{"id":1216,"date":"2026-10-12T10:49:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2026-10-12T10:49:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:49:52","slug":"azure-how-to-get-all-4-terraform-authentication-values-using-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/azure-how-to-get-all-4-terraform-authentication-values-using-portal\/","title":{"rendered":"Azure: Authenticating to Azure using a Service Principal and a Client Secret"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Azure Portal: Get all 4 Terraform authentication values<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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

Step 1 \u2014 Create the Terraform application<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Exchange<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Open Microsoft Entra admin center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Select Entra ID \u2192 App registrations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Click New registration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Enter the name terraform-deployer<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Select Accounts in this organizational directory only.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Leave Redirect URI blank.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Click Register.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If the application already exists, open it instead of creating another one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Official guide: Register an application in Microsoft Entra ID<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Microsoft Learn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 2 \u2014 Get ARM_CLIENT_ID<\/code><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    On the newly created application’s Overview page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Application (client) ID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Copy the displayed GUID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is your ARM_CLIENT_ID<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Copy the actual ID displayed in your Azure Portal. Do not use the Object ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 3 \u2014 Get ARM_TENANT_ID<\/code><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    On the same Overview page, find:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Directory (tenant) ID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Copy the displayed GUID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is your ARM_TENANT_ID<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can also find it under Entra ID \u2192 Overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 4 \u2014 Create and get ARM_CLIENT_SECRET<\/code><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    \"Microsoft<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    docs.cloud.google.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

      Important<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

      Microsoft recommends certificates or federated credentials for production workloads rather than long-lived client secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Microsoft Learn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Step 5 \u2014 Get ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID<\/code><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Open Azure Portal<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Search for Subscriptions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Select the subscription Terraform will manage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. On the Overview page, copy Subscription ID.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        This is your ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Step 6 \u2014 Give the application permission to manage resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Creating the application and secret does not automatically grant access to your Azure subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. In Azure Portal, open Subscriptions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Select your subscription \u2192 Access control (IAM).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Click Add \u2192 Add role assignment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. Select Contributor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. Click Next.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. Select User, group, or service principal as the member type.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. Click Select members and search for terraform-deployer<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. Select the application\/service principal and click Review + assign.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Step 7 \u2014 Your four values are ready<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          ARM_CLIENT_ID<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          App registrations \u2192 your app \u2192 Overview \u2192 Application (client) ID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          ARM_CLIENT_SECRET<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Your app \u2192 Certificates & secrets \u2192 Client secrets \u2192 Value copied when created<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          ARM_TENANT_ID<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Your app \u2192 Overview \u2192 Directory (tenant) ID<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Azure Portal \u2192 Subscriptions \u2192 your subscription \u2192 Overview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Official Terraform reference: Authenticate the AzureRM Terraform provider using a service principal and client secret<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          Terraform Registry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          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…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1216"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1219,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions\/1219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}