Invalid value for key 'authentication'

Question

I have a .NET Core 3.0 app where am trying to connect to a Azure SQL database using EF Core and Active directory integrated authentication.
I have verified that I have access to this database from my machine as I can connect to it just fine using SQL server management studio and 'Azure Active Directory-Integrated' authentication.

However, when I try to read data in my app (using EF Core), I always get a System.Argument exception with the following statement:

Invalid value for key 'authentication'

Exception details point to the Db connection string.

So, here is my connection string from my dev appsettings.json file:

"ConnectionStrings": { "MCDB": "Server=tcp:dev-media-center-sql.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=MediaCenter;Persist Security Info=False;User ID={my User ID};MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Authentication=Active Directory Integrated;" },

I have tried hard coding the connection string directly in my code, thinking that there might be a problem with my JSON but I still get the same exception.

Is "Active Directory Integrated" not a valid value for the 'Authentication' keyword? If not, what is it then? I have already tried "ActiveDirectoryIntegrated" (with no spaces) and /"Active Directory Integrated"/ (escaping double quotes) but to no avail.

Thanks

Fike

Answer 1

Here's what did it for me:

If you're using EF Core with package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer...

Then be aware:

The Microsoft.Data.SqlClient package ships more frequently than the EF Core provider. If you would like to take advantage of new features and bug fixes, you can add a direct package reference to the latest version of Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.

source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/core/providers/sql-server/?tabs=dotnet-core-cli

That being said 👆, the fix was EASY. Just add the package to your project 👇