# Token Authentication sample for Azure Active Directory
### Contents
[About this sample](#about-this-sample)
[Run this sample](#run-this-sample)
[Sample details](#sample-details)
## About this sample
The Token project contains a simple console application that connects to Azure SQL Database using a self-signed certificate.
**Software prerequisites:**
1. The `makecert.exe` utility, which is included in the Windows SDK
+ It is sometimes included in Visual Studio installations (depending on the selections made during installation). A search of your machine for `makecert.exe` would provide verification that the Windows SDK was installed.
+ If the Windows SDK was not installed, you may [download it here](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/downloads)
+ You can learn more about the `makecert.exe` [utility here](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/desktop/aa386968.aspx)
2. PowerShell with Azure Active Directory Module
+ To download the latest PowerShell version [see this page](https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/azure/install-azure-powershell)
+ [Install the Microsoft Entra ID PowerShell Module](https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/entra-powershell/installation), if it is not already installed in your client machine.
## Run this sample
1. Create an application account in Microsoft Entra ID for your service.
- Sign in to the Azure management portal.
- Click on Azure Active Directory in the left hand navigation
- Click the directory tenant where you wish to register the sample application. This must be the same directory that is associated with your database (the server hosting your database).
- Click the Applications tab
- In the drawer, click Add.
- Click "Add an application my organization is developing".
- Enter mytokentest as a friendly name for the application, select "Web Application and/or Web API", and click next.
- Assuming this application is a daemon/service and not a web application, it doesn't have a sign-in URL or app ID URI. For these two fields, enter `http://mytokentest`
- While still in the Azure portal, select Configure in your application.
- Find the Client ID value and copy it into a text editor, you will need this later when configuring your application
2. Logon to your Azure SQL Server’s user database as an Microsoft Entra ID admin and using a T-SQL command provision a contained database user for your application principal:
```sql
CREATE USER [mytokentest] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER
```
- [See this link](https://azure.microsoft.com/documentation/articles/sql-database-aad-authentication/) for more details on how to create an Microsoft Entra ID admin and a contained database user.
3. On the machine you are going to run the project on, generate and install a self-signed certificate.
- To complete this step, you will need to use `Makecert.exe`
- Open a command prompt window
- Navigate to a folder where you want to generate a certificate file ( such as the folder where the demo files are) and change the following command for your environment
```
\makecert.exe -r -pe -n "CN=Cert_name" -ss My -len 2048 Cert_name.cer
```
for example, like so:
```
c:/"Program Files (x86)/Windows Kits/8.1/bin/x64"/makecert -r -pe -n "CN=mytokentestCert" -ss My -len 2048 mytokentestCert.cer
```
4. Add the certificate as a key for the application you created in Microsoft Entra ID.
- Click the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell shortcut on desktop to open a Windows PowerShell workspace that has the Microsoft Entra ID cmdlets.
- Copy the following code snippet to a text editor.
- `connect-msolservice` will ask for you Microsoft Entra ID credentials. Please be sure to use credentials that are part of Microsoft Entra ID global admin to connect and to proceed with the scripts below.
```
connect-msolservice
$cer = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate
$cer.Import("\Cert_name.cer")
$binCert = $cer.GetRawCertData()
$credValue = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($binCert);
New-MsolServicePrincipalCredential -AppPrincipalId "" -Type asymmetric -Value $credValue -Usage verify
```
+ Replace with the path to your certificate and Cert_name with your Certificate name that you used in step 3 above.
+ Replace with the client ID you copied in step 1.
+ Copy and paste your snippet into the powershell window and run it.
- The following command will verify that you added the certificate to your application's Active Directory Registration
``` Get-MsolServicePrincipalCredential –ServicePrincipalName "URL"-ReturnKeyValues 0 ```
5. Configure the certificate and your application account in the *app.config* file in the project.
+ In Visual Studio, open *app.config* in the Solution Explorer
- Find the app key `ida:Tenant` and replace the value with your AAD tenant name (your AAD domain)
- Find the app key `ida:ClientID` and replace the value with the Client ID for the application registration from the Azure Portal (the value from step 1).
- Find the app key `ida:Cert_Name` and replace the value with the subject name (CN) of the self-signed certificate you created
- For example:
```csharp
//this is the domain
//this is the Client ID
//this is the Cert_name use by makecert.exe
```
+ In Visual Studio, open *Program.cs* in the Solution Explorer
- Make the following changes:
```csharp
builder["Data Source"] = ".database.windows.net"; // replace with your server name
builder["Initial Catalog"] = "demo"; // replace with your database name
```
6. Run the demo. (Select *Run* or press *F5*)
+ A successful authorization should result in a message that states "Connected to the database" similar to the following:
