Software prerequisites

Depending on which services you want to manage, there are several software components you need to manage Office 365 using PowerShell. Fortunately, these are free to the public and available for download on Microsoft's website.

Core components

To work with Office 365, you'll need to download the Azure AD management shell and potentially also the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant (MOSSIA)—formerly live ID. From time to time, Microsoft makes these available through the Office 365 administration portal, but the specific page you need to go to has changed several times over the past few years. Direct links are provided as follows for your convenience:

• MOSSIA for IT professionals RTW:https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=286152
• Azure AD (Office 365) for PowerShell v1.1.166.0:https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=236297

The Sign-in Assistant download labeled for IT professionals will allow you to use either the 32- or 64-bit version if you wish; it was intended...