There is a new version of the Microsoft Azure Icons for Visio pack available at TechNet Gallery.
There is now 8 new shapes
Please check it out at the TechNet gallery webpage https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Azure-Icons-for-Visio-626737b2
The reading lists for Office 365 had a quick review this morning.
After replacing some dead links, I added these four at a common links section
Don’t hesitate to notify if you find a link that’s not working or if you find something that you think would fit into the list 🙂
Lately my reading lists has had an explosion in traffic, and definitely because of the fact that Microsoft was/is giving away free exams for Office 365 and Azure at http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2014/10/16/get-certified-on-microsoft-azure-or-office-365-with-free-exams.aspx
At the About me page there is a email form that … sends me an email with your question in it. Today I just wanted to share the most common questions, and the answer that I think is the correct one. If you have another opinion or something to add, feel free to comment this post 🙂
Q: Is is realistic to pass one or two of these exams in just 1 month of studying?
Well, this really depends on your existing knowledge of the topics, and if you are able to put aside a few hours each day. The official courses for these Exams is all 5 Days courses. If we expect about 5 efficient hours of training each day, that would be a total of 25 hours in one week. Having a skilled MCT as a trainer helps, so since we study on our own, we should add at least 5 extra hours I think. Splitting that out on two weeks, we should have about 3 hours (plus) each day to study, and then be through the same content as the courses. Doable? Absolutely! I have done it myself, but it will require dedication.
Q: Is there any good video or eBook resources available for free?
Yes definitely, and I should add these links to the reading lists also!
Microsoft Virtual Academy is the #1 place to get video training in my opinion.
For Office 365 courses, see this link: http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/product-training/office-365
For Microsoft Azure courses, see this link: http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/product-training/microsoft-azure
For Microsoft Azure PDFs, see this link: http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/ebooks#azure
Eric Ligman also released a huge list of eBooks freely available, where we find some books related to Office 365 and Azure. Please take a look at his blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mssmallbiz/archive/2014/07/07/largest-collection-of-free-microsoft-ebooks-ever-including-windows-8-1-windows-8-windows-7-office-2013-office-365-office-2010-sharepoint-2013-dynamics-crm-powershell-exchange-server-lync-2013-system-center-azure-cloud-sql.aspx
Another recommendation would be to actually use the export function at MSDN and TechNet Library. That way we know that what we read actually is the newest and most correct information.
When you enable Azure MFA on a tenant, you get the option to configure IP whitelisting. Another nice feature that you have is to require MFA only when the users do not originate from the intranet. In a multisite environment, with offices located all over the world, or if you do not have a persistent IP from your internet service provider, this is like gold!
If you want this to work, you have to do some configuration on your Active Directory Federation Service (ADFS). Along with the normal claims, you also have to send another one.
http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2012/01/insidecorporatenetwork
Alongside with enabling this, I’ll also configuring the service so the users can check the Keep me signed in box.
Sign into your ADFS server, and open the ADFS Management Console. If you then browse into Trust Relationships -> Relying Party Trusts. There you find Microsoft Office 365 Identify Platform.
Right click and, select Edit Claims Roules…
You are now watching the default claims rules that’s configured for Office 365. We will add two rules here. One for the Inside Corporate Network feature and one for the Keep me signed in feature.
First the Inside Corporate Network setting. Click Add Rule… and from the dropdown menu select Pass Through or Filter an Incoming Claim.
Then give the rule a good name, and set the Incoming claim type to Inside Corporate Network. That is it.
The next one is for the Keep me signed in. Add a new rule, and from the dropdown menu select Send Claims Using a Custom Rule.
On the next page, give the rule a good name, and add this custom rule
c:[Type == "http://schemas.microsoft.com/2014/03/psso"] => issue(claim = c);
That is all. Your MFA enabled users no longer gets a request to verify their authentication when they originate from the intranet.
Rights management is extremely important! The last thing you want is that a document with business critical information is lost.
Azure Rights Management is an easy way to get a few steps more secure. In this blog post, I will show how you can get started yourself, and how to send a protected document to an external user that do not have Azure Rights Management.
For demonstration purposes, I will use a fictive food restaurant that I just opened, Anders Food 14. Our domain name will then be anderseide14.onmicrosoft.com. Should be good enough to get through this post.
As this is an Office 365 tenant, enabling Azure RM is just a few clicks away.
While singed in to the Office 365 admin center, click Service Settings, and then Rights Management.
Note: This post was written before the graphical update of the Office 365 Admin Center, but the steps in this post is still valid 🙂
There, click Manage, and you are sent to this page
There you simply click Activate, and then confirm it by clicking activate once more.
You are now aboard, and your tenant is ready to use Azure Rights Management. If you need to create custom Rights Management templates you also need an Azure subscription, but to get started you should be good with only Office 365 for now.
The next step is to try this out. Open Word, and make sure you are signed in using the corporate account. In my case, I’m signed in using theboss@anderseide14.onmicrosoft.com
I like to protect my documents even before I start adding content. Click File, and on the Info tab, locate a button named Protect Document. If you click that one, you get a new menu with an option named Restrict Access. Hover that one, and if this is your first time, you can select Connect to Rights Management Servers and get templates.
Now, you are ready to protect the document. Click Protect Document, then Restrict Access again.. For the purpose of this blog post, select Restricted Access. Add the email address of an external contact in the Read field and click OK.
Add some secret information, and save the document. In my case, I will add a new menu that we will release later this summer.
After the document is saved, give it to the external contact, along with this URL: https://portal.aadrm.com/.
https://portal.aadrm.com (Microsoft Rights Management) is a site where you can sign up for a free Azure RM account that you can use to DRM proterct your files and documents. If you use Azure RM to protect your documents, your recipients have to use Azure RM their self, or they can get a free account from this service to be able to open them.
I have not enabled my private address for Azure Rights Management yet, so when I try to open the document, I get this message.
I could have signed in using my account here, or I could request access to the document using another account. I already know that I need to use my private address, so to solve this case, I go to the Microsoft Rights Management portal, and begin the sign up process.
I’m now sent to a form that needs filling. When that’s done, I click Create.
A verification email is now sent to my address.
When it arrives, I verify by clicking the link.
When that’s done, I get a Thank you message, and I’m ready to open the document.
Well, try opening the file again, and this time click Change User, and sign in with the email and password you created during the Microsoft Rights Management sign up request.
Whola. You and your contact are now in, and ready to secure every document.
