How to Connect the Exchange Online using PowerShell?

Microsoft Exchange Online is a cloud-based email and calendaring Product from the Microsoft Office 365 ecosystem. Administrators can manage mailbox management using the admin center. As a continuous process (or) Managing mailboxes on a large scale (or) Applying/Changing any settings to the mailboxes using the GUI portal is tedious for the admin. So, Microsoft has PowerShell modules for each service for their Office 365 Ecosystem products, which helps administrators like us to manage the Exchange Online completely through PowerShell. This blog will cover the first step towards connecting the exchange online using PowerShell. Let's Get Started.!!!!!!

Prerequisites:

Before we proceed, make sure you've the following prerequisites in place in your system:

Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core: You can use either Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core (cross-platform) for this task. Ensure you have PowerShell installed on your computer.

Exchange Online Remote PowerShell Module: You must install the Exchange Online Remote PowerShell Module if needed. To do this, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:

Note: Before installing any command in PowerShell check if your system PowerShell has any restriction or not, To check the restriction Enter the below command in Powershell

Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

If the Local machine is set as restricted then you have to Set the PowerShell Execution Policy from Restricted to RemoteSigned or Unrestricted to allow local PowerShell scripts to run

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted (or) Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

PowerShell

Install-Module -Name ExchangeOnlineManagement

This will download and install the module from the PowerShell Gallery.

Connecting to Exchange Online:

Once you have met the prerequisites, follow these steps to connect to Exchange Online using PowerShell:

Open PowerShell as an Administrator: To do this, right-click the PowerShell icon and choose "Run as administrator" to ensure you have the necessary privileges.

Import the Exchange Online Module: Use the following command to import the Exchange Online module:

PowerShell

Connect to Exchange Online: Run the following command to initiate the connection:

PowerShell

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName <[email protected]> -ShowProgress $true

Replace <[email protected]> with the actual user principal name of your Microsoft 365 administrator account.

Enter Your Credentials: After executing the command, you'll be prompted to enter your Microsoft 365 administrator credentials. Provide your username and password to establish the connection.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): If MFA protects your account, you must follow additional prompts to complete the authentication process.

Connected Successfully: If you see a successful connection message without any errors, you are now connected to Exchange Online, and you can start running Exchange Online PowerShell commands.

Testing Your Connection:

To verify that you are connected successfully, you can run a simple command, such as:

PowerShell

This command will list all user mailboxes in your Exchange Online environment.

Disconnecting from Exchange Online:

When you're done with your PowerShell session, it's essential to disconnect from Exchange Online to ensure security. Use the following command to disconnect:

PowerShell

Disconnect-ExchangeOnline -Confirm:$false

This command will terminate the session without prompting for confirmation.