DefaultAzureCredential failed to retrieve a token when starting a Sitefinity Cloud-derived project outside Sitefinity Cloud

If a Sitefinity Cloud-derived project runs off-cloud and DefaultAzureCredential fails at startup, remove AzureProvider and restore Sitefinity.lic.

Sep 4, 2026
Knowledge

Title

URL Name

DefaultAzureCredential-failed-to-retrieve-a-token-when-starting-a-Sitefinity-Cloud-derived-project-outside-Sitefinity-Cloud

Article Number

000305245

Environment

Product: Sitefinity Version: 13.3, 14.4, 15.x OS: All supported OS versions Database: All supported Microsoft SQL Server versions

Question/Problem Description

When a Sitefinity project that was prepared for Sitefinity Cloud is started outside Progress-managed Sitefinity Cloud infrastructure, the application may fail during initialization with a DefaultAzureCredential authentication error.

This scenario applies to Sitefinity Cloud-derived projects that are being run:

On a local development machine
On customer-managed Azure resources such as App Service, VM, or container
In any other non-Sitefinity-Cloud hosting environment

In these environments, the project may still contain Azure Key Vault-based licensing configuration in App_Data/Sitefinity/Configuration/SystemConfig.config. During bootstrap, Sitefinity attempts to retrieve the license through the Azure provider. If the hosting environment does not provide a usable Azure identity, initialization fails before the application can fall back to normal startup.

This article is specifically for off-platform execution of a Sitefinity Cloud-derived CMS project.

Do not use this article for genuine Progress-managed Sitefinity Cloud environments. In Sitefinity Cloud, the opposite remediation may be required depending on the scenario.

Steps to Reproduce

Clarifying Information

Error Message

Typical error: DefaultAzureCredential failed to retrieve a token from the included credentials. See the troubleshooting guide for more information. https://aka.ms/azsdk/net/identity/defaultazurecredential/troubleshoot EnvironmentCredential authentication unavailable. Environment variables are not fully configured. See the troubleshooting guide for more information. https://aka.ms/azsdk/net/identity/environmentcredential/troubleshoot WorkloadIdentityCredential authentication unavailable. The workload options are not fully configured. ManagedIdentityCredential authentication unavailable. No response received from the managed identity endpoint. Common startup context: Initialization failed System is initializing... Associated stack path that may appear in the log or error page: at Progress.Sitefinity.AzureLicenseVault.KeyVaultLicenseProvider.GetLicenseFromKeyVault(Int32 timeout) at Progress.Sitefinity.AzureLicenseVault.Initializer.ObjectFactory_RegisteredIoCTypes(Object sender, EventArgs e) at Telerik.Sitefinity.Abstractions.ObjectFactory.OnRegisteredIoCTypes(Object sender, EventArgs args) at Telerik.Sitefinity.Abstractions.Bootstrapper.Bootstrap() at Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.SitefinityHttpModule.<BootstrapAsync>b__4_0(Object ctx)

Defect Number

Enhancement Number

Cause

The project is configured to use the Sitefinity Cloud Azure Key Vault license provider, but it is running in an environment that does not provide a usable Azure identity for that provider.

Because of that:

DefaultAzureCredential cannot obtain a token
The Azure Key Vault license retrieval fails during bootstrap
Sitefinity initialization stops before the application starts normally

A second contributing factor is that Sitefinity Cloud project preparation typically removes the standard Sitefinity.lic file and replaces it with the cloud-specific licensing flow. As a result, after the Azure provider is disabled, the project still needs a valid standard license file to start successfully.

Resolution

Important:
Apply this resolution only when the Sitefinity project is running outside genuine Progress-managed Sitefinity Cloud infrastructure.

If the site is running on real Sitefinity Cloud and the failure happens during deployment or warmup, do not remove the Azure provider. See the related articles in the notes section.

Resolution steps:

Open App_Data/Sitefinity/Configuration/SystemConfig.config.

Locate the licensing section that configures the Azure Key Vault license provider. It looks similar to this:

<licensing defaultLicenseProvider="AzureProvider">
  <licenseProviders>
    <add providerType="Progress.Sitefinity.AzureLicenseVault.KeyVaultLicenseProvider, Progress.Sitefinity.AzureLicenseVault"
         clientId="..." clientSecret="..." azureTenant="..." keyVaultUrl="..." name="AzureProvider" />
  </licenseProviders>
</licensing>

Remove the entire licensing block that registers the Azure provider.
Save the configuration file.
Place a standard Sitefinity license file at:

~/App_Data/Sitefinity/Sitefinity.lic

Restart the application or recycle the application pool.
Browse the site again and confirm that initialization completes successfully.

Expected result:
Sitefinity uses the standard file-based license provider and reads the license from ~/App_Data/Sitefinity/Sitefinity.lic.

Additional guidance:
Removing only the defaultLicenseProvider attribute is not the preferred fix. Remove the entire Azure licensing block so the Azure Key Vault license provider is no longer configured for this off-cloud scenario.

Workaround

Notes

Keyword Phrase

Last Modified Date

9/4/2026 11:32 AM

DefaultAzureCredential failed to retrieve a token when starting a Sitefinity Cloud-derived project outside Sitefinity Cloud

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