Summary of "Advanced Automation and PowerShell for Intune - #IntuneForMSPs Meetup"

High-level summary

Focus: Intune automation, Microsoft Graph APIs, and guidance for managed service providers (MSPs). This document summarizes available APIs and tools, key Graph capabilities, architecture and authentication recommendations, practical developer tips, common pitfalls, automation patterns, release strategies, MSP operational lessons, and recommended resources.

1) Available APIs, SDKs, and tools

Microsoft Graph REST APIs — primary surface for Intune, Entra (Azure AD), Exchange, OneDrive, etc. Graph routes requests to the appropriate services and handles RBAC, telemetry, auth, and throttling protections.
Microsoft Graph SDKs and Microsoft Graph PowerShell module — recommended over the legacy Intune PowerShell module.
Graph Explorer — interactive testing and examples.
Graph X-Ray — browser extension to simplify inspecting Graph calls and produce sample cmdlets.
MAM SDK — embed app protection policies into mobile apps.
Microsoft 365 DSC / Unified Tenant Configuration Management — desired-state management, backup/restore, and tenant configuration drift management.
Public PowerShell scripts and GitHub repo(s) with Intune examples.
Integration-partner APIs (restricted) — MDM compliance API, network access API, and mobile threat defense API (contact product team to be added).
Automation platforms — Azure Automation / Runbooks, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Power Platform (Power Automate / Power Apps), GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps.

2) Key capabilities exposed by Microsoft Graph (what you can automate)

User/group and device lifecycle: create and manage users, group membership, and device actions (retire, sync, remote scan).
Inventory & reporting: device details, installed software, hardware inventory, and audit logs (up to 2 years).
App and policy management: create and deploy apps and compliance/policy configurations; view deployment progress and device states.
RBAC, scope tags, role assignments, filters, and third-party connector configuration (VPN, other connectors).
Workflow & DevOps: export/import tenant configurations (config-as-code), backup/restore, and dev→prod migrations.
Export jobs: use export APIs for efficient bulk data retrieval when not time-critical (one-call data export).

3) Architecture and authentication recommendations

Build multi-tenant apps for MSPs — simplifies versioning and permission management across customers.
Apps require explicit Graph permissions; customers must provide admin (global admin) consent for app-level access.
For long-running or scheduled automation, prefer application permissions (client credentials) over delegated auth.
Prefer Graph v1 for production stability; beta is used by the admin console. v1 retains a 24-month non-breaking-change notice commitment.

Recommendation: Use v1 APIs for production scripting and use application permissions for scheduled automation.

4) Practical guidance and developer tips

Use Graph Explorer and browser dev tools (F12 network trace) to observe the exact API calls the Intune UI makes — this is the fastest way to learn the APIs you need.
- Filter network traces for “graph” to reduce noise and inspect request/response bodies, batching, and pagination.
Graph X-Ray eases exploration and can show equivalent cmdlets.
Consider using the lower-level authentication module (microsoft.graph.authentication) plus raw HTTP calls for stability. The full Graph module provides many cmdlets but depends on multiple component modules and will change more frequently.
Use export APIs for efficient bulk pulls.
Prefer v1 APIs for production.

5) Common pitfalls and endpoints to approach carefully

Win32 apps: complex flow (create metadata, upload package to blob, commit). Automatable but error-prone; avoid as a starting point.
Settings catalog: many platforms and nested setting structures make it complicated to build from scratch.
- Recommended approach: create settings in a tenant UI, export or capture the JSON (F12), then reuse the JSON for automation.
AutoPatch API: currently locked down (limited access).
Some analytics and Explorer APIs are only callable by the Intune console (not public).
Pagination: Graph returns paged results; scripts must loop through nextLinks (don’t assume single-page responses).
Object ID differences: Intune device IDs, Entra/Azure AD object IDs, Autopilot IDs, and Defender IDs differ — map IDs appropriately when correlating data across services.

6) Automation patterns, scheduling, and scaling

Prefer cloud-hosted runbooks/automation (Azure Automation / Runbooks, Logic Apps, Azure Functions) over local scheduled tasks.
Use application permissions and an app registration for cloud runbooks. Add required modules to the runbook environment if using cmdlets.
For multi-tenant scheduled jobs, use webhook triggers or parameterized scheduling so runbooks can be targeted per tenant.
Watch for throttling and use batch requests where appropriate.
For pipeline/config-as-code workflows, use GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps depending on team familiarity; both can deploy exported settings/catalog JSON across tenants.

7) Testing, release, and rollback strategy

Use ring-based progressive deployment (test → acceptance → production). Start with internal ring(s) first.
Maintain test tenants and devices; adopt OTAP-like release cycles (development, testing, acceptance, production).
Implement release management, rollback plans, and incremental rollouts (similar to Windows Autopatch rings).
Prefer flow-based orchestration tools (Logic Apps or other native flow tools) for clarity and easier maintenance at scale versus ad-hoc PowerShell scripts.

8) MSP business and operational insights (real-world lessons)

Standardization is the single biggest enabler: identical customers/branches make automation possible and scalable.
Transitioning from one-off on-prem billing to recurring models (private cloud / MSP-hosted VMs, DaaS) requires process, governance, and cashflow management.
Modern workplace migration patterns:
- Replace file shares with OneDrive/SharePoint.
- Replace GPO with Intune.
- Replace legacy AV with Defender for Endpoint (leverage Microsoft 365 Business Premium licensing where appropriate).
Autopilot and device-as-a-service models accelerate deployment and simplify imaging.
Next wave of opportunities: AI/Copilot, AI ops for patching/monitoring, knowledge-base LLMs for service desks, consolidation into Defender suites and Cloud PC when appropriate.

9) Recommended resources

Microsoft Graph API reference and sample scripts.
Graph Explorer and Graph X-Ray extensions.
Microsoft Graph PowerShell module and microsoft.graph.authentication.
Microsoft 365 DSC / Unified Tenant Configuration Management.
Andrew Taylor’s GitHub repo and Intune Cookbook (2nd edition) — practical scripts and getting-started automation patterns.
aka.ms/intuneformsp — MSP-specific materials, announcements, partner ecosystem expansion, and surveys.

Speakers and main sources

Andy Ross — host (Intune for MSPs meetup).
Dave Randall — Microsoft Senior Product Manager (owns Microsoft Graph API for Intune, RBAC).
Eric (surname unclear in auto-transcript: “Loop” / “Lof”) — CTO, Proxsys (MSP migration and operations case study).
Andrew Taylor — Microsoft MVP (Intune automation, author of Intune Cookbook).
Other referenced tools/sources: Microsoft Graph, Graph Explorer, Graph X-Ray, Microsoft Graph PowerShell, MAM SDK, Microsoft 365 DSC / Unified Tenant Configuration Management, GitHub sample scripts, Azure Automation / Runbooks, GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps, aka.ms/intuneformsp.