All posts by jaapwesselius

Azure AD

Azure AD Connect Incorrect version of TLS

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So, I installed a brand-new Windows 2019 server where I wanted to install Azure AD Connect version 2.x. Or better, I wanted to upgrade an existing Azure AD Connect version 1.x server to version 2.x. After starting I got the following error message:

This installation requires TLS 1.2, but it was not enabled on the server. Please refer to this document to learn more about the steps you need to take to enable TLS 1.2 on your server. After configuring TLS 1.2, please run AADConnect Wizard to continue with installation and configuration.

Luckily it’s not that difficult to enable TLS 1.2 on a Windows 2019 server (although I am wondering why this is not enabled by default) by using the following registry keys:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319]
"SystemDefaultTlsVersions"=dword:00000001
"SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:0000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319]
"SystemDefaultTlsVersions"=dword:00000001
"SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server]
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client]
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000000

To easiest way to get these on your server is by using the following PowerShell commands:

New-Item 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -name 'SystemDefaultTlsVersions' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -name 'SchUseStrongCrypto' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-Item 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -name 'SystemDefaultTlsVersions' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319' -name 'SchUseStrongCrypto' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-Item 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server' -name 'Enabled' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord'

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server' -name 'DisabledByDefault' -value 0 -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-Item 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client' -name 'Enabled' -value '1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

New-ItemProperty -path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client' -name 'DisabledByDefault' -value 0 -PropertyType 'DWord' -Force

Note. You can add | out-null to each command to suppress the console output

After running these commands, Azure AD Connect was installed as expected.

Office365

Microsoft disables basic authentication in Office 365

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I already wrote about Office 365 and Basic Authentication in two earlier blogposts:

The last update from Microsoft regarding basic authentication is published in June 2021:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/basic-authentication-and-exchange-online-june-2021-update/ba-p/2454827

Microsoft has announced that it starts to disable basic authentication for customers that do not use basic authentication (for new Office 365 basic authentication is disabled by default).

I have disabled basic authentication is my tenant long ago and last week I got an email from Microsoft (MC274505, which can also be found in the admin portal) announcing basic authentication will be disabled in my tenant:

“We’re making some changes to improve the security of your tenant. We announced in 2019 we would be retiring Basic Authentication for legacy protocols and in early 2021 we announced we would begin to retire Basic Authentication for protocols not being used in tenants.

30 days from today we’re going to turn off Basic Authentication for POP3, IMAP4, Remote PowerShell, Exchange Web Services, Offline Address Book, MAPI, RPC and Exchange ActiveSync protocol in your tenant, and will also disable SMTP AUTH completely.

Note: Based on our telemetry, no users in your tenant are currently using Basic Authentication with those protocols and so we expect there to be no impact to you.”

If disabling basic authentication causes issues for your tenant, you can always re-enable basic authentication as outlined in the Microsoft link in the beginning of this blogpost. But please remember that basic authentication will be disabled permanently some day!

Office365

How to change MFA method for your Office 365 account

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This might look like an easy blogpost (actually, it is) but every time I’m struggling with this, so I decided to write it down.

My default MFA authentication method was a text message (SMS) on my phone. This works fine, but it is not always easy to work with, especially not when using the native mail app on a mobile device. So, to change it, logon to OWA or the Microsoft Portal, click the initials in the upper right corner and click View account:

You can also navigate to https://myaccount.microsoft.com to get here directly. In the overview page click on Security Info to see the MFA methods available. To add a new method, click +Add Method.

In the pop-up window, select another method, for example the authenticator app and click Add. The first step is of course to download the authenticator app on your device, if it’s already installed click Next.

In the Setup your account pop-up box click next and a QR code will appear on your screen:

In the authenticatorapp, click the + icon in the upper right corner, select your account type and select Scan QR code. Approve the sign-in on your device, the security info will show Notification approved and you’re good to go.

The last step you have to do is to change the default sign-in method on the security info page by clicking Change next to Default sign-in method.

Exchange

Check Server Core for Exchange 2019 Security Updates

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When you want to check which updates are installed on an Exchange server you can navigate to Control Panel | Programs | View Installed Updates and you will see a list of installed updates, including the Exchange Security Updates.

When running Exchange 2019 on Windows 2019 Server Core there is no Control Panel and you can view the registry to check which updates are installed. Use the following command to view all installed Updates:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*| select-object displayname

Or more specifically for Exchange Server:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*| ?{$_.DisplayName -like "*Exchange Server*"} | Select DisplayName

This will show all software and updates for Exchange as shown in the following screenshot:

Exchange

Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupNetwork Misconfigured

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When installing a Database Availability Group in Exchange 2019 running on Windows 2019 Server Core, I got IP address configuration errors when creating the DAG. It did succeed, but when running the Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupNetwork command in EMS is get a ‘Misconfigured’ warning:

Or in plain text:

Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupNetwork
Identity ReplicationEnabled Subnets
-------- ------------------ -------
DAG01\MapiDagNetwork True {{10.38.96.0/24,Misconfigured}, {192.168.0.0/24,Misconfigured}}

This will be a DAG with two networks. One Mapi network (10.38.96.0/24) for clients, and one replication network (192.168.0.0/24).

The requirements for an additional replication network in a DAG are:

  • No default gateway configured
  • No DNS servers configured
  • IP address must not be registered in DNS

When using Windows 2019 Server Core, the first two can be configured using the SCONFIG utility, but the last one is not that simple (but in Windows 2019 Desktop Experience it is just a matter of deselection the “Register this connection’s address in DNS” option when configuring the network interface).

When using Windows Server Core, you can use the Set-DnsClient command to configure this setting, combined with the Get-NetAdapter command.

Execute the Get-NetAdapter command to retrieve the network interfaces. In the following screenshot “Ethernet” is the regular Mapi network interface, “Ethernet 2” is the replication network interface.

To configure the DNS registration option, execute the following command:

Get-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet 2" | Set-DnsClient -RegisterThisConnectionsAddress $False

When you run the Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupNetwork command again, both DAG networks will show up correctly.