: Configure Azure Using the Client Credential Flow
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Configure Azure Using the Client Credential Flow

Table of Contents

Configure Azure Using the Client Credential Flow

The Client Credential Flow option for Azure Active Directory (AD) in the Cloud Identity Engine allows you to use a service account to log in to your Azure AD in the Cloud Identity Engine. Using a service account is strongly recommended, as this is a more secure method for directory access and does not require the account to be associated with a specific user.
If this is the first time you have created a Cloud Identity Engine tenant, the Cloud Identity Engine app is not available in the Azure app gallery, so you must create a custom app.
If you already have an existing Azure AD configuration in the Cloud Identity Engine, you can easily migrate the existing configuration to use the client credential flow option by reconnecting your Azure AD to the Cloud Identity Engine, selecting the Client Credential Flow option, and testing the connection to verify the configuration.
  1. If you have not already done so, activate your Cloud Identity Engine tenant.
  2. Grant the required read-only permissions in the Azure Portal.
    1. In the Azure Portal, select HomeAzure Active DirectoryApp Registrations.
    2. Click New registration.
    3. Enter a Name then click Register.
    4. Select API permissions then click Add a permission.
    5. Click Microsoft Graph then select Application permissions.
    6. Select the following permissions then click Add permissions:
      • Device.Read.All—Application, Read all devices
      • GroupMember.Read.All—Application, Read all groups
      • User.Read.All—Application, Read all users' full profiles
      • User.Read—Delegated, Sign in and read user profile
      The permissions listed above represent the minimum required permissions that use least privilege access. If you prefer a less granular scope that is simpler to implement, you can use these permissions instead:
      • Directory.Read.All
      • Organization.Read.All
      • If you want to use user risk information in attribute-based Cloud Dynamic User Groups, you must grant additional permissions. For more information, refer to the documentation on how to Create a Cloud Dynamic User Group.
      • If you want to collect information on roles and administrators, if you have already granted the Directory.Read.All scope, no further permissions are required. If you are using the scopes listed above, you must also grant the RoleManagement.Read.Directory scope to collect role and administrator information. For more information, refer to step 6.
      • If you want to collect enterprise application data, you must also grant the Application.Read.All scope. For more information, refer to step 7.
    7. Click Grant admin consent for DirectoryName (where DirectoryName represents the name of your Azure AD).
    8. Click Yes to confirm.
  3. Collect the necessary configuration information from the Azure Portal.
    1. In the Azure dashboard, select your Azure AD, then select App Registrations and select the app you created.
    2. Select Certificates & secrets then click New client secret.
    3. Enter a Description and Add the secret.
      When you add the secret, make sure to keep track of when the secret Expires. When the secret expires, you must configure the new secret in the Azure Portal and update the configuration in the Cloud Identity Engine app to replace the expired secret. Keep this in mind when selecting the expiry value for the secret. If you prioritize ease of configuration, select a longer expiration for the secret (the maximum value is 2 years). If security is of greater concern, select a shorter value for the secret’s expiration (the default is 6 months).
    4. Copy the Value of the secret and store it in a secure location.
    5. Click Overview then copy the Application (client) ID and store it in a secure location.
    6. Copy the Directory (tenant) ID and store it in a secure location.
  4. Add your Azure AD directory in the Cloud Identity Engine.
    (Required for migration) If you are migrating an existing Azure AD configuration, select ActionsReconnect on the Directories page for the Azure AD you want to migrate. The Cloud Identity Engine automatically populates the necessary information so you can continue to step 9 (testing the connection).
    1. In the Cloud Identity Engine app, select Directories then click Add New Directory.
    2. Set Up an Azure directory.
  5. Select whether you want to Collect user risk information from Azure AD Identity Protection to use in attribute-based Cloud Dynamic User Groups.
    If you select this option, you must grant additional permissions for the Cloud Identity Engine in the Azure AD Portal. For more information, refer to the documentation for Cloud Dynamic User Groups.
  6. Select whether you want to Collect Roles and Administrators (Administrative roles) to retrieve roleAssignments attribute information for users and groups. Allowing the Cloud Identity Engine to include this information for analysis helps to prevent role-based malicious attacks.
    By default, the Cloud Identity Engine enables this option for tenants that are associated with Cortex XDR.
    If you do not see the Collect Roles and Administrators (Administrative roles) option, reconnect your directory to select the option.
  7. Select whether you want to Collect enterprise applications data so that it displays when you View Directory Data. If you don't want to collect the application data or you don't use application data in your security policy, deselect the checkbox to decrease the sync time. If you select this option, you must enable additional permissions for the Cloud Identity Engine (see step 2.6).
    For beta users of this feature, the Cloud Identity Engine continues collecting enterprise application data for any directories configured in your tenant during the beta and no further configuration is required. If you configure a new directory, you must select whether you want to collect enterprise application data from the new directory.
  8. Enter your directory information as indicated, using the information you copied from the Azure Portal in steps 3.4:
    During migration of an existing Azure AD configuration to the client credential flow, the Cloud Identity Engine automatically populates the Directory ID.
    Copy from Azure PortalEnter in Cloud Identity Engine
    Directory (tenant) IDDirectory ID
    Application (client) IDClient ID
  9. (Required) Confirm the Cloud Identity Engine app can successfully communicate with your directory.
    1. In the Cloud Identity Engine, click Test Connection to confirm that the Cloud Identity Engine can successfully connect to your Azure AD.
    2. (Optional) Enter a new name to Customize Directory Name in the Cloud Identity Engine.
  10. (Optional) Select whether you want to Filter Azure Active Directory Groups.
    To reduce sync time and minimize the amount of data collected by the Cloud Identity Engine, you can configure the Cloud Identity Engine to sync only specific groups from your directory. To do this, you can Configure SCIM Connector for the Cloud Identity Engine or you can filter the groups. Because SCIM is most suitable for small and frequent data requests, directory update intervals are restricted to once every 40 minutes. If you choose to filter the groups instead, directory updates can be as often as every 5 minutes. Choose the best option for your deployment based on your organizational and regulatory requirements.
    1. Select the group attribute you want to use as a filter.
      • Name—Filter the groups based on the group name.
      • Unique Identifier—Filter the groups based on the unique identifier for the group.
    2. Select how you want to filter the groups.
      • (for Name attribute only)begins with—Filter the groups based on a partial match for the text you enter.
      • is equal to—Filter the groups based on an exact match for text you enter.
    3. Enter the text you want to use to filter the groups.
    4. (Optional) Configure an additional filter by clicking Add OR and repeating the previous three steps for each filter you want to include.
      When you configure additional attributes, the Cloud Identity Engine initially attempts to find a match for the first criteria in the configuration, then continues to attempt to match based on the additional criteria you specify.
  11. Submit your changes and verify your directory information when the Directories page displays.
    You can now use your Azure AD to enforce group-based policy with the Cloud Identity Engine.