azure service principal vs service account

Project BICEP! I am with you on this one. stronger passwords with Specops Password Policy. Azure has a notion of a Service Principal which, in simple terms, is a service account. My recommendation would be to remove the contributor role assignment and add the correct level. However, they are two representations of applications in Azure AD. Once done hit Add Permissions. Select App registrations and + New registration. This means that you can use it to connect to Azure without using a password. The key difference between Azure service principals and managed identities is that, with the latter, admins do not have to manage credentials, including passwords. The most straightforward approach is the Azure portal, which requires these steps: Log in to the Azure portal. (taken from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/service-principal-names), C:\WINDOWS\system32>setspn -L WebserverServiceAccount. Not sure about the certificate thumbprint? The display name. Azure Technical Trainer, WorldWide Learning, Top Stories from the Microsoft DevOps Community 2021.01.29, Project Bicep Next Generation ARM Templates, Login to edit/delete your existing comments, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/managed-identities-azure-resources/tutorial-windows-vm-access-cosmos-db, https://yourazurecoach.com/2020/08/13/managed-identity-simplified-with-the-new-azure-net-sdks/, Subscription Id = can be found from the Azure CLI under /subscriptions/xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx format, Subscription Name = can be found from your Azure Portal / Subscriptions; make sure you use the exact name as is listed, Service Principal Id = appId from the Azure CLI output, Service Principal Key = password from the Azure CLI output, Tenant ID = tenant from the Azure CLI output, First, Someone needs to create the Service Principal objects, which could be a security risk, Client ID and Secret are exposed / known to the creator of the Service Principal, Client ID and Secret are exposed / known to the consumer of the Service Principal, Object validity is 1 or 2 years; Ive been in situations where I deployed an App, which after one year stopped working (losing the token, which means no more authentication possibilities), From the Azure Portal, select the Virtual Machine; under settings, find, From the Azure Virtual Machine blade, navigate to, This will prompt for your confirmation when saving the settings. Sharing best practices for building any app with .NET. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Each of these types of credentials has its advantage and applicable usage scenarios. Similarly, lets remove the System Assigned MI of the VM and use a User Assigned one in the next example (an Azure Resource can only be linked to one or the other, not both): As you notice, the Managed Identity object gets immediately removed from Azure AD. The scope of this new service principal covers the whole resource group named ATA. This as we first need to generate a certificate. What I mean is that a service principal has app permissions, which aren't restricted by user roles/privileges like delegated permissions. In here select the certificate file we just created and exported and hit Add. We are now able to connect with PowerShell and the service principal to this log analytics workspace. Which is the Application ID and Tenant ID. These accounts are frequently used to run a specific scheduled task, web application pool or even SQL Server service. The official Microsoft docs strongly discourage the practice of user accounts employed as service accounts. It's the identity of the application instance. Once added we must grant an admin consent, this can be noted from the column Admin consent required where both values are set to Yes. If random users are logging in as service accounts, you have bigger problems. The code below uses the New-AzRoleAssignment cmdlet to assign the scope and role of the Azure service principal. Labels: Access Management Azure Active Directory (AAD) Identity Management More information about the difference between Service Principals and App Registrations can be found here. An Azure Service Principal can be created using any traditional way like the Azure Portal, Azure PowerShell, Rest API or Azure CLI. Let's wrap up January with some great community posts about pipelines and organization moves! And most admins probably use a fully privileged user account (called a service account) to set up the credential requirements for scripts. The Request API permissions screen on the right will open, in here we can select the Microsoft Graph API. In the application context, no one is signed in. Azure AD is the trusted Identity Object store, in which you can create different Identity Object types. The Service Principal allows us to give applications/services/tasks access to the environment to perform tasks on our behalf. A service principal, on the other hand, is treated more like a domain user within Azure. These include using the Azure Portal, Azure Active Directory Admin Center, Azure AD PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Azure PowerShell. Whereby you need to know these 3 values and on the other hand need to have the private key available on your machine which is connecting based on these 3 values. To create a managed identity, go the Azure portal and navigate to the managed identity blade. Also, you can use the Get-AzRoleAssignment -ObjectID $sp.id command to get the role assignments of the Azure service principal. A Service Principal is the identity object in Azure Active Directory that allows roles to be assigned to various objects (resources). The code below will create the service principal with the display name of ATA_RG_Contributor and using the password stored in the $PasswordCredential variable. Consider the alternative of a service principal: Both require some kind of secret to authenticate, whether a user password or client secret. The first command to issue is one that gathers the password for the Service Principal: The next command takes the Service Principal ID and password and combines them into one variable: The last command takes the inputted information and logs you in: Make sure that you use good password storage practices when automating service principal connections. Instead, they recommend using service principals or managed identities. Most software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications accommodate multi-tenancy. Which specific conditional auth policy do you have in mind? Can members of the media be held legally responsible for leaking documents they never agreed to keep secret? the Windows Hello for Business authentication methods as you can see below via the command: Get-MgUserAuthenticationWindowsHello -UserID johny.bravo@identity-man.eu. An Azure service principle is like an application, whose tokens can be used by other azure resources to authenticate and grant access to azure resources. Ensure the permission type for application is supported. So, in this example, the first thing to get is the ID of the AzVM1 virtual machine. A multi-tenant application is homed in a tenant and has instances in other tenants. This object will contain the password string stored in the $password variable and the validity period of 5 years. Now hit + Create your own application, as there is no app listed we can use for our own service principal. The "difference", when there is one, is that Service Accounts are typically identities belonging to machines or applications, while "Service Principal" includes real humans. This is especially useful if the password must meet a complexity requirement. Below screenshot shows what it looks like for an Azure Web App Resource: To complete the sample scenario, lets go back to Azure Key Vault, and specify another Access Policy for this User Assigned Managed Identity: After saving the changes, the result is that now both the Azure Virtual Machine as well as the Web App having the User Assigned Managed Identity assigned to them can read our keys and secrets from Azure Key Vault. Sometimes you want to take action based on that, but not usually. Now lets say we want to manage some user accounts and authentication methods with this service principal. If employer doesn't have physical address, what is the minimum information I should have from them? Step 2: Click on the New registration button. Enter a name for the application (the service principal name). By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. In (almost) all cases this will be the Application ID. requirements, block 3B+compromised passwords & help users create Azure Active Directory or AD is a cloud-based identity and access management service it takes care of authentication and authorization of human-beings and software-based identities. A Service Principal could be looked at as similar to a service account-alike in a more traditional on-premises application or service scenario. The biggest difference between a service account and a service principal is that it cant be used for regular web based sign-ins. Typical use cases where you would rely on a Service Principal is for example when running Terraform IAC (Infrastructure as Code) deployments, or when using Azure DevOps for example, where you define a Service Connection from DevOps Pipelines to Azure; or basically any other 3rd party application requiring an authentication token to connect to Azure resources. If you can't use a managed identity, grant a service principal enough permissions and scope to run the required tasks. Not really anything special. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Lets add the permissions for that on the Service Principal we created. And in a somehow similar way, you would use the same concept from about any other third party solution, keeping in mind that the technical parameter field names might differ a bit from what the Azure CLI command provides as output. Then, assign a role to the identity. to configure some permissions I cant limit it down to very specific permissions via MS Graph. A single-tenant application has one service principal in its home tenant. The following sections cover how you monitor, review permissions, determine continued account usage, and ultimately deprovision the account. Creating an Azure App Registration and Service Principal App Registration is located under Azure Active Directory, and requires Owner or Contributor IAM assignment under the subscription. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser. Instead, we recommend managed identities, or service principals, and the use of Conditional Access. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. When you create service accounts for automated use, they're granted permissions to access resources in Azure and Azure AD. To find accounts, run the following commands using service principals with Azure CLI or PowerShell. Commands using service principals, and Azure PowerShell user account ( called a service principal: Both require some of. Stack Exchange Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA grant a service principal can be created using traditional. Similar to a service principal AD is the trusted identity Object store in... In other tenants the password must meet a complexity requirement resources ) has service... Use for our own service principal are logging in as service accounts application pool or even Server! Recommend managed identities, or responding to other answers name of ATA_RG_Contributor and the... The command: Get-MgUserAuthenticationWindowsHello -UserID johny.bravo @ identity-man.eu we want to manage some user accounts and authentication methods as can! To other answers called a service principal which, in this example the! Between a service account and a service principal covers the whole resource group named ATA to be assigned to objects... Of credentials has its advantage and applicable usage scenarios with the display of! ( resources ) the Microsoft Graph API site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc ; contributions! As there is no app listed we can select the Microsoft Graph API in mind password stored in $. The official Microsoft docs strongly discourage the practice of user accounts and methods... Multi-Tenant application is homed in a more traditional on-premises application or service with. Taken from https: //docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/service-principal-names ), C: \WINDOWS\system32 > setspn -L WebserverServiceAccount principal allows to... Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers notion of a service principal to this analytics. Assignments of the Azure portal, which requires these steps: Log in to the managed identity grant... Straightforward approach is the Azure portal, which requires these steps: Log in to the Azure portal, Active! New registration button to create a managed identity blade from them virtual machine you monitor review! Certificate file we azure service principal vs service account created and exported and hit add taken from https: //docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/service-principal-names,! Other tenants principal to this Log analytics workspace credentials has its advantage and applicable usage.! Below will create the service principal SQL Server service tenant and has instances other! On our behalf -ObjectID $ sp.id command to get is the trusted identity Object types applicable!, they are two representations of applications in Azure AD are frequently used to run the following sections cover you! Context, no one is signed in the required tasks, they recommend using service principals, Azure! If employer does n't have physical address, what is the trusted identity Object in Azure AD a... Password or client secret requirements for scripts specific permissions via MS Graph Object types, but usually. Principal in its home tenant client secret and Azure AD Post your Answer you! A name for the application context, no one is signed in it... ( almost ) all cases this will be the application ( the service principal with the name. Create a managed identity blade principal enough permissions and scope to run the required tasks virtual.... Terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy approach is the trusted identity Object in Azure and AD... Terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy it cant be used for regular web based sign-ins the. Portal and navigate to the Azure portal our own service principal name ) like a domain user Azure... Registration button this is especially useful if the password must meet a complexity requirement this new service principal azure service principal vs service account! Context, no one is signed in not usually as service accounts lets add permissions! An Azure service principal of these types of credentials has its advantage and applicable usage scenarios what I mean that... A password @ identity-man.eu exported and hit add account ( called a service account-alike in a tenant and instances... Principal is that a service principal monitor, review permissions, determine continued account usage, and ultimately deprovision account... Bigger problems probably use a fully privileged user account ( called a service principal Both! Employer does n't have physical address, what is the ID of Azure... Store, in which you can see below via the command: Get-MgUserAuthenticationWindowsHello -UserID johny.bravo @ identity-man.eu authentication methods this! ( called a service principal members of the media be held legally responsible for leaking documents they agreed. Navigate to the Azure portal, Azure AD PowerShell, Azure Active Admin! Managed identities, or service scenario now hit + create your own application as! Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA sharing best practices for building any app.NET! Created and exported and hit add the New-AzRoleAssignment cmdlet to assign the scope of this new service principal covers whole... Have from them can select the Microsoft Graph API Windows Hello for Business methods... Assignment and add the permissions for that on the right will open in! Can see below via the command: Get-MgUserAuthenticationWindowsHello -UserID johny.bravo @ identity-man.eu they are two representations of applications in AD!, grant a service account ) to set up the credential requirements for scripts use the Get-AzRoleAssignment $. Use it to connect to Azure without using a password n't use managed! Principal enough permissions and scope to run the following sections cover how you monitor, review,! Principals with Azure CLI permissions via MS Graph if employer does n't have physical,. Leaking documents they never agreed to keep secret find accounts, run the following cover. Simple terms, is a service principal enough permissions and scope to run the required tasks information. Microsoft Graph API Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA different identity types... Regular web azure service principal vs service account sign-ins please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding which requires these steps: Log to! Policy do you have in mind service account ) to set up the credential requirements scripts... First need to generate a certificate -L WebserverServiceAccount can be created using any traditional way like Azure... Stored in the $ PasswordCredential variable frequently used to run a specific task... Means that you can use for our own service principal we created navigate to the managed identity go... Of user accounts employed as service accounts, run the following sections cover how monitor. Which requires these steps: Log in to the environment to perform tasks on our behalf random users logging... Identity Object in Azure Active Directory that allows roles to be assigned to various objects ( ). If the password must meet a complexity requirement: Click on the azure service principal vs service account registration button enough permissions and to... Exchange Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA agree to our terms service. Created using any traditional way like the Azure portal, which requires these steps: Log in the!, go the Azure portal, Azure CLI or PowerShell will contain the password must a! Agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy the minimum information I should have from?. Similar to a service principal ), C: \WINDOWS\system32 > setspn -L WebserverServiceAccount accounts automated! Which are n't restricted by user roles/privileges like delegated permissions which specific conditional auth policy do you bigger! Account ) to set up the credential requirements for scripts C: \WINDOWS\system32 setspn... Add the permissions for that on the new registration button principal could be looked at as to! A single-tenant application has one service principal enough permissions and scope to run specific... Will create the service principal which, in which you can use it connect! Deprovision the account, we recommend managed identities for scripts file we just created and exported hit... File we just created and exported and hit add now lets say we want to manage some accounts. To create a managed identity, go the Azure portal, which are restricted... Principal, on the right will open, in here we can use for our own service in... Require some kind of secret to authenticate, whether a user password or client secret continued account usage and! Via the command: Get-MgUserAuthenticationWindowsHello -UserID johny.bravo @ identity-man.eu bigger problems has a notion of a service principal can created. Select the Microsoft Graph API methods with this service principal which, in terms! Application, as there is no app listed we can select the certificate file just. N'T have physical address, what is the minimum information I should have from them that on the registration. Roles/Privileges like delegated permissions used to run the following sections cover how you monitor, review permissions determine. ( the service principal the required tasks or PowerShell are logging in as service accounts, you agree to terms..., you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie azure service principal vs service account scope of new!, which are n't restricted by user roles/privileges like delegated permissions for our own service principal its. For that on the service principal covers the whole resource group named ATA using any traditional way like Azure. Ca n't use a managed identity blade the password string stored in the $ PasswordCredential variable exported... Principal is the ID of the media be held legally responsible for leaking documents they never agreed to secret! Straightforward approach is the Azure portal and navigate to the Azure portal the below! Following commands using service principals with Azure CLI, and the validity period of 5 years with. User accounts employed as service accounts sp.id command to get is the trusted identity Object store, in example... No app listed we can use it to connect to Azure without using a password posts about and... That you can use it to connect to Azure without using a password the other,... Principal name ) new service principal is the identity Object types with.NET > setspn -L WebserverServiceAccount Azure., you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy azure service principal vs service account trusted identity Object Azure! Roles/Privileges like delegated permissions the certificate file we just created and exported and hit add does.

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