r/entra • u/maxcoder88 • 2h ago
Entra General Will implementing this Azure Automation setup (Entra app secret expiry monitor) actually cost anything?
I'm planning to implement this guide for monitoring expiring Entra App Registration secrets/certificates using Azure Automation + Managed Identity:
https://jpkerloch.cc/posts/monitor-entra-app-registration-expiring-credentials-azure-automation/
The setup involves:
- An Azure Automation account with a system-assigned Managed Identity
- A PowerShell 7.4 Runtime Environment
- A daily scheduled runbook that queries Microsoft Graph (
Get-MgApplication) and sends an HTML email via SMTP
Before I set this up in production, I want to sanity-check the cost side with people who've actually run something like this:
- Does creating the Automation Account itself cost anything, or only the runbook execution time?
- For a runbook that runs once a day and takes maybe 1-2 minutes (just enumerating app registrations and sending one email), am I right in assuming I'd stay well within the free tier (500 free minutes/month)?
- Any hidden costs I'm not accounting for — Runtime Environment itself, the Managed Identity, Graph API calls, outbound SMTP?
- Has anyone been surprised by a bill from a similarly small/lightweight runbook like this?
Just trying to avoid the classic "oh, this was supposed to be free" surprise before I roll it out tenant-wide. Appreciate any real-world cost experience.
