Connect Using Microsoft Entra authentication
Microsoft Entra ID is a central user ID management technology that operates as an alternative to SQL Server authentication. Microsoft Entra ID allows connections to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure Synapse Analytics with federated identities in Microsoft Entra ID using a username and password, Windows Integrated Authentication, or a Microsoft Entra access token. The PHP drivers for SQL Server offer partial support for these features.
Before you can use Microsoft Entra authentication, you must Configure and manage Microsoft Entra authentication with Azure SQL.
To use Microsoft Entra ID, use the Authentication or AccessToken keywords (they are mutually exclusive), as shown in the following table. For more technical details, refer to Using Microsoft Entra ID with the ODBC Driver.
| Keyword | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AccessToken | Not set (default) | Authentication mode determined by other keywords. For more information, see Connection Options. |
| A byte string | The Microsoft Entra access token extracted from an OAuth JSON response. The connection string must not contain user ID, password, or the Authentication keyword (requires ODBC Driver version 17 or above in Linux or macOS). |
|
| Authentication | Not set (default) | Authentication mode determined by other keywords. For more information, see Connection Options. |
SqlPassword |
Directly authenticate to a SQL Server instance (which may be an Azure instance) using a username and password. The username and password must be passed into the connection string using the UID and PWD keywords. | |
ActiveDirectoryPassword |
Authenticate with a Microsoft Entra identity using a username and password. The username and password must be passed into the connection string using the UID and PWD keywords. | |
ActiveDirectoryMsi |
Authenticate using either a Microsoft Entra system-assigned user-assigned managed identity (requires ODBC Driver version 17.3.1.1 or above). For an overview and tutorials, refer to What are managed identities for Azure resources?. | |
ActiveDirectoryServicePrincipal |
Authenticate using service principal objects (requires ODBC Driver version 17.7 or above). For more details and examples, refer to Application and service principal objects in Microsoft Entra ID. |
The Authentication keyword affects the connection security settings. If it is set in the connection string, then by default the Encrypt keyword is set to true, which means the client will request encryption. Moreover, the server certificate will be validated irrespective of the encryption setting unless TrustServerCertificate is set to true (false by default). This feature is distinguished from the old, less secure login method, in which the server certificate is validated only when encryption is specifically requested in the connection string.
Limitations
On Windows, the underlying ODBC driver supports one more value for the Authentication keyword, ActiveDirectoryIntegrated, but the PHP drivers do not support this value on any platform.
Example - connect using SqlPassword and ActiveDirectoryPassword
<?php
// First connect to a local SQL Server instance by setting Authentication to SqlPassword
$serverName = "myserver.mydomain";
$connectionInfo = array("UID"=>$myusername, "PWD"=>$mypassword, "Authentication"=>'SqlPassword');
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($serverName, $connectionInfo);
if ($conn === false) {
echo "Could not connect with Authentication=SqlPassword.\n";
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
} else {
echo "Connected successfully with Authentication=SqlPassword.\n";
sqlsrv_close($conn);
}
// Now connect to an Azure SQL database by setting Authentication to ActiveDirectoryPassword
$azureServer = "myazureserver.database.windows.net";
$azureDatabase = "myazuredatabase";
$azureUsername = "myuid";
$azurePassword = "mypassword";
$connectionInfo = array("Database"=>$azureDatabase,
"UID"=>$azureUsername,
"PWD"=>$azurePassword,
"Authentication"=>'ActiveDirectoryPassword');
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($azureServer, $connectionInfo);
if ($conn === false) {
echo "Could not connect with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryPassword.\n";
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
} else {
echo "Connected successfully with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryPassword.\n";
sqlsrv_close($conn);
}
?>
Example - connect using the PDO_SQLSRV driver
<?php
// First connect to a local SQL Server instance by setting Authentication to SqlPassword
$serverName = "myserver.mydomain";
$connectionInfo = "Database = $databaseName; Authentication = SqlPassword;";
try {
$conn = new PDO("sqlsrv:server = $serverName ; $connectionInfo", $myusername, $mypassword);
echo "Connected successfully with Authentication=SqlPassword.\n";
$conn = null;
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo "Could not connect with Authentication=SqlPassword.\n";
print_r($e->getMessage());
echo "\n";
}
// Now connect to an Azure SQL database by setting Authentication to ActiveDirectoryPassword
$azureServer = "myazureserver.database.windows.net";
$azureDatabase = "myazuredatabase";
$azureUsername = "myuid";
$azurePassword = "mypassword";
$connectionInfo = "Database = $azureDatabase; Authentication = ActiveDirectoryPassword;";
try {
$conn = new PDO("sqlsrv:server = $azureServer ; $connectionInfo", $azureUsername, $azurePassword);
echo "Connected successfully with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryPassword.\n";
unset($conn);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo "Could not connect with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryPassword.\n";
print_r($e->getMessage());
echo "\n";
}
?>
Example - connect using Microsoft Entra access token
SQLSRV driver
<?php
// Using an access token to connect: do not use UID or PWD connection options
// Assume $accToken is the valid byte string extracted from an OAuth JSON response
$connectionInfo = array("Database"=>$azureAdDatabase, "AccessToken"=>$accToken);
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($azureAdServer, $connectionInfo);
if ($conn === false) {
echo "Could not connect with Azure AD Access Token.\n";
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
} else {
echo "Connected successfully with Azure AD Access Token.\n";
sqlsrv_close($conn);
}
?>
PDO_SQLSRV driver
<?php
try {
// Using an access token to connect: do not pass in $uid or $pwd
// Assume $accToken is the valid byte string extracted from an OAuth JSON response
$connectionInfo = "Database = $azureAdDatabase; AccessToken = $accToken;";
$conn = new PDO("sqlsrv:server = $azureAdServer; $connectionInfo");
echo "Connected successfully with Azure AD Access Token\n";
unset($conn);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo "Could not connect with Azure AD Access Token.\n";
print_r($e->getMessage());
echo "\n";
}
?>
Example - connect using managed identities for Azure resources
Using the system-assigned managed identity with SQLSRV driver
When connecting using the system-assigned managed identity, do not use the UID or PWD options.
<?php
$azureServer = 'myazureserver.database.windows.net';
$azureDatabase = 'myazuredatabase';
$connectionInfo = array('Database'=>$azureDatabase,
'Authentication'=>'ActiveDirectoryMsi');
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($azureServer, $connectionInfo);
if ($conn === false) {
echo "Could not connect with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMsi (system-assigned).\n";
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
} else {
echo "Connected successfully with Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMsi (system-assigned).\n";
$tsql = "SELECT @@Version AS SQL_VERSION";
$stmt = sqlsrv_query($conn, $tsql);
if ($stmt === false) {
echo "Failed to run the simple query (system-assigned).\n";
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
} else {
while ($row = sqlsrv_fetch_array($stmt, SQLSRV_FETCH_ASSOC)) {
echo $row['SQL_VERSION'] . PHP_EOL;
}
sqlsrv_free_stmt($stmt);
}
sqlsrv_close($conn);
}
?>
Example - connect using Microsoft Entra service principal
To authenticate using a service principal object, you will need the corresponding application client ID and the client secret.
SQLSRV driver
<?php
$adServer = 'myazureserver.database.windows.net';
$adDatabase = 'myazuredatabase';
$adSPClientId = 'myAppClientId';
$adSPClientSecret = 'myClientSecret';
$conn = false;
$connectionInfo = array("Database"=>$adDatabase,
"Authentication"=>"ActiveDirectoryServicePrincipal",
"UID"=>$adSPClientId,
"PWD"=>$adSPClientSecret);
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($adServer, $connectionInfo);
if ($conn === false) {
echo "Could not connect using Azure AD Service Principal." . PHP_EOL;
print_r(sqlsrv_errors());
}
sqlsrv_close($conn);
?>
PDO_SQLSRV driver
<?php
$adServer = 'myazureserver.database.windows.net';
$adDatabase = 'myazuredatabase';
$adSPClientId = 'myAppClientId';
$adSPClientSecret = 'myClientSecret';
$conn = false;
try {
$connectionInfo = "Database = $adDatabase; Authentication = ActiveDirectoryServicePrincipal;";
$conn = new PDO("sqlsrv:server = $adServer; $connectionInfo", $adSPClientId, $adSPClientSecret);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo "Could not connect using Azure AD Service Principal.\n";
print_r($e->getMessage());
echo PHP_EOL;
}
unset($conn);
?>
See Also
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