In a recent blogpost, Protecting Microsoft 365 from on-premises attacks, it is recommended to not federate (which I have been recommending for years) and not to synchronize accounts with privileged access to Azure AD and Microsoft 365. This post contains a few script to help you determine synchronized accounts with privileged access to Azure AD.
Continue reading “Finding synced accounts with Azure AD privileges”Accessing the backend Azure AD APIs behind portal.azure.com
There are many features that are currently “UI only” with Azure AD, managed through the Azure Portal. However, some times it can be useful to being able to access these things through scripts, such as for auditing or whatever.
Behind the Azure Portal, there are several APIs that are public facing, but undocumented and not meant for being used directly. Follow this guide with caution, as there is things that can go wrong if you start posting or patching to these APIs.
Continue reading “Accessing the backend Azure AD APIs behind portal.azure.com”Reporting signin methods registered in your Azure AD
Azure AD contains several different means of signing in; password, mobile phone, fido2 keys etc., but how are your users using these options? Here is a script for reporting statistics for exactly that.
Continue reading “Reporting signin methods registered in your Azure AD”Terraform – Specifying parameters to azurerm_resource_group_template_deployment
Here is a quick example on how to provide parameters to azurerm_resource_group_template_deployment, as the documentation is currently very poor.
Here is a quick main.tf:
variable "location" { default = "westeurope" type = string description = "The Azure location where all resources in this example should be created" } provider "azurerm" { features {} } data "azurerm_client_config" "current" {} data "azurerm_subscription" "current" {} resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" { name = "testResourceGroup1" location = var.location } resource "azurerm_resource_group_template_deployment" "example" { name = "testLogicApp1" resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name deployment_mode = "Complete" template_content = file("logicapp.json") parameters_content = jsonencode({ azure_location = {value = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location} name = {value = "testLogicApp1"} azure_function_code = {value = "testtesttest"} }) }
As you can see, the parameters_content is converted from a Terraform object to JSON using jsonencode, and all values must be provided like you would define parameters using az deployment, with “value=xx”.
And this is my ARM template for the LogicApp:
{ "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "azure_location": { "defaultValue": "westeurope", "type": "string" }, "name": { "type": "String" }, "azure_function_code": { "type": "String" } }, "variables": { }, "outputs": { "principalId": { "type": "string", "value": "[reference(concat(resourceId('Microsoft.Logic/workflows', parameters('name')), '/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/Identities/default'), '2018-11-30').principalId]" }, "tenantid": { "type": "string", "value": "[reference(concat(resourceId('Microsoft.Logic/workflows', parameters('name')), '/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/Identities/default'), '2018-11-30').tenantid]" }, "resourceId": { "type": "string", "value": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Logic/workflows', parameters('name'))]" } }, "resources": [ { "type": "Microsoft.Logic/workflows", "apiVersion": "2017-07-01", "name": "[parameters('name')]", "location": "[parameters('azure_location')]", "identity": { "type": "SystemAssigned" }, "dependsOn": [ ], "resources": [], "properties": { "state": "Enabled", "definition": { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/providers/Microsoft.Logic/schemas/2016-06-01/workflowdefinition.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "azurefunctioncode": { "defaultValue": "[parameters('azure_function_code')]", "type": "String" } }, "triggers": { "Recurrence": { "recurrence": { "frequency": "Day", "interval": 1, "schedule": { "hours": [ "2" ], "minutes": [ 5 ] } }, "type": "Recurrence" } }, "actions": { }, "outputs": {} } } } ] }
A look behind the Azure AD “Permission classifications” preview
For a long time, Azure AD has been criticized for having a too liberal approach to user consents by default, with users being able to delegate things like “Mail.ReadWrite” allowing apps to send and receive emails, as well as reading any existing emails, and “User.ReadBasic.All” allowing your users to consent to third party applications reading ALL of your users basic profiles. Combine this with the “offline_access” scope, where the 3rd party apps can essentially retain access after the user has logged out of the app, this soon becomes a bit of a nightmare.
Continue reading “A look behind the Azure AD “Permission classifications” preview”Importing users to Azure AD B2C rapidly using the batch endpoint
Just migrated in total 4 million accounts to Azure AD B2C, and that required a few tricks in order to manage in time. The batch endpoint helped out nicely, and here is a quick a easy module you can use.
Continue reading “Importing users to Azure AD B2C rapidly using the batch endpoint”Using Azure AD Privileged Identity Management with Active Directory roles (such as domain admin)

I just put my Azure AD Group Writeback Script on Github, and figured it was time to do something I know many have requested from Microsoft to deliver, but that is still missing; Using Azure AD Privileged Identity Management to control access to Active Directory built-in groups such as Domain Admin, Schema Admin and Enterprise Admin.
Continue reading “Using Azure AD Privileged Identity Management with Active Directory roles (such as domain admin)”Easiest ways to get an access token to the Microsoft Graph
I very often work with PowerShell, needing to access the Microsoft Graph, and require an access token. Here are my favorite ways to get an access token without needing to create app registrations in Azure AD.
Continue reading “Easiest ways to get an access token to the Microsoft Graph”Azure AD – Consenting to an application with script (using Graph)
Some times I need to consent to an application using a script, rather than having an administrator consenting to an application in the Azure Portal. This is perfectly possible, but the documentation does not really scream “here is how to do it” and “I am tagged with the correct meta data so you can actually find me”.
Continue reading “Azure AD – Consenting to an application with script (using Graph)”Managing Azure AD Roles using Entitlement Management

The new option in Azure AD, allowing Azure AD Roles to be assigned to groups is very useful, and can be managed using Entitlement Management, for more extensive governance. No magic required.
Continue reading “Managing Azure AD Roles using Entitlement Management”