Sad Tux - Windows bias detected
This page contains Windows bias

About This Page

This page is part of the Azure documentation. It contains code examples and configuration instructions for working with Azure services.

Bias Analysis

Detected Bias Types
windows_first
powershell_heavy
windows_tools
missing_linux_example
Summary
The documentation demonstrates a Windows bias in several areas: Windows tools and technologies (PowerShell, WMI, WinRM) are mentioned more prominently and with more detail than their Linux equivalents. Windows requirements and examples (such as SQL Server discovery and authentication) are provided in depth, while Linux support is often limited, less detailed, or explicitly not supported (e.g., SQL Server discovery on Linux). Where both platforms are supported, Windows is usually listed first and with more comprehensive instructions. There are also missing Linux-specific examples, particularly for tasks like SQL Server discovery and web app discovery.
Recommendations
  • Provide equivalent Linux-focused examples and instructions wherever Windows examples are given, especially for authentication, credential setup, and agent installation.
  • When listing supported operating systems or requirements, alternate the order or group Windows and Linux together to avoid always listing Windows first.
  • Expand documentation for Linux-specific tools and patterns (e.g., Bash, SSH, Linux package requirements) to match the detail given for Windows (e.g., PowerShell, WMI).
  • Where a feature is not supported on Linux (e.g., SQL Server discovery), clearly state the limitation and, if possible, provide workarounds or roadmap information.
  • Include Linux-specific troubleshooting, configuration, and permission guidance (e.g., sudoers configuration, SELinux/AppArmor considerations, systemd service requirements) alongside Windows guidance.
  • For web app discovery, provide parity in instructions and examples for Linux-based stacks (e.g., Apache, Nginx, Tomcat) similar to the detail for IIS/ASP.NET on Windows.
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Scan History

Date Scan Status Result
2026-01-14 00:00 #250 in_progress Biased Biased
2026-01-13 00:00 #246 completed Biased Biased
2026-01-11 00:00 #240 completed Biased Biased
2026-01-10 00:00 #237 completed Biased Biased
2026-01-09 00:34 #234 completed Biased Biased
2026-01-08 00:53 #231 completed Biased Biased
2026-01-06 18:15 #225 cancelled Clean Clean
2025-09-12 00:00 #109 completed Clean Clean
2025-09-05 00:00 #102 completed Clean Clean
2025-09-04 00:00 #101 completed Clean Clean
2025-09-03 00:00 #100 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-29 00:01 #95 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-27 00:01 #93 cancelled Clean Clean
2025-08-22 00:01 #88 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-20 00:01 #86 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-19 00:01 #85 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-11 00:00 #77 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-10 00:00 #76 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-09 00:00 #75 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-08 00:00 #74 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-07 00:00 #73 completed Clean Clean
2025-08-06 00:00 #72 completed Clean Clean
2025-07-13 21:37 #48 completed Biased Biased
2025-07-12 23:44 #41 cancelled Biased Biased
2025-07-09 13:09 #3 cancelled Clean Clean
2025-07-08 04:23 #2 cancelled Biased Biased

Flagged Code Snippets

  -- Create a login to run the assessment
  use master;
  DECLARE @SID NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';
  CREATE LOGIN [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT] FROM WINDOWS;
  SELECT @SID = N'0x'+CONVERT(NVARCHAR, sid, 2) FROM sys.syslogins where name = 'MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT'
  IF (ISNULL(@SID,'') != '')
    PRINT N'Created login [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT] with SID = ' + @SID
  ELSE
    PRINT N'Login creation failed'
  GO    

  -- Create user in every database other than tempdb, model, and secondary AG databases (with connection_type = ALL) and provide minimal read-only permissions.
  USE master;
  EXECUTE sp_MSforeachdb '
    USE [?];
    IF (''?'' NOT IN (''tempdb'',''model''))
    BEGIN
      DECLARE @is_secondary_replica BIT = 0;
      IF CAST(PARSENAME(CAST(SERVERPROPERTY(''ProductVersion'') AS VARCHAR), 4) AS INT) >= 11
      BEGIN
        DECLARE @innersql NVARCHAR(MAX);
        SET @innersql = N''
          SELECT @is_secondary_replica = IIF(
            EXISTS (
                SELECT 1
                FROM sys.availability_replicas a
                INNER JOIN sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states b
                ON a.replica_id = b.replica_id
                WHERE b.is_local = 1
                AND b.is_primary_replica = 0
                AND a.secondary_role_allow_connections = 2
                AND b.database_id = DB_ID()
            ), 1, 0
          );
        '';
        EXEC sp_executesql @innersql, N''@is_secondary_replica BIT OUTPUT'', @is_secondary_replica OUTPUT;
      END
      IF (@is_secondary_replica = 0)
      BEGIN
        CREATE USER [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT] FOR LOGIN [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
        GRANT SELECT ON sys.sql_expression_dependencies TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
        GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
      END
    END'
  GO

  -- Provide server level read-only permissions
  use master;
  GRANT SELECT ON sys.sql_expression_dependencies TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT EXECUTE ON OBJECT::sys.xp_regenumkeys TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT EXECUTE ON OBJECT::sys.xp_instance_regread TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT VIEW ANY DEFINITION TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GO

  -- Provide msdb specific permissions
  use msdb;
  GRANT EXECUTE ON [msdb].[dbo].[agent_datetime] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobsteps] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syssubsystems] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobhistory] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syscategories] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobs] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmaintplan_plans] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syscollector_collection_sets] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_profile] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_profileaccount] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_account] TO [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  GO
  
  -- Clean up
  --use master;
  -- EXECUTE sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; DROP USER [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT]'
  -- DROP LOGIN [MYDOMAIN\MYACCOUNT];
  --GO
  
  --- Create a login to run the assessment
  use master;
  -- NOTE: SQL instances that host replicas of Always On availability groups must use the same SID for the SQL login.
    -- After the account is created in one of the members, copy the SID output from the script and include this value
    -- when executing against the remaining replicas.
    -- When the SID needs to be specified, add the value to the @SID variable definition below.
  DECLARE @SID NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';
  IF (@SID = N'')
  BEGIN
    CREATE LOGIN [evaluator]
        WITH PASSWORD = '<provide a strong password>'
  END
  ELSE
  BEGIN
    DECLARE @SQLString NVARCHAR(500) = 'CREATE LOGIN [evaluator]
      WITH PASSWORD = ''<provide a strong password>''
      , SID = ' + @SID
    EXEC SP_EXECUTESQL @SQLString
  END
  SELECT @SID = N'0x'+CONVERT(NVARCHAR(100), sid, 2) FROM sys.syslogins where name = 'evaluator'
  IF (ISNULL(@SID,'') != '')
    PRINT N'Created login [evaluator] with SID = '''+ @SID +'''. If this instance hosts any Always On Availability Group replica, use this SID value when executing the script against the instances hosting the other replicas'
  ELSE
    PRINT N'Login creation failed'
  GO
  
  -- Create user in every database other than tempdb, model, and secondary AG databases (with connection_type = ALL) and provide minimal read-only permissions.
  USE master;
  EXECUTE sp_MSforeachdb '
    USE [?];
    IF (''?'' NOT IN (''tempdb'',''model''))
    BEGIN
      DECLARE @is_secondary_replica BIT = 0;
      IF CAST(PARSENAME(CAST(SERVERPROPERTY(''ProductVersion'') AS VARCHAR), 4) AS INT) >= 11
      BEGIN
        DECLARE @innersql NVARCHAR(MAX);
        SET @innersql = N''
          SELECT @is_secondary_replica = IIF(
            EXISTS (
              SELECT 1
              FROM sys.availability_replicas a
              INNER JOIN sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states b
                ON a.replica_id = b.replica_id
              WHERE b.is_local = 1
                AND b.is_primary_replica = 0
                AND a.secondary_role_allow_connections = 2
                AND b.database_id = DB_ID()
            ), 1, 0
          );
        '';
        EXEC sp_executesql @innersql, N''@is_secondary_replica BIT OUTPUT'', @is_secondary_replica OUTPUT;
      END

      IF (@is_secondary_replica = 0)
      BEGIN
          CREATE USER [evaluator] FOR LOGIN [evaluator];
          GRANT SELECT ON sys.sql_expression_dependencies TO [evaluator];
          GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [evaluator];
      END
    END'
  GO
  
  -- Provide server level read-only permissions
  USE master;
  GRANT SELECT ON sys.sql_expression_dependencies TO [evaluator];
  GRANT EXECUTE ON OBJECT::sys.xp_regenumkeys TO [evaluator];
  GRANT EXECUTE ON OBJECT::sys.xp_instance_regread TO [evaluator];
  GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [evaluator];
  GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO [evaluator];
  GRANT VIEW ANY DEFINITION TO [evaluator];
  GO
  
  -- Provide msdb specific permissions
  USE msdb;
  GRANT EXECUTE ON [msdb].[dbo].[agent_datetime] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobsteps] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syssubsystems] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobhistory] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syscategories] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobs] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmaintplan_plans] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[syscollector_collection_sets] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_profile] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_profileaccount] TO [evaluator];
  GRANT SELECT ON [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_account] TO [evaluator];
  GO
  
  -- Clean up
  --use master;
  -- EXECUTE sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; BEGIN TRY DROP USER [evaluator] END TRY BEGIN CATCH PRINT ERROR_MESSAGE() END CATCH;'
  -- BEGIN TRY DROP LOGIN [evaluator] END TRY BEGIN CATCH PRINT ERROR_MESSAGE() END CATCH;
  --GO