Azure MySQL

Create an integration to manage access to Azure-managed MySQL databases

Overview

MySQL is a reliable and secure open-source relational database system. It serves as the main data store for various applications, websites, and products. This includes mission-critical applications and dynamic websites.

Microsoft enables developers to create cloud-hosted MySQL databases.

Through this integration, Apono helps you securely manage access to your Azure MySQL databases.



Prerequisites

Before starting this integration, create the items listed in the following table.

Item Description
Apono Connector On-prem connection serving as a bridge between an Azure MySQL database instance and Apono

Minimum Required Version: 1.3.0
MySQL Info Information for the database instance to be integrated:
  • Hostname
  • Port Number


Create a MySQL user

You must create a user in your MySQL instance for the Apono connector and grant that user permissions to your databases.

Use the following steps to create a user and grant it permissions:

  1. In your preferred client tool, create a new user. Be sure to set a strong password for the user.

    CREATE USER 'apono_connector'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
    

  1. Expose databases to the user. This allows Apono to view database names without accessing the contents of each database.

    GRANT SHOW DATABASES ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    

  2. Grant the user database permissions.

    The following commands grant Apono the following permissions:

    • Creating users
    • Updating user information and privileges
    • Monitoring and troubleshooting processes running on the database

    GRANT CREATE USER ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    GRANT UPDATE ON mysql.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    GRANT PROCESS ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    

  3. Grant the user only one of the following sets of permissions. The chosen set defines the highest level of permissions to provision with Apono.

    Expand each of the following options to reveal the SQL commands:

    READ_ONLY: Allows Apono to read data from databases
    GRANT SELECT ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    GRANT GRANT OPTION ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    

    READ_WRITE: Allows Apono to read and modify data
    GRANT SELECT,ALTER,ALTER ROUTINE,CREATE,CREATE ROUTINE,CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES,CREATE VIEW,DELETE,INDEX,INSERT,TRIGGER,UPDATE ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    GRANT GRANT OPTION ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    

    ADMIN: Allows Apono administrative-level access, including the ability to execute and drop tables
    GRANT EXECUTE,DROP,SELECT,ALTER,ALTER ROUTINE,CREATE,CREATE ROUTINE,CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES,CREATE VIEW,DELETE,INDEX,INSERT,TRIGGER,UPDATE ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    GRANT GRANT OPTION ON *.* TO 'apono_connector'@'%';
    


  4. (MySQL 8.0+) Grant the service account the authority to manage other roles. This enables Apono to create, alter, and drop roles. However, this role does not inherently grant specific database access permissions.

    GRANT ROLE_ADMIN on *.* to 'apono_connector';
    
  5. Using the credentials from step 1, create a secret for the database instance and associate it to the Azure connector.


You can now integrate Azure MySQL.



Integrate Azure MySQL

Azure MySQL tile

Azure MySQL tile


Follow these steps to complete the integration:

  1. On the Catalog tab, click Azure MySQL. The Connect Integration page appears.
  2. Under Discovery, click one or more resource types and cloud services to sync with Apono.

    ℹ️

    Apono automatically discovers and syncs all the instances in the environment. After syncing, you can manage Access Flows to these resources.

  3. Click Next. The Apono connector section appears.
  4. From the dropdown menu, select a connector.

    💡

    If the desired connector is not listed, click + Add new connector and follow the instructions for creating an Azure connector and associate the secret with the connector.

  5. Click Next. The Integration Config section expands.
  6. Define the Integration Config settings.
    Setting Description
    Integration Name Unique, alphanumeric, user-friendly name used to identify this integration when constructing an access flow
    Hostname Hostname of the MySQL instance to connect
    Port Port value for the database

    By default, Apono sets this value to 3306.

  1. Click Next. The Secret Store section expands.
  2. Associate the secret or credentials:
  3. Click Next. The Get more with Apono section expands.
  4. Define the Get more with Apono settings.
    Setting Description
    Custom Access Details (Optional) Instructions explaining how to access this integration's resources

    Upon accessing an integration, a message with these instructions will be displayed to end users in the User Portal. The message may include up to 400 characters.

    To view the message as it appears to end users, click Preview.

    NOTE: You can also add the custom_access_details parameter to the apono_integration schema using Terraform. For more information, learn how to integrate with Apono in the Terraform Registry.
    Integration Owner (Optional) Fallback approver if no resource owner is found

    Follow these steps to define one or several integration owners:
    1. From the Attribute dropdown menu, select User or Group under the relevant identity provider (IdP) platform.
    2. From the Value dropdown menu, select one or multiple users or groups.

    NOTE: When Resource Owner is defined, an Integration Owner must be defined.
    Resource Owner (Optional) Group or role responsible for managing access approvals or rejections for the resource

    Follow these steps to define one or several resource owners:
    1. Enter a Key name. This value is the name of the tag created in your cloud environment.

    2. From the Attribute dropdown menu, select an attribute under the IdP platform to which the key name is associated.

      Apono will use the value associated with the key (tag) to identify the resource owner. When you update the membership of the group or role in your IdP platform, this change is also reflected in Apono.

    NOTE: When this setting is defined, an Integration Owner must also be defined.

  1. Click Confirm.

Now that you have completed this integration, you can create access flows that grant permission to your Azure MySQL database instance.