Automating with PowerShell: Faster Exchange PowerShell commands

Kelvin Tegelaar | 06 Jul, 2021 | 2 Mins Read

We’ve had the ExchangeOnlineManagement PowerShell module for some time now. This module is the faster and better method of managing Exchange Online via PowerShell – It just has some downsides right now for most Microsoft Partners.

The PowerShell module does not support the Secure Application Model, a security model that all Microsoft partners have had to adopt to retain their partnership. the Secure Application Model is SPN based authentication and allows partners to connect to all their tenants using the same SPN – This is of course super convenient. Unfortunately it’s not a priority at Microsoft to make the ExchangeOnlineManagement PowerShell module compatible with the Secure Application Model.

This has led me to reverse engineer the module specifically to create Secure Application Model support, and get access to those faster cmdlets. For this I’ve created the module ExchangeOnlineManagement.SAM, where SAM stands for Secure Application Model.

This module has all the faster cmdlets, and connects to client tenants using the SAM. Of course, the standard limitations still are in play for Microsoft Partners.

Using the module

This module has been published to the PowerShell Gallery. Use the following command to install the module:

 install-module ExchangeOnlineManagement.SAM

You can use the following command line to connect to Exchange Online using the Secure Application Model:

Connect-ExchangeOnline -DelegatedOrganization "Delegate.onmicrosoft.com" -ExchangeRefreshToken "YourVerylongRefreshToken" -UPN "A-Valid-UPN"

If you’re new to the module, you can add “ShowBanner” as follows to see exactly which cmdlets have faster and more reliable alternatives;

Connect-ExchangeOnline -DelegatedOrganization "Delegate.onmicrosoft.com" -ExchangeRefreshToken "YourVerylongRefreshToken" -UPN "A-Valid-UPN" -ShowBanner

And that’s it! any more help file I’ll publish on the github page here. I hope you all enjoy, and happy PowerShelling!

ps: Remember to join the CyberDrainCTF if you wanna prove you are the best sysadmin in the world.

CyberDrain CTF returns! (and so do I!)

It’s been since september that I actually picked up a digital pen equivalent and wrote anything down. This was due to me being busy with life but also my side projects like CIPP. I’m trying to get back into the game of scripting and blogging about these scripts. There’s still so much to automate and so little time, right? ;)

Intro

This is a monitoring script requested via Reddit, One of the reddit r/msp users wondered how they can monitor Acronis a little bit easier. I jumped on this because it happened pretty much at the same time that I was asked to speak at the Acronis CyberSummit so it kinda made sense to script this so I have something to demonstrate at my session there.

Intro

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve just been so swamped with CIPP that I’ve just let the blogging go entirely. It’s a shame because I think out of all my hobbies it’s one I enjoy the most. It’s always nice helping others achieve their scripting target. I even got a couple of LinkedIn questions asking if I was done with blogging but I’m not. Writing always gives me some more piece of mind so I’ll try to catch up again. I know I’ve said that before but this time I’ll follow through. I’m sitting down right now and scheduling the release of 5 blogs in one go. No more whining and no more waiting.