Is it you, or is it me? When Cloud Services aren’t always on. “Failed to load external resource” while authenticating to Azure

The weekend just gone (24-25 March 2018) I was nearing the end of a personal project I’d been building around Internet of Things devices integrating with Azure. There were a few ends that needed a little tidying up and I’d planned to knock those off on Saturday morning. I opened my laptop and in browser hit portal.azure.com and got redirected for authentication at which point I had a blank webpage as shown below.

Figured it was a little weird, but jumped to PowerShell thinking I’d quickly use that to do what I needed.

Huh? That’s not good. I had Teams open so check to see if that was working. Switched Identity for a different Team and ..

Mmmm, same error as PowerShell. What the hell was going on. I still had sessions that I was successfully using on Friday open and functioning.

Going through my thought process I thought it would be best to check the Service Status on Azure. That showed all green. Maybe if I pinged Azure Support? So I did via Twitter.

They were prompt in replying. After more investigation on my end I was thinking the problem was on my end.

So I started troubleshooting, removing cookies, restarting my browser, trying a different browser, changing the default browser and forcing a logout on all Azure accounts via https://login.microsoftonline.com/logout.srf all to no success. Same error messages (or in the case of the web pages nothing).

What happens if I try to access the URL where the script is located that the authentication pages are trying to load? The output is below. That doesn’t look good. I was out of time by now with other more pressing appointments, so I went to the pub with friends.

Fast forward to Sunday morning and I wanted to finish off my latest extra-curricular project.

Getting back to my laptop the page above was still the primary window, as I hadn’t restarted or anything. I’d just locked my laptop when I left on Saturday. What would happen if I reloaded that page? Woah, that looks better. Page loads. Bad query which is expected.

Switch back to PowerShell and run Login-AzureRmAccount and what do you know it worked. Switch over to Teams and again switched my Identity (for another Team) and it worked. Hit portal.azure.com in my browser and what do you know, it worked too.

My Conclusion – Go to the pub and come back tomorrow

My laptop hadn’t had any relevant changes other than me deleting a few cookies. After which the issue was still present.

I left my laptop to its own devices for 20 hours and then all of a sudden everything is working. If this happens again and I can’t access https://secure.aadcdn.microsoft-online-p.com and I’m getting the “Failed to load external resource” when authenticating to Azure I’ll just go to the pub, and come back the next day and all should be good. And it isn’t me, it was you 🙂

May 24, 2017January 8, 2018

How to access Microsoft Identity Manager Hybrid Report data using PowerShell, Graph API and oAuth2

Hybrid Reporting is a great little feature of Microsoft Identity Manager. A small agent installed on the MIM Sync Server will send reporting data to Azure for MIM SSPR and MIM Group activities. See how to install and configure it here.

But what if you want to get the reporting data without going to the Azure Portal and looking at the Audit Reports ? Enter the Azure AD Reports and Events REST API that is currently in preview. It took me a couple of cracks and getting this working, because documentation is a little vague especially when accessing it via PowerShell and oAuth2. So I’ve written it up and hope it helps for anyone else looking to go down this route.

Gotchas

Accessing the Reports via the API has a couple of caveats that I had to work through:

Having the correct permissions to access the report data. Pretty much everything you read tells you that you need to be a Global Admin. Once I had my oAuth tokens I messed around a little and a was able to also get the following from back from the API when purposely using an identity that didn’t have the right permissions. The key piece is “Api request is not from global admin or security admin or security reader role”. I authorized the WebApp using an account that is in the Security Reader Role, and can successfully access the report data.

Reading the documentation here on MSDN I incorrectly assumed each category was the report name. Only when I called the “https://graph.windows.net//$metadata?api-version=beta” and looked at the list of reports I noticed each report was plural.The three that I wanted to access (and report on) are obviously the MIM Hybrid Reports;

"Name":  "mimSsgmGroupActivityEvents",
"Name":  "mimSsprActivityEvents",
"Name":  "mimSsprRegistrationActivityEvents",

Here is the full list of Reports available as of 24 May 2017.

{
    "Name":  "b2cAuthenticationCountSummary",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cMfaRequestCount",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cMfaRequestEvent",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cAuthenticationEvent",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cAuthenticationCount",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cMfaRequestCountSummary",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "tenantUserCount",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "applicationUsageDetailEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "applicationUsageSummaryEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cUserJourneySummaryEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "b2cUserJourneyEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "cloudAppDiscoveryEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "mimSsgmGroupActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "ssgmGroupActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "mimSsprActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "ssprActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "mimSsprRegistrationActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "ssprRegistrationActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "threatenedCredentials",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "compromisedCredentials",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "auditEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "accountProvisioningEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "signInsFromUnknownSourcesEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "signInsFromIPAddressesWithSuspiciousActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "signInsFromMultipleGeographiesEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "signInsFromPossiblyInfectedDevicesEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "irregularSignInActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "allUsersWithAnomalousSignInActivityEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "signInsAfterMultipleFailuresEvents",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "applicationUsageSummary",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}
{
    "Name":  "userActivitySummary",
    "LicenseRequired":  "False"
}
{
    "Name":  "groupActivitySummary",
    "LicenseRequired":  "True"
}

How to Access the Reporting API using PowerShell

What you need to do is;

Register a WebApp
- Assign a reply to URL of https://localhost
- Assign it Read.Directory permissions
Get an oAuth2 Authentication Code using an account that is either Global Admin or in the Security Admin or Security Reader Azure Roles
Use your Bearer and Refresh tokens to query for the reports you’re interested in

Register your WebApp

In the Azure Portal create a new Web app/API app and assign it https://localhost as the Reply URL. Record the Application ID for use in the PowerShell script.

Assign the Read Directory data permission as shown below

Obtain a key from the Keys option on your new Web App. Record it for use in the PowerShell script.

Generate an Authentication Code, get a Bearer and Refresh Token

Update the following script, changing Lines 5 & 6 for the ApplicationID/ClientId and Client Secret for the WebApp you created above.

Run the script and you will be prompted to authenticate. Use an account in the tenant where you created the Web App that is a Global Admin or in the Security Admin or Security Reader Azure Roles. You will need to change the location where you want the refresh.token stored (line 18).

If you’ve done everything correctly you have authenticated, got an AuthCode which was then used to get your Authorization Tokens. The value of the $Authorization variable should look similar to this;

Now you can use the Refresh token to generate new Authorization Tokens when they time out, simply by calling the Get-NewTokens function included in the script above.

Querying the Reporting API

Now that you have the necessary prerequisites sorted you can query the Reporting API.

Here are a couple of simple queries to return some data to get you started. Update the script for the tenant name of your AzureAD. With the $Authorization values from the script above you can get data for the MIM Hybrid Reports.

May 22, 2017November 30, 2017

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.

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.

Give your app a name and select Create

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

You will be prompted to Authorize the WebApp. Select Accept

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

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

September 13, 2016November 30, 2017

Leveraging the Microsoft Graph API with PowerShell and OAuth 2.0

Background

Microsoft Graph is the evolvement of API’s into Microsoft Cloud Services. For me not being a developer, a key difference is interacting with with Graph API using OAuth 2.0 via PowerShell. Through a number of my previous posts I’ve interacted with the Graph API using client libraries such as the Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory library. This post details using PowerShell to talk directly to Graph API and managing Authentication and Authorization using OAuth 2.0 and Azure WebApp.

Leveraging the Graph API opens up access to the continually evolving Azure services as shown in the graphic below. Source graph.microsoft.io

Getting started with the Graph API, PowerShell and OAuth 2.0

The key difference between using a client library and going direct is you need to register and configure an Azure WebApp. It is super simple to do. Jump on over to the Office 365 App Registration Tool here. Sign in with an account associated with the Azure Tenant you are going to interact with. Depending on what you’re doing you’ll need to select the appropriate access.

Here’s the settings I selected for access to user profiles. Give the WebApp a name. This is the name that you’ll see in the OAuth Authorization step later on. I’ve highlighted the other key settings. Don’t worry about the SignIn and RedirectURL’s other than configuring HTTPS as we’ll be using PowerShell to access the WebApp.

Once you’ve registered the WebApp successfully you’ll get a Client ID and Client Secret. RECORD/WRITE THESE DOWN NOW as you won’t get access to your Client Secret again.

If you want to change what your WebApp has access to after creating it you can access it via the Classic Azure Portal. Select your Active Directory => Select Applications => Select the WebApp you created earlier => Select Configure => (scroll to the bottom) Select Add Application. Depending on what you have in your subscription you can add access to your services as shown below.

Authenticating & Authorizing

In order to access the Graph API we need to get our Authorization Code. We only need to do this the first time.

This little script (modify with your Client ID and your Client Secret obtained earlier when we registered our WebApp) will prompt you to authenticate.

Using the account associated with the Web App you registered in the previous step authenticate.

You’ll be requested to authorize your application.

You will then have your AuthCode.

One thing to note above is admin_consent. This is from the URL passed to get the Authorization Code. &prompt=admin_consent is giving Admin Consent to all entities configured on the WebApp over just access for and to a single user.

Accessing the Graph API with OAuth 2.0 Access Token

Using your ClientID, ClientSecret and AuthCode you can now get your access token. I tripped up here and was getting Invoke-RestMethod : {“error”:”invalid_client”,”error_description”:”AADSTS70002: Error validating credentials.
AADSTS50012: Invalid client secret is provided. Tracing back my steps and looking at my “Client Secret” I noticed the special characters in it that I hadn’t URL Encoded. After doing that I was successfully able to get my access token.

Looking at our AuthZ we can see that the Scope is what was selected when registering the WebApp.

Now using the Access Token I can query the Graph API. Here is getting my AAD Object.

Summary

In my case I now can access all users via the API. Here is what’s available. Using the Access Token and modifying the Invoke-RestMethod URI and Method (including -Body if you are doing a Post/Patch action) you are ready to rock and roll and all via PowerShell.

Your Access Token is valid for an hour. Before then you will need to refresh it. Just run the $Authorization = Invoke-RestMethod ….. line again.

Follow Darren on Twitter @darrenjrobinson

My Conclusion – Go to the pub and come back tomorrow

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Gotchas

How to Access the Reporting API using PowerShell

Register your WebApp

Generate an Authentication Code, get a Bearer and Refresh Token

Querying the Reporting API

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Introduction

Overview

Create/Register your Application

Generate your PowerShell Graph API oAuth Script

Summary

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Background

Getting started with the Graph API, PowerShell and OAuth 2.0

Authenticating & Authorizing

Accessing the Graph API with OAuth 2.0 Access Token

Summary

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