Device Management Audit Policy: Assign Method Now Available in Microsoft Graph—What Entra Admins Need to Know

WHAT JUST CHANGED: Assign Method for Device Management Audit Policy

On June 2024, Microsoft rolled out the assign method for the deviceManagementAuditPolicy resource in Microsoft Graph. This is now available in General Availability (GA) for Entra ID tenants worldwide. All tenants with device management capabilities—particularly those with Intune, Microsoft 365 E3/E5, and Azure AD Premium P1/P2—can leverage this API enhancement. The assign method enables programmatic assignment of audit policies to device groups or users directly through Microsoft Graph.

Rollout Status

• Status: General Availability (GA)
• Effective Date: June 2024
• Affected Tenants: All Entra tenants with device management licenses

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE ROADMAP: Unified Device Lifecycle, Policy Automation, and App Registration Enhancements

Microsoft’s public roadmap for Entra ID and device management includes:

• Advanced Device Compliance Actions: Conditional Access integration for device compliance state, auto-remediation and auto-quarantine features—currently in preview.
• Granular Audit Policy Targeting: Assign audit policies at the user, device, and group level. Expect support for dynamic device groups and custom targeting by 2024 Q4.
• App Registration Workflow Improvements: Streamlined app lifecycle and permissions management—recently announced at Microsoft Build. Look for role-based app assignments, improved consent flows, and enhanced app discoverability in Entra admin center.
• Device Management API Expansion: New endpoints for device inventory, bulk actions, and device tagging—rolling out in preview now.
• Retirement Notice: AzureAD and MSOnline PowerShell modules deprecation deadline is October 2024. All automation must migrate to Microsoft.Graph or Microsoft.Entra modules.

WHY THIS DIRECTION IS BETTER: Concrete Advantages

Previously, admins were forced to rely on Entra admin center UI or static policy assignment via Intune. The assign method in Microsoft Graph:

• Speeds Automation: Enables scripting, bulk assignments, and CI/CD integration for device policy management.
• Improves Scalability: Supports large environments, bulk changes, and dynamic device groups.
• Enhances Compliance: Audit policies can be rapidly deployed to new devices or users, reducing gaps.
• Reduces Manual Errors: Eliminates UI-driven misconfiguration and improves consistency.
• Competitive Edge: Unlike Okta and Ping, Entra now offers full device audit policy assignment through API, aligning with enterprise automation expectations.

The shift to Microsoft.Graph also brings richer error handling, better reporting, and future-proofing against module deprecation.

ADJACENT WORKFLOW CHANGES: Conditional Access, App Management, and Licensing Impact

• Conditional Access for Devices: Device compliance now triggers Conditional Access policies—ensure audit policies are assigned before enforcing access controls.
• App Registration: New app registration experiences in Entra admin center. All permissions assignments can now leverage device context for app-based access.
• Licensing: Bulk device management requires Intune or Microsoft 365 E3/E5. Audit your license coverage before scaling assignments.

WHAT TO DO: Step-by-Step Admin Actions

1. Audit Current Device Management Audit Policies
   • Run PowerShell (see below) to inventory policies and assignment status.
2. Plan Assignment:
   • Identify device groups or users requiring audit policies.
   • Document assignment targets.
3. Test Assignment:
   • Use Microsoft.Graph PowerShell to simulate assignment (dry-run).
   • Review error output and validate assignment logic.
4. Assign Audit Policies:
   • Use Microsoft.Graph for production assignment—always start with -WhatIf.
5. Monitor Compliance:
   • Set up periodic audits to verify assignments and compliance.

CHECK IT YOURSELF: PowerShell Reporting and Dry-Run Assignment

Report Device Management Audit Policies and Assignment

# Requires Microsoft.Graph.DeviceManagement module
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'DeviceManagementConfiguration.Read.All'

# List all device management audit policies (with pagination)
$policies = @()
$response = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri 'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/deviceManagement/deviceManagementAuditPolicies'
$policies += $response.value
while ($response.'@odata.nextLink') {
    $response = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $response.'@odata.nextLink'
    $policies += $response.value
}

foreach ($policy in $policies) {
    Write-Output "Policy: $($policy.displayName)"
    # List assignments for each policy
    $assignUri = "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/deviceManagement/deviceManagementAuditPolicies/$($policy.id)/assignments"
    $assignments = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $assignUri
    foreach ($assignment in $assignments.value) {
        Write-Output "  Assigned to: $($assignment.target)"
    }
}

Dry-Run New Assignment (WhatIf Simulation)

# Example: Simulate assigning a policy to a device group
$policyId = 'your-policy-id'
$targetGroupId = 'your-group-id'

$body = @{ assignments = @(@{ target = @{ groupId = $targetGroupId } }) }

# Dry-run: Output the request, do not execute
Write-Output "Would assign audit policy $policyId to group $targetGroupId"
Write-Output ($body | ConvertTo-Json)
# To perform the assignment, remove WhatIf and use:
# Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/deviceManagement/deviceManagementAuditPolicies/$policyId/assign" -Body $body

Error Handling: Both scripts check pagination and output assignment targets. Manual review of errors is recommended before any bulk action.

PORTAL PATH: Entra Admin Center Navigation

• Go to Entra admin center (https://entra.microsoft.com).
• Navigate: Devices → Device Management → Audit Policies.
• From here, view, edit, and assign audit policies. The new assign method will appear as an “Assign Policy” option for each policy.

BOTTOM LINE: Prioritised Recommendations

• Inventory your device audit policies and assignments immediately.
• Transition all automation to Microsoft.Graph modules before AzureAD/MSOnline retirement.
• Adopt API-based assignment for improved scalability and compliance.
• Prepare for Conditional Access integration and device lifecycle automation.

Device compliance and audit policy assignment are now fully automatable—admins must leverage the assign method for scale, accuracy, and future readiness.