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Scope clarifiedCompute, Security & InfraAzure

Azure AD Application Proxy Microsoft Entra Private Access & Application Proxy

Identity-centric Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and reverse-proxy publishing services for securing remote access to private corporate applications and on-premises resources without a VPN.

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Naming timeline

  1. Azure AD Application Proxy

    · Initial Launch

    Launched to publish on-premises web applications externally with Azure AD Single Sign-On and Conditional Access without opening inbound firewall ports.

  2. Microsoft Entra Application Proxy

    · Microsoft Entra Rebrand

    Renamed to Microsoft Entra Application Proxy with its connector agent rebranded to the Microsoft Entra private network connector.

  3. Microsoft Entra Private Access & Application ProxyCurrent name

    · Entra Private Access ZTNA General Availability

    Expanded into full identity-centric ZTNA via Microsoft Entra Private Access (Global Secure Access SSE) alongside Microsoft Entra Application Proxy for clientless web publishing.

Is Azure AD Application Proxy the same as Microsoft Entra Private Access & Application Proxy?

Identity-centric Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and reverse-proxy publishing services for securing remote access to private corporate applications and on-premises resources without a VPN. Azure AD Application Proxy was renamed to Microsoft Entra Application Proxy in late 2023 (and its agent renamed from Azure AD Application Proxy Connector to Microsoft Entra private network connector) while continuing to provide agentless web application reverse-proxy publishing included in Microsoft Entra ID P1/P2.

Also known as

  • Microsoft Entra Application Proxy
  • Global Secure Access Private Access
  • Microsoft Entra Private Network Connector

Technical identifiers

Technical identifiers unchanged. This entry clarifies scope and naming rather than documenting a rename; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below are the current identifiers.

ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*)graph.microsoft.com/beta/networkAccess graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/applications (onPremisesPublishing)
Azure CLI (az) / PowerShellMicrosoft.Graph.Beta.NetworkAccess PowerShell az ad app
Entra ID / Azure RBAC RolesGlobal Secure Access Administrator Application Administrator Cloud Application Administrator
Terraform Resources (azurerm_*)azuread_application

Microsoft Entra Application Proxy remains active in Microsoft Entra ID P1/P2 via onPremisesPublishing APIs, while Microsoft Entra Private Access adds full ZTNA via Microsoft Graph networkAccess APIs and shared private network connectors.

Notes & disambiguation

  • Azure AD Application Proxy was renamed to Microsoft Entra Application Proxy in late 2023 (and its agent renamed from Azure AD Application Proxy Connector to Microsoft Entra private network connector) while continuing to provide agentless web application reverse-proxy publishing included in Microsoft Entra ID P1/P2.
  • Building on the same Microsoft Entra private network connector architecture, Microsoft launched Microsoft Entra Private Access (preview in 2023, generally available in July 2024 as part of the Global Secure Access Security Service Edge [SSE] and Microsoft Entra Suite) to provide client-based Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) across all TCP/UDP ports, FQDNs, and IP ranges as a full VPN replacement.
  • Both services are configured through the Microsoft Entra admin center and Microsoft Graph APIs (onPremisesPublishing for Application Proxy and networkAccess for Global Secure Access / Private Access).

Sources & official documentation

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