Managed identities concept in Azure - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to assign a system-assigned managed identity to an Azure VM.

Azure

az vm create --name myVM --resource-group myResourceGroup --image UbuntuLTS --assign-identity [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Afalse

Bnone

Ctrue

Dauto

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'false' disables the identity, so no managed identity is assigned.

Using 'none' or 'auto' are invalid values for this flag.

Setting --assign-identity true enables a system-assigned managed identity for the VM.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to assign a user-assigned managed identity to an Azure VM.

Azure

az vm identity assign --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --identities [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A/subscriptions/xxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/myIdentity

Btrue

Csystem

Dauto

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'true' or 'auto' instead of the resource ID.

Using 'system' which is not a valid identity identifier.

For user-assigned managed identities, you specify the full resource ID of the identity.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to retrieve an access token for a managed identity in Azure CLI.

Azure

az account get-access-token --resource [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Ahttps://management.azure.com/

Bhttps://graph.microsoft.com/

Chttps://identity.azure.net/

Dhttps://azure.com/

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using Microsoft Graph URI when requesting tokens for Azure management.

Using invalid or incomplete URIs.

The correct resource URI for Azure management API is https://management.azure.com/.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a user-assigned managed identity and assign it to a VM.

Azure

az identity create --name [1] --resource-group myResourceGroup
az vm identity assign --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --identities [2]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AmyUserIdentity

B/subscriptions/xxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/myUserIdentity

CmyVMIdentity

D/subscriptions/xxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/myVMIdentity

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using different names for creation and assignment.

Using the VM name instead of the identity name.

You first create the identity with a name, then assign it using its full resource ID.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to assign a system-assigned identity, grant it Reader role on a storage account, and retrieve its principal ID.

Azure

az vm identity assign --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --identities [1]
az role assignment create --assignee [2] --role Reader --scope /subscriptions/xxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/myStorageAccount
az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --query identity.principalId -o tsv

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Atrue

B"$(az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --query identity.principalId -o tsv)"

Dfalse

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'false' disables the identity.

Not using the principalId for role assignment.

Using inconsistent commands for principalId retrieval.

Enable system-assigned identity with 'true', then use the principalId from the VM to assign role and retrieve it.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of managed identities in Azure?

easy

A. Allow resources to access other services securely without passwords

B. Store user passwords for Azure services

C. Create virtual machines automatically

D. Manage network traffic between resources

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand managed identities purpose

   Managed identities provide a way for Azure resources to authenticate to other services without needing passwords.

2. Step 2: Compare options

   Only Allow resources to access other services securely without passwords correctly describes this purpose. The other options describe unrelated functions.

3. Final Answer:

   Allow resources to access other services securely without passwords -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Managed identities = secure access without passwords [OK]

Hint: Managed identities remove password use for resource access [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking managed identities store passwords
• Confusing managed identities with VM creation
• Assuming managed identities manage network traffic

2. Which syntax correctly enables a system-assigned managed identity in an Azure resource configuration?

easy

A. "managedIdentity": "system"

B. "identity": { "enabled": true }

C. "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" }

D. "identity": "system-assigned"

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall correct identity block syntax

   Azure resource config uses an "identity" block with a "type" property set to "SystemAssigned" to enable system-assigned managed identity.

2. Step 2: Validate options

   "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" } matches the correct JSON syntax. The other options do not follow Azure's expected configuration format.

3. Final Answer:

   "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" } -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Correct identity block syntax = "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" } [OK]

Hint: Use "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" } to enable system identity [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using incorrect property names like "enabled"
• Omitting the "type" key
• Using wrong string values like "system" or "system-assigned"

3. Given this Azure resource configuration snippet:

{
  "identity": { "type": "UserAssigned", "userAssignedIdentities": { "/subscriptions/123/resourceGroups/rg/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/identity1": {} } }
}

What does this configuration do?

medium

A. Enables a system-assigned managed identity for the resource

B. Assigns a user-assigned managed identity named 'identity1' to the resource

C. Disables all managed identities for the resource

D. Creates a new user-assigned identity named 'identity1'

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the identity type

   The "type" is "UserAssigned", meaning the resource uses an existing user-assigned identity.

2. Step 2: Check the userAssignedIdentities property

   The resource assigns the existing identity at the given resource ID path, named 'identity1'. It does not create a new identity.

3. Final Answer:

   Assigns a user-assigned managed identity named 'identity1' to the resource -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   UserAssigned with identity path = Assigns a user-assigned managed identity named 'identity1' to the resource [OK]

Hint: UserAssigned type with identity path means assign existing identity [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing system-assigned with user-assigned identity
• Thinking the identity is created, not assigned
• Ignoring the userAssignedIdentities property

4. You wrote this Azure resource config to enable a system-assigned managed identity:

{
  "identity": { "type": "systemassigned" }
}

Why does this configuration fail to enable the identity?

medium

A. The resource group name is missing

B. The identity block is missing the "enabled" property

C. User-assigned identities require a different syntax

D. The type value is case-sensitive and must be "SystemAssigned"

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the type value case

   Azure expects "SystemAssigned" with capital S and A. "systemassigned" is invalid due to case sensitivity.

2. Step 2: Validate other options

   Stating that the identity block is missing the "enabled" property is incorrect because "enabled" is not required. User-assigned identities require a different syntax, but this config is for system-assigned. The resource group name is unrelated to this error.

3. Final Answer:

   The type value is case-sensitive and must be "SystemAssigned" -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Case-sensitive type value = The type value is case-sensitive and must be "SystemAssigned" [OK]

Hint: Check capitalization of "SystemAssigned" exactly [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring case sensitivity in type value
• Adding unnecessary properties like "enabled"
• Confusing system-assigned with user-assigned syntax

5. You want two Azure virtual machines to share the same managed identity to access a database securely. Which approach should you use?

hard

A. Create a user-assigned managed identity and assign it to both VMs

B. Assign a system-assigned managed identity to each VM separately

C. Use a shared password stored in Azure Key Vault

D. Enable managed identity only on one VM and share its credentials manually

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand identity sharing options

   System-assigned identities are unique per resource and cannot be shared.

2. Step 2: Identify user-assigned identity use

   User-assigned managed identities can be created once and assigned to multiple resources, allowing sharing.

3. Step 3: Evaluate other options

   Using shared passwords or manual credential sharing is insecure and against best practices.

4. Final Answer:

   Create a user-assigned managed identity and assign it to both VMs -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   User-assigned identity allows sharing = Create a user-assigned managed identity and assign it to both VMs [OK]

Hint: Use user-assigned identity to share across multiple resources [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to share system-assigned identities
• Using passwords instead of managed identities
• Manually sharing credentials insecurely