Backfill each member policy when deploying a diagnostic-settings initiative

Source facts

For the documented diagnostic-settings deployment, assignment without remediation applies to resources created afterward, not the existing population. Existing resources require a remediation task. An initiative requires a task for each constituent policy, and the task identifies that member through its definition-reference ID. Microsoft provides a Remediation tasks view for tracking the resulting work. Microsoft Learn.

Applicability

Use this backfill check for built-in diagnostic-setting initiatives covering supported resource types. Separate assignment creation, member-policy remediation and the actual arrival of expected logs; each is a different acceptance question.

DSE recommendation

Track remediation for every applicable member policy and compare existing-resource coverage with the new-resource path. Build the expected list from the initiative’s definitions and the resource inventory, rather than assuming that one completed task represents the whole initiative. Have the monitoring owner review the destination and intended categories before backfilling existing resources. Preserve unresolved member policies as visible rollout work.

Verification

Compare task records and definition-reference IDs with the expected member list. Inspect representative existing resources of each applicable type for the intended diagnostic setting, then verify that an approved test event reaches the selected destination. Check a newly created test resource separately. Do not report full historical-population coverage from a successful initiative assignment or a single resource’s logs; document remaining gaps by resource type and owning task.

Official references

Microsoft Learn: Built-in policies for diagnostic settings. Source reviewed September 9, 2026.