Azure AD is Microsoft’s multi-tenant, cloud-based directory, and identity management service. It combines core directory services, application access management, and identity protection into a single solution, providing a robust set of capabilities to manage users and groups, secure access to applications, and maintain data control.
Setting Up Azure AD Authentication
To set up user authentication with Azure AD, you need to create an Azure Active Directory tenant, or associate an Azure subscription with an existing tenant.
- Create a new instance of Azure AD by selecting ‘Azure Active Directory’ > ‘Create’.
- Following the prompts, input the information required such as the organization name and initial domain name.
- Once your Azure AD directory is set up, you should now have a fully functional tenant which can be used to manage and authorize both users and apps
Setting Up Azure AD Authorization
Azure AD uses OAuth 2.0 to enable you to authorize access to web applications and web APIs in your Azure AD tenant. Here’s how:
- In your Azure AD, select ‘App Registrations’ then ‘New Registration’.
- Input the name of your app and select the supported account types (single tenant or multi-tenant).
- Under Redirect URI, select the type of app you’re building (Web, iOS, Android, etc.), and then enter the redirect URI.
- Click ‘Register’. You will now have an app registered under your Azure AD tenant.
Next, grant permissions to your app by:
- Selecting your app registration and then clicking on ‘API Permissions’ > ‘Add a Permission’.
- Choose Microsoft Graph (the unified endpoint for Microsoft 365 services) > Delegated Permissions.
- Click on ‘Add permissions’ to save.
Authenticating and Authorizing an App
To authenticate and authorize an app, you will typically follow this workflow:
- Register the Application: Every application that uses Azure AD as an identity provider must be registered. This involves choosing a name and defining the type and scope of access the application requires.
- Sign In Users: Implement a sign-in experience for users in your application.
- Acquire a Token: You can acquire a token by making a request to the Microsoft identity platform token endpoint.
- Call a Protected API: Use the acquired token as a credential to gain access to a protected API.
Below is a sample code to authenticate and authorize an app in Node.js using the @azure/msal-node library.
const msal = require('@azure/msal-node');
const config = {
auth: {
clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
authority: "https://login.microsoftonline.com/YOUR_TENANT_ID",
clientSecret: "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
},
system: {
loggerOptions: {
loggerCallback(loglevel, message, containsPii) {
console.log(message);
},
piiLoggingEnabled: false,
logLevel: msal.LogLevel.Verbose,
}
}
};
const cca = new msal.ConfidentialClientApplication(config);
cca.acquireTokenByClientCredential({
scopes: ["https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"],
}).then((response) => {
console.log("Response: ", response);
}).catch((error) => {
console.log(JSON.stringify(error));
});
Replace `”YOUR_CLIENT_ID”`, `”YOUR_TENANT_ID”`, `”YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET”` with your specific application parameters. This piece of code is a simple example of how an application can authenticate and acquire an access token.
Conclusion
Establishing user and app identity assurance is a cornerstone of modern application development. Microsoft Azure AD provides powerful tools to enforce authentication and authorization rules. A deep understanding of these topics is essential for candidates considering the AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure examination. The whole process comprises setting up Azure AD, authorizing the app, authenticating users, and ensuring that the app is authorized to access the resources required.
Practice Test
True or False: Azure Active Directory is a cloud-based identity and access management service that allows users to sign in and access resources.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Azure AD is indeed a cloud-based identity and access management service. It helps your employees sign in and access resources.
In Azure AD, which of these is not a type of identity?
- A) Managed identity
- B) External identity
- C) Local identity
- D) Service principal identity
- Answer: C) Local identity
Explanation: In Azure AD, the types of identity are managed identities, external identities, and service principal identities. Local identity is not a recognized type.
True or False: Microsoft Azure does not allow for multi-factor authentication.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is a key feature of Azure Active Directory, and it provides an additional layer of security.
Which of these are correct ways to authenticate users in Azure AD?
- A) Mobile app notification
- B) Voice call
- C) Text message
- D) All of the above
- Answer: D) All of the above
Explanation: Azure AD provides multiple ways to authenticate users such as notification through mobile app, voice call or via text messages.
True or False: Azure AD can authenticate users who are in an on-premises active directory.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Azure AD can authenticate users who are in an on-premises active directory using Azure Active Directory Connect.
What does Azure AD B2C stand for?
- A) Azure Active Directory for Business-to-Consumer
- B) Azure Active Directory for Business-to-Company
- C) Azure Active Directory for Backend-to-Client
- D) None of the above
- Answer: A) Azure Active Directory for Business-to-Consumer
Explanation: AD B2C stands for Azure Active Directory for Business-to-Consumer, which is a customer identity access management CIAM solution.
In Azure AD, what does Single Sign-On (SSO) enable?
- A) Multiple login attempts
- B) Single password recovery
- C) Access to cloud resources only
- D) Access to multiple applications using one set of credentials
- Answer: D) Access to multiple applications using one set of credentials
Explanation: Single Sign-On in Azure AD enables users to sign in to multiple applications with one set of credentials, thus simplifying the login process.
True or False: All Azure AD editions support conditional access.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Conditional access is not supported in the free edition of Azure AD. It is supported in Azure AD Premium P1 and P
What is a Managed identity in Azure AD?
- A) An identity automatically managed by Azure
- B) An identity managed by Microsoft
- C) An identity managed by the user
- D) None of the above
- Answer: A) An identity automatically managed by Azure
Explanation: A Managed identity in Azure AD is an identity that is automatically managed by Azure, eliminating the need for developers to manage credentials.
What is the responsibility of Azure AD in OAuth 0 protocol?
- A) Active directory
- B) Authentication provider
- C) Resource management
- D) None of the above
- Answer: B) Authentication provider
Explanation: In the OAuth 0 protocol, Azure AD acts as an authentication provider.
True or False: External identities in Azure AD cannot be used to provide access to customers.
- Answer: False
Explanation: External identities in Azure AD can be used to provide access to customers, partners, and other external users.
Who can perform administrative tasks in Azure AD?
- A) Only the owner
- B) Any user
- C) Only users with administrative roles
- D) Guests with access
- Answer: C) Only users with administrative roles
Explanation: Only users with administrative roles can perform administrative tasks in Azure AD.
Interview Questions
What is Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)?
Azure AD is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service, which helps your employees sign in and access resources.
How does Azure AD help authenticate and authorize users and apps?
Azure AD helps to authenticate users by validating their identities, ensuring they are who they claim to be. It authorizes users and apps by assigning permissions or rights to access certain resources based on their roles or groups.
What is Conditional Access in Azure AD?
Conditional Access is a tool used by Azure Active Directory to bring signals together, to make decisions, and enforce organizational policies, hence securing the access to your apps.
Can Azure AD manage Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?
Yes, Azure AD provides built-in Multi-Factor Authentication for better security, ensuring that only authenticated users have access to resources.
How does Azure AD B2C differ from Azure AD?
Azure AD B2C is a customer-facing feature that allows external users to access an organization’s applications, while Azure AD is for internal users to manage and secure cloud resources.
Can you explain Azure AD App Registration?
Azure AD application registration involves registering an app in the Azure AD for it to be integrated with Azure AD for user authentication and authorizing it to access services.
How can applications access resources using Azure AD?
Applications can access resources in Azure AD through registered apps and service principals, allowing the app to authenticate and be authorized to access resources.
What does the term “scopes” denote in Azure AD, in the context of app registrations?
In Azure AD, scopes function as permissions that the app registration requests to access specific Azure AD resources or APIs.
What is RBAC in Azure?
RBAC, or Role-Based Access Control, is a system within Azure that provides fine-grained access management of resources in Azure, allowing you to grant users only the access they need to perform their jobs.
What common identity and access management tasks can be addressed using Azure AD?
Azure AD can be used for tasks like adding or deleting users, creating and managing user groups, configuring application access, assigning and updating user roles, enforcing conditional access policies, and more.
How does Azure AD connect function?
Azure AD Connect syncs an organization’s on-premise Active Directory with Azure AD, enabling a common identity for users of Office 365, Azure, and SaaS applications integrated with Azure AD.
What is the purpose of using tokens in Azure AD?
Tokens reduce the need to send credentials in every request from client to server. Azure AD uses tokens as a means of representing the identity of the user that is authenticated by Azure AD and crucial information about the user’s session.
What are Managed Identities in Azure AD?
Managed Identities provide Azure services with an automatically managed identity in Azure AD, which can be used to authenticate and authorize within Azure services.
Which protocols does Azure AD use for authentication and authorization?
Azure AD uses industry-standard protocols such as OpenID Connect for authentication and OAuth 2.0 for authorization.
How does Single Sign-On (SSO) work in Azure AD?
Single Sign-On (SSO) allows users to use a single set of credentials to sign in to multiple applications. Azure AD provides SSO to simplifies access to applications and other services by allowing them to sign in with their corporate credentials.
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