This is a quick and dirty blog, as I am quite busy editing our PowerShell Functions to use the secure app model before the deadline of august first.

Microsoft has announced that any Microsoft partner will need to start enforcing MFA on all accounts. This means you can no longer have an exclusion for accounts that run PowerShell scripts, or even use whitelisting. To learn more about this, I’d suggest to check out the Microsoft announcement here.

Because I know a lot of MSP’s and other service providers that will see this a major issue, I’ve hacked together a couple of quick scripts that can help you start using the new authentication model as easy as you are currently using credentials.

By running the script below. You will get 3 parts of the new credential object: the clientID, the ClientSecret, and the refresh token. you can use these to log into any of the Secure App Model endpoints. Save the script below and run it as follows:

Create-AzureADApplication.ps1 -ConfigurePreconsent -DisplayName "Partner Center Web App"

This script is originally from the Microsoft support center for partners which you can find here. I just combined the scripts to make sure you only have to enter your credentials twice: once to log into Azure and create the app, and the second time to log in with a user that will be used as the API service account.

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
        This script will create the require Azure AD application.
    .EXAMPLE
        .\Create-AzureADApplication.ps1 -ConfigurePreconsent -DisplayName "Partner Center Web App"

        .\Create-AzureADApplication.ps1 -ConfigurePreconsent -DisplayName "Partner Center Web App" -TenantId eb210c1e-b697-4c06-b4e3-8b104c226b9a

        .\Create-AzureADApplication.ps1 -ConfigurePreconsent -DisplayName "Partner Center Web App" -TenantId tenant01.onmicrosoft.com
    .PARAMETER ConfigurePreconsent
        Flag indicating whether or not the Azure AD application should be configured for preconsent.
    .PARAMETER DisplayName
        Display name for the Azure AD application that will be created.
    .PARAMETER TenantId
        [OPTIONAL] The domain or tenant identifier for the Azure AD tenant that should be utilized to create the various resources.
#>

Param
(
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [switch]$ConfigurePreconsent,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [string]$DisplayName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    [string]$TenantId
)

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

# Check if the Azure AD PowerShell module has already been loaded.
if ( ! ( Get-Module AzureAD ) ) {
    # Check if the Azure AD PowerShell module is installed.
    if ( Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name AzureAD ) {
        # The Azure AD PowerShell module is not load and it is installed. This module
        # must be loaded for other operations performed by this script.
        Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Loading the Azure AD PowerShell module..."
        Import-Module AzureAD
    } else {
        Install-Module AzureAD
    }
}

try {
    Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "When prompted please enter the appropriate credentials..."

    if([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($TenantId)) {
        Connect-AzureAD | Out-Null

        $TenantId = $(Get-AzureADTenantDetail).ObjectId
    } else {
        Connect-AzureAD -TenantId $TenantId | Out-Null
    }
} catch [Microsoft.Azure.Common.Authentication.AadAuthenticationCanceledException] {
    # The authentication attempt was canceled by the end-user. Execution of the script should be halted.
    Write-Host -ForegroundColor Yellow "The authentication attempt was canceled. Execution of the script will be halted..."
    Exit
} catch {
    # An unexpected error has occurred. The end-user should be notified so that the appropriate action can be taken.
    Write-Error "An unexpected error has occurred. Please review the following error message and try again." `
        "$($Error[0].Exception)"
}

$adAppAccess = [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RequiredResourceAccess]@{
    ResourceAppId = "00000002-0000-0000-c000-000000000000";
    ResourceAccess =
    [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
        Id = "5778995a-e1bf-45b8-affa-663a9f3f4d04";
        Type = "Role"},
    [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
        Id = "a42657d6-7f20-40e3-b6f0-cee03008a62a";
        Type = "Scope"},
    [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
        Id = "311a71cc-e848-46a1-bdf8-97ff7156d8e6";
        Type = "Scope"}
}

$graphAppAccess = [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RequiredResourceAccess]@{
    ResourceAppId = "00000003-0000-0000-c000-000000000000";
    ResourceAccess =
        [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
            Id = "bf394140-e372-4bf9-a898-299cfc7564e5";
            Type = "Role"},
        [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
            Id = "7ab1d382-f21e-4acd-a863-ba3e13f7da61";
            Type = "Role"}
}

$partnerCenterAppAccess = [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RequiredResourceAccess]@{
    ResourceAppId = "fa3d9a0c-3fb0-42cc-9193-47c7ecd2edbd";
    ResourceAccess =
        [Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.ResourceAccess]@{
            Id = "1cebfa2a-fb4d-419e-b5f9-839b4383e05a";
            Type = "Scope"}
}

$SessionInfo = Get-AzureADCurrentSessionInfo

Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Creating the Azure AD application and related resources..."

$app = New-AzureADApplication -AvailableToOtherTenants $true -DisplayName $DisplayName -IdentifierUris "https://$($SessionInfo.TenantDomain)/$((New-Guid).ToString())" -RequiredResourceAccess $adAppAccess, $graphAppAccess, $partnerCenterAppAccess -ReplyUrls @("urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob")
$password = New-AzureADApplicationPasswordCredential -ObjectId $app.ObjectId
$spn = New-AzureADServicePrincipal -AppId $app.AppId -DisplayName $DisplayName

if($ConfigurePreconsent) {
    $adminAgentsGroup = Get-AzureADGroup -Filter "DisplayName eq 'AdminAgents'"
    Add-AzureADGroupMember -ObjectId $adminAgentsGroup.ObjectId -RefObjectId $spn.ObjectId
}
write-host "Installing PartnerCenter Module." -ForegroundColor Green
install-module PartnerCenter -Force

write-host "Please approve consent form." -ForegroundColor Green
$PasswordToSecureString = $password.value | ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force
$credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($($app.AppId),$PasswordToSecureString)
$TenantNameOrID = read-host "Please enter your tenantID or tenantname(e.g. Tenant.onmicrosoft.com)"
$token = New-PartnerAccessToken -Consent -Credential $credential -Resource https://api.partnercenter.microsoft.com -TenantId $TenantNameOrID

Write-Host "================ Secrets ================"
Write-Host "ApplicationId       = $($app.AppId)"
Write-Host "ApplicationSecret   = $($password.Value)"
write-host "RefreshToken        = $($token.refreshtoken)"
Write-Host "================ Secrets ================"
Write-Host "    SAVE THESE IN A SECURE LOCATION     "

To use the tokens in your scripts, use the Application ID as the username, the Application secret as the password, and the RefreshToken as the refreshtoken value requested by the modules.

$credential = Get-Credential
$refreshToken = 'Your-Refresh-Token-Value'

$aadGraphToken = New-PartnerAccessToken -RefreshToken $refreshToken -Resource https://graph.windows.net -Credential $credential
$graphToken =  New-PartnerAccessToken -RefreshToken $refreshToken -Resource https://graph.microsoft.com -Credential $credential

Connect-MsolService -AdGraphAccessToken $aadGraphToken.AccessToken -MsGraphAccessToken $graphToken.AccessToken

Update

There has been a small update: Microsoft has advised the following workaround for the Microsoft Exchange Module. This workaround creates a user that is excluded from all baselines policies as long as no interactive logon with the account is performed. For more information check this url

Import-Module AzureAD
Connect-AzureAD
$PasswordProfile = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.PasswordProfile
$PasswordProfile.Password = "Password"
$PasswordProfile.ForceChangePasswordNextLogin = $false
$user = New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "New User" -PasswordProfile $PasswordProfile -UserPrincipalName "NewUser@contoso.com" -AccountEnabled $true
$adminAgentsGroup = Get-AzureADGroup -Filter "DisplayName eq 'AdminAgents'"
Add-AzureADGroupMember -ObjectId $adminAgentsGroup.ObjectId -RefObjectId $user.ObjectId

Please note that this is a workaround that should only be used for Exchange Access.

As a MSP we tend to take over a lot of Microsoft tenants which therefore do not have their state of security in order. To make sure that we always use MFA for administration purposes we have an Azure Function running that deploys MFA for our administrator accounts. We do this by using our central phone number. That way MFA is always configured and we notice when an admin is trying to log in. We tend to use our delegated access as the normal administration purpose but some tasks require a local admin account in the customer’s portal.

We currently have the following running as an Azure Function. I’ve edited the script to allow anyone to run this directly. If you need help converting this to an Azure Function please see my other blog here.

The great thing about this script is that we completely negate the need for our helpdesk to configure MFA for the admin accounts. The script makes sure that MFA is completely prepared for them all.

Script breakdown

In the first part of the script we set our phone numbers, connect to the MSOLService and get all the Microsoft Partner Contracts we have permissions on

$MobileNumber = "+31611111111"
$AltNumber = "+31010101010"
Connect-MsolService
$ClientList = get-msolpartnerContract -All

Now that $ClientList contains all our clients we loop trough these to get all of our admin accounts.

foreach($Client in $ClientList){
$adminemails = Get-MsolRoleMember -TenantId $Client.tenantid -RoleObjectId (Get-MsolRole -RoleName "Company Administrator").ObjectId
$admins = $adminemails | get-msoluser -TenantId $client.tenantid

Now that we have our admin accounts in $Admins the next step is to create two objects – One for the Strong Authentication Requirements and another for the Strong Authentication Method.

$AuthReq = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Online.Administration.StrongAuthenticationRequirement
$AuthReq.RelyingParty = "*"
$AuthReq.State = "Enabled"
$AuthReq.RememberDevicesNotIssuedBefore = (Get-Date)
$AuthMethod = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Online.Administration.StrongAuthenticationMethod
$AuthMethod.MethodType = "TwoWayVoiceMobile"
$AuthMethod.IsDefault = $true
$AuthMethodObj = @($AuthMethod)

This makes sure that the user is completely pre-provisioned and does not need to go through the entire process of activating MFA first, which saves us valuable time. To finalize we run a for-each loop which enables all found Admin accounts with Multi Factor Authentication. It also sets the phone numbers to the ones we’ve entered as variables above.

foreach ($admin in $admins | Where-Object {$_.StrongAuthenticationMethods -eq $Null}) {
        Write-Host "Enabling MFA for $($admin.userprincipalname)" -ForegroundColor Green
        Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName $admin.userprincipalname -StrongAuthenticationRequirements $AuthReq -StrongAuthenticationMethods $AuthMethodObj -TenantId $admin.tenantid  -MobilePhone $MobileNumber -AlternateMobilePhones $AltNumber
    }
}

And thats it! as a result the clients Secure Score will increase by about 50 points. Awesome! The complete script will look like this

Final Script

$MobileNumber = "+31611111111"
$AltNumber = "+31010101010"
Connect-MsolService
$ClientList = get-msolpartnerContract -All

foreach($Client in $ClientList){
$adminemails = Get-MsolRoleMember -TenantId $Client.tenantid -RoleObjectId (Get-MsolRole -RoleName "Company Administrator").ObjectId
$admins = $adminemails | get-msoluser -TenantId $client.tenantid
$AuthReq = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Online.Administration.StrongAuthenticationRequirement
$AuthReq.RelyingParty = "*"
$AuthReq.State = "Enabled"
$AuthReq.RememberDevicesNotIssuedBefore = (Get-Date)
$AuthMethod = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Online.Administration.StrongAuthenticationMethod
$AuthMethod.MethodType = "TwoWayVoiceMobile"
$AuthMethod.IsDefault = $true
$AuthMethodObj = @($AuthMethod)
foreach ($admin in $admins | Where-Object {$_.StrongAuthenticationMethods -eq $Null}) {
        Write-Host "Enabling MFA for $($admin.userprincipalname)" -ForegroundColor Green
        Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName $admin.userprincipalname -StrongAuthenticationRequirements $AuthReq -StrongAuthenticationMethods $AuthMethodObj -TenantId $admin.tenantid  -MobilePhone $MobileNumber -AlternateMobilePhones $AltNumber
    }
}

Tada! as always, be careful, and happy PowerShelling!

I often use scripts that uses cmdlets from different modules so I can use all sorts of data sets when handling my Office365 administration tasks. The problem is that I often found myself connecting to a specific service such as the Exchange services, only to need the security center moments later – or the MSOL Module right after. When reinstalling my laptop I decided to not bump into this anymore, mostly to just get rid of my annoyance.

After a short search online I’ve found that there already was a bit of an example here on the Microsoft docs website. Unfortunately this guide is outdated and does not included the newer Teams Module. It also does not automatically find the correct SharePoint URL. As I am quite lazy and never want to look things up I also added the functionality to find the correct URL and to download the right modules. Currently it connects to the following services:

Services

Service	Module Name
AzureAD (Graph)	AzureAD Module
AzureAD(MSOL)	MSOL Module (Legacy)
Teams	MicrosoftTeams(Beta)
Exchange Online	PSSession to Exchange Endpoint
Security & Compliance	PSSession to Protection endpoint
Sharepoint	Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell
Skype for Business	SkypeOnlineConnector

The function has only two options; a -Disconnect in case you want to end the sessions cleanly, and a -Credentials option for passing the credentials. Both are optional. To make sure the Function is always available to me I’ve added it both to my VSCode Profile and my PowerShell profile by starting a PowerShell prompt in both tools and entering the following one-liner:

New-Item -Path $profile -ItemType File

This creates a file in your profile path. Any code you paste here will always be loaded on startup. Because I use a lot of functions I do not like posting my code directly here, instead I save my modules to a specific folder, and have it look in that folder for any functions that I add.

$MyFunctions = "C:\Posh\Functions"
write-host "Loading Functions" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Get-ChildItem "$MyFunctions\*.ps1" | %{.$_}
write-host "Done Loading functions." -ForegroundColor Green 

This small piece of code looks in C:\Posh\Functions for all .PS1 files and loads these files as if I just run them as a script. This makes sure small functions which do not need to be an entire module on their own are loaded correctly. In C:\Posh\Functions I’ve saved the following script which I’ve called “Connect-Office365.ps1”

Script

function Connect-Office365 {
    param(
        [System.Management.Automation.PSCredential]$Credential,
        [switch]$Disconnect
    )
    if($Disconnect){
    Get-PSSession | remove-pssession
    Disconnect-SPOService
    Disconnect-AzureAD 
    exit }
write-host "Checking Prerequisites" -ForegroundColor Green
try{
    Import-Module AzureAD -ErrorAction stop 
} catch { 
        write-host "Could not find AzureAD Module. Installing."  -ForegroundColor Green
        install-module -Name AzureAD -Scope CurrentUser -force
        Import-Module AzureAD -ErrorAction stop 
        }
try{
     Import-Module MSOnline -ErrorAction stop
        } catch { 
     write-host "Could not find MSOL Module. Installing."  -ForegroundColor Green
     install-module -Name MSOnline -Scope CurrentUser -force
     Import-Module MSOnline -ErrorAction stop 
       }

 try{
     Import-Module MicrosoftTeams -ErrorAction stop
    } catch { 
     write-host "Could not find MSTeams Module. Installing"  -ForegroundColor Green
     install-module -Name MicrosoftTeams -Scope CurrentUser -force
     Import-Module MicrosoftTeams
      }
try{
    Import-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction stop
    } catch { 
    write-host "Could not find Sharepoint Module. Installing"  -ForegroundColor Green
    Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser -force
    Import-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell
    }
try{
    Import-Module SkypeOnlineConnector -ErrorAction stop
    } catch { 
    write-host "Could not find Skype For Business Module. Installing"  -ForegroundColor Green
    Invoke-WebRequest "https://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/5/2050B39B-4DA5-48E0-B768-583533B42C3B/SkypeOnlinePowerShell.Exe" -OutFile "$($env:TEMP)/SkypeOnlinePowerShell.exe"
    Start-Process "$($env:TEMP)/SkypeOnlinePowerShell.exe" -ArgumentList "/install /quiet" -wait
    Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Skype for Business Online\Modules\SkypeOnlineConnector"
     }
if(!$Credential){ $credential = Get-Credential }
write-host "Connecting to AzureAD Module" -ForegroundColor Green
Connect-AzureAD -Credential $credential
write-host "Connecting to MSOL Services" -ForegroundColor Green
Connect-msolservice -Credential $credential
write-host "Connecting to Teams Services" -ForegroundColor Green
Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $credential
write-host "Connecting to Exchange Online" -ForegroundColor Green
$exchangeSession = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri "https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/" -Credential $credential -Authentication "Basic" -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $exchangeSession -DisableNameChecking
write-host "Connecting to Security & Compliance Center" -ForegroundColor Green
$SccSession = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri "https://ps.compliance.protection.outlook.com/powershell-liveid/" -Credential $credential -Authentication "Basic" -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $SccSession -Prefix cc
Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $Credential
write-host "Getting initial domain for Sharepoint Online"
$InitDomain = (Get-MsolDomain | Where-Object { $_.IsInitial -eq $true }).name
$InitDomain = $InitDomain.Split(".")
$SharepointDomain = $InitDomain[0]
write-host "Connecting to $($SharePointDomain) Sharepoint"
Connect-SPOService -Url "https://$($SharepointDomain)-admin.sharepoint.com" -credential $Credential
$sfboSession = New-CsOnlineSession -Credential $credential
Import-PSSession $sfboSession -AllowClobber
}

And that’s it! the code above is a bit rough around the edges but that is because it is just a simple function I use for my own personal preference. To use it, all you have to do is type Connect-Office365 and there you go 🙂

If you encounter any issues or have questions, let me know! and as always, Be careful and happy PowerShelling!