What is a Role?

Role (role definition) is a collection of actions that the assigned identity will be able to perform.

Role definition is an answer to a question “What can be done?”

What is a Security Principal?

Security Principal is an Azure object (identity) that can be assigned to a role (ex. users, groups or applications).

Security Principal assignment is an answer to a question “Who can do it?”

What is a Scope?

Scope is one or more Azure resources that the access applies to.

Scope assignment is an answer to a question “Where can it be done?”

What is a Role Assignment?

Role assignment is a combination of the role definition, security principal and scope.

Azure Role-based Access Control (RBAC)

  • Authorization system built on Azure Resource Manager (ARM)
  • Designed for fine-grained access management of Azure Resources
  • Role assignment is combination of
    • Role definition – list of permissions like create VM, delete SQL, assign permissions, etc.
    • Security Principal – user, group, service principal and managed identity and
    • Scope – resource, resource groups, subscription, management group
  • Hierarchical
    • Management Groups > Subscriptions > Resource Groups > Resources
  • Built-in and Custom roles are supported
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Adam Marczak

I've spent most of my career working with software and cloud technologies, but at heart I'm simply someone who loves learning new things and sharing what I discover. Through this blog and my Azure 4 Everyone YouTube channel, I try to make Azure and cloud computing more approachable for developers, architects, and anyone curious about technology.

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