Follow the steps below to enable detailed billing export on Microsoft Azure—a prerequisite for ingesting Azure data into Pelanor.
These instructions reference the classic exports experience.
If you use the improved exports experience, the UI differs slightly—select CSV, not Parquet. Pelanor currently supports CSV only.

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Access Control

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1. Create a Service Principal

1

Register a new application

  1. Sign in to the Azure Portal.
  2. Go to Azure Active Directory → App registrations → New registration.
  3. Enter Pelanor Service Principal for the app name and click Register.
2

Save identifiers

Copy the Application (Client) ID and Directory (Tenant) ID for later.

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2. Set Up Password Authentication

1

Create a secret

  1. In the service principal’s page, open Certificates & Secrets.
  2. Click New client secret.
  3. Add a description (e.g., Pelanor Integration Key) and select an expiry period.
2

Copy secret value

Click Add and immediately copy the Value.

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3. Grant Recommendation Permissions

This step is only required for displaying Azure Opportunities (optimization recommendations) within the Pelanor platform.
Assign the following built‑in roles at the subscription scope to the Pelanor service principal.
1

Open Access Control (IAM)

  1. In the Azure Portal, navigate to Subscriptions and select the target subscription.
  2. Click Access Control (IAM).
2

Assign Advisor Recommendations Contributor

  1. Click Add → Add role assignment.
  2. In the Role tab, search for Advisor Recommendations Contributor (Assessments and Reviews), select it, and click Next.
  3. Under Members, choose Select members, pick the Pelanor Service Principal, then Review + assign.
3

Assign Compute Recommendations Role

  1. Repeat the previous step, but this time select Compute Recommendations Role.
  2. Select the Pelanor principal again and Review + assign.

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Storage Setup

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1. Create or Modify a Storage Account

1

Create a new storage account

  1. Go to Storage Accounts → Create in the Azure Portal.
  2. Select your subscription and provide a unique Storage Account Name.
  3. Click Create.
Save the Storage Account Name for later.

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2. Grant Access to the Pelanor Service Principal

1

Assign the Storage Blob Data Reader role

  1. Open the storage account and go to Access Control (IAM).
  2. Click Add → Add role assignment.
  3. Select the role Storage Blob Data Reader.
2

Select the Pelanor principal

  1. Under Members, click Select members and find the Pelanor Service Principal.
  2. Click Review + assign to finalize.

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Billing Export Setup

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1. Create Billing Exports

1

Create two daily exports

  1. Navigate to Cost Management + Billing → Exports.
  2. Create two daily exports:
    • Actual Cost
    • Amortized Cost
2

Configure file format and paths

  1. In the export configuration wizard:
    • File format → CSV (update if default is Parquet)
    • Enter Container Name, Subscription ID, Directory Path, and Export Name
Ensure CSV is selected. Parquet is not supported by Pelanor at this time.

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2. Register the Integration in Pelanor

1

Open Pelanor Integrations

Go to Integrations → Add Integration → Azure in Pelanor.
2

Enter authentication and storage details

Provide the following:
  • Application (Client) ID
  • Directory (Tenant) ID
  • Client Secret
  • Storage Account Name
  • Container Name, Subscription ID, Directory Path, Export Name
3

Save the integration

Click Save to complete setup.
It may take several hours for initial data to appear.
Billing data for the current and previous month may take up to 24–48 hours to fully propagate.