Azure Service Manager: A Comprehensive Guide to Cloud Services

Azure Service Manager is a cloud-based platform that provides a centralized location for managing all your cloud services. It's like having a personal assistant for your cloud resources.

With Azure Service Manager, you can view and manage all your subscriptions, resources, and services in one place. This makes it easier to keep track of your cloud expenses and identify areas for cost optimization.

Azure Service Manager also provides a single sign-on (SSO) experience, allowing you to access all your cloud resources with a single set of credentials. This eliminates the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords, making it more convenient to manage your cloud services.

By using Azure Service Manager, you can streamline your cloud management process and reduce the complexity of working with multiple cloud services.

Azure Service Manager is the backbone of Azure, providing a centralized platform for managing and monitoring your Azure resources. It's a one-stop-shop for all your Azure needs.

The Azure Service Manager is built on top of Azure Resource Manager, which is the core service for managing and deploying Azure resources. This is reflected in the resource providers for management services, which include Microsoft.Authorization and Microsoft.Resources, both of which are registered by default.

Resource providers play a crucial role in Azure Service Manager, as they enable you to manage and monitor your resources. Here are some key resource providers for management services:

These resource providers give you a wealth of information and tools to manage your Azure resources effectively.

As you're exploring the world of Azure Service Manager, you might be wondering about the differences between Azure roles and Microsoft Entra roles. One key difference is that Azure roles control permissions to manage Azure resources, while Microsoft Entra roles control permissions to manage Microsoft Entra resources.

Let's take a closer look at the table below to see some of the key differences between these two types of roles:

One thing to note is that Azure roles have a wider range of options when it comes to specifying the scope of a role, which can be set at multiple levels including management group, subscription, resource group, and resource.

The Azure Service Manager has a core set of resource providers that are essential for its functionality. These providers include Microsoft.Addons, Microsoft.AzureStack, and Microsoft.Capacity, among others.

Each of these resource providers is linked to a specific Azure service, such as core. This is a crucial aspect of the Azure Service Manager, as it ensures that the core services are properly provisioned and managed.

Here's a list of the core resource providers, including their corresponding Azure services:

These resource providers are essential for the Azure Service Manager to function properly, and understanding them is crucial for effective management of Azure services.

The "Web" section of Azure Service Manager is where things get really interesting. You can manage your web resources with ease, thanks to the various Azure services at your disposal.

One of the key services is App Service, which allows you to build, deploy, and scale web applications. It's a game-changer for developers who need to quickly deploy their apps.

App Service Certificates are also managed through the "Web" section, making it easy to secure your web applications with SSL/TLS certificates. This is a crucial step in ensuring your users' data is protected.

You can also use Azure Functions, a serverless compute service that allows you to run small pieces of code in response to events. It's perfect for handling tasks that don't require a full-fledged server.

Here's a quick rundown of the web-related services you can manage through Azure Service Manager:

These services are all connected to the "Web" section of Azure Service Manager, making it easy to manage your web resources in one place.

Connection Management is a crucial part of Azure Service Manager, allowing you to manage and update your service connections efficiently.

You can use a script to update multiple service connections at once to use workload identity federation for authentication. This script requires PowerShell 7.3 or newer and Azure CLI to run.

To revert a converted automatic service connection, you can use the Azure DevOps REST API to update the service connection to utilize workload identity federation. However, if you manually create and convert your service connection, you can't revert the service connection using the service connection conversion tool.

To manually revert a service connection, go to Pipelines > Service connections in your Azure DevOps project, select an existing service connection, and choose Revert conversion to the original scheme.

To create a connection for an existing user-assigned identity, you need to have an existing user-assigned managed identity before starting.

You can do this by going to Project settings > Service connections in your Azure DevOps project, then selecting New service connection, and choosing Azure Resource Manager and Next.

Select Managed identity, and in Step 1: Managed identity details, you'll need to provide the necessary information.

In Step 2: Azure Scope, you'll choose the scope of your managed identity.

If you want to use a predefined set of access permissions, you can create a new service principal by following one of the tutorials provided.

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a connection for an existing user-assigned identity:

1. Go to Project settings > Service connections.

2. Select New service connection.

3. Choose Azure Resource Manager and Next.

4. Select Managed identity.

5. In Step 1: Managed identity details, provide the necessary information.

6. In Step 2: Azure Scope, choose the scope of your managed identity.

By following these steps, you can create a connection for an existing user-assigned identity and start using workload identity federation for authentication.

To create a connection to an existing principal, you'll need to have an existing service principal defined. You can create a new service principal if you don't already have one.

To create an Azure Resource Manager service connection that uses an existing service principal, follow these steps:

You can also use a predefined set of access permissions if you don't already have a service principal defined. In this case, you'll need to follow one of the tutorials to create a new service principal.

The new service connection will be created with the specified credentials and permissions. You can use this connection in your pipeline by selecting the connection name in the Azure subscription setting.

To find the resource provider for your Azure infrastructure, you can list the deployed resources in a specific resource group using Azure CLI. This will give you the resource type, and the resource provider namespace is the first part of the resource type.

You can also use the Azure CLI to find resource providers. For example, if you're looking for the Microsoft.KeyVault resource provider, you can list the deployed resources in a resource group and look for the resource type that starts with Microsoft.KeyVault.

The resource provider namespace is the key to identifying the resource provider for your Azure infrastructure. You can find this by listing the deployed resources in a resource group and looking for the first part of the resource type.

To make it easier to identify the resource provider, you can use the following table to match the resource provider namespace with the corresponding Azure service:

By using this table, you can easily identify the resource provider namespace and the corresponding Azure service for your infrastructure.

Concurrent resource updates can cause unexpected results, but Azure Resource Manager has a resolution to ensure your updates are deterministic and reliable.

You know the status of your resources and avoid any inconsistency or data loss. This is because Azure Resource Manager detects conflicts and permits only one operation to complete successfully.

If two requests try to update the same resource at the same time, one request will succeed and the other will fail with a 409 error code.

After getting the 409 error code, you can get the updated status of the resource and determine if you want to resend the failed request.

You can then resend the request or take alternative actions based on the updated status of the resource.

Atmosera has deep expertise in managing hybrid cloud environments, utilizing tools like Azure Arc to extend Azure management and governance to on-premises servers and resources.

They can also help with disaster recovery replication and failover between on-premises and Azure using Azure Site Recovery.

Secure connectivity is achieved through Azure Network Integration, using VPN, ExpressRoute, or other hybrid networking solutions.

Atmosera can offer specialized expertise in areas where you may have gaps, conduct WAF reviews for a fresh perspective, and provide ongoing optimization and monitoring.

Here are some key resource providers for hybrid environments:

By leveraging these resources, Atmosera can help you maximize your investment in both in-house talent and the value of an expert Managed Azure partner.

In Azure Service Manager, you can create an Azure Resource Manager app registration with workload identity federation, but you need to meet certain conditions, such as having the Owner role for your Azure subscription.

This approach is ideal for scenarios where you're not connecting to the Azure Stack or the Azure US Government environments. Additionally, any Marketplace extensions tasks you use should be updated to support workload identity federation.

To create a service connection for an existing user-assigned managed identity, you'll need to have an existing user-assigned managed identity in place. Then, you can follow the steps outlined in the Azure DevOps documentation to create a new service connection.

The resource providers for identity services are listed below:

You can also create an Azure Resource Manager app registration with workload identity federation, but this time using a predefined set of access permissions. To do this, you'll need to create a new service principal using one of the tutorials provided in the Azure DevOps documentation.

Microsoft Entra is a powerful tool for managing Azure resources. It allows you to create or edit users, assign administrative roles to others, and reset user passwords.

You can see the list of Microsoft Entra roles on the Roles and administrators page in the Azure portal. This is a great place to start if you're new to Microsoft Entra.

Microsoft Entra roles give you the flexibility to manage your directory resources efficiently. For example, you can manage user licenses and domains with ease.

Microsoft Entra is a powerful tool that allows you to manage your Microsoft resources in a directory.

You can use Microsoft Entra roles to create or edit users, which is a crucial part of setting up your directory.

Assigning administrative roles to others is also a key function of Microsoft Entra roles.

Managing user licenses is another important task that can be done with Microsoft Entra roles.

Resetting user passwords is a common task that can be accomplished with Microsoft Entra roles.

Microsoft Entra roles can also be used to manage domains, which is essential for a well-organized directory.

To view the list of Microsoft Entra roles, you can check the Roles and administrators page in the Azure portal.

For a comprehensive list of all Microsoft Entra roles, you can refer to the Administrator role permissions in Microsoft Entra ID documentation.

Microsoft Entra overlap occurs when Azure roles and Microsoft Entra roles intersect.

By default, Azure roles and Microsoft Entra roles don't overlap, but a Global Administrator can elevate their access to manage all Azure subscriptions and management groups.

Several Microsoft Entra roles span Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365, including the Global Administrator and User Administrator roles.

The Global Administrator role grants global administrator capabilities in Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365, such as making changes to Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint.

By default, the Global Administrator doesn't have access to Azure resources, but can be granted the User Access Administrator role on all subscriptions for a particular tenant.

An Azure account is used to establish a billing relationship, and it's a user identity that comes with one or more Azure subscriptions and associated resources.

The Account Administrator for all subscriptions created in an account is the person who creates the account, and they're also the default Service Administrator for the subscription.

Each subscription is associated with a Microsoft Entra directory, which you can find by opening Subscriptions in the Azure portal and selecting a subscription.

Subscriptions help you organize access to Azure resources and control how resource usage is reported, billed, and paid for, making it easy to have different subscriptions and plans by office, department, or project.

An Azure account is a user identity, one or more Azure subscriptions, and an associated set of Azure resources. The person who creates the account is the Account Administrator for all subscriptions created in that account.

The Account Administrator is also the default Service Administrator for the subscription. This means they have full control over the subscription and all the resources within it.

You can have multiple subscriptions within an Azure account, each with its own billing and payment setup. This is useful for organizing access to Azure resources and controlling how resource usage is reported, billed, and paid for.

Each subscription is associated with a Microsoft Entra directory, which can be found by opening Subscriptions in the Azure portal and selecting a subscription.

To establish a billing relationship, you need to create an Azure account. This account is used to manage multiple subscriptions and associated Azure resources.

Here are the different levels of management scope in Azure:

Understanding the different levels of management scope is crucial for applying management settings and policies to your Azure resources.

Classic subscription administrators have full access to the Azure subscription. They can manage resources using the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager APIs, and the classic deployment model APIs.

The three classic subscription administrator roles are Account Administrator, Service Administrator, and Co-Administrator. The account that is used to sign up for Azure is automatically set as both the Account Administrator and Service Administrator.

The Service Administrator has the equivalent access of a user who is assigned the Owner role at the subscription scope. They also have full access to the Azure portal.

Co-Administrators can be added to a subscription, and they have the equivalent access of a user who is assigned the Owner role at the subscription scope.

Here is a summary of the classic subscription administrator roles: