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Imagine a world where you don’t have to worry about the security of your sensitive information, where your secrets are safely tucked away in a vault, managed by an unseen guardian. Sounds dreamy, right? Well, welcome to the intriguing realm of Azure Key Vault and managed identities! These tools are not just for tech wizards; they’re designed for everyone. So, grab your virtual toolbox, and let’s embark on an adventure that makes securing your applications a breeze!
Understanding Azure Key Vault
Azure Key Vault is like a high-tech safe for your digital secrets. It allows you to store and manage sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, and certificates, all in one secure location. But here’s the kicker: to retrieve these secrets, your code needs to authenticate itself to Key Vault. Fear not! Managed identities come to the rescue, offering an automatic identity for your Azure services within Microsoft Entra ID.
So, what exactly are managed identities? Think of them as the VIP passes to your Azure resources. They allow your services to authenticate without the hassle of embedding credentials in your code. This not only simplifies the process but also enhances security. Less exposure of sensitive information means less chance of a data breach—win-win!
Setting the stage: Building your Azure web application
In this delightful tutorial, you’ll learn to create and deploy an Azure web application using Azure App Service. We’re going to harness the power of managed identities to connect your app with Azure Key Vault using the Azure Key Vault secret client library for .NET. Don’t worry if you’re not a .NET expert; the principles we’re covering apply to various development languages, Azure PowerShell, and even the Azure portal itself. Everyone can join in on this fun!
Before we dive into the coding magic, let’s ensure you have everything you need. If you’ve already deployed a web application in Azure App Service, feel free to skip ahead to the section on configuring web app access. Otherwise, we’ll start fresh by setting up a local .NET Core project.
Creating your project
Open your terminal and create a new directory that we’ll call akvwebapp. This is your new playground! Navigate into this directory and create a new .NET Core app using the command dotnet new web. Run your application locally to see the magic happen! Head over to your web browser, and you should see a friendly “Hello World!” message welcoming you to the world of Azure.
Deploying your application to Azure
Once you’ve got your app running smoothly on your local machine, it’s time to deploy it to Azure App Service. Close your web server by hitting Ctrl+C in the terminal. Next, initialize a Git repository for your project. This step is crucial, as it sets the stage for deployment.
Now, you could use FTP or local Git to deploy your Azure web app; the choice is yours! Just remember, your deployment user is different from your Azure subscription credentials. Run the command az webapp deployment user set to configure your deployment user. Choose a username and password following the guidelines provided. If you encounter a ‘Conflict’ error, it’s time to mix things up with a different username.
Creating a resource group
Every great project needs a solid foundation, and that’s where resource groups come in. Think of them as logical containers for your Azure resources. Create a resource group for both your Key Vault and web app using the az group create command. This will keep everything organized and tidy.
Establishing your App Service plan
Next, it’s time to create an App Service plan. This plan defines the region and pricing tier for your web app. For example, running the command az appservice plan create –name myAppServicePlan –resource-group –sku FREE gets the ball rolling in the FREE pricing tier. Once created, you’ll see some juicy information about your new plan!
Creating your Azure web app
Now, let’s create your Azure web app within the App Service plan you just set up. Remember, web apps must have unique names, so don’t forget to replace <your-webapp-name> with your chosen name. When this step is complete, the Azure CLI will provide you with the Git remote URL, which you’ll need later. So keep that handy!
Configuring your web app
With your web app created, it’s time to configure it to deploy from the main branch. This is where all the magic happens! You’ll see the default webpage for your new app, and it’s time to add an Azure remote to your local Git repository.
Push your app to Azure using the command git push azure main. When prompted for credentials, enter the ones you configured earlier. This process might take a few minutes, but soon enough, you’ll be able to refresh your browser and see the familiar “Hello World!” message—only now it’s coming from Azure!
Accessing secrets with managed identities
Now that your application is up and running, let’s dive into accessing those precious secrets stored in Azure Key Vault. We’ll leverage managed identities to authenticate and retrieve secrets securely. In the Azure CLI, run the command az webapp identity assign to create an identity for your application.
Next, we need to grant your application permissions to access the Key Vault using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This involves assigning a role to your User Principal Name (UPN) using the command az role assignment create. Make sure to replace the placeholder values with your actual information. This step is vital for securing access to your secrets.
Updating your application code
Now, let’s open the Startup.cs (for .NET 5.0 or earlier) or Program.cs (for .NET 6.0) file in your project. We’re going to add some code that allows your app to communicate with Key Vault. This code uses DefaultAzureCredential() to authenticate to Key Vault—how cool is that?
Don’t forget to update the message that your app displays. Instead of just saying “Hello World!”, let’s make it display the value of the secret you retrieve from Key Vault. A little more exciting, don’t you think?
After making these changes, save everything and redeploy your application to Azure with the same Git commands you used before. And voilà! When you visit your deployed application now, you’ll be greeted with the actual secret value instead of the generic “Hello World!” message. Talk about a glow-up!