OAuth2 & Azure AD Step-by-Step Secure Login, JWT, APIs

What you'll learn
Understand OAuth2 completely, including its core concepts, grant types, and how it powers modern authentication.
Learn how JWT tokens work, how they are structured, validated, and used inside Azure AD authentication flows.
Understand Azure AD tenants and learn how to manage users, apps, and groups with practical demos.
Configure Azure AD authentication for ASP.NET Core web applications and debug the full login flow.
Work with user claims and optional claims to customize the information included in JWT tokens.
Understand authentication vs authorization and implement role-based access control using Azure AD roles.
Secure ASP.NET Core Web APIs using Azure AD authentication and learn how API token validation works.
Implement service-to-service (machine-to-machine) API authentication and generate tokens to call APIs from Postman.
Requirements
Basic understanding of C# or .NET is helpful but not mandatory.
Familiarity with Visual Studio or any C# development environment is recommended.
A free Microsoft Azure account is required to configure Azure AD.
Basic understanding of web applications or APIs is useful but not required.
No previous experience with OAuth2, JWT, or Azure AD is needed; everything is explained step-by-step.
Description
This course is designed to give you a complete and practical understanding of OAuth2, JWT, and Azure Active Directory authentication, starting from the simplest foundational concepts and gradually moving toward real-world implementations. Whether you are a beginner who has never worked with authentication before, or a developer looking to strengthen your understanding of secure login flows and API protection, this course will walk you through every step using clear explanations and hands-on demos.Modern applications depend heavily on secure identity and access management. Azure Active Directory and OAuth2 provide industry-standard authentication and authorization mechanisms for web applications, APIs, and service-to-service communication. However, these topics can often feel complicated and confusing. In this course, everything is explained in simple words and demonstrated with real projects so you can confidently apply what you learn in your own applications.You will begin by learning the fundamentals: what OAuth2 is, how it works, and why it is used. You will then explore JWT tokens in detail, understanding how they are generated, what they contain, and how they are validated. From there, you will learn how Azure AD tenants work, how identity objects are created, and how users, apps, and groups are managed.Once the foundational concepts are clear, the course transitions into hands-on implementation using ASP.NET Core. You will build a full web application in Visual Studio, configure Azure AD authentication, and debug the login flow to inspect the JWT token and user claims. You will also learn how optional claims work and how to add additional information to tokens.A major focus of this course is the difference between authentication and authorization, including how role-based access control works in Azure AD. You will not only learn the steps involved in enabling roles but also implement role-based authorization inside your ASP.NET Core application.You will then move into Web API authentication. The course covers how OAuth2 protects APIs, how access tokens are validated, and how Azure AD integrates with backend services. You will create an ASP.NET Core Web API project, configure Azure AD authentication for APIs, and generate JWT tokens for calling APIs from tools like Postman.Finally, the course covers service-to-service authentication, also known as machine-to-machine API calls. You will learn what service-to-service authentication is, why it is needed, and how it works in Azure AD. You will create a dedicated project for service-to-service API authentication, configure Azure AD protection, generate the necessary tokens, and call the secured API in a real-world scenario.Throughout the course, every concept is followed by a demo, and every demo is explained step-by-step. The goal is not only to teach you how to set up Azure AD authentication but also to ensure that you understand what is happening behind the scenes and why each step is required.Content OverviewBelow is a structured explanation of what you will learn in each section of the course:• Understanding OAuth2You will learn what OAuth2 is, why it exists, and how it solves modern authentication challenges. Everything is explained in simple words before moving into technical implementation.• Understanding JWT TokensYou will explore what JWT tokens are, how they are structured, and how they are used within OAuth2 and Azure AD authentication.• Azure AD TenantsYou will learn what a tenant is, how it represents an organization, and how identity objects such as users, apps and groups are managed. This is followed by a hands-on demo of creating users, adding applications, and assigning groups.• Creating an ASP.NET Core Web App with Azure AD AuthenticationYou will build a complete ASP.NET Core MVC app in Visual Studio and configure Azure AD login. Then you will debug the login request and inspect the JWT token to understand how authentication works in practice.• Understanding User Claims and Optional ClaimsYou will analyze user claims returned by Azure AD, view them in C#, and configure optional claims to enrich the information inside JWT tokens.• Authentication vs AuthorizationYou will clearly understand the difference between authentication and authorization with real examples.• Implementing Role-Based AuthorizationYou will learn the steps needed to enable roles in Azure AD and implement role-based access inside an ASP.NET Core application.• Web API Authentication with Azure ADYou will study how API authentication works and then build a Web API project in Visual Studio. You will configure Azure AD authentication for APIs and understand how token validation works.• Generating JWT Tokens for APIsYou will learn how to generate tokens for Web APIs, understand the underlying concept, and call your API from Postman.• Service-to-Service (Machine-to-Machine) API AuthenticationYou will learn what service-to-service authentication is, why it is needed, and how it works using Azure AD. You will build a project for service-to-service authentication, configure Azure AD, generate tokens, and test API calls from Postman.
Who this course is for
Developers who want to learn OAuth2, JWT, and Azure AD from the ground up.
ASP.NET Core developers who want to secure their web applications and APIs.
Students or beginners who want to understand authentication and authorization in simple terms.
Professionals preparing for cloud, identity, or Azure-related job roles.
Developers working on projects that require secure login, token-based authentication, or role-based access.
Anyone who wants practical, step-by-step guidance on securing applications with Azure AD.
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