Scaling Smart with Azure: Architecture That Works
Hi Tech Community! I’m Zainab, currently based in Abu Dhabi and serving as Vice President of Finance & HR at Hoddz Trends LLC a global tech solutions company headquartered in Arkansas, USA. While I lead on strategy, people, and financials, I also roll up my sleeves when it comes to tech innovation. In this discussion, I want to explore the real-world challenges of scaling systems with Microsoft Azure. From choosing the right architecture to optimizing performance and cost, I’ll be sharing insights drawn from experience and I’d love to hear yours too. Whether you're building from scratch, migrating legacy systems, or refining deployments, let’s talk about what actually works.
"Invalid JWT Error When Sending Messages from Azure Bot to Skype User
I'm encountering an "Invalid JWT" error when trying to send a non-reply message from an Azure Bot to a Skype user, despite using what appears to be a valid token. Here's a breakdown of my setup: I successfully generate an access token using OAuth client credentials for the Microsoft Bot Framework. I create a conversation ID successfully, but when I attempt to send a message using this ID, I receive a 401 error with "Invalid JWT." Here is the relevant part of my code: import requests # Setup for token generation service_url = "https://smba.trafficmanager.net/apis token_url = f'https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenantId}/oauth2/v2.0/token token_headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'} token_payload = { 'grant_type': 'client_credentials', 'client_id': app_id, 'client_secret': app_password, 'scope': 'https://api.botframework.com/.default } # Token request token_response = requests.post(token_url, headers=token_headers, data=token_payload) token = token_response.json()['access_token'] # Setup for creating a conversation conversation_headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {token}', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'} conversation_url = f"{service_url}/v3/conversations" conversation_payload = { "bot": {"id": f"28:{app_id}", "name": "botname"}, "isGroup": False, "members": [{"id": skype_id, "name": "Milkiyas Gebru"}], "topicName": "New Conversation" } conversation_response = requests.post(conversation_url, headers=conversation_headers, json=conversation_payload) conversation_id = conversation_response.json()["id"] # Setup for sending a message message_url = f"{service_url}/v3/conversations/{conversation_id}/activities" message_headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {token}', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'} message_payload = {"type": "message", "text": "My bots reply"} message_response = requests.post(message_url, headers=message_headers, json=message_payload) print("Create Message Response: ", message_response.json(), message_response.status_code) The response I get indicates an authorization error: Create Message Response: {'error': {'code': 'AuthorizationError', 'message': 'Invalid JWT.'}} 401 Has anyone experienced this issue before, or does anyone know what might be causing the JWT to be considered invalid? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!Comparision on Azure Cloud Sync and Traditional Entra connect Sync.
Introduction In the evolving landscape of identity management, organizations face a critical decision when integrating their on-premises Active Directory (AD) with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). Two primary tools are available for this synchronization: Traditional Entra Connect Sync (formerly Azure AD Connect) Azure Cloud Sync While both serve the same fundamental purpose, bridging on-prem AD with cloud identity, they differ significantly in architecture, capabilities, and ideal use cases. Architecture & Setup Entra Connect Sync is a heavyweight solution. It installs a full synchronization engine on a Windows Server, often backed by SQL Server. This setup gives administrators deep control over sync rules, attribute flows, and filtering. Azure Cloud Sync, on the other hand, is lightweight. It uses a cloud-managed agent installed on-premises, removing the need for SQL Server or complex infrastructure. The agent communicates with Microsoft Entra ID, and most configurations are handled in the cloud portal. For organizations with complex hybrid setups (e.g., Exchange hybrid, device management), is Cloud Sync too limited?
Former Employer Abuse
My former employer, Albert Williams, president of American Security Force Inc., keeps adding my outlook accounts, computers and mobile devices to the company's azure cloud even though I left the company more than a year ago. What can I do to remove myself from his grip? Does Microsoft have a solution against abusive employers?
Pyrit: I am not able to run Pyrit code(Automation framework by Microsoft)
I was not able to run Pyrit code that is mentioned in Microsoft documentation. Error: PYRIT\PyRIT\doc\demo\1_gandalf.py", line 51, in <module> from pyrit.chat import AzureOpenAIChat ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyrit' I did nothing, just clone the repo mentioned in doc, and try o run, and I got the above error. Could you please help? "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/02/22/announcing-microsofts-open-automation-framework-to-red-team-generative-ai-systems/"
Azure Cognitive Services and Bot Framework Visio Stencils
As I searched for a stencil set to create an infographic on Azure AI services (Cognitive Services & Bot Framework), I couldn't find anything. So I decided to create this Visio stencil set on my own. If you are interested, please visit https://www.cloudguy.pro/cognitive-services-bot-framework-visio-stencils/ to download the shapes. I would be glad if anyone of you could spread the word in order to see a lot of awesome AI infographics with the official icons in the future :) If you have any questions or improvement suggestions please contact me so that I can include those suggestions in my next versions.
Azure bot service : Authentication single sign on
I am developing a bot that will be embedded in my application where the user is already signed in using single sign on.I want my bot also to automatically sign in without user interaction. I am trying below article but in this case also interaction Is required. https://github.com/microsoft/BotFramework-WebChat/tree/master/samples/19.a.single-sign-on-for-enterprise-apps. first of all whether it is possible" seamless sign on" ....if yes then any pointers on how it can be achieved. #azurebotservice
