Migrate to Defender for SQL on machines using AMA

Important

Attention: All Microsoft Defender for Cloud features will be officially retired in Azure in China region on August 18, 2026 per the announcement posted by 21Vianet.

Microsoft Monitoring Agent (MMA) was deprecated in August 2024. As a result, a new SQL server-targeted Azure Monitoring Agent (AMA) autoprovisioning process was released. You can learn more about the Defender for SQL Server on machines Log Analytics Agent's deprecation plan.

Customers who are using the current Log Analytics agent/Azure Monitor agent autoprovisioning process, should migrate to the new Azure Monitoring Agent for SQL server on machines autoprovisioning process. The migration process is seamless and provides continuous protection for all machines.

Migrate to the SQL server-targeted AMA autoprovisioning process

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

  2. Search for and select Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

  3. In the Defender for Cloud menu, select Environment settings.

  4. Select the relevant subscription.

  5. Under the Databases plan, select Action required. Screenshot that shows where the option to select action required is on the Defender plans page.

    Note

    If you don't see the action required button, under the Databases plan select Settings and then toggle the Azure Monitoring Agent for SQL server on machines option to On. Then select Continue > Save.

  6. In the pop-up window, select Enable.

    Screenshot that shows you where to select the Azure Monitor Agent on the screen.

  7. Select Save.

Once the SQL server-targeted AMA autoprovisioning process has been enabled, you should disable the Log Analytics agent/Azure Monitor agent autoprovisioning process.

Disable the Log Analytics agent/Azure Monitor agent

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

  2. Search for and select Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

  3. In the Defender for Cloud menu, select Environment settings.

  4. Select the relevant subscription.

  5. Under the Database plan, select Settings.

  6. Toggle the Log Analytics agent/Azure Monitor agent to Off.

    Screenshot that shows where the toggle is for the log analytics agent and the Azure monitor agent toggled to off.

  7. Select Continue.

  8. Select Save.

Next steps

For related information, see these resources: