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Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service, which helps your employees sign in and access both internal and external resources. When it comes to securing databases in Azure, integrating Azure AD authentication is a practice that enhances security by allowing control over who can access the database and what they can do with the data.
Azure AD authentication is a mechanism of connecting to Azure SQL Database by using identities defined in Azure AD. With Azure AD authentication, you can manage database user identities and other Microsoft services in a centralized location, which simplifies permission management.
To enable Azure AD authentication, you typically need to:
Within the Azure SQL Database, you need to create Azure AD-based contained database users. Use the following Transact-SQL command:
CREATE USER [AzureADUser] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER;
Replace [AzureADUser] with the actual name of the Azure AD account.
Example for a Single User:
CREATE USER [[email protected]] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER;
Example for a Group:
CREATE USER [MyAzureADGroup] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER;
For ADO.NET:
Server=tcp:<your-server-name>.database.windows.net; Authentication=Active Directory Integrated; Database=<your-database-name>;
For ODBC:
Driver={ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server}; Server=tcp:<your-server-name>.database.windows.net; Database=<your-database-name>; Authentication=Active Directory Interactive;
Factor | SQL Authentication | Azure AD Authentication |
---|---|---|
Identity Management | Managed within SQL Server | Managed through Azure AD, centralized across Azure services. |
Authentication Methods | Username and password | Supports integrated Windows authentication, OAuth tokens, and universal with MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication). |
User Provisioning | Manually in each database | Managed centrally in Azure AD and can be automated with tools like Azure AD Connect. |
Security | Requires managing complex password policies and rotation | Leverages Azure AD’s security features such as conditional access, MFA and security reports. |
Ease of Use | Users need separate credentials for database access | Users can use the same credentials as their other Azure services. |
By integrating Azure AD authentication with Azure SQL Database, you benefit from improved security due to stronger authentication mechanisms, reduced management overhead, and a centralized identity that simplifies user access for both administrators and end-users. Always consult the latest Azure documentation and best practices to ensure you configure and maintain your environments securely.
Explanation: Azure AD authentication can be used for both Azure SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics, allowing for integrated security management.
Explanation: SSMS supports connecting to Azure SQL databases using Azure AD authentication.
Explanation: Contained database users can authenticate with Azure AD tokens, which eliminates the need for SQL Server logins.
Explanation: Both passwords (for individual accounts) and Managed Identities can be used with Azure AD Authentication in Azure SQL databases.
Explanation: Azure AD Authentication allows for the use of on-premises Active Directory credentials to authenticate with Azure SQL Database.
Explanation: A Global Administrator role is required to set up Azure AD integration for Azure SQL databases.
Explanation: Azure AD supports Multi-Factor Authentication, which can be leveraged for additional security when authenticating to Azure SQL Database.
Explanation: The Set-AzSqlServerActiveDirectoryAdministrator cmdlet is used to configure an Azure AD admin for Azure SQL Server.
Explanation: Azure SQL databases can support both SQL Authentication and Azure AD Authentication simultaneously.
Explanation: Azure AD user accounts, groups, and service principals can be used to authenticate to Azure SQL Database. Shared Access Signatures are used for storage services, not for Azure SQL Database authentication.
Explanation: Azure AD Authentication must be configured at the Azure SQL Server level, after which it can be used for databases within that server.
Explanation: Azure AD Authentication is supported in Azure Synapse Analytics, previously known as SQL Data Warehouse.
Azure AD authentication for Azure SQL Database is a mechanism that allows users to authenticate to Azure SQL Database using their Azure AD credentials.
The benefits of using Azure AD authentication for Azure SQL Database include an additional layer of security and the elimination of the need to manage separate credentials for the database.
The steps involved in configuring Azure AD authentication for Azure SQL Database include creating an Azure AD application and service principal, granting permissions to the Azure AD application, configuring the Azure SQL Database to use Azure AD authentication, and creating users in the Azure SQL Database.
An Azure AD application is an application that represents the Azure SQL Database and is used to grant permissions to the database.
An Azure AD service principal is a security principal that represents the Azure AD application and is used to authenticate the application to Azure AD.
You can grant permissions to an Azure AD application by assigning a role to the application, such as the “Reader” role.
You can configure the Azure SQL Database to use Azure AD authentication by setting the “Authentication type” to “Azure Active Directory integrated”.
Azure PowerShell is a command-line tool that can be used to manage Azure resources, including Azure SQL Database.
You can install Azure PowerShell by following the instructions provided in the Azure PowerShell documentation.
You can connect to Azure AD and Azure SQL Database using Azure PowerShell by running commands to authenticate to Azure AD and to connect to the Azure SQL Database.
You can create an Azure AD application and service principal using Azure PowerShell by running commands to create the application and to grant permissions to the application.
You can configure the Azure SQL Database to use Azure AD authentication using Azure PowerShell by running commands to set the “Authentication type” to “Azure Active Directory integrated”.
You can create users in the Azure SQL Database that are associated with Azure AD identities by running commands to create the user and to grant appropriate permissions to the user.
Azure AD authentication eliminates the need to manage separate credentials for the database by allowing users to authenticate to the database using their Azure AD credentials.
The benefit of using Azure PowerShell to configure Azure AD authentication for Azure SQL Database is that it allows for automated, repeatable configuration of the database, which can save time and reduce the risk of errors.
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