Exchange Online Auditing Configuration

It is necessary to register Enterprise Auditor as a web application to the targeted Microsoft Entra ID, formerly Azure Active Directory, in order for Enterprise Auditor to scan the environment. This generates the Client ID (App ID) and self-signed certificate (Certificate Thumbprint) needed for the Connection Profile credentials and/or the Custom Attributes Import Wizard page. See Microsoft Support for assistance in configuring the Microsoft Entra ID web application.

NOTE: A user account with the Global Administrator role is required to register an app with Microsoft Entra ID.

Configuration Settings from the Registered Application

The following settings are needed from your tenant once you have registered the application:

Client ID – This is the Application (client) ID for the registered application
Tenant name – This is the primary domain name of the Microsoft Entra tenant
Certificate Thumbprint – This is thumbprint value of the certificate uploaded to the Microsoft Entra ID application

Configure Modern Authentication for Exchange Online using EX_RegisterAzureAppAuth Instant Job

Registering a Microsoft Entra ID application and provisioning it to grant permissions to Exchange Online can be automated using the EX_RegisterAzureAppAuth job from the Enterprise Auditor Instant Job Library. The EX_RegisterAzureAppAuth job uses the PowerShell Data Collector to automatically configure modern authentication for Exchange Online. It requires:

A Connection Profile containing a Microsoft Entra ID Global Admin credential with an Account Type of Task (Local)
Exchange Online Management v3.4.0
- You can install this module with the following command:
```
Install-Module -Name ExchangeOnlineManagement -RequiredVersion 3.4.0
```
Azure AD PowerShell module installed on targeted hosts

NOTE: If the module is not already installed, the job will attempt to install it.
- You can install the module with the following command:
```
Install-Module AzureAD
```
- TLS 1.2 is required for the Azure AD PowerShell module. Run the following command to configure it:
```
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
```
Microsoft Graph PowerShell module installed on targeted hosts
- You can install the module with the following command:
```
Install-Module Microsoft.Graph
```

See the EX_RegisterAzureAppAuth Job topic for additional information.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are required to use Modern Authentication for Exchange Online in Enterprise Auditor.

Exchange Online Management v3.4.0
- You can install this module with the following command:
```
Install-Module -Name ExchangeOnlineManagement -RequiredVersion 3.4.0
```
Create a self-signed certificate that will be used by Enterprise Auditor for Modern Authentication

Permissions

The following permissions are required:

Permissions for Office 365 Exchange Online

Application Permissions:
- Exchange.ManageAsApp – Manage Exchange As Application
- full_access_as_app – Use Exchange Web Services with full access to all mailboxes
Exchange Administrator role assigned to the registered application's service principal

Create Self–Signed Certificate

A self signed certificate needs to be created on the Enterprise Auditor console server. This is used by Enterprise Auditor to connect to the Microsoft Entra tenant.

Follow the steps create the self-signed certificate.

Step 1 – To generate a certificate, use the sample PowerShell command below:

Change the following parameters in the sample PowerShell command. See the Microsoft New-SelfSignedCertificate article for additional information.
- DNS Name – Specifies a DNS name to put into the subject alternative name extension of the certificate
- Subject – A unique name for the new App (always starts with CN=, to denote a canonical name)
- FriendlyName – Same as Subject name minus the canonical name prefix
- NotAfter – A datetime string denoting the certificate's expiration date - in the above sample, Get-Date.AddYears(11) specifies that the certificate will expire 11 years from the current datetime

Example PowerShell:

$cert=New-SelfSignedCertificate -CertStoreLocation Cert:\CurrentUser\My -DnsName stealthbits.com -Subject "CN=NEA Exchange Online" -FriendlyName "NEA Exchange Online" -KeyAlgorithm RSA -KeyLength 2048 -KeyExportPolicy Exportable -Provider "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider" -NotAfter (Get-Date).AddYears(11)

Step 2 – Export the certificate public key as a .cer file to the PrivateAssemblies folder in Enterprise Auditor with the Export–Certificate cmdlet using the certificate path stored in the $certPath variable (see Step 1).

NOTE: The environment variable SAINSTALLDIR always points to the base Enterprise Auditor install directory; simply append the PrivateAssemblies to point to that folder with the following cmdlet:

Export-Certificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "$($env:SAINSTALLDIR)PrivateAssemblies\exchange_cert.cer" -Type CERT

See the Microsoft Export-Certificate article for additional information.

Step 3 – Export the certificate private key as a .pfx file to the same folder by running the following cmdlet:

RECOMMENDED: Change the string in the Password parameter from "PasswordGoesHere" to something more secure before running this cmdlet.

Export-PfxCertificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "$($env:SAINSTALLDIR)PrivateAssemblies\exchange_cert.pfx" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -String "PasswordGoesHere" -Force -AsPlainText)

See the Microsoft Export-PfxCertificate article for additional information.

The self signed certificate has been created. The next steps are to create a Microsoft Entra ID application and then upload this certificate to it.

Register a Microsoft Entra ID Application

Follow the steps to register Enterprise Auditor with Microsoft Entra ID.

NOTE: The steps below are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Sign into the Microsoft Entra admin center.

Step 2 – On the left navigation menu, navigate to Identity > Applications and click App registrations.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click New registration.

Step 4 – Enter the following information in the Register an application page:

Name – Enter a user-facing display name for the application, for example Netwrix Enterprise Auditor for Exchange
Supported account types – Select Accounts in this organizational directory only

Step 5 – Click Register.

The Overview page for the newly registered app opens. Review the newly created registered application. Now that the application has been registered, permissions need to be granted to it.

Upload Self-Signed Certificate

Follow the steps upload your self-signed certificate.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click Certificates & secrets in the Manage section.

Step 3 – Select the Certificates tab.

Step 4 – In the tool bar, click Upload Certificate.

Step 5 – Navigate to the to PrivateAssemblies folder and select the exchange_cert.cer file. Optionally add a Description.

Step 6 – Click Add.

The Certificate Thumbprint of this uploaded certificate is needed for the Enterprise Auditor Connection Profile. See the Exchange Modern Authentication for User Credentials topic for additional information.

Grant Permissions to the Registered Application

Follow the steps to grant permissions to the registered application.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click API permissions in the Manage section.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 4 – On the Request API permissions blade, use the search bar on the APIs my organization uses tab to find and select Office 365 Exchange Online. Select the following permissions:

Application Permissions:
- Exchange.ManageAsApp – Manage Exchange As Application
- full_access_as_app – Use Exchange Web Services with full access to all mailboxes
Exchange Administrator role assigned to the registered application's service principal

Step 5 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 6 – Click Grant Admin Consent for [tenant]. Then click Yes in the confirmation window.

Now that the permissions have been granted to it, the Connection Profile and host settings for Enterprise Auditor need to be collected.

Identify the Tenant's Name

Follow the steps to find the Tenant Name where the registered application resides.

Step 1 – Sign into the Microsoft Entra admin center.

Step 2 – On the left navigation menu, navigate to Identity > Settings and click Domain names to open the Custom domain names list.

Step 3 – Copy the domain name from the list of domains.

Step 4 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for the Enterprise Auditor Connection Profile. See the Exchange Modern Authentication for User Credentials topic for additional information. Next identify the application’s Client ID.

Identify the Client ID

Follow the steps to find the registered application's Client ID.

Step 2 – Copy the Application (client) ID value.

Step 3 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for the Enterprise Auditor Connection Profile. See the Exchange Modern Authentication for User Credentials topic for additional information.

Prerequisites​

Permissions​

Create Self–Signed Certificate​

Register a Microsoft Entra ID Application​

Upload Self-Signed Certificate​

Grant Permissions to the Registered Application​

Identify the Tenant's Name​

Identify the Client ID​