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Applications defined in Azure AD are allowed to make app-only calls by sharing a certificate with Azure AD. Azure AD will get the public key certificate and the app will get the private key certificate. Although a trusted certificate should be used for production deployments, makecert/self-signed cmdlet New-SelfSignedCertificate certificates are fine for testing/debugging (similar to local web debugging with https). Here are the steps to generate a self-signed certificate with makecert.exe cmdlet New-SelfSignedCertificate and exporting it for use with Azure AD.

Part 1: Generate a Self-signed Certificate

1. Open Visual Studio Tools Command Prompt.

   Info
   Note: for Windows 10 you may have to download the Windows 10 SDK to get the makecert application.

   Windows PowerShell ISE.

2. Create a PowerShell script with the following contentRun makecert.exe with the following syntax:

   Code Block
   language textpowershell theme RDark
   makecert $cert = New-rSelfSignedCertificate -peDnsName www.mysite.com -n "CN=SearchTechnologies SPOnline CertCertStoreLocation "cert:\LocalMachine\My" -KeyLength 2048 -KeySpec "KeyExchange" -bNotBefore 10/15/20162019 -eNotAfter 10/15/2018 -ss my -len 2048

3. Run mmc.exe
4. Go to File → Add/Remove Snap In
5. Add Certificates → My User Account
6. Locate the certificate from step 2 in the Personal certificate store
7. Right-click and select All tasks >> Export
8. Complete the Certificate Export Wizard twice: once with the private key (specify a password and save as .pfx) and once without the private key (save as .cer)

Part 2: Prepare the certificate public key for Azure AD

Open Windows PowerShell and run the following commands:

$certPath = <Path to Cert>
$cert = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2
$cert.Import($certPath)
$rawCert = $cert.GetRawCertData()
$base64Cert = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($rawCert)
$rawCertHash = $cert.GetCertHash()
$base64CertHash = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($rawCertHash)
$KeyId = [System.Guid]::NewGuid().ToString()
Write-Host $base64Cert
Write-Host $base64CertHash
Write-Host $KeyId

...

1. 2021 $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "mySecurePassword" -Force -AsPlainText Export-PfxCertificate -Cert $cert -FilePath ".\aspire.mysite.com.pfx" -Password $password Export-Certificate -Type CERT -Cert $cert -FilePath .\aspire.mysite.com.cer

2. Update the value for -DnsName.
3. Update the values for -NotBefore and -NotAfter .
4. Update the password value.
5. Update the -FilePath value for the cer and pfx files.
6. Additional information about these parameters can be found in the New-SelfSignedCertificate page.
7. Execute the PowerShell script. You need administrator permissions to successfully execute the script.
8. Both files should be created in the specified location.

Part 2

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: Create the Azure AD Application

1. Log into the Azure Management Portal and go to the Azure Active Directory for your Office 365 tenant.
2. Go to the Azure Active Directory tab and select App Registrations.
3. Select "New Application Registration".Give the application a name, keep the default selection of "Web Application and/or Web API" and click the next arrowRegistration".
4. On "Supported account types" select "Accounts in this organizational directory only ".
5. On "Redirect URI" select Web.
6. Enter a Sign-on URL and App ID Uri (values of these don’t (the value of this doesn’t really matter other than being unique) and click next to create the application
7. Click on the "Configure" tab and scroll to the bottom of the page to the section titled "Permissions to other applications"
8. Click on "Add Application"
9. Add the "Office 365 SharePoint Online" application
10. "Register".
11. Look for your new application on the Registered Applications list and click it.
12. Go to API Permissions and click on "Add a permission".
13. On the "Select an API" section, add the "SharePoint" application
14. Select "Application Permissions" and check the following permissions:
    1. TermStore.Read.All: Read Managed Metadata.
    2. Sites.FullControl.All:
    On Application Permissions, select the following:
    1. Read Managed Metadata.
    2. Have Full Control of all Site Collections.
    3. Sites.Read.All: Read Items in all Site Collections. .
15. Click on "Add permissions".
16. After saving you have to click "Grant admin consent" to apply the changes.

Part

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3: Configure certificate public key for App

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Update the keyCredentials attribute with the following settings:

"keyCredentials": [
	{
		"customKeyIdentifier": "<$base64CertHash FROM ABOVE>",
		"keyId": "<$KeyId FROM ABOVE>",
		"type": "AsymmetricX509Cert",
		"usage": "Verify",
		"value": "<$base64Cert FROM ABOVE>"
	}
],

Save the updated manifest and upload it back into Windows Azure using the same Manage Manifest button in the footer (select "Upload Manifest" this time)

1. Go to "Certificates and secrets".
2. Click on "Upload certificate".
3. Select the certificate created on Part 1.
4. Add the certificate.

Part 4

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: Generate Private Key

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