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Implementing Azure API Management with the Lithnet Microsoft Identity Manager Rest API

Introduction

Earlier this week I wrote this post that detailed implementing the Lithnet REST API for FIM/MIM Service. I also detailed using PowerShell to interact with the API Endpoint.

Now lets imagine you are looking to have a number of Azure Serverless features leverage your Rest API enabled Microsoft Identity Manager environment. Or even offer it “as-a-Service”. You’ll want to have some visibility as to how it is performing, and you’ll probably want to implement features such as caching and rate limiting let alone putting more security controls around it. Enter Azure API Management, which provides all those functions and more.

In this post I detail getting started with Azure API Management by using it to front-end the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API.

Overview

In this post I will detail;

  • Enabling Azure API Management
  • Configuring the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API integration with Azure API Management
  • Accessing MIM via Azure API Management and the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API using PowerShell
  • Reporting

Prerequisites

For this particular scenario I’m interfacing Azure API Management with a Rest API that uses Digest Authentication. So even though it is a Windows WCF Webservice you could do something similar with a similar API Endpoint. If the backend API endpoint is using SSL it will need to have a valid certificate. Even though Azure API Management allows you to add your own certificates I had issues with Self Signed Certificates. I have it working fine with Lets Encrypt issued certificates. Obviously you’ll need an Azure Subscription as well as an App/Servive with an API.

Enabling Azure API Management

From the Azure Portal select Create a resource and search for API management and select it.

Add API Mgmt.PNG

Select Create

Create API Mgmt.PNG

Give your API Management Service a name, select a subscription, resource group etc and select Create.

API Mgmt Config 1.PNG

Once you select Create it will take about 30 minutes to be deployed.

Configuring the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API integration with Azure API Management

Once your new API Management service has been deployed, from the Azure Portal select the API Management services blade and select the API Management service that you just created. Select APIs.

API Config 1.PNG

Select Add API and then select Add a new API

API Mgmt Config 2.PNG

Give the API a name, description, enter the URI for your API EndPoint, and select HTTPS. I’m going to call this MIMSearcher so have entered that under API URL Suffix. For initial testing under Products select starter. Finally select Create.

API Mgmt Config 4.PNG

We now have our base API setup. From the Backend tile select the Edit icon.

API Mgmt Config 5.PNG

As the backed is authenticated using Basic Authentication, select Basic in Gateway credentials and enter the details of an account with access that will be used by the API Gateway. Select Save.

API Mgmt Config 6.PNG

Now from our API Configuration select Add operation.

API Mgmt Config 7.PNG

First we will create a test operation for the Help page on the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API. Provide a Display name, and for the URL add /v2/help. Give it a description and select Create.

Note: I could have had v2 as part of the base URI for the API in the previous steps. I didn’t as I will be using API’s from both v1 and v2 and didn’t want to create multiple operations.

API Mgmt Config 8.PNG

Select the new Operation (Help)

API Mgmt Config 9.PNG

Select the Test menu. Select Send.

API Mgmt Config 10.PNG

If everything is set up correctly you will get a 200 Success OK response as below.

API Mgmt Config 11.PNG

Accessing MIM via Azure API Management and the Lithnet FIM/MIM Rest API using PowerShell

Head over to your API Portal. The URL is https://.portal.azure-api.net/ where is the name you gave your API Management Service shown in the third screenshot at the top of this post. If you are doing this from the browser you used to create the API Management Service you should be signed in already. From the Administrator menu on the right select Profile.

Test API Mgmt 1.PNG

Click on Show under one of the keys and record its value.

Test API Mgmt 2.PNG

Using PowerShell ISE or VSCode update the following Code Snippet and test.

$APIURL = 'https://.azure-api.net//v2/help'
$secret = 'yourSecret'
$Headers = @{'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' = $secret} 
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

$response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $APIURL -Headers $Headers -ContentType "application/json" -UseBasicParsing -Method Get
$response

The snippet will create a Web Request to the new API and display the results.

Test API Mgmt 3.PNG

Querying the Lithnet Rest API via Azure API Management

Now that we have a working solution end-to-end, let’s do something useful with it. Looking at the Lithnet Rest API, the Resources URI is the key one exposing Resources from the MIM Service.

Resources.PNG

Let’s create a new Operation for Resources similar to what we did for the Help. After selecting Create configure the Backend for Basic Authentication like we did for Help.

Get Resources.PNG

Testing out the newly exposed endpoint is very similar to before. Just a new APIURL with the addition of /?Person to return all Person Resources from the MIM Portal. It lets us know it’s returned 7256 Person Objects, and the Results are still paged (100 by default).

Get Persons.PNG

Let’s now Search for just a single user. Search for a Person object whose Display Name is ‘darrenjrobinson’.

$query = "Person[DisplayName='darrenjrobinson']"
$queryEncoded = [System.Web.HttpUtility]::UrlEncode($query)

$APIURL = "https://.azure-api.net//v2/resources/?filter=/$($queryEncoded)" 
$secret = 'yourSecret'
$Headers = @{'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' = $secret} 
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

$user = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $APIURL -Headers $Headers -ContentType "application/json" -UseBasicParsing -Method Get
$user

Executing, we get a single user returned.

Search for User.PNG

Reporting

Using the Publisher Portal we can get some Stats on what is happening with our API Management implementation.

Go to https://.portal.azure-api.net/admin and select Analytics.

We then have visibility to what has been using the API Management Service. At a Glance gives and overview and you can drill down into;

  • Top Users
  • Top Products
  • Top subscriptions
  • Top APIs
  • Top Operations

At a glance looks like this;

At a Glance Stats.PNG

And Top Operations looks like this;

Top Operations.PNG

Summary

That is a quick start guide to implementing Azure API Management in front of a Rest API and using PowerShell to integrate with it. Next steps would be to enable caching, and getting into more of the advanced features. Enjoy.

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A quick start guide to leveraging the Azure Graph API with PowerShell and oAuth 2.0

Introduction

In September 2016 I wrote this post detailing integrating with the Azure Graph API via PowerShell and oAuth 2.0.

Since that point in time I’ve found myself doing considerably more via PowerShell and the Graph API using oAuth. I regularly find myself leveraging previous scripts to generate a new script for the initial connection. To the point that I decided to make this simpler and provide a nice clean starting point for new scripts.

This blog post details a simple script to generate a couple of PowerShell Functions that can be the basis for integration with Graph API using PowerShell via a WebApp using oAuth2.

Overview

This script will request the necessary information required to call into the Graph API and establish a session. Specifically;

  • The API Endpoint. Historically there were many different API endpoints depending on what you are integrating with. Microsoft is moving to simplify this (great article here about the evolving API), but it is still a work in progress. For this example I’ll be using graph.microsoft.com which is where Microsoft are heading. If you need access to an API not currently on the Graph API see here to workout which API Endpoint fits your apps requirements. In short though typically all that changes between API’s is the Resource (API end-point) and the scope (what permissions your app will have). Variations to the primary Graph API endpoint is when you are integrating with applications such as OneNote (https://www.onenote.com/api), Office 365 Discovery Service (https://api.office.com/discovery/), One Drive etc.
  • The ClientID and the ClientSecret associated with your WebApp that you have registered in the Application Registration Portal
  • The Scope of the WebApp. To make it seamless this should be done via the WebApp registration in the Application Registration Portal and configured as part of the PowerShell web requests

Armed with this information the shell of a PowerShell script will be created that will;

  • Authenticate a user to Graph API via Powershell and oAuth 2.0
  • Request Authorization for the WebApp to access the Scope provided (if Admin approval scope is requested and the AuthN is performed by a non-admin an authorization failure message will appear detailing an Administrator must authorize).
  • Obtain and Authorization Code which will contain the Bearer Token and Refresh Token.
    • The Bearer token can be used to make Graph API calls for up to 1 hour.
    • The Refresh token will allow you to request a new token and allow your script to be used again to interact via Graph API without going through the Authentication process again.

The following graphic shows this flow.
active-directory-oauth-code-flow-native-app

Create/Register your Application

Go to the Application Registration Portal https://apps.dev.microsoft.com/ and sign in. This is the new portal for registering your apps. It will show any previous apps you registered within AzureAD and any of the new “Converged Apps” you’ve created via the new Application Registration Portal.

Select Add an app from the Converged applications list.

New Converged App.PNG

Give your app a name and select Create

AppReg2.PNG

Record the Application ID (previously known as the Client ID) and select Generate New Password.

AppReg3.PNG

You will be provided your Client Secret. Record this now as it is the only time you will see it. Select Ok.

AppReg4.PNG

By default you will get User.Read permissions on the API. That is enough for this sample. Depending on what you will do with the API you will probably need to come and change the permissions or do it dynamically via the values you supply the $resource setting in your API calls.

AppReg5

Select Platforms, select Web and add a reply URL of https://localhost

AppReg6

Scroll to the bottom of the Registration windows and select Save.

Generate your PowerShell Graph API oAuth Script

Copy the following script and put it into an Administrator PowerShell/PowerShell ISE session and run it.

It will ask you to choose a folder to output the resultant PowerShell Script to. You can create a new folder through this dialog window if require.

OutputFolder.PNG

The script will prompt you for the Client/Application ID, Client Secret and the Reply URL you obtained when registering the Web App in the steps above.

ScriptPrompts.PNG

The script will be written out to the folder you chose in the first step and it will be executed. It will prompt you to authenticate. Provide the credentials you used when you created the App in the Application Registration Portal.

OfficeAuthN1.png

You will be prompted to Authorize the WebApp. Select Accept

AuthNtoAuthZ.PNG

If you’ve executed the previous steps correctly you’ll receive an AuthCode in your PowerShell output window

AuthCode.PNG

You’ll then see the output for a sample query for your user account and below that the successful call for a refresh of the tokens.

UserQueryOutput.png

Summary

In the folder you chose you will find a PowerShell script with the name Connect-to-Microsoft-Graph.ps1. You will also find a file named refresh.token. You can use the script to authenticate with your new app, but more simply use the Get-NewTokens function to refresh your tokens and then write your own API queries to your app using the tokens. Unless you change the scope you don’t need to run Get-AzureAuthN again. Just use Get-NewTokens before your API calls.

e.g

Get-NewTokens  
$myManager = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Headers @{Authorization = "Bearer $accesstoken"
 'Content-Type' = 'application/json'} `
 -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/manager"

 $myManager

Change the scope of your app to get more information. If you add a scope that requires Admin consent (and you’re not an admin), when prompted to authenticate you will need to get an Admin to authenticate and authorize the scope. Because you’ve changed the scope you will need to run the Get-AzureAuthN function again after updating $scope (as per below) and the dependent $scopeEncoded.

As the screen shot below shows I added the Mail.Read permission. I changed the $scope in the script so that it reflected the changes e.g

#Scope
$scope = "User.Read Mail.Read"
$scopeEncoded = [System.Web.HttpUtility]::UrlEncode($scope)

MailRead.png

When running the script again (because of the change of scope) you will be prompted to confirm the change of access.

Scope Change.PNG

You can then query your inbox, e.g.

 $myMail = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Headers @{Authorization = "Bearer $accesstoken"
 'Content-Type' = 'application/json'} `
 -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/messages"
 $mymail

And there is mail messages from your inbox.

MailAPI.png

I hope that makes getting started with the oAuth2 Graph API via PowerShell a lot simpler than it was for me initially, with the differing endpoints, evolving API and the associated documentation somewhere in-between.