Microsoft Power Platform is a low-code platform that enables organizations to analyze data, develop solutions, automate processes, and create virtual agents. When it comes to security, Microsoft Power Platform employs managed identities, which are a feature of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). This feature provides hosted applications an automatically managed identity in Azure AD, and such applications can use these identities to authenticate and work with other resources secured by Azure AD.
Understanding Managed Identities
Managed identities are a means for ensuring secure and authenticated access for Azure managed applications to other resources secured by Azure AD. Below are the two types of managed identities:
- System-assigned managed identity: This is directly tied to your service instance. When the instance is deleted, Azure automatically removes the managed identity.
- User-assigned managed identity: This is created separately from the user service instances. It can be used with multiple services, and even after the service instances are deleted, the managed identity remains.
Authenticating to Microsoft Power Platform with Managed Identities
In order to authenticate to the Microsoft Power Platform using managed identities, the said identities need proper permissions to access resources. The managed identity is granted permissions to access resources in your Power Platform environments, thus enabling applications to authenticate securely.
Example: Authenticating with a System-assigned Managed Identity
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var client = new SecretClient(new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net/"), credential);
In the code sample above, when the `DefaultAzureCredential` is run on a system with a managed identity, it fetches access tokens using the system-assigned identity.
Process
Setting it up entails the following steps:
- Set up a Managed Identity on Azure: One either creates a system-assigned or user-assigned managed identity.
- Assign Proper Permissions: The managed identity should be granted the necessary permissions to access resources.
- Modify Application Code: The code should be modified to use the managed identity for authentication instead of user credentials.
Applications can use the managed identity service principal to create, retrieve, update or delete resources in your Power Platform environments.
Benefits of Managed Identities with Microsoft Power Platform
Managed identities offer multiple benefits, such as eliminating the need for developers to manage credentials, automatic handling, and the convenience of using the Azure portal. They also bring forth the assurance of the secure management of credentials, making it a reliable option for developers working with the Microsoft Power Platform.
- Security: Managed identities eliminate the need to store credentials in the code. This reduction in security risk is a huge advantage in today’s data-sensitive era.
- Convenience: Developers don’t need to worry about managing credentials, as Azure handles this automatically.
- Simplicity: Applications needing authentication to services that support Azure AD can use managed identities instead of needing separate credentials.
While preparing for the PL-400 Microsoft Power Platform Developer exam, you must have a firm understanding of authenticating to the Power Platform using managed identities. Thus, be sure to master the process, benefits, and more that this potent feature brings along. Your understanding will help solidify your knowledge on the Power Platform, helping you achieve success in your certification endeavor.
Practice Test
True or False: Managed identities can help you authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Managed identities provide an identity for applications to use when connecting to resources, so they can be used to authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform.
Which among the following is NOT a type of managed identities in Azure AD?
- A) System-assigned managed identities
- B) User-assigned managed identities
- C) Group-assigned managed identities
- D) Both A and B
Answer: C) Group-assigned managed identities
Explanation: Azure AD provides two types of managed identities: System-assigned and User-assigned. Group-assigned does not exist.
True or False: Managed identities eliminate the need for developers to manage credentials.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Managed identities handle the management of credentials, which helps in reducing the risk associated with credentials.
What needs to be enabled to use a managed identity with Power Platform?
- A) Hybrid Connections
- B) Azure Key Vault
- C) Trigger Function
- D) Azure Resource
Answer: D) Azure Resource
Explanation: The Azure resource that the model-driven app needs to connect to must be enabled for managed identities.
True or False: You cannot authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform using a user-assigned managed identity.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: You can authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform using both system-assigned and user-assigned managed identities.
What is the primary use of managed identities in Azure AD?
- A) To provide application permissions
- B) To enable access for guest users
- C) To automate handling of credentials
- D) To manage user licenses
Answer: C) To automate handling of credentials
Explanation: The primary use of managed identities is to handle the management (creation, storage, rotation, etc.) of credentials automatically.
Managed identities can be used for authenticating _______.
- A) Dataflows
- B) Canvas apps
- C) Model-driven apps
- D) All of the above
Answer: D) All of the above
Explanation: You can authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform for any of these: Canvas apps, Model-driven apps, Dataflows etc.
True or False: There is a charge for using managed identities in Azure AD.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Managed identities are a feature of Azure Active Directory and there’s no additional cost for using them.
What does a managed identity in Azure AD represent?
- A) A group of users
- B) An application
- C) A resource group
- D) An Azure subscription
Answer: B) An application
Explanation: Both types of managed identities (system-assigned and user-assigned) represent an application in Azure AD.
True or False: PL-400 Exam of Microsoft Power Platform developer covers the topic of Managed Identities.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Yes, PL-400 Microsoft Power Platform Developer Exam covers the topic of Managed Identities.
Interview Questions
What is Microsoft Power Platform?
Microsoft Power Platform is a suite of tools that includes Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents that enables application development, data analysis, and process automation.
What is a managed identity in Microsoft Azure?
A managed identity is a service identity that’s managed by Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). It eliminates the need for developers to manage credentials.
How does a managed identity authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform?
Azure AD manages the identity, and it provides Azure services with an automatically managed identity in Azure AD. This way, these services can use this identity to authenticate to any service that supports Azure AD authentication, including Microsoft Power Platform.
What are the two types of managed identities in Azure?
There are two types of managed identities: System-assigned and User-assigned. A system-assigned identity is tied to your service instance, and Azure cleans it up when the resource is deleted. A user-assigned identity is created as a standalone Azure resource and can be assigned to one or more instances of a service.
What are the benefits of using managed identities with Microsoft Power Platform?
Some of the benefits include eliminating the need for storing secrets or passwords in app code, automating credential management, and ensuring secure communication between Power Platform components and other Azure services.
How can you enable managed identities for your application in Azure?
You can enable managed identities for your application in Azure via the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell.
How can one use a managed identity to authenticate to Power Platform?
To use a managed identity to authenticate to Power Platform, one needs to grant the identity access to Power Platform in the Azure portal, then modify the application to retrieve the access token and use it to authenticate to Power Platform.
Can you use managed identities outside of Azure?
No, managed identities are an Azure feature and can only be used to authenticate services within Azure. They cannot be used to authenticate to services outside of Azure.
What is the purpose of the service principal in Azure?
A service principal is an identity that is used by services or applications to access specific Azure resources. You can control and set permissions on the service principal to restrict the access.
How does the Microsoft Power Platform use managed identities for authentication?
Microsoft Power Platform uses the managed identity to securely connect to and authenticate other Azure services without storing secrets in code or configuration files. Power Platform retrieves the token associated with the managed identity and uses that to authenticate to Azure services.
Can managed identities be used with Power Virtual Agents?
Yes, managed identities can be used with Power Virtual Agents to authenticate and connect to other Azure services.
How can you delete a managed identity in Azure portal?
To delete a managed identity in Azure portal, you need to go through the Azure portal, navigate to the resource with the assigned managed identity, click on the “Identity” tab, and select to “Turn off” the System assigned identity.
What do you need to do in order to use the managed identity to authenticate your application with Power BI?
In order to use the managed identity to authenticate your application with Power BI, the identity needs to have appropriate permissions granted in Power BI. The application also needs to be modified to get the access token from Azure AD and pass it to Power BI for authentication.
Can you assign multiple user-assigned managed identities to a single Azure resource?
Yes, you can assign multiple user-assigned managed identities to a single Azure resource.
How do managed identities help with security in the Power Platform?
Managed identities help with security in the Power Platform by automatically managing the identities and credentials used by applications, eliminating the need for developers to store and manage keys or passwords. This reduces the risk of credentials being compromised.
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