Configure customer-managed keys in the same tenant for an existing storage account
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Azure Storage encrypts all data in a storage account at rest. By default, data is encrypted with Microsoft-managed keys. For more control over encryption keys, you can manage your own keys. Customer-managed keys must be stored in Azure Key Vault or Key Vault Managed Hardware Security Model (HSM).
This article shows how to configure encryption with customer-managed keys for an existing storage account when the storage account and key vault are in the same tenant. The customer-managed keys are stored in a key vault.
Azure Key Vault and Azure Key Vault Managed HSM support the same APIs and management interfaces for configuration of customer-managed keys. Any action that is supported for Azure Key Vault is also supported for Azure Key Vault Managed HSM.
Configure the key vault
You can use a new or existing key vault to store customer-managed keys. The storage account and key vault may be in different regions or subscriptions in the same tenant. To learn more about Azure Key Vault, see Azure Key Vault Overview and What is Azure Key Vault?.
Using customer-managed keys with Azure Storage encryption requires that both soft delete and purge protection be enabled for the key vault. Soft delete is enabled by default when you create a new key vault and cannot be disabled. You can enable purge protection either when you create the key vault or after it is created.
To learn how to create a key vault with the Azure portal, see Quickstart: Create a key vault using the Azure portal. When you create the key vault, select Enable purge protection, as shown in the following image.
To enable purge protection on an existing key vault, follow these steps:
Navigate to your key vault in the Azure portal.
Under Settings, choose Properties.
In the Purge protection section, choose Enable purge protection.
To create a new key vault with PowerShell, install version 2.0.0 or later of the Az.KeyVault PowerShell module. Then call New-AzKeyVault to create a new key vault. With version 2.0.0 and later of the Az.KeyVault module, soft delete is enabled by default when you create a new key vault.
The following example creates a new key vault with soft delete and purge protection enabled. The key vault's permission model is set to use Azure RBAC. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values.
After you have created the key vault, you'll need to assign the Key Vault Crypto Officer role to yourself. This role enables you to create a key in the key vault. The following example assigns this role to a user, scoped to the key vault:
To create a new key vault using Azure CLI, call az keyvault create. The following example creates a new key vault with soft delete and purge protection enabled. The key vault's permission model is set to use Azure RBAC. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values.
After you have created the key vault, you'll need to assign the Key Vault Crypto Officer role to yourself. This role enables you to create a key in the key vault. The following example assigns this role to a user, scoped to the key vault:
kvResourceId=$(az keyvault show --resource-group $rgName \
--name $kvName \
--query id \
--output tsv)
az role assignment create --assignee "<user-email>" \
--role "Key Vault Crypto Officer" \
--scope $kvResourceId
To add a key with PowerShell, call Add-AzKeyVaultKey. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples.
Choose a managed identity to authorize access to the key vault
When you enable customer-managed keys for an existing storage account, you must specify a managed identity to be used to authorize access to the key vault that contains the key. The managed identity must have permissions to access the key in the key vault.
The managed identity that authorizes access to the key vault can be either a user-assigned or system-assigned managed identity. To learn more about system-assigned versus user-assigned managed identities, see Managed identity types.
Use a user-assigned managed identity to authorize access
When you enable customer-managed keys for a new storage account, you must specify a user-assigned managed identity. An existing storage account supports using either a user-assigned managed identity or a system-assigned managed identity to configure customer-managed keys.
When you configure customer-managed keys with a user-assigned managed identity, the user-assigned managed identity is used to authorize access to the key vault that contains the key. You must create the user-assigned identity before you configure customer-managed keys.
A user-assigned managed identity is a standalone Azure resource. To learn more about user-assigned managed identities, see Managed identity types. To learn how to create and manage a user-assigned managed identity, see Manage user-assigned managed identities.
The user-assigned managed identity must have permissions to access the key in the key vault. Assign the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role to the user-assigned managed identity with key vault scope to grant these permissions.
Before you can configure customer-managed keys with a user-assigned managed identity, you must assign the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role to the user-assigned managed identity, scoped to the key vault. This role grants the user-assigned managed identity permissions to access the key in the key vault. For more information on assigning Azure RBAC roles with the Azure portal, see Assign Azure roles using the Azure portal.
When you configure customer-managed keys with the Azure portal, you can select an existing user-assigned identity through the portal user interface.
The following example shows how to retrieve the user-assigned managed identity and assign to it the required RBAC role, scoped to the key vault. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples:
The following example shows how to retrieve the user-assigned managed identity and assign to it the required RBAC role, scoped to the key vault. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples:
identityResourceId=$(az identity show --name <user-assigned-identity> \
--resource-group $rgName \
--query id \
--output tsv)
principalId=$(az identity show --name <user-assigned-identity> \
--resource-group $rgName \
--query principalId \
--output tsv)
az role assignment create --assignee-object-id $principalId \
--role "Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User" \
--scope $kvResourceId \
--assignee-principal-type ServicePrincipal
Use a system-assigned managed identity to authorize access
A system-assigned managed identity is associated with an instance of an Azure service, in this case an Azure Storage account. You must explicitly assign a system-assigned managed identity to a storage account before you can use the system-assigned managed identity to authorize access to the key vault that contains your customer-managed key.
Only existing storage accounts can use a system-assigned identity to authorize access to the key vault. New storage accounts must use a user-assigned identity, if customer-managed keys are configured on account creation.
The system-assigned managed identity must have permissions to access the key in the key vault. Assign the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role to the system-assigned managed identity with key vault scope to grant these permissions.
Before you can configure customer-managed keys with a system-assigned managed identity, you must assign the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role to the system-assigned managed identity, scoped to the key vault. This role grants the system-assigned managed identity permissions to access the key in the key vault. For more information on assigning Azure RBAC roles with the Azure portal, see Assign Azure roles using the Azure portal.
When you configure customer-managed keys with the Azure portal with a system-assigned managed identity, the system-assigned managed identity is assigned to the storage account for you under the covers.
To assign a system-assigned managed identity to your storage account, first call Set-AzStorageAccount:
Next, assign to the system-assigned managed identity the required RBAC role, scoped to the key vault. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples:
To authenticate access to the key vault with a system-assigned managed identity, first assign the system-assigned managed identity to the storage account by calling az storage account update:
Next, assign to the system-assigned managed identity the required RBAC role, scoped to the key vault. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples:
principalId=$(az storage account show --name $accountName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--query identity.principalId \
--output tsv)
az role assignment create --assignee-object-id $principalId \
--role "Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User" \
--scope $kvResourceId
Configure customer-managed keys for an existing account
When you configure encryption with customer-managed keys for an existing storage account, you can choose to automatically update the key version used for Azure Storage encryption whenever a new version is available in the associated key vault. Alternately, you can explicitly specify a key version to be used for encryption until the key version is manually updated.
When the key version is changed, whether automatically or manually, the protection of the root encryption key changes, but the data in your Azure Storage account remains encrypted at all times. There's no further action required on your part to ensure that your data is protected. Rotating the key version doesn't impact performance. There's no downtime associated with rotating the key version.
You can use either a system-assigned or user-assigned managed identity to authorize access to the key vault when you configure customer-managed keys for an existing storage account.
Note
To rotate a key, create a new version of the key in Azure Key Vault. Azure Storage does not handle key rotation, so you will need to manage rotation of the key in the key vault. You can configure key auto-rotation in Azure Key Vault or rotate your key manually.
Configure encryption for automatic updating of key versions
Azure Storage can automatically update the customer-managed key that is used for encryption to use the latest key version from the key vault. Azure Storage checks the key vault daily for a new version of the key. When a new version becomes available, then Azure Storage automatically begins using the latest version of the key for encryption.
Important
Azure Storage checks the key vault for a new key version only once daily. When you rotate a key, be sure to wait 24 hours before disabling the older version.
To configure customer-managed keys for an existing account with automatic updating of the key version in the Azure portal, follow the steps below:
Navigate to your storage account.
Under Security + networking, select Encryption. By default, key management is set to Microsoft-Managed Keys as shown in the image below:
Select the Customer-Managed Keys option. If the account was previously configured for Customer-Managed Keys with manual updating of the key version, select Change key near the bottom of the page.
Choose the Select from Key Vault option.
Select Select a key vault and key.
Select the key vault containing the key you want to use. You can also create a new key vault.
Select the key from the key vault. You can also create a new key.
Select the type of identity to use to authenticate access to the key vault. The options include System-assigned (the default) or User-assigned. To learn more about each type of managed identity, see Managed identity types.
If you select System-assigned, the system-assigned managed identity for the storage account is created under the covers, if it doesn't already exist.
If you select User-assigned, then you must select an existing user-assigned identity that has permissions to access the key vault. To learn how to create a user-assigned identity, see Manage user-assigned managed identities.
Save your changes.
After you specify the key, the Azure portal indicates that automatic updating of the key version is enabled and displays the key version currently in use for encryption. The portal also displays the type of managed identity used to authorize access to the key vault and the principal ID for the managed identity.
To configure customer-managed keys for an existing account with automatic updating of the key version with PowerShell, install the Az.Storage module, version 2.0.0 or later.
Next, call Set-AzStorageAccount to update the storage account's encryption settings. Include the KeyvaultEncryption parameter to enable customer-managed keys for the storage account, and set KeyVersion to an empty string to enable automatic updating of the key version. If the storage account was previously configured for customer-managed keys with a specific key version, then setting the key version to an empty string enables automatic updating of the key version going forward.
$accountName = "<storage-account>"
# Use this form of the command with a user-assigned managed identity.
Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
-AccountName $accountName `
-IdentityType SystemAssignedUserAssigned `
-UserAssignedIdentityId $userIdentity.Id `
-KeyvaultEncryption `
-KeyVaultUri $keyVault.VaultUri `
-KeyName $key.Name `
-KeyVersion "" `
-KeyVaultUserAssignedIdentityId $userIdentity.Id
# Use this form of the command with a system-assigned managed identity.
Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
-AccountName $accountName `
-KeyvaultEncryption `
-KeyName $key.Name `
-KeyVersion "" `
-KeyVaultUri $keyVault.VaultUri
To configure customer-managed keys for an existing account with automatic updating of the key version with Azure CLI, install Azure CLI version 2.4.0 or later. For more information, see Install the Azure CLI.
Next, call az storage account update to update the storage account's encryption settings. Include the --encryption-key-source parameter and set it to Microsoft.Keyvault to enable customer-managed keys for the account, and set encryption-key-version to an empty string to enable automatic updating of the key version. If the storage account was previously configured for customer-managed keys with a specific key version, then setting the key version to an empty string enables automatic updating of the key version going forward.
accountName="<storage-account>"
keyVaultUri=$(az keyvault show \
--name $kvName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--query properties.vaultUri \
--output tsv)
# Use this form of the command with a user-assigned managed identity.
az storage account update \
--name $accountName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--identity-type SystemAssigned,UserAssigned \
--user-identity-id $identityResourceId \
--encryption-key-name $keyName \
--encryption-key-version "" \
--encryption-key-source Microsoft.Keyvault \
--encryption-key-vault $keyVaultUri \
--key-vault-user-identity-id $identityResourceId
# Use this form of the command with a system-assigned managed identity.
az storage account update \
--name $accountName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--encryption-key-name $keyName \
--encryption-key-version "" \
--encryption-key-source Microsoft.Keyvault \
--encryption-key-vault $keyVaultUri
Configure encryption for manual updating of key versions
If you prefer to manually update the key version, then explicitly specify the version at the time that you configure encryption with customer-managed keys. In this case, Azure Storage won't automatically update the key version when a new version is created in the key vault. To use a new key version, you must manually update the version used for Azure Storage encryption.
To configure customer-managed keys with manual updating of the key version in the Azure portal, specify the key URI, including the version. To specify a key as a URI, follow these steps:
To locate the key URI in the Azure portal, navigate to your key vault, and select the Keys setting. Select the desired key, then select the key to view its versions. Select a key version to view the settings for that version.
Copy the value of the Key Identifier field, which provides the URI.
In the Encryption key settings for your storage account, choose the Enter key URI option.
Paste the URI that you copied into the Key URI field. Omit the key version from the URI to enable automatic updating of the key version.
Specify the subscription that contains the key vault.
Specify either a system-assigned or user-assigned managed identity.
Save your changes.
To configure customer-managed keys with manual updating of the key version, explicitly provide the key version when you configure encryption for the storage account. Call Set-AzStorageAccount to update the storage account's encryption settings, as shown in the following example, and include the -KeyvaultEncryption option to enable customer-managed keys for the storage account.
Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples.
$accountName = "<storage-account>"
# Use this form of the command with a user-assigned managed identity.
Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
-AccountName $accountName `
-IdentityType SystemAssignedUserAssigned `
-UserAssignedIdentityId $userIdentity.Id `
-KeyvaultEncryption `
-KeyVaultUri $keyVault.VaultUri `
-KeyName $key.Name `
-KeyVersion $key.Version `
-KeyVaultUserAssignedIdentityId $userIdentity.Id
# Use this form of the command with a system-assigned managed identity.
Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
-AccountName $accountName `
-KeyvaultEncryption `
-KeyVaultUri $keyVault.VaultUri `
-KeyName $key.Name `
-KeyVersion $key.Version
When you manually update the key version, you then need to update the storage account's encryption settings to use the new version. First, call Get-AzKeyVaultKey to get the latest version of the key. Then call Set-AzStorageAccount to update the storage account's encryption settings to use the new version of the key, as shown in the previous example.
To configure customer-managed keys with manual updating of the key version, explicitly provide the key version when you configure encryption for the storage account. Call az storage account update to update the storage account's encryption settings, as shown in the following example. Include the --encryption-key-source parameter and set it to Microsoft.Keyvault to enable customer-managed keys for the account.
Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values.
accountName="<storage-account>"
keyVaultUri=$(az keyvault show \
--name $kvName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--query properties.vaultUri \
--output tsv)
keyVersion=$(az keyvault key list-versions \
--name $keyName \
--vault-name $kvName \
--query [-1].kid \
--output tsv | cut -d '/' -f 6)
# Use this form of the command with a user-assigned managed identity
az storage account update \
--name $accountName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--identity-type SystemAssigned,UserAssigned \
--user-identity-id $identityResourceId \
--encryption-key-name $keyName \
--encryption-key-version $keyVersion \
--encryption-key-source Microsoft.Keyvault \
--encryption-key-vault $keyVaultUri \
--key-vault-user-identity-id $identityResourceId
# Use this form of the command with a system-assigned managed identity
az storage account update \
--name $accountName \
--resource-group $rgName \
--encryption-key-name $keyName \
--encryption-key-version $keyVersion \
--encryption-key-source Microsoft.Keyvault \
--encryption-key-vault $keyVaultUri
When you manually update the key version, you then need to update the storage account's encryption settings to use the new version. First, query for the key vault URI by calling az keyvault show, and for the key version by calling az keyvault key list-versions. Then call az storage account update to update the storage account's encryption settings to use the new version of the key, as shown in the previous example.
Change the key
You can change the key that you are using for Azure Storage encryption at any time.
Note
When you change the key or key version, the protection of the root encryption key changes, but the data in your Azure Storage account remains encrypted at all times. There is no additional action required on your part to ensure that your data is protected. Changing the key or rotating the key version doesn't impact performance. There is no downtime associated with changing the key or rotating the key version.
To change the key with the Azure portal, follow these steps:
Navigate to your storage account and display the Encryption settings.
Select the key vault and choose a new key.
Save your changes.
To change the key with PowerShell, call Set-AzStorageAccount and provide the new key name and version. If the new key is in a different key vault, then you must also update the key vault URI.
To change the key with Azure CLI, call az storage account update and provide the new key name and version. If the new key is in a different key vault, then you must also update the key vault URI.
Revoke access to a storage account that uses customer-managed keys
To temporarily revoke access to a storage account that is using customer-managed keys, disable the key currently being used in the key vault. There is no performance impact or downtime associated with disabling and reenabling the key.
When you disable the key in the key vault, the data in your Azure Storage account remains encrypted, but it becomes inaccessible until you reenable the key.
To disable a customer-managed key with the Azure portal, follow these steps:
Navigate to the key vault that contains the key.
Under Objects, select Keys.
Right-click the key and select Disable.
To revoke a customer-managed key with PowerShell, call the Update-AzKeyVaultKey command, as shown in the following example. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values to define the variables, or use the variables defined in the previous examples.
$kvName = "<key-vault-name>"
$keyName = "<key-name>"
$enabled = $false
# $false to disable the key / $true to enable it
# Check the current state of the key (before and after enabling/disabling it)
Get-AzKeyVaultKey -Name $keyName -VaultName $kvName
# Disable (or enable) the key
Update-AzKeyVaultKey -VaultName $kvName -Name $keyName -Enable $enabled
To revoke a customer-managed key with Azure CLI, call the az keyvault key set-attributes command, as shown in the following example. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values to define the variables, or use the variables defined in the previous examples.
kvName="<key-vault-name>"
keyName="<key-name>"
enabled="false"
# "false" to disable the key / "true" to enable it:
# Check the current state of the key (before and after enabling/disabling it)
az keyvault key show \
--vault-name $kvName \
--name $keyName
# Disable (or enable) the key
az keyvault key set-attributes \
--vault-name $kvName \
--name $keyName \
--enabled $enabled
Switch back to Microsoft-managed keys
You can switch from customer-managed keys back to Microsoft-managed keys at any time, using the Azure portal, PowerShell, or the Azure CLI.
To switch from customer-managed keys back to Microsoft-managed keys in the Azure portal, follow these steps:
Navigate to your storage account.
Under Security + networking, select Encryption.
Change Encryption type to Microsoft-managed keys.
To switch from customer-managed keys back to Microsoft-managed keys with PowerShell, call Set-AzStorageAccount with the -StorageEncryption option, as shown in the following example. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples.
To switch from customer-managed keys back to Microsoft-managed keys with Azure CLI, call az storage account update and set the --encryption-key-source parameter to Microsoft.Storage, as shown in the following example. Remember to replace the placeholder values in brackets with your own values and to use the variables defined in the previous examples.
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