All posts in category Network Device Enrollment Service

Microsoft Intune Certificate Connector Failure

The Microsoft Intune Certificate Connector enables the provisioning and de-provisioning of on-premises PKI certificates for Intune-managed devices. Always On VPN administrators using Intune to deploy certificates with the Intune Certificate Connector using either PKCS or SCEP may encounter a scenario where certificates are no longer being provisioned to users or devices after working reliably previously.

Certificate Not Found

When this issue occurs, users will no longer be able to access the VPN and receive a “certificate could not be found that can be used with this Extensible Authentication Protocol” error message.

Connector Status

To determine the status of the Intune Certificate Connector, open the Microsoft Intune Admin Center (https://intune.microsoft.com) and navigate to Tenant Administration > Connectors and Tokens > Certificate Connectors. The status of the certificate connector server will be in Error.

Event Log

Open the event log on the server where the Intune Certificate Connector is installed. Navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Intune > CertificateConnectors > Operational. Here, you will find a variety of warning and error messages.

Event ID 5001

This is a warning from the CertificateConnectors source with event ID 5001 in the Task Category HealthMessageUploadFailedAttempt with the following details.

PKI Create Service:

Failed to upload health messages. Requeuing messages.

Event ID 1003

This is an error from the CertificateConnectors source with event ID 1003 in the Task Category PkcsDownloadFailure with the following details.

PKI Create Service:

Failed to download PKCS requests.

Event ID 2

This is an error from the CertificateConnectors source with event ID 2 in the Task Category Exception with the following details.

PKI Create Service:

Microsoft.Intune.Connectors.PkiCreateProcessor.Process threw an exception.

Expired Certificate

The warning and error messages recorded in the event log indicate an expired certificate on the Intune Certificate Connector server. Open the local computer certificate store (certlm.msc) on the server where the Intune Certificate Connector is installed. Review the expiration date of the certificate issued by Microsoft Intune ImportPFX Connector CA. It is most likely expired.

Click on the Certification Path tab to view the certificate status.

Renew Certificate

To renew this certificate, you must reinstall the Intune Certificate Connector. However, you do not have to uninstall it first. To renew the certificate, navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Intune\PFXCertificateConnector\ConnectorUI and double-click on PFXCertificateConnectorUI.exe. Follow the prompts without making changes to the existing configuration. You’ll be prompted for the service account password (if using a domain account) and proxy credentials (if using a proxy server). In addition, you’ll be asked to sign in to Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). Be sure to provide credentials that are a global administrator and have an Intune license assigned. Once the process is complete, a new certificate will be installed in the local computer certificate store.

Intune Configuration

After updating the Intune Certificate Connector, a new certificate connector appears in the Intune Admin Center. You can now safely delete the old connector and rename the new one accordingly.

Redundancy

Deploying multiple instances of the Intune Certificate Connector is an excellent way to avoid future outages! It’s also a good idea to stagger their installation by a few months to ensure that a future certificate expiration doesn’t result in lost functionality. If you’ve deployed Intune Certificate Connectors recently, consider updating them at rotating intervals so certificates expire at different times.

Additional Information

Intune Certificate Connector Configuration Failed

Intune Certificate Connector Service Account and PKCS

Intune Certificate Connector Configuration Failure

Microsoft Intune Learning Resources for Always On VPN Administrators

Leave a comment
by Richard M. Hicks on November 27, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in Active Directory Certificate Services, AD CS, administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, authentication, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Azure AD, Certificate Connector for Intune, Certificate Services, certificates, cloud, Device Management, EAP, Endpoint Manager, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, Entra, Entra ID, extensible authentication protocol, InTune, Intune Certificate Connector, Intune PFX Connector, MDM, MEM, MEMCM, Microsoft, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Intune, Mobile Device Management, Mobility, Network Device Enrollment Service, Network Device Enrollment Services, Operational Support, PEAP, PFX Connector, PKCS, PKI, Protected EAP, public cloud, public key infrastructure, Remote Access, SCEP, Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol, systems management, troubleshooting, user tunnel, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Richard M. Hicks on November 27, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/11/27/microsoft-intune-certificate-connector-failure/

Azure Conditional Access Certificates with SID Information Now Available

I recently wrote about changes to certificate-based authentication affecting Always On VPN implementations. These changes were introduced by Microsoft’s security update KB5014754. When the update is installed on domain controllers and enterprise Certification Authorities (CAs), administrators can perform strong user mapping for certificates used for Active Directory authentication. However, when first introduced, the update came with some serious limitations that prevented administrators from enabling full enforcement mode for certificate mapping.

Limitations

When KB5014754 is installed on an enterprise issuing CA, a new certificate extension (1.3.6.1.4.1.311.25.2) is added to the issued certificate that includes the principal’s (user or device) Security Identifier (SID). However, this only occurs when an online template is used. An online template is one with the subject name built from Active Directory information. The SID is not embedded in certificates issued using an offline template. Offline templates are templates where the subject name is supplied in the request. There are two scenarios where this causes problems for Always On VPN.

Microsoft Intune

Certificates delivered with Microsoft Intune via the Intune Certificate Connector use an offline template. This applies to certificates using PKCS or SCEP. Today, the SID is not embedded by issuing CAs using offline templates.

Azure Conditional Access

The short-lived certificate issued by Azure when Conditional Access is configured for Always On VPN did not include the SID. However, that recently changed.

Recent Updates

Today we can scratch Azure Conditional Access off the list of limitations for Always On VPN. Microsoft recently introduced support for the new SID extension in Azure Conditional Access certificates, as shown here.

Now when an Azure Conditional Access certificate is issued to an on-premises user or device account that is synced with Azure Active Directory, Azure Conditional Access will include the SID information in the issued short-lived certificate.

Intune

Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for Microsoft to address the limitation with certificates delivered using Microsoft Intune. Hopefully we’ll see an update for that later this year.  

Additional Information

Certificate-Based Authentication Changes and Always On VPN

Microsoft KB5014754

Digital Certificates and TPM

Microsoft Intune Certificate Connector Service Account and PKCS

2 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on July 11, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in AADJ, Active Directory, administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, authentication, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Azure AD, Azure AD Join, Azure Conditional Access, Azure MFA, Azure VPN, Certificate Connector for Intune, certificates, cloud, Conditional Access, Deployment, Device Management, Endpoint Manager, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, HAADJ, Hybrid Azure AD Join, Infrastructure, InTune, Intune Certificate Connector, Intune PFX Connector, MDM, MEM, MEMCM, MFA, Microsoft, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Microsoft Intune, Mobile Device Management, Mobility, Multifactor Authentiction, NDES, Network Device Enrollment Service, Network Device Enrollment Services, NPS, Operational Support, PFX Connector, PKCS, PKI, public cloud, public key infrastructure, Remote Access, SCEP, Security, Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol, systems management, Update, user tunnel, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Richard M. Hicks on July 11, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/07/11/azure-conditional-access-certificates-with-sid-information-now-available/

Always On VPN at MMSMOA 2023

I’m excited to share that I’ve been invited to present at the popular Midwest Management Summit at Mall of America (MMSMOA) this year! The event takes place Monday, May 2, through Thursday, May 4, 2023.

Sessions

I will be delivering two talks at the event this year. One on Microsoft Always On VPN and Intune, the other on deploying certificate using Intune.

Always On VPN and Intune: Notes from the Field – Tuesday, May 2 at 10:00 AM CDT

This session will cover all aspects of deploying and managing Always On VPN client configuration settings using Microsoft Intune.

Intune Certificate Management – Wednesday, May 3 at 10:00 AM CDT

This session will provide detailed configuration guidance and best practice recommendations for issuing on-premises enterprise PKI certificate using Microsoft Intune.

Attending MMS?

Will you be attending MMSMOA? Let’s connect! Drop in on my sessions, of course, but let’s plan to hang out! I will have copies of my book to give away too, so don’t miss out. Send me a note here or on Twitter, or just find me at the conference. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!

Leave a comment
by Richard M. Hicks on April 11, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in Always On VPN, AOVPN, certificates, Endpoint Manager, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, Intune Certificate Connector, Intune PFX Connector, learning, MDM, MEM, MEMCM, Microsoft, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Microsoft Intune, Mobile Device Management, Mobility, NDES, Network Device Enrollment Service, Network Device Enrollment Services, PFX Connector, PKI, PowerShell, public key infrastructure, Remote Access, SCCM, SCEP, Security, Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol, System Center Configuration Manager, systems management, TPM, Trusted Platform Module, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, Workshop
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 11, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/04/11/always-on-vpn-at-mmsmoa-2023/

« Older Posts
%d