Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) – Backup and Restore Resources

Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) does not have built in backup and restore capability at the moment. To quickly achieve this capability you can use the following resources and samples:

ACS Management PowerShell Cmdlets

Here you can fine outline of what’s available and what you can do with ACS Management - Manage Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) With PowerShell. Using the PowerShell cmdlets you can manipulate IdP’s, RP’s, rules, rule groups, and keys. Make sure to go over the license before you use the cmdlets with your production environments.

KeyManagement Code Sample

KeyManagement is a code sample inside ACS Code Sample package  that is not listed neither on MSDN ACS Code Samples Index nor on Codeplex Samples pages but it is a gold nugget. Here is what it can do [from the comments in the code]

// This sample will demonstrate how to:
// Import IDP and RP metadata to Access Control Service using the management service.
// Emulating a metadata change on the IDP or RP, update Access Control Service using the management service and
// Windows Identity Foundation to parse and extract the keys to be updated.
// Note: This sample requires Windows Identity Foundation to be installed.

Have fun and remember to back up your ACS configuration. It is in the cloud… things happen up there, eh?