What it's about

XCALLY gives the possibility to use Modern Authentication for Email Accounts using Office365 as provider. 

Modern authentication is an umbrella term for a combination of authentication and authorization methods between a client and a server. It includes:

• Authentication methods: Multi-factor authentication (MFA); smart card authentication; client certificate-based authentication

• Authorization methods: Microsoft's implementation of Open Authorization (OAuth)

• Conditional access policies: Mobile Application Management (MAM) and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Conditional Access

Very simplistic we can say, that with modern authentication, the client is talking to the service and getting redirected to Azure AD for authentication with the username and password or other methods like MFA.

How to set up

To activate the Modern Authentication for a new Email Account on XCALLY using Office365 as provider, you need to: 

A. Register an application in the Azure Portal

B. Configure a new Cloud Provider on XCALLY by choosing Microsoft Azure as a service and Outlook365 as the type

C. Authenticate the Cloud Provider Account

D. Associate the Cloud Provider with the email accounts on XCALLY

Azure AD application registration 

Registering an application in the Azure Portal, the Microsoft identity platform can provide authentication and authorization services for your application and its users.

App Registration

Follow these steps to create the app registration:

• Sign in to the Azure portal

• If you have access to multiple tenants, use the Directories + subscriptions filter  in the top menu to switch to the tenant in which you want to register the application

• Search for and select Azure Active Directory (AD)

• Under Manage, select App registrations > New registration

• Enter a display Name for your application. Users of your application might see the display name when they use the app, for example during sign-in. You can change the display name at any time and multiple app registrations can share the same name. The app registration's automatically generated Application (client) ID, not its display name, uniquely identifies your app within the identity platform

• Specify who can use the application, sometimes called its sign-in audience

• Don't enter anything for Redirect URI (optional). You'll configure a redirect URI in the next section

• Select Register to complete the initial app registration

  

When registration finishes, the Azure Portal displays the app registration's Overview pane. You see the Application (client) ID. Also called the client ID, this value uniquely identifies your application in the Microsoft identity platform.

Your application's code, or more typically an authentication library used in your application, also uses the client ID. The ID is used as part of validating the security tokens it receives from the identity platform.

The Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID values will be needed during the Cloud Provider Configuration phase. 

Authentication- Redirect URI

The authorization server sends the code or token to the redirect URI, so it's important you register the correct location as part of the app registration process.

A Redirect URI, or reply URL, is the location where the Microsoft identity platform redirects a user's client and sends security tokens after authentication.

Follow these steps to add a Redirect URI:

1. In the Azure Portal, under Manage, select Authentication (from the left Menu)

2. Under Platform configuration, select Add a platform

3. Under Configure platforms, select Web Applications 

4. Enter the following Redirect URI: https://motionserverhost/api/cloudProviders/oauth2/microsoft/callback (Replace "motionserverhost" with your motion server host value)

The Redirect URI will be needed during the Cloud Provider Configuration phase. 

Credentials- Client Secret

Credentials allow your application to authenticate as itself, requiring no interaction from a user at runtime.

Credentials are used by confidential client applications (apps that run on servers) that access a web API. Types of credentials are Certificates and Client secrets. Will will use Client Secrets.

A client secret is a secret string value your app can uses to prove its identity when requesting a token. Also can be referred to as application password.

Follow these steps to add a Client Secret:

1. In the Azure portal, under Manage, select Certificates & secrets (from the left Menu)

2. Select Client secrets > New client secret

3. Add a description for your client secret

4. Select an expiration for the secret or specify a custom lifetime

   • Client secret lifetime is limited to two years (24 months) or less. You can't specify a custom lifetime longer than 24 months

   • Microsoft recommends that you set an expiration value of less than 12 months

5. Select Add

6. Record the secret's value for use in your client application code. This secret value is never displayed again after you leave this page.

The Client secret value will be needed during the Cloud Provider Configuration phase. 

API Permission

Let's see how to provide a client app registered with the Microsoft identity platform with permissions-based access to the web API and access to Microsoft Graph API.

Client applications typically need to access resources in a web API. Applications are authorized to call APIs when they are granted permissions by users/admins as part of the consent process. The list of configured permissions should include all the permissions the application needs. 

Configure delegated permission to Microsoft Graph API to enable your client application to perform operations on behalf of the logged-in user, for example reading their email or modifying their profile. By default, users of your client app are asked when they sign in to consent to the delegated permissions you've configured for it.

• Select API permissions > Add a permission > Microsoft Graph

• Select Delegated permissions. 

• Add the following permissions:

• SMTP.Send permission requires that SMTP AUTH is enabled for the mailbox you want to use. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/clients-and-mobile-in-exchange-online/authenticated-client-smtp-submission

• If you are configuring a Modern Authentication to use Shared Mailboxes, the following permission must be also added. Ask Azure portal administrator to approve the permission labeled with "Admin consent required". You will find Application type permission under Application permissions.

• Select Add permissions to complete the process.

Whenever you configure permissions, users of your app are asked at sign-in for their consent to allow your app to access the resource API on their behalf.

For these permissions, it is not necessary to provide the consent of an Administrator, as indicated by the column Admin consent required. 

Cloud Provider Configuration

To use Modern Authentication to authenticate Email Accounts, you need to configure Microsoft Azure as service of the Cloud Provider on XCALLY.

Follow these steps to configure the Cloud Provider:

1. On XCALLY, under SettingsTools, select Cloud Providers (from the left Menu)

2. Click on the button (on the lower right) and create a New Account

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3. Enter the parameters of the application previously created in the Azure Portal: 

   1. Name: Enter a Name 

   2. Service: Select Microsoft Azure

   3. Type: Select Outlook365

   4. Application Id: Insert the Application (client) ID value 

   5. Tenant Id: Insert the Directory (tenant) ID value

   6. Client Secret: Insert the Client secret value

   7. Redirect URI: Insert the Redirect URI

Cloud Provider Account Authentication

With the use Modern Authentication, the Cloud Provider Account must be authenticated.  

Follow these steps to authenticate the Cloud Provider:

• On XCALLY, under SettingsTools, select Cloud Providers (from the left Menu)

• Select the specific Cloud Provider Account, then click on the button

• From the menu, select Authenticate

• You will be redirected to Microsoft Outlook365, where you insert your Email Credentials (Email address you will insert Email Address when creating a New Email Account, see next paragraph) and you need to accept the App access authorization

• If you are configuring a Modern Authentication to use Shared Mailboxes, you will be redirected to Microsoft Outlook365, where you insert the Email Credentials: you must choose one email linked to the shared mailbox to authenticate (identified as Modern Authentication Email or Username Delegante). Then, accept the App access authorization. Fox example, a company developers department uses the shared mailbox developers@xcally.com, to which several developers emails are linked. In this configuration step (Cloud Provider authentication), the company must choose a developer email to do the authentication: Andrea is a developer and uses the email andrea@xcally.com to proceed in the Microsoft Outlook365 authentication process.

• The Authentication to the Microsoft Identity Platform will be notified on XCALLY

Cloud Provider association with the Email account

To use Modern Authentication for an Email Account, you need to associate the specific Email Account with the Cloud Provider using Microsoft Azure.

Follow these steps to configure the Cloud Provider:

1. On XCALLY, under Email, select Email Account (from the left Menu)

2. Click on the button (on the lower right) and create a New Email Account

   

3. Enter the parameters of the application previously created in the Azure Portal: 

• Name: the name of the email account

• Key: define a short name (5 character maximum) for the Account that will be shown on the Agents Tabs

• Email Address: the origin email address of the messages (shown in the from field).

• If you are configuring a Modern Authentication to use Shared Mailboxes, enter the email of the shared mailbox. As in the example used before, developers@xcally.com.

• List: the default List where the new email contacts will be saved in the Contacts Manager, if it is not already there

• Active: turn this flag on/off to activate/deactivate the Account

• Service: Select Outlook365

• Modern Authentication: turn this flag on to activate Security using the following:

  • Username: authentication username (Email Address you have previously entered). If you are configuring a Modern Authentication to use Shared Mailboxes, enter the email of the shared mailbox. As in the example used before, developers@xcally.com.

  • Cloud Provider: Select the Cloud Provider previously created 

• Description: an optional description of your Email Account

4. Click on Add Email Account

• If you are configuring a Modern Authentication to use Shared Mailboxes, edit the Email Account Authentication Credentials: add the email linked to the shared mailbox used to authenticate (identified as Modern Authentication Email or Username Delegante) in the Modern Authentication Email field. As in the example used before, andrea@xcally.com.

Client Secret Update 

Once generated, the Client Secret value isnever displayed again neither in the Azure Portal nor on XCALLY.

To edit the Client Secret: 

• Generate a new Client Secret Value on the Azure Portal 

• Update the Client Secret Value on XCAlly: 

  • On XCALLY, under SettingsTools, select Cloud Providers (from the left Menu)

  • Select the specific Cloud Provider Account, then click on the button

  • From the menu, select Update Client Secret

    

  • Enter the New Client Secret and then click on Save

    

Troubleshooting

Finding the logs

• Logs are written in the log files email-combined.log and email-error.log

Example file name: /var/log/xcally/email-combined.2022-10-04.log

Enable debugging

• Change in the .env file the setting XC_DEBUG_LEVEL

Error authenticated but not connected

Check:

• if email IMAP license is enabled for that email

• users use MFA authentication (username, password + SMS or authenticator app)

• how many email clients are using with that email account

• if there is a Shared Mailbox

• if you get the same error repeating the login

• that the Azure Enteprise App used for the modern authentication has the permission listed above in the page

• the user which is used to login with the cloud provider has access to the email account. Check spelling of the email address, then if the user can access the email using Microsoft Outlook.

Error when sending email: SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Tenant

Error: Invalid login: 535 5.7.139 Authentication unsuccessful, SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Tenant. https://aka.ms/smtp_auth_disabled for more information. [FR3P281CA0089.DEUP281.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM 2023-10-24T13:30:31.606Z 08DBD33E9F7E0C34]

Check if SMTP AUTH is enabled for the mailbox you want to send emails from. This error is due a security policy enabled by default by Microsoft from december 2022.
It is recommended to have STMP AUTH disabled by default in tenant settings and override the general setting with a per-mailbox to re-enable SMTP AUTH.

User can log in in the Cloud Provider, but email doesn't work

• Check Client Secret validity. If it is expired, create a new one and update the cloud provider.

User disconnected after 15-90 days

• Try to repeat login. 

• If you want the user to stay connected for more than 90 days, extend the Session → Sign-in frequency to 365 days.

To do so , follow the guide: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/conditional-access/howto-conditional-access-session-lifetime

Getting support faster

• Microsoft Enterprise Apps have a built in support channel that can be found in the Azure portal → App → Diagnose and solve problems