Azure Managed Identity Explained: What, Why, Types & When to Use Each

Introduction

In this blog, we delve into the concept of managed identity, discussing its purpose and when to utilize different types of managed identities. Furthermore, we will present a demonstration with a real-world example.

What is Managed Identity

In Azure, a managed identity is an identity that can be assigned to Azure compute resources such as VMs, APIMs, and Storage accounts.

Once assigned, it can be authorized to access target resources without the need for credentials.

Let's understand this using an office analogy.

Employee Badge (Managed Identity) : Employee using a badge for secure office access.

Why Managed Identity?

  1. Authenticate other azure services without any password or secrets.

2. This eliminates the need to store and Manage credentials.

3. No need to create service principle and maintain secret.

   
   

Types of Managed Identity

Example: office Analogy

Employee Badge (System-Assigned): Everyone understands that when you leave a job, your badge stops working.

Shared Access Card (User-Assigned): Common in offices where multiple people need access to the same resources.

Choosing the Right Type of Managed Identity for Your Needs

Example: 1

System Assigned Identity

Example: 2

User Assigned Identity

Example:3

Is this correct Approach?

What happens when you create Managed Identity

1. A service principal created in Microsoft Entra ID.

2. Azure resources only can use this identity to request tokens from Microsoft Entra ID.

Demo --> Coming soon