Category: Powershell

Reference

prerequisites:

Setup Azure Key Vault

NuGet packages

Install-Package Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory 
Install-Package Microsoft.Azure.KeyVault

web.config

<!-- ClientId and ClientSecret refer to the web application registration with Azure Active Directory -->
<add key="ClientId" value="clientid" />
<add key="ClientSecret" value="clientsecret" />

<!-- SecretUri is the URI for the secret in Azure Key Vault -->
<add key="SecretUri" value="secreturi" />
<!-- If you aren't hosting your app as an Azure Web App, then you should use the actual ClientId, Client Secret, and Secret URI values -->

Utility code

//add these using statements
using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Configuration;

//this is an optional property to hold the secret after it is retrieved
public static string EncryptSecret { get; set; }

//the method that will be provided to the KeyVaultClient
public static async Task<string> GetToken(string authority, string resource, string scope)
{
    var authContext = new AuthenticationContext(authority);
    ClientCredential clientCred = new ClientCredential(WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ClientId"],
                WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ClientSecret"]);
    AuthenticationResult result = await authContext.AcquireTokenAsync(resource, clientCred);

    if (result == null)
        throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to obtain the JWT token");

    return result.AccessToken;
}
// Using Client ID and Client Secret is a way to authenticate an Azure AD application.
// Using it in your web application allows for a separation of duties and more control over your key management. 
// However, it does rely on putting the Client Secret in your configuration settings.
// For some people, this can be as risky as putting the secret in your configuration settings.

Retrieve the secret on Application Start

//add these using statements
using Microsoft.Azure.KeyVault;
using System.Web.Configuration;

// I put my GetToken method in a Utils class. Change for wherever you placed your method.
var kv = new KeyVaultClient(new KeyVaultClient.AuthenticationCallback(Utils.GetToken));
var sec = await kv.GetSecretAsync(WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings["SecretUri"]);

//I put a variable in a Utils class to hold the secret for general application use.
Utils.EncryptSecret = sec.Value;