The MyTimetable Office 365 integration is able to connect to a user's calendar using the Outlook Calendar the Microsoft Graph REST API. This page describes how to grant MyTimetable access to the Outlook Calendar Microsoft Graph REST API. MyTimetable will then be able to access calendars without explicit consent of a user.
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Setting up a new Azure AD application
Please follow the following steps to set up the Azure AD application.
Step 1: Registering MyTimetable as an application in Azure AD
First, we need to register a new app in Azure AD, using the Microsoft Azure Management Portal.
- Visit the Microsoft Azure Management Portal at portal.azure.com, using the credential of your Microsoft tenant that has the subscription to Office 365 you wish to use.
- Click "Azure Activity Directory" in the left-hand menu.
- In the menu, click "App registrations".
- Click "New application registration".
- Enter the Name of the application (e.g. MyTimetable-prod).
- Select "Web app / API" at "Application type".
- Enter a URL at "Sign-on URL". Any URL is possible, MyTimetable does not use this value.
- Click "Create".
- Copy the Application ID of the registered app, so you can provide it to the Eveoh support department (see Information required for MyTimetable configuration).
Your application is now registered with Azure AD. Proceed with the next step to specify the app permissions.
Step 2: Specifying app permissions
Next, we need to make sure the newly created app has the correct permissions to access user calendars.
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| The "Read and write calendars in all mailboxes" application permission is described by Microsoft as "Allows the app to create, read, update, and delete events of all calendars without a signed-in user". Less restrictive scopes that allow MyTimetable to perform the operations required are not available at the moment. MyTimetable only reads, updates and deletes calendar events it has created itself, but this is something that is enforced in the synchronisation backend, not by Office 365. So while MyTimetable does not read, update or delete other calendar events, it does have the permissions to do so. |
- In the Azure Management Portal, click the "Settings" button at the app that was created
- Pick "Required permissions" in the menu that appears
- Click "Add"
- Click "Select an API"
- Pick "Office 365 Exchange Online (Microsoft.Exchange)"
- Click "Select"
- Tick the box "Read and write calendars in all mailboxes"
- Click "Select"
- Click "Done"
- Click "Windows Azure Active Directory"
- Click the "Delete" button and confirm using "Yes"
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- Click the "Grant Permissions" button and confirm using "Yes"
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- If you are using MyTimetable managed hosting, Eveoh will provide you with a certificate to upload. If you are an on-premises customer you will need to create this certificate yourself by following:
- We need to create a self-signed certificate. This can be done using the minimal openssl install found at https://files.eveoh.nl/openssl_min.zip (for Windows) or an OpenSSL install included in the OS (Linux). From the command line, create a self-signed certificate and enter a password (make sure to remember this), the university name, country and domain name of your MyTimetable instance (common name):
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openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 3650 -config openssl.cnf |
- Back in the Azure Management Portal, click the "Settings" button at the app that was created
- Pick "Keys" in the menu that appears
- Click "Upload Public Key"
- Upload the "cert.pem" file from Eveoh or generated in the first step
- Click "Save"
- The key should now be visible under "Public Keys"
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In order to enable service calls to the Outlook Calendar REST API, the Eveoh support department requires the following information:
- Azure AD tenant name
- Application ID of the registered app
- For on-premises hosting:
- Public key of the X.509 certificate (cert.pem)
- Private key of the X.509 certificate (key.pem)
- Password for the private key
Storing the X.509 certificate and private key in a Java Keystore (optional)
MyTimetable requires the generated X.509 certificate and the corresponding private key to be available in a Java Keystore. The Eveoh support department can store the X.509 certificate and its private key into a Java Keystore for you. If you want to do it yourself, please follow these steps:
- Save the X.509 certificate and the private key into the PKCS12 format using OpenSSL:
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openssl pkcs12 -export -in cert.pem -inkey key.pem -out cert.pfx |
- Convert the PKCS12 format into a JKS file, using keytool (available in the JRE/JDK):
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keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore cert.pfx -srcstoretype pkcs12 -destkeystore cert.jks -deststoretype JKS |
Certificate rollover
It is possible to configure multiple X.509 certificates for the application, for example for rollover scenarios in case a certificate expires.
- Follow the steps as specified at Generating and uploading a X.509 certificate.
- Securely send the new private key and certificate to Eveoh, including the password for the private key.
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Determine authorization method
There are two ways to authorise MyTimetable to access calendars: application permissions or delegated permissions.
When using application permissions, MyTimetable is granted access to all calendars or a subset of calendars limited by a mail-enabled security group in advance. This means MyTimetable can setup synchronisations without further actions from the user, which is appropriate for scenarios where a synchronisation needs to be setup as soon as a user is provisioned in MyTimetable. This uses the OAuth 2 client credentials flow.
When using delegated permissions, MyTimetable is granted access when the user requests to setup a synchronisation from MyTimetable. Depending on the settings, this will also show the user a consent prompt. This scenario is appropriate when users do not need to have an active synchronisation by default, and limits the security footprint of MyTimetable. This uses the OAuth 2 authorization code flow.
Setup Azure AD application
If MyTimetable is hosted by Semestry, our support department will supply you with an authentication certificate which you will need in step 1. If you are hosting MyTimetable on-premises, first create this certificate using the steps outlined on On-premises: creating a certificate.
When using application permissions, perform the following steps:
When using delegated permissions, perform the following steps:
In order to enable service calls to the Microsoft Graph REST API, the following information is required:
Azure AD tenant ID
Application (client) ID of the registered app
When using managed hosting, please send this information to the Semestry support department. When using on-premises hosting, you will need to enter these details in the MyTimetable EC configuration.