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Welcome to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series!
In this series, we will hear and learn from current and old Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors about their personal experiences with the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program and why they think students should join and be a part of the program and community.
Today, I will interview Deepthi Balasubramanian, a Gold Student Ambassador from India. Who is currently a final-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai (India). His interests lie in AI, Cloud Computing, and Software Engineering.
How did you get to know about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
As a freshman at my university, I joined the Microsoft Innovations Club. A senior from the club introduced me to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program, which immediately caught my interest!
When did you join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
I became a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador during my sophomore year, in October 2022.
What activities have you contributed to as a student ambassador in the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador program?
This program’s goal of empowering students to ‘be a force for good’ aligns perfectly with my goal of making technology accessible to all. It has provided me with a comprehensive platform for skill-building, community-building, and networking, which is essential for my professional growth. And also the opportunity for me to collaborate with Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, and fellow student ambassadors,
I have organized over 16 workshops and events on technologies such as Azure AI Studio, Copilot, Responsible AI, Power Platform, and GitHub, reaching nearly 1500 students and promoting inclusivity in tech.
I have actively led two teams in Ambassadors AI project cycles, winning one cycle and placing among the top 5 teams in another. During these cycles, I developed social impact projects and presented them during demo days. Recently, I served as a Gold Ambassador judge for the AI project cycle held between March and May 2024.
As a peer mentor, I’ve guided fellow ambassadors, enhancing their program experience. The recognition and appreciation for our efforts from the Microsoft Learn Student Program have helped foster a strong sense of inclusion and value within the community. Overall, being a Microsoft Student Ambassador has been incredibly fulfilling.
Being a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador how are you able to manage your time as a student?
I’m always drawn to opportunities that enhance my skill set, like being a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador. With effective scheduling and prioritization of my tasks, I can manage my academic workload and allocate sufficient time toward every task or responsibility.
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program supportive environment and flexible time frames makes it possible and easy for me to navigate between the program and my studies.
What have you benefited from the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program gave me an identity as a tech leader, provided me with the resources to learn and also skill learners on industry-relevant skills.
This community values every individual and offers extensive opportunities for personal development. Giving us direct mentorship from MVPs, cloud advocates, and experienced FTEs which has given me invaluable insights into the industry’s technical landscape.
Connecting with passionate students globally who share similar goals has been incredibly motivating, and the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Student Ambassadors.
Additionally, as an ambassador I enjoy access to a variety of perks, including digital and physical swag items.
What advice do you have for students and why do you think they should join the program?
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program offers extensive opportunities for learning and growth. I encourage students passionate about technology and eager to empower their peers through technology to join this vibrant community.
You can join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program by applying here
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In this guide I am going to show steps to connect Windows Azure VM to Azure SQL DB using Managed Identity covering create user in Azure SQL DB , connect using SSMS and connect using powershell
Requirements:
Windows 10 or 11 Azure Virtual Machine with system managed identity enabled and admin privileges to run powershell scripts Azure SQL DB server with entra admin access and database for testing SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) latest version
Get required information from VM and managed identity:
Use Object (principal) ID to get Application ID
Go to Entra ID and search Object (principal) ID
Select result to get Application ID
Provide access to Azure SQL DB:
Connect to server/database using Entra user with admin privileges and create user in this case is the name of the computer
— DROP USER [managediddemo] –remove user if exists CREATE USER [managediddemo] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER; ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER [managediddemo];
Connect from Azure VM:
Connect using SQL Server Management Studio SSMS …
Open SSMS and provide server name , select authentication Microsoft Entra Managed Identity and user assigned Identity will be Application ID from VM
In connection properties provide database name otherwise you will receive an error if user is not administrator and finally connect
Now is connected
Connect using powershell…
To be able to connect using powershell you need to Install modules required for Azure
Open powershell as administrator and run commands below
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In February, we announced the general availability of Copilot for Service, which helps organizations realize the benefits of generative AI by extending their existing investments in CRM and contact center solutions. Copilot for Service helps quicken agents’ time to resolution by assisting them with common tasks using the full context of the customer journey.
With prebuilt integrations for common CRMs, you can embed Copilot for Service inside the agent desktop to help agents be more productive and create seamless customer experiences across channels.
On July 1, we are introducing several new capabilities in Copilot for Service to further support agents working in their CRM of choice.
Email assistance
Copilot can help agents draft emails to answer customer queries. Using the context of customer records and actions, such as cases and emails, Copilot can provide an email draft written in the voice of the organization. Agents can review and alter the draft as needed before sending, and they can adjust the tone. With Copilot, agents can spend less time authoring and more time helping customers solve complex issues.
Context-aware multiturn chats
When an agent is involved in a customer conversation, they sometimes encounter difficult questions they can’t answer on their own. Instead of making a customer wait while they ask a colleague or conduct research, agents can ask Copilot a question. Copilot identifies the agent’s intent and understands the context of CRM data, including customer records and cases, so it can provide answers tailored to service scenarios and better support the resolution of customer issues.
Case summarization
With case summarization capabilities, Copilot understands which case an agent may be working on and summarizes the details for them, so agents can ramp up on their assigned cases faster. Armed with the most important aspects of a case, agents can then reduce time to resolution for customers. And because Copilot understands the context of CRM data, agents can be confident that they are giving customers the most informed answers.
Real-time streaming
When agents use Copilot to write an email response or ask a question, including multiturn questions, they can read the generated responses on the user interface incrementally, without having to wait for the entire response to be generated. Agents can also choose to stop Copilot from generating a response and start fresh. This helps reduce wait times and gives agents a chance to refine their requests if needed.
Learn more
These features will begin rolling out on July 1. You can access them by selecting the Start with Microsoft Copilot option when using the Copilot for Service landing page.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
We’re thrilled to announce the public preview of the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, a new high-quality and scenario-focused PowerShell module designed to streamline management and automation for the Microsoft Entra product family. In 2021, we announced that all our future PowerShell investments would be in the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. Today, we’re launching the next major step on this journey. The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module (Microsoft.Graph.Entra) is a part of our ongoing commitment and increased investment in Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK to improve your experience and empower automation with Microsoft Entra.
We’re grateful for the substantial feedback we’ve heard from Microsoft Entra customers about our PowerShell experiences, and we’re excited to hear your thoughts after evaluating this preview module. We plan to build on our investment in the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module going forward and expand its coverage of resources and scenarios.
What is Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module is a command-line tool that allows administrators to manage and automate Microsoft Entra resources programmatically. This includes efficiently managing users, groups, applications, service principals, policies, and more. The module builds upon and is part of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. It’s fully interoperable with all cmdlets in the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, enabling you to perform complex operations with simple, well-documented commands. The module also offers a backward compatibility option with the deprecated AzureAD module to accelerate migration. Microsoft Entra PowerShell supports PowerShell version 5.1 and version 7+. We recommend using PowerShell version 7 or higher with the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module on all platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Benefits of Microsoft Entra PowerShell
Focus on usability and quality: Microsoft Entra PowerShell offers human-readable parameters, deliberate parameter set specification, inline documentation, and core PowerShell fundamentals like pipelining.
Backward compatibility with AzureAD module: Microsoft Entra PowerShell accelerates migration from the recently announced AzureAD module deprecation.
Flexible and granular authorization: Consistent with Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, Microsoft Entra PowerShell enables administrative consent for the permissions you want to grant to the application and supports specifying your own application identity for maximum granularity in app permission assignment. You can also use certificate, Service Principal, or Managed Identity authentication patterns.
Open source: The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module is open source, allowing contributions from the community to create great PowerShell experiences and share them with everyone. Open source promotes collaboration and facilitates the development of innovative business solutions. You can view Microsoft’s customizations and adapt them to meet your needs.
Next steps
Installation: Install Microsoft Entra PowerShell, which uses the “/v1.0” API version to manage Microsoft Graph resources, from the PowerShell Gallery by running this command:
Authentication: Use the Connect-Entra command to sign in to Microsoft Entra ID with delegated access (interactive) or application-only access (noninteractive).
To see more examples for using your own registered application, Service Principal, Managed Identity, and other authentication methods, see the Connect-Entra command documentation.
Find all available commands: You can list all available commands in the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module by using the command:
Get-Command –Module Microsoft.Graph.Entra
Get Help: The Get-Help command shows detailed information about specific commands, such as syntax, parameters, cmdlet description, and usage examples. For example, to learn more about the Get-EntraUser command, run:
Get-Help Get-EntraUser –Full
Migrating from AzureAD PowerShell module: You can run your existing AzureAD PowerShell scripts with minimal modifications using Microsoft Entra PowerShell by using the Enable-EntraAzureADAlias command. For example:
Import-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph.Entra
Connect-Entra #Replaces Connect-AzureAD for auth
Enable-EntraAzureADAlias #enable aliasing
Get-AzureADUser -Top 1
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK and Microsoft Entra PowerShell modules?
Microsoft Entra PowerShell is a part of our increased investment in Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. It brings high-quality and scenario-optimized Entra resource management to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. Still, it keeps all the benefits of Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK for authorization, connection management, error handling, and (low-level) API coverage. As Microsoft Entra PowerShell builds on the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, it is completely interoperable.
Is the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module compatible with Microsoft Graph PowerShell?
Yes. You don’t need to switch if you’ve already used the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module. Both modules work well together, and whether you use Entra module cmdlets or Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlets for Entra resources is a matter of preference.
I need to migrate from the deprecated AzureAD or MSOnline modules. Should I wait for Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
No. One of our goals with Microsoft Entra PowerShell is to help you migrate from Azure AD PowerShell more quickly by setting Enable-EntraAzureADAlias. Microsoft Entra PowerShell supports simplified migration for scripts that were using AzureAD PowerShell, with over 98% compatibility. However, the legacy AzureAD and MSOnline PowerShell modules are deprecated and will be retired (stop working) after March 30, 2025. We recommend that you act now to begin migrating your MSOnline and AzureAD PowerShell scripts.
Both modules use the latest Microsoft Graph APIs. For test environments and non-production systems, you can migrate to Microsoft Entra PowerShell. We recommend migrating to this module for production systems only after it reaches general availability. If you migrate scripts to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK now, there is no need to update them again with Microsoft Entra PowerShell, as it enhances and will not replace Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK.
Should I update Microsoft Graph PowerShell scripts to Microsoft Entra PowerShell?
This is not necessary but a matter of preference. Microsoft Entra PowerShell is part of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell solution, and the two modules are interoperable. You can install both modules side-by-side.
Will Microsoft Entra PowerShell add support for more resources in the future?
Yes, it is a long-term investment. We will continue to expand support for more resources and scenarios over time. Expect new cmdlets for Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Entitlement Management, Tenant Configuration settings, Per-User multifactor authentication (MFA), and more. We’ll also enhance existing cmdlets with additional parameters, detailed help, and intuitive names. Check out GitHub repo for ongoing updates.
Will Microsoft Entra PowerShell use a pre-consented app like AzureAD or MSOnline modules?
No. Microsoft Entra PowerShell permissions aren’t preauthorized, and users must request the specific app permissions needed. This granularity ensures that the application has only the necessary permissions, providing granular control over resource management. For maximum flexibility and granularity in application permissions, we recommend using your own application identity with Entra PowerShell. By creating different applications for different uses of PowerShell in your tenant, you can have exacting control over application permissions granted for specific scenarios. To use your own application identity with Microsoft Entra PowerShell, you can use the Connect-Entra cmdlet:
I am new to Microsoft Entra PowerShell; where do I start?
Explore our public documentation to learn how to install the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, authenticate, discover which cmdlet to use for a particular scenario, read how-to guides, and more. Our best practice guide will help you start on a secure foundation.
How can I provide feedback?
You can provide feedback by visiting our GitHub repository issues section. Create a new issue with your feedback, suggestions, or any problems you’ve encountered. Our team actively monitors and responds to feedback to improve the module.
How can I contribute?
We welcome contributions from the community, whether it’s through submitting bug reports, suggesting new features, or contributing scenario and example improvements. To get started, visit the GitHub repository, check out our contribution guidelines, and create a pull request with your changes.
Learn more about Microsoft Entra PowerShell module
Explore our public documentation, to learn how to install the Microsoft Entra PowerShell module, the authentication methods available, which cmdlet to use for a particular scenario, how-to guides, and more.
Try It Today
Try out the new version and let us know what you think on GitHub! Your insights are invaluable as we continue to improve and enhance the module to better meet your needs.
Thank you!
We want to thank all the community members who helped us improve this release by reporting issues on GitHub during the private preview! Please keep them coming!
Prevent identity attacks, ensure least privilege access, unify access controls, and improve the experience for users with comprehensive identity and network access solutions across on-premises and clouds.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
We’re excited to announce that the migration tool for Active Directory Federation Service (AD FS) customers to move their apps to Microsoft Entra ID is now generally available! Customers can begin updating their identity management with more extensive monitoring and security infrastructure by quickly identifying which applications are capable of being migrated and assessing all their AD FS applications for compatibility.
In November we announced AD FS Application Migration would be moving to public preview, and the response from our partners and customers has been overwhelmingly positive. For some, transitioning to cloud-based security is a daunting task, but the tool has proven to dramatically streamline the process of moving to Microsoft Entra ID.
A simplified workflow, reduced need for manual intervention, and minimized downtime (for applications and end users) have reduced stress for hassle-free migrations. The tool not only checks the compatibility of your applications with Entra ID, but it can also suggest how to resolve any issues. It then monitors the migration progress and reflects the latest changes in your applications. Watch the demo to see the tool in action.
Moving from AD FS to a more agile and responsive, cloud-native solution helps overcome some of the inherent limitations of the old way of managing identities.
In addition to more robust security, organizations count greater visibility and control with a centralized, intuitive admin center and reduced server costs as transformative benefits of moving toa modern identity management.Moreover, Entra ID features can help organizations achieve better security and compliance with multifactor authentication (MFA) and conditional access policies—both of which provide a critical foundation for Zero Trust strategy.
Prevent identity attacks, ensure least privilege access, unify access controls, and improve the experience for users with comprehensive identity and network access solutions across on-premises and clouds.
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