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azure-sql-passwordless-migration-python.md

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title Migrate a Python Application to Use Passwordless Connections
description Learn how to migrate a Python application to use passwordless connections with Azure SQL Database.
author WilliamDAssafMSFT
ms.author wiassaf
ms.reviewer dlevy, rotabor, mathoma
ms.date 01/29/2026
ms.service azure-sql-database
ms.subservice security
ms.topic how-to
ms.devlang python
monikerRange =azuresql || =azuresql-db
ms.custom
devx-track-csharp
passwordless-python
devx-track-azurecli
sfi-ropc-nochange

Migrate a Python application to use passwordless connections with Azure SQL Database

[!INCLUDEappliesto-sqldb]

Application requests to Azure SQL Database must be authenticated. Although there are multiple options for authenticating to Azure SQL Database, you should prioritize passwordless connections in your applications when possible. Traditional authentication methods that use passwords or secret keys create security risks and complications. Visit the passwordless connections for Azure services hub to learn more about the advantages of moving to passwordless connections. The following tutorial explains how to migrate an existing Python application to connect to Azure SQL Database to use passwordless connections instead of a username and password solution.

The mssql-python driver provides built-in support for Microsoft Entra authentication, making passwordless connections straightforward with minimal code changes.

Configure the Azure SQL Database

[!INCLUDE configure-the-azure-sql-database]

Configure your local development environment

Passwordless connections can be configured to work for both local and Azure hosted environments. In this section, you apply configurations to allow individual users to authenticate to Azure SQL Database for local development.

Sign-in to Azure

[!INCLUDE default-azure-credential-sign-in]

Create a database user and assign roles

Create a user in Azure SQL Database. The user should correspond to the Azure account you used to sign-in locally in the Sign-in to Azure section.

[!INCLUDE local-create-user-roles]

Update the local connection configuration

Migrating to passwordless connections with mssql-python requires only a connection string change. The driver has built-in support for Microsoft Entra authentication modes, eliminating the need for manual token handling.

from os import getenv
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from mssql_python import connect

load_dotenv()

connection_string = getenv("AZURE_SQL_CONNECTIONSTRING")

def get_all():
    with connect(connection_string) as conn:
        cursor = conn.cursor()
        cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM Persons")
        # Do something with the data
    return

To update the referenced connection string (AZURE_SQL_CONNECTIONSTRING) for local development, create a .env file in your project folder with the passwordless connection string format using ActiveDirectoryDefault authentication:

AZURE_SQL_CONNECTIONSTRING=Server=tcp:<database-server-name>.database.windows.net,1433;Database=<database-name>;Encrypt=yes;TrustServerCertificate=no;Connection Timeout=30;Authentication=ActiveDirectoryDefault

ActiveDirectoryDefault automatically discovers credentials from multiple sources (Azure CLI, environment variables, Visual Studio, etc.) without requiring interactive login. This approach is convenient for development but adds latency because it tries each credential source in sequence.

Important

ActiveDirectoryDefault is intended for local development only. It tries multiple authentication methods in sequence, which adds latency and can cause unexpected behavior in production. For production applications, use the specific authentication method for your scenario:

  • Azure App Service/Functions: Use ActiveDirectoryMSI (managed identity)
  • Interactive user login: Use ActiveDirectoryInteractive
  • Service principal: Use ActiveDirectoryServicePrincipal

Test the app

Run your app locally and verify that the connections to Azure SQL Database are working as expected. Keep in mind that it can take several minutes for changes to Azure users and roles to propagate through your Azure environment. Your application is now configured to run locally without developers having to manage secrets in the application itself.

Configure the Azure hosting environment

Once your app is configured to use passwordless connections locally, the same code can authenticate to Azure SQL Database after it's deployed to Azure. The sections that follow explain how to configure a deployed application to connect to Azure SQL Database using a managed identity. Managed identities provide an automatically managed identity in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) for applications to use when connecting to resources that support Microsoft Entra authentication. Learn more about managed identities:

Create the managed identity

[!INCLUDE create-the-managed-identity]

Associate the managed identity with your web app

Configure your web app to use the user-assigned managed identity you created.

Azure portal

Complete the following steps in the Azure portal to associate the user-assigned managed identity with your app. These same steps apply to the following Azure services:

  • Azure Spring Apps
  • Azure Container Apps
  • Azure virtual machines
  • Azure Kubernetes Service

  1. Navigate to the overview page of your web app.

  2. Select Identity from the left navigation.

  3. On the Identity page, switch to the User assigned tab.

  4. Select + Add to open the Add user assigned managed identity flyout.

  5. Select the subscription you used previously to create the identity.

  6. Search for the MigrationIdentity by name and select it from the search results.

  7. Select Add to associate the identity with your app.

    :::image type="content" source="media/azure-sql-passwordless-migration-python/assign-managed-identity-small.png" lightbox="media/azure-sql-passwordless-migration-python/assign-managed-identity.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing how to assign a managed identity.":::

Azure CLI

[!INCLUDE associate-managed-identity-cli]

Create a database user for the identity and assign roles

[!INCLUDE create-database-user-for-identity]

Update the connection string

Update your Azure app configuration to use the passwordless connection string format with ActiveDirectoryMSI authentication for managed identity.

Connection strings can be stored as environment variables in your app hosting environment. The following instructions focus on App Service, but other Azure hosting services provide similar configurations.

Server=tcp:<database-server-name>.database.windows.net,1433;Database=<database-name>;Encrypt=yes;TrustServerCertificate=no;Connection Timeout=30;Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMSI

<database-server-name> is the name of your Azure SQL Database server and <database-name> is the name of your Azure SQL Database.

Create an app setting for the managed identity client ID

To use the user-assigned managed identity, create an AZURE_CLIENT_ID environment variable and set it equal to the client ID of the managed identity. You can set this variable in the Configuration section of your app in the Azure portal. You can find the client ID in the Overview section of the managed identity resource in the Azure portal.

Save your changes and restart the application if it doesn't do so automatically.

Note

When using a user-assigned managed identity, include the client ID in the connection string using the User Id parameter:

Server=tcp:<database-server-name>.database.windows.net,1433;Database=<database-name>;Encrypt=yes;TrustServerCertificate=no;Connection Timeout=30;Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMSI;User Id=<managed-identity-client-id>

If you omit the User Id parameter, the driver uses the system-assigned managed identity if one is configured.

Test the application

Test your app to make sure everything is still working. It can take a few minutes for all of the changes to propagate through your Azure environment.

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