Get an Event Hubs connection string

To communicate with an event hub in a namespace, you need a connection string for the namespace or the event hub. If you use a connection string to the namespace from your application, the application will have the provided access (manage, read, or write) to all event hubs in the namespace. If you use a connection string to the event hub, you will have the provided access to that specific event hub.

The connection string for a namespace has the following components embedded within it,

  • Fully qualified domain name of the Event Hubs namespace you created (it includes the Event Hubs namespace name followed by servicebus.windows.net)
  • Name of the shared access key
  • Value of the shared access key

The connection string for a namespace looks like:

Endpoint=sb://<NamespaceName>.servicebus.windows.net/;SharedAccessKeyName=<KeyName>;SharedAccessKey=<KeyValue>

The connection string for an event hub has an additional component in it. That's, EntityPath=<EventHubName>.

Endpoint=sb://<NamespaceName>.servicebus.windows.net/;SharedAccessKeyName=<KeyName>;SharedAccessKey=<KeyValue>;EntityPath=<EventHubName>

This article shows you how to get a connection string to a namespace or a specific event hub by using the Azure portal, PowerShell, or CLI.

Azure portal

Connection string for a namespace

  1. Sign in to Azure portal.

  2. Select All services on the left navigational menu.

  3. Select Event Hubs in the Analytics section.

  4. In the list of event hubs, select your event hub.

  5. On the Event Hubs Namespace page, select Shared Access Policies on the left menu.

  6. Select a shared access policy in the list of policies. The default one is named: RootManageSharedAccessPolicy. You can add a policy with appropriate permissions (send, listen), and use that policy.

    Event Hubs shared access policies

  7. Select the copy button next to the Connection string-primary key field.

    Event Hubs - get connection string

Connection string for a specific event hub in a namespace

This section gives you steps for getting a connection string to a specific event hub in a namespace.

  1. On the Event Hubs Namespace page, select the event hub in the bottom pane.

  2. On the Event Hubs instance page, select Shared access policies on the left menu.

  3. There's no default policy created for an event hub. Create a policy with Manage, Send, or Listen access.

  4. Select the policy from the list.

  5. Select the copy button next to the Connection string-primary key field.

    Connection string to a specific event hub.

Azure PowerShell

You can use the Get-AzEventHubKey to get the connection string for the specific policy/rule.

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for a namespace. MyAuthRuleName is the name of the shared access policy. For a namespace, there's a default one: RootManageSharedAccessKey.

Get-AzEventHubKey -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroupName -NamespaceName MyNamespaceName -AuthorizationRuleName MyAuthRuleName

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for a specific event hub within a namespace:

Get-AzEventHubKey -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroupName -NamespaceName MyNamespaceName -EventHubName MyEventHubName -AuthorizationRuleName MyAuthRuleName

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for an event hub in a Geo-DR cluster, which has an alias.

Get-AzEventHubKey -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroupName -NamespaceName MyNamespaceName -EventHubName MyEventHubName -AliasName MyAliasName -Name MyAuthRuleName

Azure CLI

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for a namespace. MyAuthRuleName is the name of the shared access policy. For a namespace, there's a default one: RootManageSharedAccessKey

az eventhubs namespace authorization-rule keys list --resource-group MyResourceGroupName --namespace-name MyNamespaceName --name RootManageSharedAccessKey

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for a specific event hub within a namespace:

az eventhubs eventhub authorization-rule keys list --resource-group MyResourceGroupName --namespace-name MyNamespaceName --eventhub-name MyEventHubName --name MyAuthRuleName

Here's a sample command to get the connection string for an event hub in a Geo-DR cluster, which has an alias.

az eventhubs georecovery-alias authorization-rule keys list --resource-group MyResourceGroupName --namespace-name MyNamespaceName --eventhub-name MyEventHubName --alias-name MyAliasName --name MyAuthRuleName

For more information about Azure CLI commands for Event Hubs, see Azure CLI for Event Hubs.

Next steps

You can learn more about Event Hubs by visiting the following links: