[German]To force administrators of Exchange instances to the more secure PowerShell v3 modules, Microsoft plans to discontinue Remote PowerShell (RPS) in Exchange Online. It was supposed to be disabled for all customers starting June 2023 – and already on April 1, 2023, Microsoft blocked newly created RPS connections for all tenants. Now, as of March 27, 2023, Microsoft has announced in a Techcommunity post that Remote PowerShell will get a reprieve in Exchange Online.
I had reported in the December 2022 blog post Exchange Online PowerShell V2 soon deprecated, replaced by PowerShell V3 that Microsoft would deprecate PowerShell V2 for Exchange Online as of June 2023. From then on, the PowerShell modules in question will no longer work. Those who use PowerShell modules to administer their Exchange Online instances should have adapted their scripts to PowerShell V3 before June 2023. After July 1, customers will no longer be able to use RPS when connecting to Exchange Online and will have to use the v3 module with REST cmdlets instead.
According to the above tweet, however, there is a grace period for affected administrators. In the tech community post Deprecation of Remote PowerShell in Exchange Online – Re-enabling or Extending RPS support from March 27, 2023, Microsoft recommends administrators of Exchange Online instances to switch the PowerShell (PS) cmdlets that still use Remote PowerShell to the new REST-based v3 PowerShell modules as soon as possible. Microsoft named the following dates:
- Starting in June 2023, Remote PowerShell (RPS) will be gradually disabled for all Exchange Online customers.
- Starting April 1, 2023, Microsoft will begin blocking RPS connections for all tenants created on or after April 1, 2023.
However, it looks like Microsoft has received feedback from customers that these deadlines are too tight. Administrators who need a little more time to switch to the new REST-based v3 PowerShell modules will get that option. Microsoft has published a self-service tool in the Microsoft 365 Administration Center and the Exchange Administration Center that administrators can use to request an extension or reactivation of RPS.
With this tool, Microsoft hopes to help administrators manage the migration to the REST-based v3 PowerShell modules without disruption. However, administrators should only use this tool if they really need the RPS. But September 2023 will be the final end of the line, with Remote PowerShell to be shut down then. Details can be read in the Techcommunity article. Below are the dates regarding the shutdown:
Is disabling remote PowerShell on Exchange Online a problem for you?
