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SharePoint Online Activity Auditing Configuration

To collect logs and monitor SharePoint Online activity, the Netwrix Activity Monitor requires an application registered with Microsoft® Entra ID® (formerly Azure AD).

note

A user account with the Global Administrator role is required to register an app with Microsoft Entra ID.

Additional Requirement

In addition to registering the application with Microsoft Entra ID, the following is required:

  • Enable Auditing for SharePoint Online

See the Enable Auditing for SharePoint Online topic for additional information.

Configuration Settings from the Registered Application

The following settings are needed from your tenant after you register the application:

  • Tenant ID – This is the Tenant ID for Microsoft Entra ID

  • Client ID – This is the Application (client) ID for the registered application

  • Client Secret – This is the Client Secret Value generated when a new secret is created

    warning

    It isn't possible to retrieve the value after saving the new key. It must be copied first.

Permissions for Microsoft Graph API

  • Application:

    • Directory.Read.All – Read directory data
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • User.Read.All – Read all users' full profiles

Permissions for Office 365 Management APIs

  • Application Permissions:

    • ActivityFeed.Read – Read activity data for your organization
    • ActivityFeed.ReadDlp – Read DLP policy events including detected sensitive data

Register a Microsoft Entra ID Application​

note

The following steps are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Sign into the Microsoft Entra admin center.

Step 2 – On the left navigation menu, navigate to Identity > Applications and click App registrations.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click New registration.

Step 4 – Enter the following information in the Register an application page:

  • Name – Enter a user-facing display name for the application, for example Netwrix Activity Monitor for SharePoint
  • Supported account types – Select Accounts in this organizational directory only
  • Redirect URI – Set the Redirect URI to Public client/native (Mobile and desktop) from the drop down menu. In the text box, enter the following:

Urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob

Step 5 – Click Register.

The Overview page for the newly registered app opens. Review the newly created registered application, then grant it permissions.

Grant Permissions to the Registered Application​

note

The following steps are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click API permissions in the Manage section.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 4 – On the Request API permissions blade, select Microsoft Graph on the Microsoft APIs tab. Select the following permissions:

  • Application:

    • Directory.Read.All – Read directory data
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • User.Read.All – Read all users' full profiles

Step 5 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 6 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 7 – On the Request API permissions blade, select Office 365 Management APIs on the Microsoft APIs tab. Select the following permissions:

  • Application Permissions:

    • ActivityFeed.Read – Read activity data for your organization
    • ActivityFeed.ReadDlp – Read DLP policy events including detected sensitive data

Step 8 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 9 – Click Grant Admin Consent for [tenant]. Then click Yes in the confirmation window.

Now that you've granted the permissions, collect the settings required for Activity Monitor.

Identify the Client ID​

note

The following steps are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – Copy the Application (client) ID value.

Step 3 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for adding a SharePoint Online host in the Activity Monitor. Next identify the Tenant ID.

Identify the Tenant ID​

The Tenant ID is available in two locations within Microsoft Entra ID.

Registered Application Overview Blade

You can copy the Tenant ID from the same page where you just copied the Client ID. Follow the steps to copy the Tenant ID from the registered application Overview blade.

Step 1 – Copy the Directory (tenant) ID value.

Step 2 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for adding a SharePoint Online host in the Activity Monitor. Next generate the application’s Client Secret Key.

Overview Page

note

The following steps are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Sign into the Microsoft Entra admin center.

Step 2 – Copy the Tenant ID value.

Step 3 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for adding a SharePoint Online host in the Activity Monitor. Next generate the application’s Client Secret Key.

Generate the Client Secret Key​

note

The following steps are for the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. These steps might vary slightly if you start from a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

warning

It isn't possible to retrieve the value after saving the new key. It must be copied first.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click Certificates & secrets in the Manage section.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click New client secret.

Step 4 – On the Add a client secret blade, complete the following:

  • Description – Enter a unique description for this secret

  • Expires – Select the duration.

    note

    Setting the duration on the key to expire requires reconfiguration at the time of expiration. It is best to configure it to expire in 1 or 2 years.

Step 5 – Click Add to generate the key.

warning

If you leave this page before copying the key, the key isn't retrievable and you'll have to repeat this process.

Step 6 – The Value column of the table displays the Client Secret. You can use the Copy to clipboard button to copy the Client Secret.

Step 7 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for adding a SharePoint Online host in the Activity Monitor.

Enable Auditing for SharePoint Online​

Enable auditing for SharePoint Online so the Activity Monitor can receive events.

Step 1 – In the Microsoft Purview compliance portal at https://compliance.microsoft.com, go to Solutions > Audit. Or, to go directly to the Audit page at https://compliance.microsoft.com/auditlogsearch.

Step 2 – If auditing isn't turned on for your organization, a banner is displayed prompting you start recording user and admin activity.

Step 3 – Select the Start recording user and admin activity banner.

It may take up to 60 minutes for the change to take effect. The Activity Monitor now has SharePoint Online auditing enabled as needed to receive events. See the Microsoft Turn auditing on or off article for additional information on enabling or disabling auditing.