Retrieve Azure Synapse role-based access control (RBAC) Information using PowerShell

Azure Synapse Analytics is a limitless analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing and big data analytics. It gives you the freedom to query data on your terms, using either serverless or dedicated resources—at scale. Azure Synapse brings these worlds together with a unified experience to ingest, explore, prepare, manage and serve data for immediate BI and machine learning needs.

Synapse RBAC extends the capabilities of Azure RBAC for Synapse workspaces and their content.

Synapse RBAC is used to manage who can:

Publish code artifacts and list or access published code artifacts,
Execute code on Apache Spark pools and Integration runtimes,
Access linked (data) services protected by credentials
Monitor or cancel job execution, review job output, and execution logs.

Azure Synapse RBAC has built-in roles and scopes that helps to manage permissions in Azure Synapse Analytics -

Role	Permissions	Scopes
Synapse Administrator	Full Synapse access to SQL pools, Data Explorer pools, Apache Spark pools, and Integration runtimes. Includes create, read, update, and delete access to all published code artifacts. Includes Compute Operator, Linked Data Manager, and Credential User permissions on the workspace system identity credential. Includes assigning Synapse RBAC roles. In addition to Synapse Administrator, Azure Owners can also assign Synapse RBAC roles. Azure permissions are required to create, delete, and manage compute resources. Can read and write artifacts Can do all actions on Spark activities. Can view Spark pool logs Can view saved notebook and pipeline output Can use the secrets stored by linked services or credentials Can assign and revoke Synapse RBAC roles at current scope	Workspace Spark pool Integration runtime Linked service Credential
Synapse Apache Spark Administrator	Full Synapse access to Apache Spark Pools. Create, read, update, and delete access to published Spark job definitions, notebooks and their outputs, and to libraries, linked services, and credentials. Includes read access to all other published code artifacts. Doesn't include permission to use credentials and run pipelines. Doesn't include granting access. Can do all actions on Spark artifacts Can do all actions on Spark activities	Workspace Spark pool
Synapse SQL Administrator	Full Synapse access to serverless SQL pools. Create, read, update, and delete access to published SQL scripts, credentials, and linked services. Includes read access to all other published code artifacts. Doesn't include permission to use credentials and run pipelines. Doesn't include granting access. Can do all actions on SQL scripts Can connect to SQL serverless endpoints with SQL db_datareader, db_datawriter, connect, and grant permissions	Workspace
Synapse Contributor	Full Synapse access to Apache Spark pools and Integration runtimes. Includes create, read, update, and delete access to all published code artifacts and their outputs, including credentials and linked services. Includes compute operator permissions. Doesn't include permission to use credentials and run pipelines. Doesn't include granting access. Can read and write artifacts Can view saved notebook and pipeline output Can do all actions on Spark activities Can view Spark pool logs	Workspace Spark pool Integration runtime
Synapse Artifact Publisher	Create, read, update, and delete access to published code artifacts and their outputs. Doesn't include permission to run code or pipelines, or to grant access. Can read published artifacts and publish artifacts Can view saved notebook, Spark job, and pipeline output	Workspace
Synapse Artifact User	Read access to published code artifacts and their outputs. Can create new artifacts but can't publish changes or run code without additional permissions.	Workspace
Synapse Compute Operator	Submit Spark jobs and notebooks and view logs. Includes canceling Spark jobs submitted by any user. Requires additional use credential permissions on the workspace system identity to run pipelines, view pipeline runs and outputs. Can submit and cancel jobs, including jobs submitted by others Can view Spark pool logs	Workspace Spark pool Integration runtime
Synapse Monitoring Operator	Read published code artifacts, including logs and outputs for notebooks and pipeline runs. Includes ability to list and view details of serverless SQL pools, Apache Spark pools, Data Explorer pools, and Integration runtimes. Requires additional permissions to run/cancel pipelines, Spark notebooks, and Spark jobs.	Workspace
Synapse Credential User	Runtime and configuration-time use of secrets within credentials and linked services in activities like pipeline runs. To run pipelines, this role is required, scoped to the workspace system identity. Scoped to a credential, permits access to data via a linked service that is protected by the credential (also requires compute use permission) Allows execution of pipelines protected by the workspace system identity credential(with additional compute use permission)	Workspace Linked Service Credential
Synapse Linked Data Manager	Creation and management of managed private endpoints, linked services, and credentials. Can create managed private endpoints that use linked services protected by credentials	Workspace
Synapse User	List and view details of SQL pools, Apache Spark pools, Integration runtimes, and published linked services and credentials. Doesn't include other published code artifacts. Can create new artifacts but can't run or publish without additional permissions. Can list and read Spark pools, Integration runtimes.	Workspace, Spark pool Linked service Credential

There are multiple ways that the RBAC roles can be configured.
The easiest and most friendly way is to perform this action using Azure Synapse workspace. (more)

In PowerShell, there are number of PowerShell cmdlets that helps to manage or retrieve the information in Synapse RBAC.

Example:

Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment - Gets a Synapse Analytics role assignment. (more)
New-AzSynapseRoleAssignment - Creates a Synapse Analytics role assignment. (more)
Remove-AzSynapseRoleAssignment - Deletes a Synapse Analytics role assignment. (more)

One of the key use cases that most customers face difficulties while retrieving or assigning the role-based access control in Azure Synapse Analytics, that they cannot find the correct usernames, group names or the service principal names using the PowerShell cmdlet "Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment". The PowerShell cmdlet only provides limited information and it's difficult to understand since that contains the object IDs.

Example: (Following output is captured from “Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment”)

In order to retrieve the additional information, users can have following example scripts that provides the username and other relevant information for Azure Synapse RBAC.

Get all the Synapse RBAC Information:

Below PowerShell script helps to map the RBAC Object IDs with usernames, groups and the service principals.
The script output provides all the RBAC information in Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace.

Note: This is only an example to retrieve the information and not to use any production code

Script Name: GetSynapseRBACInfo.ps1

<# .NOTES Author: Charith Caldera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charith-caldera-52590a10b/ Email: [email protected] Last Updated: 2022-06-03 .SYNOPSIS Verify the usernames in Synapse RBAC #UPDATES #> Clear-Host # Map Role Assignment IDs with Roles function GetASynapseRoleDefinition{ param($roleid) try { Get-AzSynapseRoleDefinition -id $roleid -WorkspaceName $workspacename -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue } catch { Write-Host "Error Occured while getting Synapse RBAC Definitions" } } # Get Synapse RBAC Users function GetSynapseRBACUsers{ try { foreach($profile in $profiles) { $aduser = Get-AzADUser -ObjectId $profile.ObjectId -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue if($aduser) { $assignments = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.ObjectId} Write-Host "----------------------------------------" Write-Host " " Write-Host "AAD User Identified :" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " User object Found on Object ID" $profile.ObjectId -ForegroundColor Cyan Write-Host " AAD User Principal Name :" $aduser.UserPrincipalName Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $assignments.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $assignments.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $assignments.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $assignments.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $assignments.Scope Write-Host " " } } } catch { Write-Host "Error Occured while getting Synapse RBAC users" } } # Get Synapse RBAC Groups function GetSynapseRBACGroups{ try { foreach($profile in $profiles) { $adgroup = Get-AzADGroup -ObjectId $profile.ObjectId -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue if($adgroup) { $assignments = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.ObjectId} Write-Host "----------------------------------------" Write-Host " " Write-Host "AAD Group Identified:" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " Group object Found on Object ID" $profile.ObjectId -ForegroundColor Cyan Write-Host " AAD Group Name :" $adgroup.DisplayName Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $assignments.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $assignments.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $assignments.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $assignments.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $assignments.Scope Write-Host " " } } } catch { Write-Host "Error Occured while getting Synapse RBAC Groups" } } # Get Synapse RBAC Service Principals function GetSynapseRBACSPs{ try { foreach($profile in $profiles) { $adsps = Get-AzADServicePrincipal -ObjectId $profile.ObjectId -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue if($adsps) { $assignments = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.ObjectId} Write-Host "----------------------------------------" Write-Host " " Write-Host "Service Principal Identified:" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " Service Principal Found on Object ID" $profile.ObjectId -ForegroundColor Cyan Write-Host " AAD Group Name :" $adsps.DisplayName Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $assignments.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $assignments.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $assignments.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $assignments.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $assignments.Scope Write-Host " " } } } catch { Write-Host "Error Occured while getting Synapse RBAC Service Principals" } } #################################################### # Main Write-Host "Executing PowerShell Script" -ForegroundColor Green $workspacename = Read-Host "Synapse Workspace Name" $workspacenameob = Get-AzSynapseWorkspace -WorkspaceName $workspacename -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue if($workspacenameob.Name) { $profiles = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacenameob.Name | select ObjectId Write-Host " " if(GetSynapseRBACUsers) { GetSynapseRBACUsers } if(GetSynapseRBACGroups) { GetSynapseRBACGroups } if(GetSynapseRBACSPs) { GetSynapseRBACSPs } } else { Write-Host "Sorry, workspace not found" -ForegroundColor Yellow Write-Host " " } Write-Host "PowerShell Script Completed" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " "

Example: (Following is the output of above script)

Get Specific user RBAC information:

Below PowerShell script helps to map a specific user with Synapse RBAC.
The script provides the information for a specific username, group or a service principal.

Note: This is only an example to retrieve the information and not to use any production code

Script Name: GetSynapseRBACUser.ps1

<# .NOTES Author: Charith Caldera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charith-caldera-52590a10b/ Email: [email protected] Last Updated: 2022-06-03 .SYNOPSIS Find the username in Synapse RBAC #UPDATES #> Clear-Host # Map Role Assignment IDs with Roles function GetASynapseRoleDefinition{ param($roleid) Get-AzSynapseRoleDefinition -id $roleid -WorkspaceName $workspacename } # Get Synapse RBAC Users function GetSynapseRBACUsers{ $profile = Get-AzADUser -UserPrincipalName $username $roleassignment = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.id} if($roleassignment) { Write-Host "AAD Users Identified :" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " Username :" $username Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $roleassignment.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $roleassignment.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $roleassignment.Scope Write-Host " " } } # Get Synapse RBAC Groups function GetSynapseRBACGroups{ $profile = Get-AzADGroup -DisplayName $username $roleassignment = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.id} if($roleassignment) { Write-Host "AAD Groups Identified:" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " AAD Group Name :" $username Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $roleassignment.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $roleassignment.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $roleassignment.Scope Write-Host " " } } # Get Synapse RBAC Service Principals function GetSynapseRBACSPs{ $profile = Get-AzADServicePrincipal -DisplayName $username $roleassignment = Get-AzSynapseRoleAssignment -WorkspaceName $workspacename |?{$_.ObjectId -eq $profile.id} if($roleassignment) { Write-Host "Service Principals Identified:" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " Write-Host " Service Principal Name :" $username Write-Host " Role Assignment Id :" $roleassignment.RoleAssignmentId Write-Host " Role Definition Id :" $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId $rolename = GetASynapseRoleDefinition $roleassignment.RoleDefinitionId Write-Host " Synapse Role :" $rolename.Name Write-Host " Principal Type :" $roleassignment.principalType Write-Host " Scope :" $roleassignment.Scope Write-Host " " } } Write-Host "Executing PowerShell Script" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " " $workspacename = Read-Host "Synapse Workspace Name" $workspacenameob = Get-AzSynapseWorkspace -WorkspaceName $workspacename -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue if($workspacenameob.Name) { $username = Read-Host "User Name (name@domain) or Service Principal Display Name" Write-Host " " if(GetSynapseRBACUsers) { GetSynapseRBACUsers } if(GetSynapseRBACGroups) { GetSynapseRBACGroups } if(GetSynapseRBACSPs) { GetSynapseRBACSPs } } else { Write-Host "Sorry, workspace not found" -ForegroundColor Yellow Write-Host " " } Write-Host "PowerShell Script Completed" -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host " "

Example: (Following output is the output of above script)

How to execute the scripts?

There are multiple ways you can execute the scripts.

From local host -

Copy the commands to a PowerShell script
Rename the PowerShell scripts as "GetSynapseRBACInfo.ps1" & "GetSynapseRBACUser.ps1"
Execute the PowerShell script

Note: Az.Synapse module & Az.Resources modules needs to be installed
From Azure Cloud Shell.

Upload both scripts to Azure Cloud Shell
Execute the scripts as #1.

The workspace name, AAD username, AAD user group or Service principal name is required as parameters.
Example: (Following output captured while the script is requesting the necessary information)

Published on: June 13, 2022

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