Agent skill

azure-load-balancer

Expert knowledge for Azure Load Balancer development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when configuring frontends/backends, health probes, SNAT/outbound, IMDS/metrics APIs, or Basic→Standard migrations, and other Azure Load Balancer related development tasks. Not for Azure Application Gateway (use azure-application-gateway), Azure Front Door (use azure-front-door), Azure Traffic Manager (use azure-traffic-manager), Azure NAT Gateway (use azure-nat-gateway).

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npx add-skill https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/Agent-Skills/tree/main/skills/azure-load-balancer

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

generator
docs2skills/1.0.0
generated at
2026-03-02

SKILL.md

Azure Load Balancer Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Load Balancer. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. 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
Troubleshooting L37-L52 Diagnosing and fixing Azure Load Balancer issues: deployment errors, health events/logs, probes, connectivity/backend traffic, SNAT/timeouts, IMDS errors, and resource health/availability.
Best Practices L53-L60 Guidance on deploying Azure Load Balancer with VM scale sets, configuring inbound NAT, and building custom HTTP/HTTPS health probes (Python) using recommended best practices.
Decision Making L61-L68 Guidance on choosing the right Load Balancer SKU and planning/migrating configurations, including Basic→Standard, NAT rules v1→v2, and AWS NLB→Azure Load Balancer.
Architecture & Design Patterns L69-L73 Design patterns for outbound internet connectivity using Azure Load Balancer, including egress-only architectures and SNAT configuration, scaling, and best practices.
Limits & Quotas L74-L79 Configuring Azure Load Balancer TCP idle timeouts and reset options, and understanding how and when TCP resets are triggered and affect client connections.
Security L80-L85 Security guidance for Azure Load Balancer: hardening, access controls, and using Azure DDoS Protection to defend against volumetric and network attacks.
Configuration L86-L106 Configuring Azure Load Balancer behavior: backends/frontends (incl. cross-subscription, IP-based, outbound-only), rules, health probes, traffic distribution, monitoring, and SNAT outbound rules.
Integrations & Coding Patterns L107-L114 Using Azure IMDS and Monitor to programmatically query load balancer/VM IP metadata and retrieve load balancer metrics via CLI and REST APIs.
Deployment L115-L119 Guides for deploying Load Balancers: replicating configurations across regions and automating upgrades from Basic to Standard using PowerShell.

Troubleshooting

Topic URL
Fix common Azure Load Balancer deployment errors https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-common-deployment-errors
Interpret Azure Load Balancer health event logs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-health-event-logs
Monitor and alert on LoadBalancerHealthEvent logs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-monitor-alert-health-event-logs
Use metrics, alerts, and health to diagnose Azure Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-standard-diagnostics
Test Azure Public Load Balancer frontend reachability https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-test-frontend-reachability
Troubleshoot common Azure Load Balancer connectivity issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot Azure Load Balancer backend traffic problems https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-troubleshoot-backend-traffic
Troubleshoot Azure Load Balancer health event log types https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-troubleshoot-health-event-logs
Troubleshoot Azure Load Balancer health probe status issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-troubleshoot-health-probe-status
Resolve common Azure IMDS error codes for Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/troubleshoot-load-balancer-imds
Troubleshoot Azure Load Balancer outbound SNAT and timeout issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/troubleshoot-outbound-connection
Diagnose Azure Load Balancer resource health and availability https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/troubleshoot-rhc

Best Practices

Topic URL
Configure inbound NAT rules for VM scale sets https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/configure-inbound-nat-rules-vm-scale-set
Implement custom HTTP/HTTPS health probes with Python https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/create-custom-http-health-probe-howto
Apply Azure Load Balancer deployment best practices https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-best-practices
Use Azure Standard Load Balancer with virtual machine scale sets https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-standard-virtual-machine-scale-sets

Decision Making

Topic URL
Plan and execute upgrade from Basic to Standard Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-basic-upgrade-guidance
Migrate Azure Load Balancer NAT rules v1 to v2 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-nat-pool-migration
Plan AWS NLB to Azure Load Balancer migration https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/network-load-balancing-aws-to-azure-how-to
Choose the right Azure Load Balancer SKU https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/skus

Architecture & Design Patterns

Topic URL
Design outbound internet connectivity with Azure Load Balancer SNAT https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-outbound-connections

Limits & Quotas

Topic URL
Configure Azure Load Balancer TCP idle timeout and reset https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-tcp-idle-timeout
Understand Azure Load Balancer TCP reset behavior https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-tcp-reset

Security

Topic URL
Apply security best practices to Azure Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/secure-load-balancer
Protect Azure Load Balancer with Azure DDoS Protection https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/tutorial-protect-load-balancer-ddos

Configuration

Topic URL
Configure Azure Load Balancer backend pools by IP https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/backend-pool-management
Configure cross-subscription backends for Azure Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/cross-subscription-how-to-attach-backend
Attach cross-subscription frontend IPs to Azure Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/cross-subscription-how-to-attach-frontend
Create global load balancer with cross-subscription backends https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/cross-subscription-how-to-global-backend
Configure cross-subscription internal Azure load balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/cross-subscription-how-to-internal-load-balancer
Configure outbound-only Azure Load Balancer with Bastion https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/egress-only
Configure Azure Load Balancer health probe settings https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-custom-probe-overview
Configure Azure Load Balancer traffic distribution mode https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-distribution-mode
Configure DHCPv6 on Linux VMs for Azure IPv6 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-ipv6-for-linux
Understand Azure Load Balancer portal configuration options https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/manage
Manage Azure Load Balancer backend admin state https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/manage-admin-state-how-to
Configure and manage Azure Load Balancer inbound NAT rules https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/manage-inbound-nat-rules
Configure Azure Load Balancer health probes https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/manage-probes-how-to
Configure Azure Load Balancer rule types and properties https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/manage-rules-how-to
Configure monitoring for Azure Load Balancer with Azure Monitor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/monitor-load-balancer
Reference monitoring metrics and logs for Azure Load Balancer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/monitor-load-balancer-reference
Configure outbound rules for Azure Load Balancer SNAT https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/outbound-rules

Integrations & Coding Patterns

Topic URL
Use Azure IMDS to retrieve load balancer metadata https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/howto-load-balancer-imds
Query load balancer and VM IP info via Azure IMDS https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/instance-metadata-service-load-balancer
Retrieve Azure Load Balancer metrics using Azure Monitor CLI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-monitor-metrics-cli
Query Azure Load Balancer metrics via REST API https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-query-metrics-rest-api

Deployment

Topic URL
Replicate Azure Load Balancer configuration across regions https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/move-across-regions-azure-load-balancer
Automate Basic-to-Standard Load Balancer upgrade with PowerShell https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/upgrade-basic-standard-with-powershell

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