Streamlining Azure Certificate Management for Better Security

Managing certificates in Azure can be a complex task, especially for large-scale deployments. This is because certificates are used for authentication, encryption, and other security purposes.

To simplify the process, Azure provides a centralized certificate management system. This allows administrators to easily view, create, and manage certificates across all their Azure resources.

A key feature of this system is the ability to import and export certificates in various formats. This makes it easy to transfer certificates between different Azure services and environments.

By streamlining certificate management, organizations can reduce the risk of certificate-related errors and improve overall security.

Importing Certificates is an essential step in Azure Certificate Management. You can import a certificate from various sources, including Key Vault and your local machine.

To import a certificate, you'll need to have the correct permissions, such as ReadLocalCA and ReadCertificate permissions on the CipherTrust Manager.

You can import a certificate from Key Vault by selecting the certificate from the list of PKCS12 certificates in the vault. Not all PKCS12 certificates are supported in App Service, so be sure to check the requirements before importing.

A certificate can be imported from your local machine by selecting the certificate from the list of available certificates. You'll need to enter the certificate name, select the vault, and upload the private key.

The certificate import process involves several steps, including selecting the certificate, validating the certificate, and adding the certificate to the Bring your own certificates list.

Here are the steps to import a certificate from Key Vault:

Note that the import process may fail if the certificate doesn't meet the requirements for App Service. If this happens, you'll need to update the certificate in Key Vault and try importing it again.

Free managed certificates are a great option for securing your custom DNS name in App Service, but they have some limitations. They don't support wildcard certificates.

To create a free managed certificate, you need to have met the prerequisites for your app. This includes having an A record pointing to your web app's IP address and being on apps that are publicly accessible.

You can create and bind the certificate to a custom domain, and let App Service do the rest. The free certificate comes with the following limitations:

To renew an expiring certificate, you need to add the renewed certificate to App Service and update any certificate bindings where the process depends on the certificate type. For example, if you have a certificate imported from Key Vault, it will automatically sync to App Service every 24 hours and update the TLS/SSL binding when you renew the certificate.

Here's a step-by-step guide to renewing an uploaded certificate:

Soft-deleting an Azure certificate is a process that allows you to delete the certificate from the Azure vaults and CCKM, but it still exists on CCKM and in the Azure vaults. This can be done only on the Azure certificates residing in the soft-enabled key vaults.

Certificate deployment and integration is a crucial step in Azure certificate management. You can automate adding a bring-your-own certificate to an app using Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell.

To deploy certificates in Azure AD, consider using onboarding software for BYODs and Gateway APIs, such as SCEP, for managed devices. This can provide automatic certificate enrollment, reducing the load for IT admins.

To authorize App Service to read from the vault, you must grant read access either with access policy or RBAC. You can use the following service principal app IDs: abfa0a7c-a6b6-4736-8310-5855508787cd for public Azure cloud environment or 6a02c803-dafd-4136-b4c3-5a6f318b4714 for Azure Government cloud environment.

A private CA certificate can be used for inbound TLS in App Service Environment version 3, but not in App Service (multi-tenant). To learn more about the differences between App Service multi-tenant and single-tenant, see the App Service Environment v3 and App Service public multitenant comparison documentation.

You can load your own CA certificate into the Trusted Root Store in App Service Environment version 3.

To do this, you need to meet the requirements of App Service, which include exporting the certificate as a password-protected PFX file, encrypted using triple DES, and containing a private key at least 2048 bits long.

If you want to secure a custom domain in a TLS binding, the certificate must also contain an Extended Key Usage for server authentication (OID = 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1) and be signed by a trusted certificate authority.

Note that you can't modify the list of Trusted Root Certificates in App Service (multi-tenant).

If you're working with a single-tenant environment, you can load your own CA certificate into the Trusted Root Store.

You can add up to 1000 private certificates per webspace, which is a deployment unit that's bound to the App Service plan's resource group, region, and operating system combination.

Here's a summary of the requirements for loading a private CA in App Service:

Deploying certificates in Azure AD is a breeze with onboarding software for BYODs and Gateway APIs, such as SCEP, which provides automatic certificate enrollment.

Admins can build an on-premise Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) with Microsoft's AD CS, but it's incredibly expensive and labor-intensive, requiring a team of professionals to manage.

A managed PKI service, like SecureW2's cloud PKI, is a game-changer, with no infrastructure costs and setup time of just a few hours, at a fraction of the price of on-prem PKIs.

This means enterprises only need one part-time PKI manager, no expensive team of experts required.

Azure AD CRL is a feature that allows RADIUS servers to view revoked certificates, keeping the network secure.

This list can be downloaded periodically to keep the RADIUS server updated, and admins can revoke certificates remotely to prevent compromised devices from accessing the network.

Automating BYOD App Integration is a crucial step in ensuring seamless certificate deployment. You can automate adding a bring-your-own certificate to an app using Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell.

To bind a custom TLS/SSL certificate to a web app, you can use Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell. Both methods provide a straightforward way to integrate your custom certificate.

Azure CLI is a popular choice for automating tasks, and it can be used to bind a custom TLS/SSL certificate to a web app. This is a great option if you're already familiar with the Azure CLI.

Alternatively, Azure PowerShell can also be used to bind a custom TLS/SSL certificate to a web app. This method provides a powerful way to automate tasks using scripts.

It's worth noting that you can use a private CA certificate for inbound TLS in App Service Environment version 3, but not in App Service (multi-tenant). This is an important consideration when planning your certificate deployment strategy.

Azure's free managed certificate is a convenient solution for securing your custom DNS name, automatically renewing every six months with 45 days' notice. It's issued by DigiCert, but you may need to allow DigiCert as a certificate issuer by creating a CAA domain record for some domains.

To create a free managed certificate, you'll need to meet the prerequisites, which include having an A record pointing to your web app's IP address and being on an app that's publicly accessible. You can create only one managed certificate for each supported custom domain, and the certificate comes with limitations, such as not supporting wildcard certificates or private DNS.

Here are some key considerations when managing your certificates:

You can renew an uploaded certificate by uploading the new certificate first. This ensures that the new certificate is available for use before updating the certificate binding.

To avoid a change in your app's IP address and downtime for your app due to HTTPS errors, it's essential to update the certificate binding carefully. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Upload the new certificate.

2. Go to the Custom domains page for your app, select the ... button, and then select Update binding.

3. Select the new certificate and then select Update.

4. Delete the existing certificate.

Alternatively, if you're using an App Service Environment, refer to the documentation for certificates and the App Service Environment for specific guidance.

Purging Azure certificates is a straightforward process, but it's essential to understand the implications and steps involved.

You can only purge soft-deleted Azure certificates residing in soft-enabled key vaults.

To purge a certificate, open the Cloud Key Manager application and navigate to the Certificates tab under Azure.

Click the overflow icon next to the desired alias and select Purge.

The Purge Azure certificate dialog box will appear, where you need to select the I wish to purge this certificate check box and click Purge Certificate.

Purging a certificate may take some time, and after successful deletion, a message indicating the certificate has been hard deleted will be displayed.

The status of the certificate will change to DELETED.

To restore a backup, you'll need to open the Cloud Key Manager application.

In the left pane, click Cloud Keys > Azure.

You'll then see a list of available Azure certificates, which can be accessed by clicking the Certificates tab.

Click the overflow icon () corresponding to the desired alias and click Restore.

A Confirm Restore certificate dialog box will be displayed, prompting you to select the desired certificate vault from the Select Vault drop-down list.

Note that restoration of certificates among cross-region vaults is not allowed.

Click Restore Certificate to complete the restoration process.

A message indicating that the certificate has been restored will be displayed on the screen.

The certificate will be restored to the selected key vault, and its status will change to AVAILABLE.

Certificate monitoring is crucial in Azure to prevent disruptions to mission-critical services. By delegating power to manage and gain insights to selected Certificates in Azure, your business and end-users can stay proactive without disturbing the IT operations team.

You can manage two types of collections in Azure: Azure Certificates in general and Certificates deployed to Azure API Management Services. Additionally, you can monitor Windows Certificates and Web Service Certificates.

To configure monitoring thresholds, you can edit the warning and error alerts in the Control Center section. The monitoring properties you can manage include warning (number of days before Certificate expires), error (number of days before Certificate expires), and description (user-friendly description of the Certificate monitoring configuration).

Managing monitoring of Certificates in Azure is crucial for any business. You can get alerts for ageing Certificates and access details without the Azure portal.

There are two types of collections to deal with: Azure Certificates in general and Certificates deployed to Azure API Management Services. For the latter, review the Monitoring API Certificates user guide.

You can monitor Windows Certificates (X.509) and Web Service Certificates, which are used by Web Applications, Web Services, and APIs to enable HTTPS protocol.

Delegate the power to manage and gain insights to selected Certificates in Azure. This helps the support and maintenance team with additional data for root cause analysis without individual direct access to the Microsoft Azure Portal.

Reducing access limits the number of attack vectors and minimizes the risk for disruption of mission-critical services. This is especially important for Application Management Teams, IT Operations, and Businesses.

Here are the roles and their responsibilities:

To edit the monitoring thresholds, you'll need to click on the Action button and then select the Edit menu item within the 'Control Center' section.

You can manage three specific monitoring properties, which are crucial in setting up your certificate monitoring configuration.

The first property is the Warning threshold, which triggers a Warning alert when a certificate is about to expire in a certain number of days. This number of days is customizable to fit your organization's needs.

The second property is the Error threshold, which triggers an Error alert when a certificate is about to expire in a certain number of days. This setting is also customizable, just like the Warning threshold.

The third property is the Description, which provides a user-friendly description of your specific certificate monitoring configuration. This is a great way to keep track of your settings and understand what each configuration is for.

Here are the three monitoring properties you can manage:

Certificate templates are a breeze to configure and manage with SecureW2, thanks to its simplified GUI interface compared to AD CS. This means admins can skip duplicating default certificates and reduce the number of steps involved.

With SecureW2, admins can increase security measures by creating network groups based on accessibility and security permissions, and configure a template for each respective group.

SecureW2 allows Azure AD admins to build a SCEP gateway for certificate enrollment and policy configurations, eliminating the need to manually configure every device or leave it up to the end user.

Configuring certificate templates can be a breeze with the right tools. SecureW2's GUI interface simplifies the process, reducing the number of steps involved.

Admins can create certificate templates with ease, eliminating the need to duplicate default certificates. This streamlined approach saves time and effort.

By creating network groups based on network accessibility and security permissions, admins can increase security measures. This allows for tailored security configurations for each group.

Configuring a template for each respective group is a straightforward process. This ensures that security settings are aligned with the group's specific needs.

Managed Device Gateways are a game-changer for Azure AD admins, allowing them to configure a SCEP gateway for certificate enrollment and policy configurations.

This eliminates the need to manually configure every single device, saving time and effort. Instead, admins can push out payloads that enable managed devices to configure themselves.

By using a SCEP gateway, admins can streamline the process of setting up managed devices for certificate enrollment. This is especially useful for environments with Microsoft Intune, where integrating SCEP can be a huge time-saver for enrolling certificates.

You can upload a private certificate to App Service after you get it from your certificate provider. The process involves making the certificate ready for App Service.

To upload a private certificate, you'll need to select your .pfx file, enter the password you created when exporting the PFX file, and give the certificate a friendly name that will be shown in your web app.

You can upload a public certificate in the .cer format, which is only accessible to the app it's uploaded to. Public certificates must be uploaded to each individual web app that needs access.

A table to help you upload a public certificate:

You can upload up to 1000 public certificates per App Service Plan.

To renew an uploaded certificate, you'll need to upload the new certificate, update the certificate binding, and then delete the existing certificate. This will help avoid downtime for your app due to HTTPS errors.

Here's a step-by-step guide to renewing a certificate: