How to Configure Microsoft 365 Insight

This article details how to configure the Netreo Microsoft 365 Insight add-0n.

Prerequisites:

• The Microsoft 365 Insight add-on requires its own separate license to be activated.
• When operating through a firewall Netreo must be allowed to connect to certain IP addresses and URLs (see Firewall Requirements).
• Netreo must be allowed to connect to Microsoft's Exchange servers (to perform its email synthetic checks) and APIs (to retrieve data about services) as outlined in Microsoft's documentation found here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/urls-and-ip-address-ranges.

Preparing Microsoft 365 for connection to Netreo

Before Netreo can connect to Microsoft 365 you must configure an App Registration to get the required API information. This is done through your Azure AD Management portal. Please see How to Configure Azure for Microsoft 365 Insight Monitoring for step-by-step instructions. You can also consult Microsoft's official documentation for details on how to perform the necessary steps. (If you intend to use OAUTH2.0 for authenticating with your Azure application, you will also need to see How to Configure Azure for OAUTH 2.0 to generate the necessary OAUTH2.0 credentials for use in the steps below.)

The synthetic mail checks used by the Microsoft 365 Insight module require that SMTP authentication be enabled (see Enable or disable SMTP AUTH in Exchange Online) and MFA be disabled for the account you intend to use for testing. It is highly recommended that the account used for monitoring be dedicated to that purpose. Note that MFA is enabled by default for newly created Microsoft email accounts, but your organization’s configuration may vary.

Once Azure and your Microsoft email account has been prepared, you may connect Netreo to Microsoft 365 using the procedure below.

How to connect Netreo to Microsoft 365

Once the Microsoft 365 Insight add-on has been activated in Netreo you may configure its settings. Make sure you have completed the steps to Prepare Microsoft 365 for connection to Netreo above before attempting to connect.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the Netreo main menu and select Administration > Modules > Microsoft 365 Insight to open the administration page.
3. In the Credentials panel:
   1. In the NAME field enter the Display name of the application you created in Azure.
   2. In the APPLICATION ID field enter the Application (client) ID.
   3. In the PASSWORD field enter the value from the application's client secret.
   4. In the TENANT ID field enter the Directory (tenant) ID.
   5. In the SKYPE ID and SKYPE PASSWORD fields enter your Skype ID and password.
   6. In the MICROSOFT 365 ID and MICROSOFT 365 PASSWORD fields enter your Microsoft 365 ID and password in the appropriate fields.
4. In the Synthetic Check panel:
   • In the Send section:
     1. In the SMTP SERVER field, enter the domain name of the external mail server that will be used to send the test email and select a port number to use.
     2. In the DESTINATION EMAIL field, enter the email address that will be tested.
     3. In the FROM EMAIL field, enter the email address that will be used to send the test email.
     4. In the ACCOUNT USERNAME and ACCOUNT PASSWORD fields enter the account username and password of the "from" email address and switch SMTP AUTHENTICATION to ON, if necessary.
        • The username and password are optional, but most external mail servers require authentication to send mail.
     5. If you use modern OAuth 2.0 authentication with your send server, turn on the USE OAUTH2.0  option. (Microsoft is phasing out use of basic authentication for Office 365, so this option is highly recommended.)
        • Enter your OAuth 2.0 credentials in the fields provided.
        • You may use the Test button to test your OAuth 2.0 credentials before saving the check.
   • In the Receive section:
     1. In the RECEIVE SERVER field, enter the domain name of the internal mail server where the destination email resides. This is the email server that you want to check.
     2. Select the RECEIVE SERVER TYPE for that server.
     3. In the RECEIVE SERVER PORT field specify the port on the "receive" server that must be used, if necessary.
     4. In the ACCOUNT USERNAME and ACCOUNT PASSWORD fields enter the account username and password from the destination email address.
     5. Switch USE SSL to ON, if SSL required by your email server. (This option is selected and disabled automatically if an OAuth 2.0 version is selected for the RECEIVE SERVER TYPE.)
     6. If you selected an OAuth 2.0 version for your RECEIVE SERVER TYPE, enter your OAuth 2.0 credentials  in the fields provided.
        • You may use the Test button in the OAuth 2.0 field to test your credentials before saving the check.
5. Select Save.

Netreo will immediately connect to Microsoft 365 and begin populating the Insight dashboard.

Netreo recommends using a dedicated email address, that is not shared, as the destination address for monitoring Exchange performance.

How to edit a service availability passive service check

Microsoft 365 Insight uses passive service checks to monitor service availability.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the Netreo main menu and select Administration > Modules > Microsoft 365 Insight to open the administration page.
3. Select the Services tab.
4. In the Service Checks table locate the service check that you would like to edit.
5. Select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column.
6. Edit the service check as desired. See Service Check for information about each field.
7. Select Update when finished.

How to add a threshold check to a Microsoft 365 service

A threshold check may be added to any performance statistic that Netreo collects.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the Netreo main menu and select Administration > Modules > Microsoft 365 Insight to open the administration page.
3. Select the Thresholds tab.
4. In the Threshold Options panel select the statistic to which you would like to add a threshold check.
5. In the ACTION GROUP field select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications when the check enters the CRITICAL state, and at each renotification interval.
6. In the ESCALATION GROUP field select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications at each renotification interval after escalation.
7. In the RENOTIFICATION INTERVAL field enter the number of minutes for Netreo to wait before sending another alert notification if the problem has not been acknowledged by a user.
   • Alert notifications are sent to the action groups in the ACTION GROUP field.
   • The default value of 1440 minutes (24 hours) is recommended to minimize alert noise.
   • Setting a value of 0 (zero) will disable renotifications.
8. In the ESCALATE AT field enter the number of alert notifications after the first for Netreo to wait before sending alert notifications to the action groups in the ESCALATION GROUP field, as well as to the groups in the ACTION GROUP field.
   • The default value of 1 means that a total of 2 alerts must be sent before escalation groups start receiving them.
9. In the STATISTICAL GROUP field select the type that has the greatest relevance to the check. This field determines which statistical calculations this check contributes to for reports.
10. (Optional) If you would like to configure static threshold monitoring (repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present):
    1. In the HIGH warning field (yellow) enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for high values.
       • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
    2. In the HIGH critical field (red) enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for high values.
       • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
    3. In the LOW warning field (yellow) enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for low values.
       • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
    4. In the LOW critical field (red) enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for low values.
       • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
    5. In the TIME PERIOD field select the time period over which data values will be sampled for the calculated average.
       • See Best Practices on the Threshold Checks page.
11. (Optional) If you would like to configure anomaly detection (repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present):
    1. In the Boundary field select whether to check for upper boundary anomalies, lower boundary anomalies or both.
    2. In the Sensitivity warning field (yellow) select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting higher than the critical sensitivity field, so that the warning state occurs first.)
    3. In the Sensitivity critical field (red) select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting lower than the warning sensitivity field, so that the warning state occurs first.)
    4. In the Season field select the desired season for the data samples.
    5. (Optional) In the Min Value field set the minimum value that a polled value must be to qualify for anomaly detection.
       • The value entered in this field should be specified in the same base unit displayed in the static threshold configuration, without the prefix (for example: bytes, not megabytes; seconds, not milliseconds). Note: For bandwidth monitoring (only), the value must be specified in bits per second, and not as a percentage.
12. Select Create Threshold.

How to edit a threshold check for a Microsoft 365 service

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the Netreo main menu and select Administration > Modules > Microsoft 365 Insight to open the administration page.
3. Select the Thresholds tab.
4. In the Office 365 Threshold Configuration table locate the threshold check that you would like to edit and select its edit icon.
5. Edit the threshold check as desired. See Threshold Check for information about each field.
6. Select Edit Threshold when finished.

How to disable a threshold check for a Microsoft 365 service

Threshold checks in Netreo may not be removed once added. However, they may be disabled to prevent them from monitoring their given statistic. Disabling a threshold check prevents that specific check from monitoring its given statistic, but the statistic is still polled for values and those values are still recorded.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the Netreo main menu and select Administration > Modules > Microsoft 365 Insight to open the administration page.
3. Select the Thresholds tab.
4. In the Office 365 Threshold Configuration table locate the threshold check that you would like to disable.
5. Select its deactivate switch (select again to re-enable this threshold check).