AZ-400 Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions Exam

Implement and Manage Secrets, Keys, and Certificates by Using Azure Key Vault

Secure Automation with Azure Key Vault

Azure Key Vault acts as a central repository for storing, managing, and accessing sensitive information such as secrets, keys, and certificates securely. It's an essential service for implementing a strategy to manage sensitive information in automation tasks within Azure.

Managed Identities

Using managed identities for Azure resources is a secure way to access other Azure services without manually managing credentials. There are two types of managed identities:

• System-assigned: Tied to the lifecycle of a specific Azure resource (like a virtual machine). When the resource is deleted, the identity is automatically deleted.
• User-assigned: Created separately and can be used by multiple resources. This type provides more flexibility as it is not tied to the lifecycle of a single resource.

Storing and Accessing Secrets

To manage secrets securely:

• Use Azure Key Vault to store secrets like API keys, database connection strings, etc.
• Instead of storing secrets directly in your code or configuration files, store them in Key Vault and access them programmatically.
• Utilize managed identities to authenticate to Key Vault without exposing credentials in your service’s code.

Best Practices for Secret Management

1. Use Managed Identities:
   • Simplify deployment and increase security by allowing Azure to automatically rotate and manage your application’s credentials.
   • Example code in various languages demonstrates how to use managed identities to retrieve secrets from Key Vault securely.
2. Secure Storage:
   • Ensure secrets are stored in secure locations (like Key Vault) and not in plain text or version control systems.
3. Limit Access:
   • Restrict access to secrets using role-based access control (RBAC) to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
4. Rotate Secrets Regularly:
   • Implement a strategy to rotate secrets periodically or if necessary (e.g., after detecting a potential breach).

Automating Certificate Management

Automatically manage and rotate certificates using Key Vault:

• Use Azure Key Vault’s built-in functionality to issue certificates through trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs).
• Maintain compliance by ensuring certificates have a shorter lifespan and are rotated regularly.

Integration with CI/CD Pipelines

Integrate Key Vault with CI/CD pipelines:

• Ensure that your automation scripts and jobs (e.g., Azure DevOps Pipelines) can securely retrieve secrets during deployments by using managed identities or service principals authenticated through Azure Active Directory.
• Example ARM templates and configuration tasks demonstrate configuring managed identities for access during the deployment process.

Conclusion

By implementing these practices, security risks are minimized, and sensitive information is protected effectively. Using Azure Key Vault along with managed identities ensures secure and automated lifecycle management of secrets, keys, and certificates within your DevOps practices.