What is Azure Service Principal

Question

Can anyone tell me what an Azure Service Principal is in very simple terms?

Answer 1

An Azure Service Principal is essentially an identity created for use with applications, hosted services, or automated tools to access Azure resources securely. Think of it as a "user identity" for an application or service within Azure. Instead of using a user’s credentials, an application can use a service principal to authenticate and gain permissions to perform actions on specific resources.

Why Use a Service Principal?

• Security: By assigning specific permissions, you limit what resources the application can access.

• Automation: Service principals enable automated scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and applications to interact with Azure resources without human intervention.

• Separation of Duties: It isolates permissions so each application only has the access it needs, reducing security risks.

How It Works

When you create a service principal, it includes:

• Application ID – A unique identifier for the application.

• Tenant ID – Identifies the Azure Active Directory (AAD) tenant.

• Client Secret/Certificate – Used for authentication.

With this, the application or service can authenticate to Azure AD and perform actions based on assigned roles and permissions, providing secure, limited access to your resources without needing to use a user account.