Managed identity
A managed identity is a nonhuman digital identity whose credentials and lifecycle are administered by a cloud or infrastructure service, allowing workloads to authenticate to supported resources without managing credentials directly.
Azure Security
A Microsoft Entra identity provisioned for an Azure resource or workload so it can authenticate to supported services without storing credentials such as passwords or certificates.
- How it is used
- Secures Azure workloads that access supported cloud services without storing application passwords or certificates.
- How deep it goes
- Defines both identity types, gives a CLI creation command, and defers permission details while noting service support limits.
- Examples
- Uses a user-assigned identity named MyManagedIdentity, App Service access to Azure Storage, and Azure Monitor Agent deployment across 100 VMs.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it: create a user-assigned identity and select shared versus resource-tied identities for Azure workloads.
Microsoft Azure in Action
A managed identity is an Azure-managed identity for authenticating to supported services without users storing or handling credentials.
- How it is used
- Authenticates Azure-hosted apps and resources to supported Azure services without requiring the app to store credentials.
- How deep it goes
- Defines both identity types and walks through portal enablement and access assignment, without showing application authentication code.
- Examples
- Uses an App Service identity and Key Vault role assignment, plus an AI Foundry workspace granted access to storage blobs.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it in the Azure Portal by enabling an identity and assigning its resource-specific access role.
Read how Microsoft Azure in Action explains managed identity →
Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud
A managed identity is an Azure-managed identity that lets applications authenticate to supported resources without directly managing secrets.
- How it is used
- Uses Azure Automation runbooks to authenticate to Azure resources without embedding passwords, keys, or other secrets.
- How deep it goes
- Explains identity assignment, scoped permissions, and Connect-AzAccount -Identity, while deferring broader security implications to operational guidance.
- Examples
- Demonstrates a system identity granting scoped storage access for a ZIP-upload runbook running on a hybrid worker.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure Azure Automation runbooks that authenticate to permitted Azure resources without managing credential secrets.
Related concepts
- system-assigned managed identityincludes · A system-assigned managed identity is an Azure-managed identity tied to a single resource whose lifecycle ends when that resource is deleted.
- user-assigned managed identityincludes · A user-assigned managed identity is an independently managed Azure identity that can be associated with multiple resources.
- service principalalternative to · A service principal is a nonhuman application or service identity that authenticates and receives authorized access to resources.
- storage accountused by · A storage account is a top-level Azure resource that provides a namespace, access boundary, and configuration for storage services and their data.
- Azure OpenAIused by · Azure OpenAI Service is Microsoft’s managed Azure cloud service for accessing OpenAI models through Azure-hosted deployments, APIs, infrastructure, and controls.
- Microsoft Azure Foundryused by · Microsoft Azure AI Foundry is Microsoft's Azure platform for accessing AI models and developing, customizing, deploying, and orchestrating AI applications and agents.
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