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Microsoft Entra PowerShell Module Hits Public Preview
Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new PowerShell module to help administrators programmatically manage and automate Entra ID via the command line.
The Microsoft Entra PowerShell module became available as a public preview this week; interested users can access it here. It can be used for managing Entra ID groups, users, policies and more.
According to Microsoft, Entra PowerShell builds on -- and is fully interoperable with -- the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, which is already generally available. That means if users are already using the Graph PowerShell SDK, they don't need to switch to Entra PowerShell unless they want to. Both products' cmdlets will work for managing Entra resources.
As Microsoft explained, Entra PowerShell "brings high-quality and scenario-optimized Entra resource management to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK," while retaining "all the benefits of Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK for authorization, connection management, error handling, and (low-level) API coverage."
However, Microsoft stressed that those currently using the older Azure Active Directory management tools -- namely Azure AD Graph and MSOnline PowerShell -- should move to the Graph PowerShell SDK soon instead of waiting for Entra PowerShell to reach general availability. Both Azure AD Graph and MSOnline PowerShell were deprecated this part March, and will stop working completely on March 30, 2025.
"We recommend that you act now to begin migrating your MSOnline and AzureAD PowerShell scripts," Microsoft said in its blog, adding, "If you migrate scripts to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK now, there is no need to update them again with Microsoft Entra PowerShell, as it enhances and will not replace Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK."
While Entra PowerShell is in preview, Microsoft recommends it only for test or non-production environments. Organizations should not begin using Entra PowerShell for live production environments until it becomes generally available, though Microsoft has not indicated when this will happen.
When it does hit general availability, however, Entra PowerShell will give organizations a streamlined migration path from the older Azure AD module because it's backward-compatible.
"One of our goals with Microsoft Entra PowerShell is to help you migrate from Azure AD PowerShell more quickly by setting Enable-EntraAzureADAlias," Microsoft said. "Microsoft Entra PowerShell supports simplified migration for scripts that were using AzureAD PowerShell, with over 98% compatibility."
Microsoft is investing in Entra PowerShell for the "long term," said the company. It expects to add cmdlets for "Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Entitlement Management, Tenant Configuration settings, Per-User multifactor authentication (MFA), and more" in the future.
Entra PowerShell is open source. More information on the public preview is available on GitHub here.