service-bus-migrate-azure-credentials.md

title	titleSuffix	description	author	ms.author	ms.reviewer	ms.date	ms.service	ms.topic	ms.custom
Migrate applications to use passwordless authentication with Azure Service Bus	Azure Service Bus	Learn to migrate existing Service Bus applications away from connection strings to use Microsoft Entra ID and Azure RBAC for enhanced security.	alexwolfmsft	alexwolf	randolphwest	06/12/2023	service-bus-messaging	how-to	devx-track-csharp devx-track-azurecli devx-track-azurepowershell passwordless-dotnet passwordless-go passwordless-java passwordless-js passwordless-python

Migrate an application to use passwordless connections with Azure Service Bus

Application requests to Azure Service Bus must be authenticated using either account access keys or passwordless connections. However, you should prioritize passwordless connections in your applications when possible. This tutorial explores how to migrate from traditional authentication methods to more secure, passwordless connections.

Security risks associated with access keys

The following code example demonstrates how to connect to Azure Service Bus using a connection string that includes an access key. When you create a Service Bus, Azure generates these keys and connection strings automatically. Many developers gravitate towards this solution because it feels familiar to options they've worked with in the past. If your application currently uses connection strings, consider migrating to passwordless connections using the steps described in this document.

.NET

await using ServiceBusClient client = new("<CONNECTION-STRING>");

Go

client, err := azservicebus.NewClientFromConnectionString(
    "<CONNECTION-STRING>",
    nil)

if err != nil {
    // handle error
}

Java

JMS:

ConnectionFactory factory = new ServiceBusJmsConnectionFactory(
    "<CONNECTION-STRING>",
    new ServiceBusJmsConnectionFactorySettings());

Receiver client:

ServiceBusReceiverClient receiver = new ServiceBusClientBuilder()
    .connectionString("<CONNECTION-STRING>")
    .receiver()
    .topicName("<TOPIC-NAME>")
    .subscriptionName("<SUBSCRIPTION-NAME>")
    .buildClient();

Sender client:

ServiceBusSenderClient client = new ServiceBusClientBuilder()
    .connectionString("<CONNECTION-STRING>")
    .sender()
    .queueName("<QUEUE-NAME>")
    .buildClient();

Node.js

const client = new ServiceBusClient("<CONNECTION-STRING>");

Python

client = ServiceBusClient(
    fully_qualified_namespace = "<CONNECTION-STRING>"
)

---

Connection strings should be used with caution. Developers must be diligent to never expose the keys in an unsecure location. Anyone who gains access to the key is able to authenticate. For example, if an account key is accidentally checked into source control, sent through an unsecure email, pasted into the wrong chat, or viewed by someone who shouldn't have permission, there's risk of a malicious user accessing the application. Instead, consider updating your application to use passwordless connections.

Migrate to passwordless connections

[!INCLUDE migrate-to-passwordless-overview]

Steps to migrate an app to use passwordless authentication

The following steps explain how to migrate an existing application to use passwordless connections instead of a key-based solution. You'll first configure a local development environment, and then apply those concepts to an Azure app hosting environment. These same migration steps should apply whether you're using access keys directly, or through connection strings.

Configure roles and users for local development authentication

[!INCLUDE service-bus-assign-roles-tabbed]

Sign-in and migrate the app code to use passwordless connections

For local development, make sure you're authenticated with the same Microsoft Entra account you assigned the role to for the Service Bus namespace. You can authenticate via the Azure CLI, Visual Studio, Azure PowerShell, or other tools such as IntelliJ.

[!INCLUDE default-azure-credential-sign-in]

Next, update your code to use passwordless connections.

.NET

1. To use DefaultAzureCredential in a .NET application, install the Azure.Identity package:

   dotnet add package Azure.Identity
   

2. At the top of your file, add the following code:

   using Azure.Identity;

3. Identify the code that creates a ServiceBusClient object to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match the following example:

    var serviceBusNamespace = $"https://{namespace}.servicebus.windows.net";
    ServiceBusClient client = new(
        serviceBusNamespace,
        new DefaultAzureCredential());

Go

1. To use DefaultAzureCredential in a Go application, install the azidentity module:

   go get -u github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azidentity

2. At the top of your file, add the following code:

   import (
       "github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azidentity"
   )

3. Identify the locations in your code that create a Client instance to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match the following example:

   credential, err := azidentity.NewDefaultAzureCredential(nil)
   
   if err != nil {
       // handle error
   }
   
   serviceBusNamespace := fmt.Sprintf(
       "https://%s.servicebus.windows.net",
       namespace)
   client, err := azservicebus.NewClient(serviceBusNamespace, credential, nil)
   
   if err != nil {
       // handle error
   }

Java

1. To use DefaultAzureCredential:

   • In a JMS application, add at least version 1.0.0 of the azure-servicebus-jms package to your application:

     <dependency>
         <groupId>com.microsoft.azure</groupId>
         <artifactId>azure-servicebus-jms</artifactId>
         <version>1.0.0</version>
     </dependency>

   • In a Java application, install the azure-identity package via one of the following approaches:

     • Include the BOM file.
     • Include a direct dependency.

2. At the top of your file, add the following code:

   import com.azure.identity.DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder;

3. Update the code that connects to Azure Service Bus:

   • In a JMS application, identify the code that creates a ServiceBusJmsConnectionFactory object to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match the following example:

      DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
          .build();
      String serviceBusNamespace = 
          "https://" + namespace + ".servicebus.windows.net";
     
      ConnectionFactory factory = new ServiceBusJmsConnectionFactory(
          credential,
          serviceBusNamespace,
          new ServiceBusJmsConnectionFactorySettings());

   • In a Java application, identify the code that creates a Service Bus sender or receiver client object to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match one of the following examples:

     Receiver client:

     DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
         .build();
     String serviceBusNamespace = 
         "https://" + namespace + ".servicebus.windows.net";
     
     ServiceBusReceiverClient receiver = new ServiceBusClientBuilder()
         .credential(serviceBusNamespace, credential)
         .receiver()
         .topicName("<TOPIC-NAME>")
         .subscriptionName("<SUBSCRIPTION-NAME>")
         .buildClient();

     Sender client:

     DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
         .build();
     String serviceBusNamespace = 
         "https://" + namespace + ".servicebus.windows.net";
     
     ServiceBusSenderClient client = new ServiceBusClientBuilder()
         .credential(serviceBusNamespace, credential)
         .sender()
         .queueName("<QUEUE-NAME>")
         .buildClient();

Node.js

1. To use DefaultAzureCredential in a Node.js application, install the @azure/identity package:

   npm install --save @azure/identity

2. At the top of your file, add the following code:

   const { DefaultAzureCredential } = require("@azure/identity");
   

3. Identify the code that creates a ServiceBusClient object to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match the following example:

   const credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
   const serviceBusNamespace = `https://${namespace}.servicebus.windows.net`;    
   
   const client = new ServiceBusClient(
     serviceBusNamespace,
     credential
   );
   

Python

1. To use DefaultAzureCredential in a Python application, install the azure-identity package:

   pip install azure-identity

2. At the top of your file, add the following code:

   from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential

3. Identify the code that creates a ServiceBusClient object to connect to Azure Service Bus. Update your code to match the following example:

   credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
   service_bus_namespace = "https://%s.servicebus.windows.net" % namespace
   
   client = ServiceBusClient(
       fully_qualified_namespace = service_bus_namespace,
       credential = credential
   )

---

Run the app locally

After making these code changes, run your application locally. The new configuration should pick up your local credentials, such as the Azure CLI, Visual Studio, or IntelliJ. The roles you assigned to your local dev user in Azure will allow your app to connect to the Azure service locally.

Configure the Azure hosting environment

Once your application is configured to use passwordless connections and runs locally, the same code can authenticate to Azure services after it's deployed to Azure. For example, an application deployed to an Azure App Service instance that has a managed identity enabled can connect to Azure Service Bus.

Create the managed identity using the Azure portal

[!INCLUDE create-managed-identity-portal]

Alternatively, you can also enable managed identity on an Azure hosting environment using the Azure CLI.

Service Connector

You can use Service Connector to create a connection between an Azure compute hosting environment and a target service using the Azure CLI. The CLI automatically handles creating a managed identity and assigns the proper role, as explained in the portal instructions.

If you're using an Azure App Service, use the az webapp connection command:

az webapp connection create servicebus \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <webapp-name> \
    --target-resource-group <target-resource-group-name> \
    --namespace <target-service-bus-namespace> \
    --system-identity

If you're using Azure Spring Apps, use the az spring connection command:

az spring connection create servicebus \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --service <service-instance-name> \
    --app <app-name> \
    --deployment <deployment-name> \
    --target-resource-group <target-resource-group> \
    --namespace <target-service-bus-namespace> \
    --system-identity

If you're using Azure Container Apps, use the az containerapp connection command:

az containerapp connection create servicebus \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <webapp-name> \
    --target-resource-group <target-resource-group-name> \
    --namespace <target-service-bus-namespace> \
    --system-identity

Azure App Service

You can assign a managed identity to an Azure App Service instance with the az webapp identity assign command.

az webapp identity assign \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <webapp-name>

Azure Spring Apps

You can assign a managed identity to an Azure Spring Apps instance with the az spring app identity assign command.

az spring app identity assign \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <app-name> \
    --service <service-name>

Azure Container Apps

You can assign a managed identity to an Azure Container Apps instance with the az container app identity assign command.

az containerapp identity assign \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <app-name>

Azure Virtual Machines

You can assign a managed identity to a virtual machine with the az vm identity assign command.

az vm identity assign \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <virtual-machine-name>

Azure Kubernetes Service

You can assign a managed identity to an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) instance with the az aks update command.

az aks update \
    --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
    --name <virtual-machine-name> \
    --enable-managed-identity

---

Assign roles to the managed identity

Next, you need to grant permissions to the managed identity you created to access your Service Bus. You can do this by assigning a role to the managed identity, just like you did with your local development user.

Service Connector

If you connected your services using the Service Connector you don't need to complete this step. The necessary configurations were handled for you:

• If you selected a managed identity while creating the connection, a system-assigned managed identity was created for your app and assigned the Azure Service Bus Data Owner role on the Service Bus.

• If you selected connection string, the connection string was added as an app environment variable.

Azure portal

1. Navigate to your Service Bus overview page and select Access Control (IAM) from the left navigation.

2. Choose Add role assignment.

   :::image type="content" source="../../includes/passwordless/media/migration-add-role-small.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing how to add a role to a managed identity." lightbox="../../includes/passwordless/media/migration-add-role.png":::

3. In the Role search box, search for Azure Service Bus Data Owner, which is a common role used to manage data operations for blobs. You can assign whatever role is appropriate for your use case. Select the Azure Service Bus Data Owner from the list and choose Next.

4. On the Add role assignment screen, for the Assign access to option, select Managed identity. Then choose +Select members.

5. In the flyout, search for the managed identity you created by entering the name of your app service. Select the system assigned identity, and then choose Select to close the flyout menu.

   :::image type="content" source="../../includes/passwordless/media/migration-select-identity-small.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing how to select the assigned managed identity." lightbox="../../includes/passwordless/media/migration-select-identity.png":::

6. Select Next a couple times until you're able to select Review + assign to finish the role assignment.

Azure CLI

To assign a role at the resource level using the Azure CLI, you first must retrieve the resource ID using the az servicebus show command. You can filter the output properties using the --query parameter.

az servicebus show \
    --resource-group '<your-resource-group-name>' \
    --name '<your-service-bus-namespace>' \
    --query id

Copy the output ID from the preceding command. You can then assign roles using the az role command of the Azure CLI.

az role assignment create \
    --assignee "<your-username>" \
    --role "Azure Service Bus Data Owner" \
    --scope "<your-resource-id>"

---

Test the app

After making these code changes, browse to your hosted application in the browser. Your app should be able to connect to the Service Bus successfully. Keep in mind that it may take several minutes for the role assignments to propagate through your Azure environment. Your application is now configured to run both locally and in a production environment without the developers having to manage secrets in the application itself.

Next steps

In this tutorial, you learned how to migrate an application to passwordless connections.