1# EMM Overview
2 
3Essential Machine Management (EMM) simplifies onboarding and configuration of management for Azure VMs and Arc-enabled servers at the subscription level.
4 
5## What is EMM?
6 
7When you enable a subscription for EMM, all VMs and Arc-enabled servers in that subscription are automatically enrolled and configured with a curated set of management features. Any new VMs added to the subscription are also automatically enrolled.
8 
9## Features Included
10 
11### Essentials Tier (Always Enabled)
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13| Feature | Description |
14| ------- | ----------- |
15| Azure Monitor VM Insights | Monitors VM performance and health, configures metric-based recommended alerts |
16| Azure Update Manager | Automates OS update deployment |
17| Azure Machine Configuration | Audits Azure security baseline policy |
18| Change Tracking & Inventory | Tracks VM configuration changes, maintains resource inventory |
19 
20### Security Tier (Optional Add-ons)
21 
22| Feature | Description | Cost |
23| ------- | ----------- | ---- |
24| Foundational CSPM | Agentless, risk-prioritized security posture insights | Free |
25| Defender CSPM | Advanced CSPM with attack path analysis | Paid |
26| Defender for Cloud | EDR, vulnerability management, file integrity monitoring, threat detection | Paid |
27 
28## Pricing
29 
30- **Azure VMs:** Essentials tier features at no extra charge
31- **Arc-enabled servers with Windows Server SA/PayGo/ESU:** No extra charge
32- **Other Arc-enabled servers:** $9/server/month once billing is enabled (future date, currently free in preview)
33- **Change Tracking & Inventory logs:** Incur separate Log Analytics ingestion charges
34- **Security tier add-ons:** Standard Microsoft Defender pricing applies
35 
36## Key Characteristics
37 
38- **Subscription-level scope:** Enables for all VMs in a subscription at once
39- **No VM exclusion:** Currently no ability to exclude individual VMs
40- **Existing services preserved:** If a VM already has Update Manager with a maintenance schedule, it keeps that schedule
41- **REST API available:** Official docs focus on the portal experience, but a REST API (`Microsoft.ManagedOps`) is available and used by the Copilot-guided flow
42- **Resource type:** `Microsoft.ManagedOps/ManagedOps`
43 
44## Documentation Links
45 
46- [Essential Machine Management (Preview)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/operations/configuration-enrollment)
47- [Troubleshoot EMM](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/operations/configuration-enrollment-troubleshoot)
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