Modern Auth and Unattended Scripts in Exchange Online PowerShell V2

Today, we are happy to announce the Public Preview of a Modern Auth unattended scripting option for use with Exchange Online PowerShell V2. This feature provides customers the ability to run non-interactive scripts using Modern Authentication. This feature requires version 2.0.3-Preview or later of the EXO PowerShell V2 module, available via PowerShellGallery.

Check out the detailed guide on how to install/update the new EXO PowerShell V2 Module here.

As previously announced, Basic Authentication for Exchange Online Remote PowerShell will be retired in the second half of 2021. Customers who currently use Exchange Online PowerShell cmdlets in unattended scripts should switch to adopt this new feature. This new approach uses AzureAD applications, certificates and Modern Authentication. You can find detailed step-by-step instructions available here.

It’s simple to create and use sessions using this new feature. For example, if you are currently using Basic Authentication for unattended scripting, you are probably using something like this in your scripts;

New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection

Once you have changed to Certificate Based Authentication, the above cmdlet pattern will need to be changed to use Connect-ExchangeOnline along with other necessary parameters. For example:

Connect-ExchangeOnline -CertificateFilePath “C:UsersjohndoeDesktopautomation-cert.pfx” -CertificatePassword (ConvertTo-SecureString -String “<My Password>” -AsPlainText -Force) -AppID “36ee4c6c-0812-40a2-b820-b22ebd02bce3” -Organization “contosoelectronics.onmicrosoft.com”

Please note the feature does not support delegation. Unattended scripting in delegation scenarios is supported with the Secure App Model which is documented here.

We hope this new feature makes it possible for you to move away from using Basic Authentication for your unattended scripting needs and appreciate the increased security this new option provides. Please do give us feedback, we really do want to hear what you think.

The Exchange Team