To create virtual machines in Azure

C. To store large amounts of data

D. To manage user identities and access

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand Application Insights role

   Application Insights is designed to monitor apps by collecting data about their performance and usage.

2. Step 2: Compare with other Azure services

   Other options like virtual machines, data storage, or identity management are handled by different Azure services.

3. Final Answer:

   To monitor the health and usage of applications -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Monitoring apps = To monitor the health and usage of applications [OK]

Hint: Think monitoring and diagnostics for apps [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing Application Insights with storage services
• Mixing it up with Azure Active Directory
• Assuming it creates or manages infrastructure

2. Which of the following is the correct way to enable Application Insights in an Azure Web App?

easy

A. Create a virtual machine and install Application Insights manually

B. Add Application Insights SDK and configure instrumentation key

C. Enable Azure Monitor logs only

D. Use Azure Blob Storage to store telemetry data

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify how to enable Application Insights

   Enabling Application Insights requires adding its SDK to the app and setting the instrumentation key for telemetry.

2. Step 2: Eliminate incorrect options

   Creating VMs or using Blob Storage does not enable Application Insights. Azure Monitor logs are related but separate.

3. Final Answer:

   Add Application Insights SDK and configure instrumentation key -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   SDK + instrumentation key = Add Application Insights SDK and configure instrumentation key [OK]

Hint: SDK plus key enables monitoring [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking Application Insights runs on VMs only
• Confusing Azure Monitor logs with Application Insights
• Using storage services for telemetry data

3. Given this snippet in an Azure Function app:

var telemetryClient = new TelemetryClient();
telemetryClient.TrackEvent("OrderPlaced");

What will Application Insights record?

medium

A. An error log with message 'OrderPlaced'

B. A performance metric for function execution time

C. An event named 'OrderPlaced' in the telemetry data

D. No data because TelemetryClient is not initialized

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand TrackEvent method

   TrackEvent sends a custom event named as the string argument to Application Insights.

2. Step 2: Check the code behavior

   The code creates a TelemetryClient and tracks an event called 'OrderPlaced', so this event will be recorded.

3. Final Answer:

   An event named 'OrderPlaced' in the telemetry data -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   TrackEvent sends event = An event named 'OrderPlaced' in the telemetry data [OK]

Hint: TrackEvent logs custom events [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming TrackEvent logs errors
• Thinking it measures performance automatically
• Believing TelemetryClient needs extra setup to send events

4. You added Application Insights to your app but see no telemetry data in the Azure portal. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. Application Insights service is not available in your region

B. Azure subscription is expired

C. You need to restart the Azure portal

D. Instrumentation key is missing or incorrect in app configuration

Solution

1. Step 1: Check telemetry data flow requirements

   Telemetry requires the correct instrumentation key configured in the app to send data to Application Insights.

2. Step 2: Evaluate other options

   Subscription expiry or service region issues would cause broader failures, and restarting the portal does not affect telemetry data.

3. Final Answer:

   Instrumentation key is missing or incorrect in app configuration -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Missing key blocks telemetry = Instrumentation key is missing or incorrect in app configuration [OK]

Hint: Check instrumentation key first [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Restarting portal expecting data to appear
• Assuming regional availability blocks telemetry silently
• Ignoring app configuration settings

5. You want to monitor a multi-service app with Application Insights and correlate requests across services. What should you do?

hard

A. Enable distributed tracing and use the same Application Insights resource for all services

B. Create separate Application Insights resources for each service without linking

C. Use Azure Monitor logs only without Application Insights

D. Send telemetry data manually to a storage account

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand distributed tracing in Application Insights

   Distributed tracing allows tracking requests across multiple services by sharing context and using the same Application Insights resource.

2. Step 2: Compare options for multi-service monitoring

   Using separate resources without linking breaks correlation. Azure Monitor logs alone do not provide this tracing. Manual telemetry to storage lacks correlation features.

3. Final Answer:

   Enable distributed tracing and use the same Application Insights resource for all services -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Distributed tracing + shared resource = Enable distributed tracing and use the same Application Insights resource for all services [OK]

Hint: Use distributed tracing with shared resource [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Splitting telemetry into unlinked resources
• Ignoring distributed tracing setup
• Relying only on logs without correlation