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Home/Questions/Cloud/Tools/Explain the difference between Service Principal and Managed Identity in Azure.

Explain the difference between Service Principal and Managed Identity in Azure.

Cloud/Toolseasy0.3 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
179
questions in Cloud/Tools
Difficulty Split
104E|27M|48H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Chubb
Expert AnswerPremium
53 wordsInterview-ready
Architectural difference: Service Principal = app identity; client ID, tenant, secret/certificate; for automation, CI/CD, third-party. Managed Identity = Azure-managed; no secrets; tied to resource (VM, ADF, Function). System-assigned vs user-assigned. When: Managed Identity for Azure resources—simpler, no secret rotation. Service Principal for external, non-Azure, Terraform....
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