Troubleshooting Managed Identity Authentication for Azure AI Speech with 401 WebSocket Error

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I'm attempting to use the Speech SDK with Managed Identity (avoiding API keys) as per the instructions in this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/how-to-configure-azure-ad-auth?tabs=portal&pivots=programming-language-csharp. I created a custom domain, assigned the required role to my Visual Studio account and the app service, yet I encounter the following: WebSocket upgrade failed: Authentication error (401). The error also suggests verifying subscription details and region name.

Below is my code:

CSHARP
var tokenCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential(new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions{
    TenantId = "${Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(\"tenant\")}",
});
string token = tokenCredential.GetTokenAsync(
            new TokenRequestContext(scopes: new string[] { "https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default" })).GetAwaiter().GetResult().Token;

string authorizationToken = $"aad#{cognitiveResourceId}#{token}";
SpeechConfig Config = SpeechConfig.FromAuthorizationToken(authorizationToken, speechRegion);

I’m trying to understand if Managed Identity should work in this context or if a token from an interactive browser is required. Any insights or troubleshooting tips would be much appreciated.

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Answers 2

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2 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Below is some guidance based on the documentation on using Azure AD tokens with Speech SDK:

Managed Identity Is Supported

The Speech SDK supports Azure AD–based authentication regardless of whether the token comes from an interactive sign‑in or a managed identity. In other words, you can use a token acquired via a managed identity as long as the token’s value, the resource ID, and the region match that of your Speech resource.

Troubleshooting Steps

Check Resource IDs and Region:
Ensure that the value you use for cognitiveResourceId exactly matches your Speech resource’s resource ID (or custom domain) and that the speechRegion is also set correctly. The error message “Please check subscription information and region name” indicates a potential mismatch.
Role Assignment Validation:
Confirm that the managed identity (or your Visual Studio account when testing locally) has been granted the proper role (typically the “Cognitive Services Speech Services User” role) on the speech resource. The permissions granted should allow token-based authentication.
Verify Tenant and Credential Configuration:
When using DefaultAzureCredential locally, it may pick up Visual Studio credentials if available. Make sure that your TenantId setting and environment configuration match what is expected for your managed identity in the target environment. For example:
```
CSHARP
var tokenCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential(new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
{
    TenantId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("tenant")
});
```
Token Construction and Expiry:
The format of the authorization token in your sample is constructed as follows:
```
CSHARP
string authorizationToken = $"aad#{cognitiveResourceId}#{token}";
```
Double-check that the token being inserted is not expired and that the scope ("https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default") is the correct one for your Speech resource.

Summary

Using a managed identity to obtain an Azure AD token for the Speech SDK should work. The key is to ensure that:

The resource ID (or custom domain) and region exactly match your Speech resource.
The managed identity is correctly assigned the necessary role.
Your token is acquired with the right tenant and has the proper scope.

If you are still encountering a 401 error, compare with a token retrieved interactively to ensure there are no mismatches in the constructed authorization token. This approach works both with interactive tokens and tokens obtained via managed identity.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by MeteorRover358 • 1 month ago

I created a sample console app using DefaultAzureCredential and Managed Identity to work in both development and production respectively.

Code :

CSHARP
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Core;
using Microsoft.CognitiveServices.Speech;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        try
        {
            var tokenCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential(new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
            {
                TenantId = $"<tenantID>"
            });

            string[] scopes = new string[] { "https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default" };
            var token = tokenCredential.GetTokenAsync(new TokenRequestContext(scopes)).GetAwaiter().GetResult().Token;
            string cognitiveResourceId = "<ResourceID>"; 
            string authorizationToken = $"aad#{cognitiveResourceId}#{token}";
            string speechRegion = "<speechRegion>";
            SpeechConfig speechConfig = SpeechConfig.FromAuthorizationToken(authorizationToken, speechRegion);
            SynthesizeTextToSpeech(speechConfig);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
        }
    }

    static void SynthesizeTextToSpeech(SpeechConfig speechConfig)
    {
        var synthesizer = new SpeechSynthesizer(speechConfig);
        string textToSynthesize = "Hello Kamali, how are you?";
        var result = synthesizer.SpeakTextAsync(textToSynthesize).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
        if (result.Reason == ResultReason.SynthesizingAudioCompleted)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Text-to-Speech Synthesis completed successfully.");
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Text-to-Speech synthesis failed: {result.Reason}");
        }
    }
}

I have assigned the Cognitive Services Speech Contributor role to the service principal and Azure Web App to work locally using DefaultAzureCredential and in production using Managed Identity.

enter image description here

I successfully converted the text to speech and heard the audio of the converted speech.

enter image description here

I have successfully deployed the console app to Azure WebJobs.

enter image description here

Logs :

enter image description here

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Troubleshooting Managed Identity Authentication for Azure AI Speech with 401 WebSocket Error

2 Answers

Managed Identity Is Supported

Troubleshooting Steps

Summary

Discussion

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