Microsoft Entra ID Application Registration

Applies to All

This page discusses the registration of an application within Microsoft Entra ID that can be used by an instance of the QEST Platform for authenticating users.

This is a necessary first step in using Microsoft Entra ID for authenticating users in the QEST Platform.

Overview

QEST Platform products, by default, provide authentication through the use of a username and password. Since many QEST Platform products are publicly facing the use of stronger authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication is strongly recommended.

In the QEST Platform this is achieved through integration with Microsoft (MS) Entra ID (previously Microsoft Azure AD). In order to utilize the multi-factor authentication functionality available from MS Entra ID when authenticating with QEST Platform products, QEST Platform users will need to exist as users in an instance of MS Entra ID that is accessible from the server running the QEST Web API.

A necessary first step in using Microsoft Entra ID for authenticating users in the QEST Platform is to register an application for this purpose using the Microsoft Entra admin center. This page outlines suggested settings for configuring the application.

Registering an Application

The following article from Microsoft can be followed to initially add an application: Quickstart: Register an app in Microsoft Entra ID - Microsoft identity platform.

Settings

The following settings are suggested when registering the application. A number of these settings must be set per the table below while others are suggestions only and can be modified to meet company policy.

Initial Addition

Setting	Value	Value Type

Setting

Value

Value Type

Name

QEST Platform

Suggested

Supported account types

Accounts in this organizational directory only

Suggested

Redirect URI [1]

Single page application

Mandatory

Further Configuration

After initially registering the application, the following settings should also be defined.

Setting	Value	Value Type

Setting	Value	Value Type
Authentication → Platform configurations → Add a Platform	Mobile and desktop application Enable the following redirect: `https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/nativeclient`	Mandatory
Authentication → Implicit grant and hybrid flows	Enable the following options under “Select the tokens you would like to be issued by the authorization endpoint:” Access tokens ID tokens	Mandatory
Authentication → Advanced Settings → Allow public client flows	Yes	Mandatory
API Permissions
API/Permission name	Ensure the following `Delegated` permission exists: `Microsoft Graph`/`User.Read`	Mandatory
Expose an API
Application ID URI → Add	Accept suggested default URI	Suggested
Add a Scope
Scope Name	access_as_user	Suggested
Who can consent?	Admins and users	Mandatory
Admin consent display name	Access QEST Platform as a user	Suggested
Admin consent description	Access QEST Platform as a user	Suggested
User consent display name	Access QEST Platform as a user	Suggested
User consent description	Access QEST Platform as a user	Suggested
State	Enabled	Mandatory
Owners
Add Owner	Ensure that sufficient owners exist, in addition to the creator, for ongoing management of the application.	Suggested
Manifest
`"accessTokenAcceptedVersion"`	Change from `null` to `2` such that the line reads: `"accessTokenAcceptedVersion": 2,`	Mandatory

Details to Note

Once the setup of the application is complete, the following details will need to be recorded for use in QEST Platform configuration:

Directory (tenant) ID if account types are restricted to the organizational directory only. This will be used as the Tenant ID in the QEST Platform configuration.
Application (client) ID will be used as the Client ID in the QEST Platform configuration.

QEST Platform Configuration

Once the above registration has been completed, the appropriate configuration will need to be added to the appSettings node of the custom.app.config QESTNet configuration file.

The individual settings are described in QESTNet Configuration Guide | appSettings but should look similar to the below:

  <add key="enableEntraAuthentication" value="true" />
  <add key="TenantId" value="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" />
  <add key="ClientId" value="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001" />

QEST Platform 5.7 Documentation