Microsoftdocs Agent Skills

Included skill

Azure Bastion

Expert knowledge for Azure Bastion development including best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. Use when configuring Bastion for AKS private clusters, VM scale sets, Entra ID auth, hub/spoke VNets, or IP-based cross-VNet access, and other Azure Bastion related development tasks. Not for Azure Virtual Network (use azure-virtual-network), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure VPN Gateway (use azure-vpn-gateway), Azure Firewall (use azure-firewall).

Source: /skills/azure-bastion/SKILL.md

Azure Bastion Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Bastion. Covers best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

  • Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
  • Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category Lines Description
Best Practices L35-L39 Guidance on reducing Azure Bastion costs through sizing, scaling, and usage patterns while maintaining secure remote access and compliance best practices.
Decision Making L40-L46 Guidance on choosing and upgrading Bastion SKU tiers and using IP-based Bastion connections across VNets, subscriptions, and environments.
Architecture & Design Patterns L47-L53 Architectural options and patterns for Azure Bastion: hub/spoke and peered VNets, private-only deployments, network/topology design, and deployment guidance for secure remote access.
Limits & Quotas L54-L58 Configuring Azure Bastion host scaling limits, including max concurrent RDP/SSH sessions, connection thresholds, and how to adjust or plan capacity for different SKUs.
Security L59-L65 Configuring secure Azure Bastion access: Entra ID authentication, required NSG rules, and hardening best practices to lock down Bastion hosts and connections.
Configuration L66-L77 Configuring Azure Bastion features: auth (Kerberos), monitoring/metrics/logs, native client access, session management, recording, and shareable links.
Integrations & Coding Patterns L78-L85 How to use Azure Bastion with AKS private clusters, VM scale sets, and native Windows/Linux clients, including SSH/RDP connectivity patterns and file transfer via Bastion native clients.

Best Practices

Topic URL
Optimize Azure Bastion costs without reducing security https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/cost-optimization

Decision Making

Topic URL
Select the appropriate Azure Bastion SKU tier https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-sku-comparison
Use Azure Bastion IP-based connections across environments https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-ip-address
View and upgrade Azure Bastion SKU tiers safely https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/upgrade-sku

Architecture & Design Patterns

Topic URL
Understand Azure Bastion deployment architectures https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/design-architecture
Design and deploy private-only Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/private-only-deployment
Use Azure Bastion with VNet peering architectures https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/vnet-peering

Limits & Quotas

Topic URL
Configure Azure Bastion host scaling limits https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/configure-host-scaling

Security

Topic URL
Configure Microsoft Entra ID auth for Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-entra-id-authentication
Configure Azure Bastion NSG rules for secure access https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-nsg
Harden and secure your Azure Bastion deployment https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/secure-bastion

Configuration

Topic URL
Azure Bastion configuration settings and options https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/configuration-settings
Configure Kerberos authentication for Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/kerberos-authentication-portal
Configure monitoring and diagnostics for Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/monitor-bastion
Reference Azure Bastion monitoring metrics and logs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/monitor-bastion-reference
Configure Azure Bastion for native client access https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/native-client
Monitor and manage active Azure Bastion sessions https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/session-monitoring
Configure and use Azure Bastion session recording https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/session-recording
Create and use Azure Bastion shareable links https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/shareable-link

Integrations & Coding Patterns

Topic URL
Connect to AKS private clusters via Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-connect-to-aks-private-cluster
Connect to VM scale sets using Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-connect-vm-scale-set
Connect from Linux native clients through Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-vm-native-client-linux
Connect from Windows native clients through Azure Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-vm-native-client-windows
Transfer files via Azure Bastion native clients https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/vm-upload-download-native