Deploy Service Fabric application with system-assigned managed identity

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Note

Enabling identity for an existing app which was initially deployed using Azure cmdlets is not supported.

In order to access the managed identity feature for Azure Service Fabric applications, you must first enable the Managed Identity Token Service on the cluster. This service is responsible for the authentication of Service Fabric applications using their managed identities, and for obtaining access tokens on their behalf. Once the service is enabled, you can see it in Service Fabric Explorer under the System section in the left pane, running under the name fabric:/System/ManagedIdentityTokenService next to other system services.

Note

Deployment of Service Fabric applications with managed identities are supported starting with API version "2019-06-01-preview". You can also use the same API version for application type, application type version and service resources. The minimum supported Service Fabric runtime is 6.5 CU2. In addition, the build / package environment should also have the Service Fabric .NET SDK at CU2 or higher

System-assigned managed identity

Application template

To enable application with a system-assigned managed identity, add the identity property to the application resource, with type systemAssigned as shown in the example below:

    {
      "apiVersion": "2019-06-01-preview",
      "type": "Microsoft.ServiceFabric/clusters/applications",
      "name": "[concat(parameters('clusterName'), '/', parameters('applicationName'))]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[concat('Microsoft.ServiceFabric/clusters/', parameters('clusterName'), '/applicationTypes/', parameters('applicationTypeName'), '/versions/', parameters('applicationTypeVersion'))]"
      ],
      "identity": {
        "type" : "systemAssigned"
      },
      "properties": {
        "typeName": "[parameters('applicationTypeName')]",
        "typeVersion": "[parameters('applicationTypeVersion')]",
        "parameters": {
        }
      }
    }

This property declares (to Azure Resource Manager, and the Managed Identity and Service Fabric Resource Providers, respectively, that this resource shall have an implicit (system assigned) managed identity.

Application and service package

  1. Update the application manifest to add a ManagedIdentity element in the Principals section, containing a single entry as shown below:

    ApplicationManifest.xml

    <Principals>
  <ManagedIdentities>
    <ManagedIdentity Name="SystemAssigned" />
  </ManagedIdentities>
</Principals>

    This maps the identity assigned to the application as a resource to a friendly name, for further assignment to the services comprising the application.

  2. In the ServiceManifestImport section corresponding to the service that is being assigned the managed identity, add an IdentityBindingPolicy element, as indicated below:

    ApplicationManifest.xml

      <ServiceManifestImport>
    <Policies>
      <IdentityBindingPolicy ServiceIdentityRef="WebAdmin" ApplicationIdentityRef="SystemAssigned" />
    </Policies>
  </ServiceManifestImport>

    This element assigns the identity of the application to the service; without this assignment, the service will not be able to access the identity of the application. In the snippet above, the SystemAssigned identity (which is a reserved keyword) is mapped to the service's definition under the friendly name WebAdmin.

  3. Update the service manifest to add a ManagedIdentity element inside the Resources section with the name matching the value of the ServiceIdentityRef setting from the IdentityBindingPolicy definition in the application manifest:

    ServiceManifest.xml

      <Resources>
    ...
    <ManagedIdentities DefaultIdentity="WebAdmin">
      <ManagedIdentity Name="WebAdmin" />
    </ManagedIdentities>
  </Resources>

    This is the equivalent mapping of an identity to a service as described above, but from the perspective of the service definition. The identity is referenced here by its friendly name (WebAdmin), as declared in the application manifest.

Next Steps