MessageStats 7.8 - Report Pack for Exchange Online User Guide

Connecting to Exchange Online

Connecting to Exchange Online

When you add a new connection to Exchange Online, you must specify your Microsoft tenant. You are automatically routed to the Microsoft Azure portal to register the MessageStats Exchange Online application in Azure AD so the Microsoft identity platform can provide authentication and authorization services for the application.

You must log in to your Microsoft tenant as a Global Administrator user. Then you are redirected to a page that lists the permissions that will be granted. You must click Accept and provide admin consent for the MessageStats application. Once the Global Administrator adds a tenant to MessageStats, an application record is created in the tenant indicating that admin consent has been provided.

To create the Exchange Online connection

1	In the console treeview, expand the Exchange Online node, right-click and select Add new connection.

2	Enter the tenant name for your Microsoft Exchange Online tenant.

You are routed to the Microsoft Azure portal.

3	Enter your Azure AD Global Administrator credentials and click Next.

A page opens with the list of permissions that you are granting.

4	Click Accept.

MessageStats is registered as an application with all the required permissions and roles in your tenant. A self-signed certificate is created to use the MessageStats application that is valid for two years.

Points to remember

You should be aware of the following points:

•	Each Exchange Online connection has its own registered application and certificate.

•	The certificate is only used by the MessageStats to access the application in the tenant and it is installed in the current user certificate store of the local machine.

•	To use an existing connection/application in a different MessageStats console or on another Task Execution server, you can export the certificate with a private key and install it to another computer in the current user certificate store.

About Exchange Online Connection Properties

About Exchange Online Connection Properties

After you have added a new Exchange Online tenant connection, the connection appears below the Exchange Online node.

When you right-click a specific Exchange Online tenant connection, the following options are available:

 

Table 1. Tenant connection node options.

Menu Option	Description
Create Task	Starts the Create Task Wizard so that you can create a gathering task. For information about creating tasks, see About the Create Task Wizard.
Refresh	Allows you to refresh the console navigation tree.
Export List	This is a default MMC option to export the data displayed in a standard list view to a text file. You can choose to export only specific rows by selecting them.
Properties	You use the properties to: • view the existing tenant connection details • identify internal domains for message traffic reports • identify any specific types of domains
Help	Opens the online help. The MessageStats core online help, the report pack online help and the Microsoft Management Console online help are available.

Viewing or Reconfiguring Connection Properties

Once you have created an Exchange Online connection, you can view the connection properties for more detailed information. For example, the application information can help you identify exactly which application is used.

You can use the certificate information to locate the certificate for export. You can also see if the certificate is not installed, will expire soon, or has already expired. You can use the Reconfigure button to re-establish the connection.

To view Exchange Online connection properties

1	In the console treeview, expand the Exchange Online node.

2	Select the specific Exchange Online tenant connection that you want to edit.

3	Right-click and select Properties.

4	Select the Connection Properties tab.

The following information is displayed for the connection:

▪	Tenant Name

▪	Application Name

▪	Application ID

▪	Certificate Friendly Name

▪	Certificate Thumbprint

▪	Certificate Expiration Date

You would use the Reconfigure button to handle a situation such as the certificate will expire soon, a newer version of MessageStats requires additional permissions to gather more data, or your registered application was accidentally deleted.

5	If you need to re-establish the connection, click Reconfigure.

You are routed to the Microsoft Azure portal.

6	Enter your Azure AD Global Administrator credentials and click Next.

A page opens with the list of permissions that you are granting.

7	Click Accept.

Microsoft will register a new MessageStats report pack application and create a new certificate (valid for two years). and remove the old certificate and application. If the reconfiguration is successful, the properties page is updated.

Identifying Internal Domains

You must identify domains that are internal to your organization so that the message traffic reports can distinguish between internal and external messages. Add all the domains that should be classified as internal. Clear any domains that should be classified as external.

To identify internal domains

1	In the console treeview, expand the Exchange Online node.

2	Select the specific Exchange Online tenant connection that you want to edit.

3	Right-click and select Properties.

4	Select the Internal Domains tab.

5	Click Add and enter the domain name for an internal domain.

6	Click OK and click Apply.

Specifying Domain Classifications

In the Domain Classification page, you can add domain names that should be classified as a specific type, such as Microsoft, Social, Networking, or Partner. You can use these classifications when grouping or filtering messages in the reports.

To specify domain classifications

1	In the console treeview, expand the Exchange Online node.

2	Select the specific Exchange Online tenant connection that you want to edit.

3	Right-click and select Properties.

4	Select the Domain Classification tab.

5	Click Add.

6	Enter the domain name and the classification name that should be used when filtering messages to or from the domain.

7	Click OK and click Apply.

Creating Gathering Tasks

•	About Tasks

•	About the Create Task Wizard

•	Selecting the Task Template

•	Editing Tasks

•	Exchange Online Gathering Tasks

About Tasks

About Tasks

The following sections explain how to create gathering tasks using the Create Task Wizard.

A task is a collection of gathering activities. When you create a task, it is listed in the Tasks node of the navigation tree. When you click the Tasks node, the task appears in the Tasks Summary View.

The Tasks Summary View shows all the tasks created for the MessageStats Scheduler Server. The Tasks Summary view displays the properties of a task, including the task name, task credentials, schedule, next occurrence, description, and progress.

The account used for the gathering credentials must have administrator rights and must have the global administrator role.

What is a Task Occurrence?

Tasks are scheduled to run an occurrence of that task. Each occurrence has a start date and time. Each occurrence lists the activities and associated properties in the Task Activity view.

What is the Task Activity View?

The Task Activity view displays detailed properties of the activities that comprise an individual task. These properties include activity descriptions, source, status, progress, runtime gathering dependencies, start and finish time, activity duration, and execution server.