
The JSON configuration for a virtual machine extension can be nested inside the virtual machine resource, or placed at the root or top level of a Resource Manager JSON template.


Templates are ideal when deploying one or more virtual machines that require post deployment configuration such as onboarding to Azure Antimalware. Template deploymentĪzure VM extensions can be deployed with Azure Resource Manager templates. The Microsoft Antimalware for Windows requires that the target virtual machine is connected to the internet to receive regular engine and signature updates. See the Samples section of the Microsoft Antimalware article for more details. The extension does not deploy any other antimalware service. In this scenario the extension applies any optional configuration policies to be used by Windows Defender. The Azure VM Antimalware extension can still be added to a Windows Server 2016 and above Azure VM with Windows Defender. The Windows Defender Interface is also enabled by default on some Windows Server 2016 SKUs. Windows Defender is the built-in Antimalware enabled in Windows Server 2016. It isn't supported on the Windows Server 2008 operating system, and also isn't supported in Linux. The Microsoft Antimalware solution is supported on Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system families. The Microsoft Antimalware for Azure solution includes the Microsoft Antimalware Client, and Service, Antimalware classic deployment model, Antimalware PowerShell cmdlets, and Azure Diagnostics Extension.

You can deploy protection based on the needs of your application workloads, with either basic secure-by-default or advanced custom configuration, including antimalware monitoring. Microsoft Antimalware for Azure is a single-agent solution for applications and tenant environments, designed to run in the background without human intervention. The solution is built on the same antimalware platform as Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection, Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection, Windows Intune, and Windows Defender for Windows 8.0 and higher. Microsoft Antimalware helps identify and remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, with configurable alerts when known malicious or unwanted software attempts to install itself or run on your Azure systems. Microsoft Antimalware for Azure is free, real-time protection capability. The modern threat landscape for cloud environments is dynamic, increasing the pressure on business IT cloud subscribers to maintain effective protection in order to meet compliance and security requirements.
