How to Enable Azure Defender
To enable all Security Center features including threat protection capabilities, you must enable Azure Defender on the subscription containing the applicable workloads. Enabling it at the workspace level doesn’t enable just-in-time VM access, adaptive application controls, and network detections for Azure resources. In addition, the only Azure Defender plans available at the workspace level are Azure Defender for servers and Azure Defender for SQL servers on machines.
- You can enable Azure Defender for Storage accounts at either the subscription level or resource level
- You can enable Azure Defender for SQL at either the subscription level or resource level
- You can enable Azure Defender for open-source relational databases at the resource level only
To enable Azure Defender on your subscriptions and workspaces:
To enable Azure Defender on one subscription:
- From Security Center’s main menu, select Pricing & settings.
- Select the subscription or workspace that you want to protect.
- Select Azure Defender on to upgrade.
- Select Save.
Tip: You’ll notice that each plan in Azure Defender is priced separately and can be individually set to on or off. For example, you might want to turn off Azure Defender for App Service on subscriptions that don’t have an associated Azure App Service plan.
To enable Azure Defender on multiple subscriptions or workspaces:
- From Security Center’s sidebar, select Getting started. The Upgrade tab lists subscriptions and workspaces eligible for onboarding.
2. From the Select subscriptions and workspaces to enable Azure Defender on list, select the subscriptions and workspaces to upgrade and select Upgrade to enable Azure Defender.
- If you select subscriptions and workspaces that aren’t eligible for trial, the next step will upgrade them and charges will begin.
- If you select a workspace that’s eligible for a free trial, the next step will begin a trial.
Disable Azure Defender
If you need to disable Azure Defender for a subscription, the procedure is the same but you select Azure Defender off:
- From Security Center’s menu, select Pricing & settings.
- Select the relevant subscription.
- If your subscription has Azure Defender enabled, open Azure Defender plans and select Azure Defender off.
4. Select Save.
After you disable Azure Defender — whether you disable a single plan or all plans at once — data collection may continue for a short period of time.
