Hey everyone! I'm new to my role at a small managed service provider and have been given the task of looking into automating various procedures like onboarding and offboarding users, managing access changes in Active Directory, and other account handling tasks. With so many different customer needs, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I have some basic education in PowerShell and Azure Automate. Do you have any good resources or tips for learning about automation best practices in these areas?
5 Answers
Definitely check out the Microsoft documentation on Azure Runbooks. Setting up an app registration to get permissions for running your scripts on a schedule will be key. It's a bit technical but worth it! Here are a couple of links that might help:
1. [Azure Automation Runbooks](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/learn/automation-tutorial-runbook-textual)
2. [Creating Application Registration](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/938998/azure-automation-to-create-application-registratio)
You should start looking at how to do things using PowerShell instead of relying on the GUI. The Active Directory PowerShell modules are super helpful for managing user accounts and automating tasks with CSV files.
As someone who has done a lot of automation for an MSP, I'd recommend future-proofing your scripts by using the Microsoft Graph module instead of older methods that may become obsolete. Start simple with scripts to add users and build a library that joins those into larger automation scripts for onboarding and offboarding. Also, mapping out your organization's roles and group assignments can help streamline the process!
If you're starting from scratch, consider systematic approaches. Document your current processes and think about what can be automated. There’s no one-size-fits-all guide, just tailor your automation based on your company needs. Also, learning about SSO integration with AD/Entra can significantly reduce the number of password reset tickets—you'll become the go-to person for that!
Check out *Powershell in a Month of Lunches*. It’s a solid intro to PowerShell that'll get you comfortable with it. But if you want something more specific to automation, you might want to dive deeper into how to automate specific tasks rather than just the basics.
Found it, and it seems great! But I'm looking for tips on more specific automation practices and best methods.
That makes sense! We actually need to standardize things better. I’ll look into Microsoft Graph and start mapping out our needs.