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In Azure, applications don't log in with passwords. They use App Registrations and Service Principals.
App Registration: The 'Template' or 'Blueprint' of your application defined in your Entra ID tenant.
Service Principal: The 'Instance' of that application with specific permissions in a specific subscription. Think of it as a 'User Account' for a piece of code.
The 'Architect's Holy Grail'. Managed Identities allow your Azure resources (like App Service or Lambda-equivalent Functions) to talk to other Azure resources (like SQL or Key Vault) WITHOUT you managing any Client IDs or Secrets. Azure handles the rotation automatically. **Rule:** Always use Managed Identity if the service supports it.
Q: "Where are the secrets stored for App Registrations?"
Architect Answer: "You can use **Client Secrets** (passwords) or **Certificates**. For production, always use Certificates. Secrets expire and are often accidentally committed to Git. Certificates provide a much higher level of security and can be managed centrally in Azure Key Vault."
Quizzes linked to this course—pass to earn certificates.
On this page
1. The Difference 2. Managed Identities 3. Architect Insight