Azure Active Directory Microsoft Entra ID
Legacy names Azure Active Directory, Azure AD, Windows Azure Active Directory
Cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) service providing single sign-on, multifactor authentication, Conditional Access, and directory services for workforce and cloud workloads.
Naming timeline
- Windows Azure Active Directory
Launched as Windows Azure Active Directory providing cloud directory and identity services for Office 365 and Windows Azure.
- Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
Renamed to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) alongside the broader Windows Azure to Microsoft Azure rebrand.
- Microsoft Entra IDCurrent name
Rebranded to Microsoft Entra ID (with SKU display names transitioning on October 1, 2023) under the Microsoft Entra identity and network access portfolio.
What is Azure Active Directory called now?
Azure Active Directory is now called Microsoft Entra ID, with the latest change on 11 July 2023 (Microsoft Entra Family Unification). Earlier names covered by this entry also include Azure AD, Windows Azure Active Directory. Cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) service providing single sign-on, multifactor authentication, Conditional Access, and directory services for workforce and cloud workloads. Only the customer-facing name changed; the underlying technical identifiers remain backward compatible.
Also known as
- AAD
- ME-ID
- Microsoft Entra ID Free / P1 / P2
Technical identifiers
Technical identifiers unchanged. Only the customer-facing product name changed; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below keep their legacy identifiers for backward compatibility.
| ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*) | graph.microsoft.com (Microsoft Graph v1.0 / beta) login.microsoftonline.com Microsoft.AAD Microsoft.AzureActiveDirectory |
|---|---|
| Azure CLI (az) / PowerShell | az ad Connect-MgGraph (Microsoft.Graph PowerShell) |
| Entra ID / Azure RBAC Roles | Global Administrator User Administrator Application Administrator Conditional Access Administrator |
| Terraform Resources (azurerm_*) | azuread_user azuread_group azuread_application azuread_service_principal |
All login URLs (login.microsoftonline.com), Microsoft Graph endpoints, MSAL libraries, az ad CLI commands, and azuread_* Terraform resources remain unchanged; legacy Azure AD Graph (graph.windows.net) and AzureAD/MSOnline PowerShell modules were deprecated in favor of Microsoft Graph.
Notes & disambiguation
- Announced on July 11, 2023 (with service plan display names updated on October 1, 2023 and portal/documentation transitions completed by November 2023), Microsoft renamed Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to Microsoft Entra ID to unify the Microsoft Entra identity and network access product family (introduced in May 2022) and reduce confusion with on-premises Windows Server Active Directory.
- Only the customer-facing brand, icons, and licensing plan names (Microsoft Entra ID Free, P1, P2) changed; authentication endpoints (login.microsoftonline.com), Microsoft Graph APIs (graph.microsoft.com), Azure CLI commands (az ad), Microsoft Authentication Libraries (MSAL), and the Terraform AzureAD provider (azuread_*) remain unchanged.
- Separately from the branding change, the legacy Azure AD Graph API (graph.windows.net) and legacy AzureAD / MSOnline PowerShell modules were deprecated in favor of Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft.Graph PowerShell SDK.
Sources & official documentation
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