Install an Azure connector on ACI using PowerShell

Learn how to deploy a connector in an Azure environment

Azure Container Instances (ACI) is a managed, serverless compute platform for running containerized applications. This guide explains how to install and configure an Apono connector on ACI in your Azure environment using PowerShell.

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Prerequisites

Item	Description
Apono Token	Account-specific Apono authentication value Use the following steps to obtain your token: On the Connectors page, click Install Connector. The Install Connector page appears. Click Cloud installation > Azure > Install and Connect Azure Account > CLI (Container Instance). Copy the token listed on the page in step 1.
PowerShell	Tool that enables interacting with Azure services using your command-line shell
Azure Cloud Information	Information for your Azure Cloud instance: Subscription ID Management Group Name Resource group name
Owner Role (Azure RBAC)	Azure role with the following permissions: Grants full access to manage all resources Assigns roles in Azure RBAC
Global Administrator	Microsoft Entra role with the following permission: Manages all aspects of Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft services that use Microsoft Entra identities ❗Apono does not require Global Administrator access. This is required for the admin following this guide. ❗

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Install a new connector

You can install a connector for an Azure Management Group or Subscription.

The connector requires the following roles:

1. Directory Readers - to validate users in Azure

2. User Access Administrator - to provision and deprovision access in the Management Group

Read more about these Microsoft Entra ID roles here.

Management Group

Follow these steps to install a new connector:

1. At the shell prompt, set the environment variables.

$env:APONO_CONNECTOR_ID = "<A_UNIQUE_CONNECTOR_NAME>"
$env:APONO_TOKEN = "<APONO_TOKEN>"
$env:SUBSCRIPTION_ID = "<AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID>"
$env:RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME = "<AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME>"
$env:MANAGEMENT_GROUP_NAME = "<AZURE_MANAGEMENT_GROUP_NAME>"

1. Log in to your Azure account.

Connect-AzAccount

1. Set the REGION environment variable.

$REGION=$(Get-AzResourceGroup -Name $RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME).Location

1. Run the following command to deploy the connector on your ACI.

$port = New-AzContainerInstancePortObject -Port 80 -Protocol TCP

$env_var1 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_CONNECTOR_ID" -Value $APONO_CONNECTOR_ID

$env_var2 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_TOKEN" -Value $APONO_TOKEN

$env_var3 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_URL" -Value "api.apono.io"

$jsonValue = @{
    cloud_provider = "AZURE"
    subscription_id = $SUBSCRIPTION_ID
    resource_group = $RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME
    region = $REGION
    is_azure_admin = $true
} | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

$env_var4 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "CONNECTOR_METADATA" -Value $jsonValue

$container = New-AzContainerInstanceObject -Image registry.apono.io/apono-connector:v1.7.2 -Name $APONO_CONNECTOR_ID -Port @($port) -EnvironmentVariable @($env_var1, $env_var2, $env_var3, $env_var4) -RequestCpu 1 -RequestMemoryInGb 1.5 

$imageRegistryCredential = New-AzContainerGroupImageRegistryCredentialObject -Server "registry.apono.io" -Username "apono" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString $APONO_TOKEN -AsPlainText -Force)

$PRINCIPAL_ID=$(New-AzContainerGroup -SubscriptionId $SUBSCRIPTION_ID -ResourceGroupName $RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME -Name $APONO_CONNECTOR_ID -Container $container -OsType Linux -ImageRegistryCredential $imageRegistryCredential -Location $REGION -IdentityType "SystemAssigned").IdentityPrincipalId

1. Add the User Access Administrator role to the connector in the management group scope.

New-AzRoleAssignment -ObjectId $PRINCIPAL_ID `
    -ObjectType "ServicePrincipal" `
    -RoleDefinitionName "User Access Administrator" `
    -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/$env:MANAGEMENT_GROUP_NAME"

1. For Azure AD, add the Director Readers role to the connector. For Azure AD Groups, add the Groups Administrator and Privileged Role Administrator roles.

Azure AD

$accessToken = (Get-AzAccessToken -ResourceUrl "https://graph.microsoft.com").Token

$payload = @{
    principalId = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId = "88d8e3e3-8f55-4a1e-953a-9b9898b8876b"
    directoryScopeId = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "Bearer $accessToken"
    "Content-Type"  = "application/json"
}

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload

Azure AD Groups

$accessToken = (Get-AzAccessToken -ResourceUrl "https://graph.microsoft.com").Token

$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "Bearer $accessToken"
    "Content-Type"  = "application/json"
}

$payload1 = @{
    principalId       = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId  = "fdd7a751-b60b-444a-984c-02652fe8fa1c"  # Role ID 1
    directoryScopeId  = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload1

$payload2 = @{
    principalId       = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId  = "e8611ab8-c189-46e8-94e1-60213ab1f814"  # Role ID 2
    directoryScopeId  = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload2

1. On the Connectors page, verify that the connector has been updated.

You can now integrate with an Azure Management Group or Azure Subscription.

Subscription

Follow these steps to install a new connector:

1. Export the following environment variables.

$env:APONO_CONNECTOR_ID = "<A_UNIQUE_CONNECTOR_NAME>"
$env:APONO_TOKEN = "<APONO_TOKEN>"
$env:SUBSCRIPTION_ID = "<AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID>"
$env:RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME = "<AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME>"

1. Log in to your Azure account.

Connect-AzAccount

1. Set the REGION environment variable.

$env:REGION=$(Get-AzResourceGroup -Name $env:RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME).Location

1. Run the following command to deploy the connector on your ACI.

$port = New-AzContainerInstancePortObject -Port 80 -Protocol TCP

$env_var1 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_CONNECTOR_ID" -Value $env:APONO_CONNECTOR_ID

$env_var2 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_TOKEN" -Value $env:APONO_TOKEN

$env_var3 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "APONO_URL" -Value "api.apono.io"

$jsonValue = @{
    cloud_provider = "AZURE"
    subscription_id = $env:SUBSCRIPTION_ID
    resource_group = $env:RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME
    region = $env:REGION
    is_azure_admin = $true
} | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

$env_var4 = New-AzContainerInstanceEnvironmentVariableObject -Name "CONNECTOR_METADATA" -Value $jsonValue

$container = New-AzContainerInstanceObject -Image registry.apono.io/apono-connector:v1.7.2 -Name $env:APONO_CONNECTOR_ID -Port @($port) -EnvironmentVariable @($env_var1, $env_var2, $env_var3, $env_var4) -RequestCpu 1 -RequestMemoryInGb 1.5 

$imageRegistryCredential = New-AzContainerGroupImageRegistryCredentialObject -Server "registry.apono.io" -Username "apono" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString $env:APONO_TOKEN -AsPlainText -Force)

$PRINCIPAL_ID=$(New-AzContainerGroup -SubscriptionId $env:SUBSCRIPTION_ID -ResourceGroupName $env:RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME -Name $env:APONO_CONNECTOR_ID -Container $container -OsType Linux -ImageRegistryCredential $imageRegistryCredential -Location $env:REGION -IdentityType "SystemAssigned").IdentityPrincipalId

1. Add the User Access Administrator role to the connector in the subscription scope.

New-AzRoleAssignment -ObjectId $PRINCIPAL_ID `
    -ObjectType "ServicePrincipal" `
    -RoleDefinitionName "User Access Administrator" `
    -Scope "/subscriptions/$env:SUBSCRIPTION_ID"

1. For Azure AD, add the Director Readers role to the connector. For Azure AD Groups, add the Groups Administrator and Privileged Role Administrator roles.

Azure AD

$accessToken = (Get-AzAccessToken -ResourceUrl "https://graph.microsoft.com").Token

$payload = @{
    principalId = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId = "88d8e3e3-8f55-4a1e-953a-9b9898b8876b"
    directoryScopeId = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "Bearer $accessToken"
    "Content-Type"  = "application/json"
}

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload

Azure AD Groups

$accessToken = (Get-AzAccessToken -ResourceUrl "https://graph.microsoft.com").Token

$headers = @{
    "Authorization" = "Bearer $accessToken"
    "Content-Type"  = "application/json"
}

$payload1 = @{
    principalId       = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId  = "fdd7a751-b60b-444a-984c-02652fe8fa1c"  # Role ID 1
    directoryScopeId  = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload1

$payload2 = @{
    principalId       = $PRINCIPAL_ID
    roleDefinitionId  = "e8611ab8-c189-46e8-94e1-60213ab1f814"  # Role ID 2
    directoryScopeId  = "/"
} | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments" -Headers $headers -Body $payload2

1. On the Connectors page, verify that the connector has been updated.

You can now create integrate with an Azure Management Group or Azure Subscription.