Migrate your apps to access the license managements APIs from Microsoft Graph

Update 7/29/2022: We have updated the retirement date of the Azure AD Graph and MSOnline PowerShell licensing assignment APIs and PowerShell cmdlets for existing tenants to March 31, 2023. APIs and Cmdlets will not work for new tenants created after November 1, 2022. Customers may notice performance delays as we approach the retirement deadline, so we recommend prioritizing migration to MS Graph following the guidance below and in Find Azure AD and MSOnline cmdlets in Microsoft Graph PowerShell | Microsoft Docs.

Update 6/23/2022: Please note that adoption of the new platform is not available for Q1 2022. Customers will be able to opt in to use the new licensing platform and its functionality at a future, to-be-determined date. We will provide another update at the end of CY2022.

Update 5/19/2022: We have changed the retirement date of the Azure AD Graph and MSOnline PowerShell licensing assignment APIs and PowerShell cmdlet. Going forward, we are centralizing our change announcements. For up-to-date information, please refer to change management blog posts: Azure AD: Change Management Simplified - Microsoft Tech Community.

Howdy folks!

In June, I reminded you to update your apps to use Microsoft Graph due to the end of support for Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Graph on June 30, 2022. Apps using Azure AD Graph after this time will no longer receive responses from the Azure AD Graph endpoint.  

Retiring license assignment APIs

Since the Azure AD Graph APIs are being retired, we are also retiring the license assignment operation in the MSOnline and Azure AD PowerShell modules. We recommend that you update existing applications to access the license assignment APIs from the Microsoft Graph endpoint and update your scripts to use the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module to reduce the impact on operations. Other operations in the MSOnline and Azure AD PowerShell modules won’t be impacted.

Below are some of the operations that will no longer receive a successful response beginning on June 30, 2022.

What’s next: new license management platform

The current license management features have grown to address the needs of our customers, with key innovations like group-based licensing. But as the needs of our customers have evolved, we decided to rebuild the online services licensing platform from the ground up. Below is an early look into future changes to the platform, designed with four key goals in mind:

• Flexibility: Expanding beyond a single administration structure, single megalithic pool of seats, or even a single tenant.
• Simplicity: Reducing unnecessary complexity and simplify getting your licenses to your end users.
• Speed: Gaining quick access to what you’ve purchased.
• Accuracy: Reflecting what you have purchased and the licenses you have available to assign.

Realizing the entire vision will take time, but today we are sharing the first milestone in this journey. Starting in the first quarter of 2022, customers can opt-in to use the new license management platform. Here are the features you will see as part of this milestone:

• Allotments will help you separate your licenses into smaller batches so you can set limits on how many licenses are used, and delegate ownership to manage them.
• Group licensing will be extended. In the new licensing platform, Azure AD Premium or Office 365 E3 will no longer be required to use group-based licensing for license assignments. In addition, nested groups will now work for license assignments.
• New license types, including device-based licenses and ISV app licensing, will work natively on the new platform.

In the future, look forward to hearing more about the new license management platform, including how to get started using it and details on new API and PowerShell options to leverage the new features.

Best regards, 

Alex Simons (Twitter: @Alex_A_Simons)

Corporate Vice President of Program Management

Microsoft Identity Division

Learn more about Microsoft identity:

• Return to the Azure Active Directory Identity blog home
• Join the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn
• Share product suggestions on the Azure Feedback Forum