Obtaining Keys for Microsoft Azure

This post outlines the steps to obtain credential keys for Microsoft Azure in order to programmatically access their API services.

One needs to have a Microsoft account to proceed with the following steps. So, if you do not have one, create one at https://account.microsoft.com/account.

Step – 1

Head over to – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/ and the portal should look like so –

Click on Start free as highlighted in the figure. The portal will ask you to log in if you are not already logged in. You will then be redirected to another page where you would need to click on Start free again.

If you already have an Azure account, you will see the following otherwise the portal will ask you to provide additional details such as country, first name, email address, and so on –

Also, note that you will need to provide your payment card details in order for the system to verify your identity. You may be charged a very nominal fee for this.

If you did not have an Azure account then after you provide the details you will get $200 free Azure credits in your account which will be valid for 30 days. You can use these credits to explore different services offered by Azure. You can review the terms and conditions of the Azure free tier, which you will find at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/offers/ms-azr-0003p/

Once you are done setting up the billing and the additional details, you can head over to https://portal.azure.com/ and it should look like so –

You are now ready to move to the next steps.

Step – 2

First, head over to https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/computer-vision/ –

Click on Already using Azure? Try this service for free now –

Select the subscription from the available options. If you don’t have a Resource group already created you would need to create one –

You’re free to give a name as per your choice here and after you are done just click OK. Under the Insurance details section, select a Region closest to your network and provide a name of your choice –

Then select the Pricing tier and click Review + create –

Now, click on Create.

After your resource group creation is successful you should have the following dashboard –

Click on pyimagesearch-azure from available entries on the dashboard. Note that this might be different in your case and it depends on the value you entered in the previous steps.

After you click on pyimagesearch-azure you should have a screen resembling the following –

Now, click on Keys and Endpoint and you will get your keys –

Note the keys and store them someplace safe. One of these will be required in order to access the corresponding APIs programmatically. Also, don’t forget to note the endpoint as well. The endpoint may not exactly be the same for your case if you provided different values.