Managing Passwords

Microsoft Office 365E is a powerful business enterprise tool for connecting employees. It brings together all the tools of Microsoft Office with enterprise mobility to connect users and added network security. Office 365 allows businesses to move seamlessly to the cloud and provides cloud-based software as a service capabilities. As a system administrator using Windows 10, proficiency with Office 365 is a must. Almost any business, regardless of field, will need the cloud to connect its employees.

As a System Administrator, you will need to know what is the best password policy for Microsoft 365 5E. You will also need to know how to notify Office 365 users that their passwords will expire. Office 365 provides two methods for user account management: the admin center and the Windows PowerShell.

The Microsoft 365 admin center provides a user-friendly, web-based interface for managing your Office 365 enterprise. You can use the admin center to manage all aspects of your users and groups, including the password expiration policy. Another option for managing users is the Windows PowerShell. While it can be harder to work with, the PowerShell offers administrators options for programmatically manipulating user policies and automating repetitive tasks.

As a Office 365 administrator, you will need to be comfortable using both methods. This hands-on lab will give you the real-world experience working with Office 365 you need to be successful in today’s IT market.

Understand the scenario: You are a Microsoft 365 administrator. You need to manage password policy by using both the Microsoft 365 admin center and Windows PowerShell.

Understand the environment: This challenge has prerequisites and is part of the Microsoft 365: Identity and Services Challenge Series. In this challenge, you will use an Office 365 E5 tenant that you created in the “Provision an Office 365 R5 Trial Subscription” setup lab. You will need the credentials and the tenant domain you created in that lab for this challenge.

Manage password policy by using the Microsoft 365 admin center:

To manage the password policy online, you will:

• Open the Office 365 admin center and login to your Microsoft Office 365 tenant domain using your credentials.
• User, the admin center, to configure a 14-day password reset policy for all users.
• Configure a password for a specific user never to expire.
• Verify that other users must reset their password when logging in.

Manage password policy by Windows PowerShell:

To manage your password policy using the Windows PowerShell, you will:

• Configure the password policy using the Set-MsolPasswordPolicy command.
• Use the Get-Msol User command to view the password policy for all users.
• Use the Set-Msol User command to change the password expiration policy for all users.

Summary:

Office 365 is becoming a vital tool for businesses to keep their employees connected 24/7 and stay competitive in an environment of remote workers and shared data. As a modern systems administrator working in Windows 10, you will have to be comfortable managing Office 365 accounts. One of the fundamental tasks as an administrator is managing your users’ passwords. In particular, you need to understand what the best password reset policy is and how to enforce this policy. This lab will give you experience performing this basic system administrator task.

In the “Managing Passwords” virtual lab, you will accomplish the following:

• View, set, and change password expiration policies using the Microsoft 365 5E admin center.
• View user password policies using the Windows PowerShell.
• View, set, and change password expiration policies using the Windows PowerShell.

Other IT Pro Challenges in this series:

• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Use a Custom Domain
• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Manage Users and Groups
• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Manage Users and Groups by Using Windows PowerShell
• ADVANCED CHALLENGE: Can You Manage Multiple Users?
• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Assign Admin Roles
• ADVANCED CHALLENGE: Can You Restore Users and Configure Password Policies?
• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Configure Exchange Online
• GUIDED CHALLENGE: Configure SharePoint Online
• ADVANCED CHALLENGE: Can You Configure Rights Management?
• EXPERT CHALLENGE: Can You Manage Office 365?