Azure Portal: Get all 4 Terraform authentication values

You can do this entirely through the Azure Portal web interface. No terminal commands or Azure CLI are required. Follow these steps in order.

Step 1 — Create the Terraform application

Open Microsoft Entra admin center.

1. Select Entra ID → App registrations.
2. Click New registration.
3. Enter the name terraform-deployer.
4. Select Accounts in this organizational directory only.
5. Leave Redirect URI blank.
6. Click Register.

If the application already exists, open it instead of creating another one.

Official guide: Register an application in Microsoft Entra ID.

Microsoft Learn

Step 2 — Get ARM_CLIENT_ID

On the newly created application’s Overview page:

Application (client) ID

Copy the displayed GUID

This is your ARM_CLIENT_ID.

Copy the actual ID displayed in your Azure Portal. Do not use the Object ID.

Step 3 — Get ARM_TENANT_ID

On the same Overview page, find:

Directory (tenant) ID

Copy the displayed GUID

This is your ARM_TENANT_ID.

You can also find it under Entra ID → Overview.

Step 4 — Create and get ARM_CLIENT_SECRET

docs.cloud.google.com

1. Open your terraform-deployer application.
2. Select Certificates & secrets.
3. Open Client secrets.
4. Click New client secret.
5. Enter a description, such as Terraform.
6. Choose an expiration period.
7. Click Add.
8. Immediately copy the Value column.

Important

The client secret’s Value is your ARM_CLIENT_SECRET, not its Secret ID. Azure displays the value only once. If you leave the page without copying it, create a new secret.

Microsoft recommends certificates or federated credentials for production workloads rather than long-lived client secrets.

Microsoft Learn

Step 5 — Get ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID

1. Open Azure Portal.
2. Search for Subscriptions.
3. Select the subscription Terraform will manage.
4. On the Overview page, copy Subscription ID.

This is your ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID.

Step 6 — Give the application permission to manage resources

Creating the application and secret does not automatically grant access to your Azure subscription.

1. In Azure Portal, open Subscriptions.
2. Select your subscription → Access control (IAM).
3. Click Add → Add role assignment.
4. Select Contributor.
5. Click Next.
6. Select User, group, or service principal as the member type.
7. Click Select members and search for terraform-deployer.
8. Select the application/service principal and click Review + assign.

You need permission to assign roles yourself. If Contributor is unavailable, an authorized subscription administrator may need to complete this step. Some Terraform configurations require additional permissions beyond Contributor.

Step 7 — Your four values are ready

ARM_CLIENT_ID

App registrations → your app → Overview → Application (client) ID

ARM_CLIENT_SECRET

Your app → Certificates & secrets → Client secrets → Value copied when created

ARM_TENANT_ID

Your app → Overview → Directory (tenant) ID

ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID

Azure Portal → Subscriptions → your subscription → Overview

Official Terraform reference: Authenticate the AzureRM Terraform provider using a service principal and client secret.

Terraform Registry

That’s it: All four values are obtained through the Azure Portal. You only need to use Terminal afterward if you want to configure them as environment variables for Terraform.