What you need to know
DSE recommends inventorying the existing extension before modifying it.
Potentially affected
Use this installation check during an authorized evaluation of the VM watch preview on an Azure VM with an existing Application Health extension. Confirm that the documented preview registration prerequisites have also been met before applying the procedure.
DSE recommendation
DSE recommends inventorying the existing extension before modifying it.
Source facts
Microsoft delivers the VM watch preview through the Application Health VM extension. For an existing Application Health extension, the installation guide requires both autoUpgradeMinorVersion and enableAutomaticUpgrade to be true. The guide separately verifies VM watch enablement by inspecting the VM configuration for vmWatchSettings with enabled set to true. Microsoft Learn
Applicability
Use this installation check during an authorized evaluation of the VM watch preview on an Azure VM with an existing Application Health extension. Confirm that the documented preview registration prerequisites have also been met before applying the procedure.
DSE recommendation
DSE recommends inventorying the existing extension before modifying it. Record its operating-system type, current upgrade settings and intended VM watch configuration with the evaluation request. Ask the extension owner to review the requested upgrade behavior and agree the test scope. Keep the extension installation observation and the VM watch enablement observation as separate acceptance items so an already present extension does not prematurely close the task.
Verification
After the approved configuration change, inspect both upgrade properties and the VM watch settings in the actual resource configuration. Compare them with the planned values and retain the resource identifier with the observation. Investigate a missing setting or unexpected extension state before expanding the evaluation. Do not infer that preview enablement succeeded merely because Application Health appears in the installed-extension list.
Official references
Review the official source
Install VM Watch - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn · Verified September 17, 2026
Need help applying this guidance safely?
DSE can help confirm applicability, protect service continuity, and validate the result across physical security and IT systems.
Talk with DSE