Getting Started with Azure Entra Identity and Access Management

Azure Entra Identity and Access Management is a comprehensive solution that helps you manage access to your Azure resources.

It's a cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) system that provides a centralized platform for managing user identities, permissions, and access to resources.

To get started with Azure Entra IAM, you need to understand the different components involved, including Azure Active Directory (AAD) and Azure Identity.

AAD is the core identity service that provides user authentication and authorization capabilities, while Azure Identity is a set of APIs and tools that enable secure access to Azure resources.

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To get started with Microsoft Entra ID, you'll need to understand its purpose. Microsoft Entra ID helps manage access to Azure Cloud applications and resources, allowing employees to access external resources such as Azure services and thousands of other SaaS applications.

To integrate Microsoft Entra ID with your traditional on-premise setup, you can use AD Connect to easily manage access to the Cloud application. This is not an extension of your on-premises directory, but rather a copy that contains the same objects and identities.

Microsoft Entra ID is a cloud-based service that uses SSO to connect users to SaaS applications, allowing them to access the full suite of applications they have permission for without repeatedly logging in.

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Before you start connecting your Microsoft Entra ID to Google Cloud, it's essential to understand the differences between connecting through Microsoft Entra ID versus directly to Active Directory.

Make sure you have a clear plan for mapping identities, groups, and domains between Microsoft Entra ID and Cloud Identity or Google Workspace.

To avoid potential issues, consider using a Microsoft Entra ID test tenant for setting up and testing user provisioning before connecting your production tenant.

Sign up for Cloud Identity if you don't already have an account, as it's a required step for connecting to Google Cloud.

If you're using the free edition of Cloud Identity and plan to provision more than 50 users, don't forget to request an increase in the total number of free users through your support contact.

Be aware that if you suspect any of the domains you plan to use for Cloud Identity have been used for consumer accounts, it's best to migrate those user accounts first to avoid any potential problems.

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Microsoft Entra ID is a Microsoft cloud-based identity and access management service. It helps employees sign in and access resources in external and internal systems.

Microsoft Entra ID is not an extension of an on-premises directory, but rather a copy that contains the same objects and identities. This means it's a standalone service that allows for easy management of access to cloud applications.

With Microsoft Entra ID, employees can access external resources like Microsoft Office 365, the Azure portal, and thousands of other SaaS applications. They can also access internal resources, such as apps on their corporate network and intranet.

AD Connect can be used to integrate a traditional on-premise setup with Azure Entra ID, making it easy to manage access to cloud applications. This allows for a seamless transition to the cloud.

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Microsoft Entra ID is a cloud-based service that securely stores individual user profiles and groups of user profiles.

It manages access through user accounts, which have a username and a password.

Users can be organized into different groups, which can have different access privileges for individual applications.

Microsoft Entra ID creates access tokens that are stored locally on employee devices.

These access tokens may be created with expiry dates for added security.

Microsoft Entra ID uses Single Sign-On (SSO) to connect users to SaaS applications.

With SSO, users can access the full suite of applications they have permission for, without having to repeatedly log in each time.

User management in Azure Entra is crucial for seamless integration with Cloud Identity or Google Workspace. To let Microsoft Entra ID access your Cloud Identity or Google Workspace account, you must create a user for Microsoft Entra ID in your Cloud Identity or Google Workspace account.

You can create a new organizational unit (OU) to keep the Microsoft Entra ID user separate from other user accounts. To do this, open the Admin Console, log in using the super-admin user, and go to Directory > Organizational units. Click Create organizational unit and provide a name and description for the OU.

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To create a user, go to Directory > Users and click Add new user. Provide an appropriate name and email address, and configure the user's password, organizational unit, and profile photo. You can also make the azuread-provisioning user a super-admin or delegated administrator to allow Microsoft Entra ID to manage users and groups.

Here are the ways to add users and groups to Azure Active Directory:

To create a user in your Cloud Identity or Google Workspace account, you must first create a user for Microsoft Entra ID. This user is only intended for automated provisioning and should be placed in a separate organizational unit (OU) to keep it separate from other user accounts.

The best way to do this is to create a new OU specifically for the Microsoft Entra ID user. To create a new OU, open the Admin Console and log in using the super-admin user created when you signed up for Cloud Identity or Google Workspace. Then, go to Directory > Organizational units and click Create organizational unit.

You should provide a name and description for the OU, and then click Create. This will create a new OU where you can place the Microsoft Entra ID user.

To create the user, go to Directory > Users and click Add new user. You can provide an appropriate name and email address for the user, such as the one provided in the example, and then click Manage user's password, organizational unit, and profile photo.

Here are the steps to create a new user in a summarized format:

By following these steps, you can create a new user for Microsoft Entra ID and place it in a separate OU to keep it separate from other user accounts.

User Management is a crucial aspect of any organization, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) provides several ways to manage users and groups. You can add users and groups to Azure AD by syncing from an on-premises Windows Server using AAD Sync, manually using the Azure Management Portal, or programmatically using the Azure Entra ID Graph API.

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There are several options for adding users and groups to Azure AD, including syncing from an on-premises Windows Server, manually using the Azure Management Portal, and programmatically using the Azure Entra ID Graph API. This gives you flexibility and control over how users are added to the directory.

To add users and groups to Azure AD, you can use the Azure Management Portal, PowerShell, or the Azure Entra ID Graph API. Each of these options has its own advantages and use cases, and the choice will depend on your specific needs and requirements.

Here are the different ways to add users and groups to Azure AD:

It's worth noting that you can also restrict the set of users to be allowed to sign in by assigning the enterprise app to specific users or groups of users. This can be done by going to the Manage > Users and groups page and adding the users or groups you want to allow single sign-on for.

Provisioning is a crucial step in setting up Azure Entra. To configure user provisioning, you need to decide whether to map users by email address or by UPN.

The next step is to enable automatic provisioning, which involves configuring Microsoft Entra ID to automatically provision users to Cloud Identity or Google Workspace. This process involves a few simple steps: click on Manage > Provisioning, select Edit provisioning, set Provisioning Status to On, and then set Scope to one of the following options.

The scope options are not always displayed, but you can click Save and refresh the page to reveal them. Once you've set the scope, click Save to complete the process. Microsoft Entra ID will then start an initial synchronization, which can take several minutes or hours depending on the number of users and groups in your directory.

To configure provisioning, you need to decide whether to map users by email address or by UPN. This is a crucial step in setting up user provisioning.

You can configure user provisioning by following the steps outlined in the article, which involves setting the provisioning status to On and selecting the scope of the provisioning process. This can take several minutes or hours to complete, depending on the number of users and groups in your directory.

The provisioning process can be configured in different ways, including syncing from an on-premises Windows Server using AAD Sync, manually using the Azure Management Portal, or programmatically using the Azure Entra ID Graph API.

Here are the steps to enable automatic provisioning:

After completing the initial synchronization, Microsoft Entra ID will periodically propagate updates from Microsoft Entra ID to your Cloud Identity or Google Workspace account.

To configure Azure AD integration in the Mist Dashboard, navigate to Organization > Access > Identity Providers and click Add IDP.

You'll need to select OAuth as the IDP Type and Azure as the OAuth Type.

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Configure your Azure domain name(s) in the Domain Names field.

The OAuth Tenant ID is obtained from the Directory (tenant) ID you copied from your Azure app.

Paste the Application (client) ID you copied from your Azure app earlier into the OAuth Client Credential (CC) Client Id field.

You'll also need to paste the Value of the secret you created earlier into the OAuth Client Credential (CC) Client Secret field.

If you need to get machine group memberships, enable the "Default IDP" checkbox.

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