Configure authentication by using Active Directory and Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of Microsoft Entra

To configure authentication for Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions using Active Directory and Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), the following steps can be followed:

1. Create an Azure AD tenant

To get started, create an Azure AD tenant by navigating to the Azure portal and selecting “Azure Active Directory” from the left-hand side menu. Click on “Create a tenant” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

2. Add users to Azure AD

Once the Azure AD tenant is created, add users who will have access to Azure SQL solutions. Navigate to “Azure Active Directory” in the Azure portal, select “Users” from the left-hand side menu, and click on “New user” to add a user. Fill in the required details and click “Create” to create the user account.

3. Create an SQL server in Azure

To use Azure SQL solutions, create an SQL server in the Azure portal. Navigate to “SQL servers” and click on “Add” to create a new server. Provide the required details such as server name, authentication type (SQL authentication or Azure AD authentication), and administrator username and password. Select the appropriate subscription and resource group, and click “Create” to create the SQL server.

4. Configure Azure AD authentication for SQL server

After creating the SQL server, navigate to the server’s properties in the Azure portal and select “Authentication” under the “Security” section. Choose “Azure Active Directory” as the authentication method and click “Save” to enable Azure AD authentication for the SQL server.

5. Create users in SQL server

To grant access to specific users in Azure SQL solutions, create users within the SQL server. Navigate to the SQL server’s properties, select “Active directory admin” under the “Security” section, and click on “Set admin” to specify the Azure AD user or group as the server administrator. This step enables users added to Azure AD to connect to the SQL server.

6. Connect to the SQL server using Azure AD authentication

To connect to the SQL server using Azure AD authentication, use the following connection string format in your application code:

Server=tcp:.database.windows.net,1433;
Authentication=ActiveDirectoryIntegrated;
Database=;


Replace <sql-server-name> with the name of your SQL server, and provide the appropriate <database-name>.

7. Grant database permissions to Azure AD users

Once connected to the SQL server, grant appropriate permissions to Azure AD users for accessing specific databases and resources. Use SQL commands or tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to manage permissions.

By following these steps, you can configure authentication for Azure SQL solutions using Active Directory and Azure AD. This provides a secure and centralized way to manage user access to SQL resources in the Azure environment.