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Custom Terraform Provider for AAD-Auth Azure Storage
A community Terraform provider that manages Azure Storage Files and Tables resources using only AAD-based authentication, targeting organizations that have disabled shared access keys for compliance. It wraps the newer Azure Storage API versions (2025-11-05+) that support AAD auth and provides resource types compatible with the official provider's state format for easy migration.
Why this matters
You manage Azure infrastructure with Terraform and your security team has mandated disabling shared access keys on all storage accounts to meet CIS benchmarks. When you set shared_access_key_enabled to false, your Terraform runs for storage shares start failing with 403 errors. You discover the provider uses an outdated API version that does not support AAD auth. Upgrading the API version manually works, but you cannot do this through Terraform. You are stuck waiting on an upstream library fix that has been open for months, with maintainers being tagged repeatedly by frustrated users. Meanwhile, your audit deadline approaches and you have no IaC path forward.
- · Built for Platform engineering teams at Azure-heavy organizations subject to CIS, NIST, or MCSB compliance who use Terraform for storage resource management.
- · Most likely monetization: Open-core with enterprise support subscription.
The Pain · Narrative
You manage Azure infrastructure with Terraform and your security team has mandated disabling shared access keys on all storage accounts to meet CIS benchmarks. When you set shared_access_key_enabled to false, your Terraform runs for storage shares start failing with 403 errors. You discover the provider uses an outdated API version that does not support AAD auth. Upgrading the API version manually works, but you cannot do this through Terraform. You are stuck waiting on an upstream library fix that has been open for months, with maintainers being tagged repeatedly by frustrated users. Meanwhile, your audit deadline approaches and you have no IaC path forward.
Score Breakdown
Market Signal
Go-to-Market
Platform engineers at mid-to-large enterprises (500+ employees) using Terraform with Azure Storage who have been told by security/compliance teams to disable shared access keys
~3,000-8,000 engineering teams globally who use Terraform for Azure Storage management under compliance mandates
GitHub open-source release with stars/visibility, combined with targeted outreach in Azure DevOps communities and Terraform provider registry listing
Free open-source provider; $500/month for enterprise support including SLA, priority bug fixes, and custom resource implementation
500 GitHub stars and 10 organizations on enterprise support within 60 days of provider registry publication
MVP Scope · 1–2 weeks
- Set up Go project structure with Terraform Plugin Framework scaffold and module initialization
- Implement a minimal resource type (e.g. aad_storage_share) that creates an Azure File Share using API version 2025-11-05 with AAD auth
- Write integration tests against a real Azure subscription with shared keys disabled
- Publish the provider to the Terraform Registry as a pre-release
- Create documentation showing side-by-side migration from the official azurerm_storage_share to the custom provider
- Implement the read operation and state import logic so existing shares can be adopted into Terraform management
- Add support for azurerm_storage_table resource with AAD auth, as tables face the same gap
- Build a state migration helper script that converts official provider state to the custom provider format
- Set up automated CI pipeline that tests against the latest 3 Azure API versions for forward compatibility
- Write a comprehensive blog post documenting the compliance gap, the upstream dependency chain, and how the custom provider solves it, targeting DevOps newsletters
Differentiation
Why This Might Fail
Self-rebuttal — the most important trust signal
- 1Azure Storage Files API may not actually support AAD auth for file share management operations despite newer API versions returning success on some calls - the v5.0 documentation explicitly states AAD is not supported for files, suggesting the technical foundation is incomplete
- 2The Terraform ecosystem strongly expects free community providers - monetizing through enterprise support requires enough volume to sustain a business, and this niche may be too small
- 3HashiCorp or a community contributor could merge the fix upstream at any time, especially since the root cause is just an API version bump, making the custom provider obsolete within months
Evidence Summary
How AI synthesized this insight — no verbatim quotes
One commenter confirmed that simply switching to a newer Azure API version (2025-11-05) makes AAD auth work, suggesting the technical fix is straightforward. However, another commenter noted that v5.0 documentation states shared key auth is always used because the Storage API does not support AAD for files, creating contradictory signals about whether the fix is viable. Multiple users expressed urgency and frustration with waiting on upstream dependency resolution. The dependency chain (giovanni library issue) has been blocking progress, and maintainers are being repeatedly tagged with no timeline provided.
Action Plan
Validate this opportunity before writing code
Recommended Next Step
Validate
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Landing Page Copy Kit
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Headline
Custom Terraform Provider for AAD-Auth Azure Storage
Sub-headline
A community Terraform provider that manages Azure Storage Files and Tables resources using only AAD-based authentication, targeting organizations that have disabled shared access keys for compliance. It wraps the newer Azure Storage API versions (2025-11-05+) that support AAD auth and provides resource types compatible with the official provider's state format for easy migration.
Who It's For
For Platform engineering teams at Azure-heavy organizations subject to CIS, NIST, or MCSB compliance who use Terraform for storage resource management
Feature List
✓ Terraform provider plugin implementing azurerm_storage_share and azurerm_storage_table equivalents using AAD auth exclusively ✓ Wrapping Azure Storage API versions 2025-11-05+ that support AAD authentication for file share operations ✓ State format compatibility with official AzureRM provider for seamless resource import/migration ✓ Documentation mapping each official resource attribute to the custom provider equivalent ✓ CI/CD pipeline integration with automated tests against Azure API version changes
Where to Validate
Share your landing page in r/GitHub · hashicorp/terraform-provider-azurerm — that's exactly where these pain points were discovered.
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