Develop Reference

How do I get accounts from Azure AD?

I have a nice Azure Active Directory set up with a dozen users. (All me!) So I have a Tenant ID, client ID and Client Secret.
I am also working on a simple console application that will function as a public client for this directory. This client also holds a list of usernames and passwords as this is just meant as a simple experiment. Not secure, I know. But I first need to understand how it works...
I do this:
IConfidentialClientApplication client = ConfidentialClientApplicationBuilder
.CreateWithApplicationOptions(options).Build();
And this creates my client app. Works fine.
I also get a token using "https://graph.microsoft.com/.default" and can use this to get all users as JSON:
string result = await GetHttpContentWithToken("https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users",
token.AccessToken);
Although I might want it to be more user-friendly, JSON is fine for now.
How can I check if user is an authorized user?
And no, I don't want complex solutions that require various nuget packages. Just a plain and simple step-by-step explanation. I could probably Google this but I ended up with thousands of results and none were helpful... This should be easy, right?
[EDIT] I first wanted to get a list of users nut that failed because of a typo... (There's a dot before 'default'...)

It took some fooling around but it's not too difficult after all. There are a lot of libraries around Azure but it is all basically just a bunch of HTTP requests and responses. Even in a console application...
I started with making a PublicClientApplicationBuilder first:
var options = new PublicClientApplicationOptions()
{
ClientId = <**clientid**>,
TenantId = <**tenantid**>,
AzureCloudInstance = AzureCloudInstance.AzurePublic,
};
var client = PublicClientApplicationBuilder.CreateWithApplicationOptions(options).Build();
I can also create a ConfidentialClientApplication instead, but this allows me to log in interactively, if need be.
Next, set up the scopes:
var scopes = new List<string>() { "https://graph.microsoft.com/.default" };
As I wanted to log in using username and password, I have to use this:
var token = await client.AcquireTokenInteractive(scopes).ExecuteAsync();
But if I want to log in using code, I can also use this:
var password = new SecureString();
foreach (var c in <**password**>) { password.AppendChar(c); }
var token = await client.AcquireTokenByUsernamePassword(scopes, <**account**>, password).ExecuteAsync();
At this point, I'm authorized as the specified user. So, now all I need is to get whatever data I like, in JSON strings...
public static async Task<string> ExecCmd(string name, string url, string token)
{
HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient();
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("bearer", token);
string result = await GetHttpContentWithToken(url, token);
JObject json = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(result) as JObject;
File.WriteAllText(name, json.ToString());
return result;
}
As I just want to read the data as text files, I just execute the action in using a specific and write it as formatted JSON to the file . So, using this simple method I can now use this:
await ExecCmd("Profile.txt", "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/", token.AccessToken);
await ExecCmd("Groups.txt", "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups", token.AccessToken);
await ExecCmd("Users.txt", "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users", token.AccessToken);
These will provide me with (1) the profile of the current user, (2) the AD groups and (3) the AD users. And probably a bit more...
I can use this ExecCmd to retrieve a lot more data, if I want to. But there's something else to keep in mind! For it all to work, you also need to configure the Azure application and make sure all access rights are assigned and approved!
So, in Azure AD you have to add an "App registration" and fiddle around with the settings... (The Azure experts are horribly shocked now, but when you want to learn, you'd just have to try and fail until you succeed...)
Also set "Default client type" to "public client" for the registered app.
In Azure, with the registered app, you also need to set the proper API permissions! Otherwise, you won't have access. And as I want access to Active Directory, I need to add permissions to "Azure Active Directory Graph". I can do this inside Azure or by using the scope when I call AcquireTokenInteractive(). For example, by using "https://graph.windows.net/Directory.Read.All" instead of "https://graph.windows.net/.default".
Once you've accessed a token interactively, you can also get more tokens using client.AcquireTokenSilent(). It gets a bit tricky from here, especially if you want to access a lot of different items. Fortunately, Active Directory is mostly the directory itself, groups, users and members.
Personally, I prefer to grant access from the Azure website but this is quite interesting.
Anyways, I wanted to authenticate users with Azure and now I know how to do this. It still leaves a lot more questions but this all basically answers my question...
I'll use this as answer, as others might find it useful...

TwitchLib Help- Work around old TwitchClient() method

I was watching a tutorial on how to script a bot using C# and the instructor used (to my knowledge) an old call to TwitchClient which takes credentials and references. However, it is currently not the case and I'm wondering now what might be a good way to work around it. Currently, the method takes a websocket and logger but I have suspicion that you still need to use credentials and references.
Any help will be appreciated.
Here's the video with the timestamp: https://youtu.be/5f1T9hQqJps?t=8m3s

Instead of the single line in the video, these two lines should now achieve mostly the same effect:
client = new TwitchClient();
client.Initialize(credentials, "channel");
If you want to also enable logging (like in the video), then you will need to provide an instance of ILogger to the first call like so:
client = new TwitchClient(null, myLoggingInstance);
The WebSocket parameter is used for testing (so you can generate your own traffic to test your bot), the docs advise not to set this.

its quite simple actually, even the github page shows a simple example:
ConnectionCredentials credentials = new ConnectionCredentials("twitch_username", "access_token");
var clientOptions = new ClientOptions
{
MessagesAllowedInPeriod = 750,
ThrottlingPeriod = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
};
WebSocketClient customClient = new WebSocketClient(clientOptions);
client = new TwitchClient(customClient);
client.Initialize(credentials, "channel");
client.OnLog += Client_OnLog;
client.Connect();
then later declare this function:
private void Client_OnLog(object sender, OnLogArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{e.DateTime.ToString()}: {e.BotUsername} - {e.Data}");
}

How to track MongoDB requests from a console application

I have a Console Application project written in C# which I've added Application Insights to with the following NuGet packages.
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Agent.Intercept
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.DependencyCollector
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.NLogTarget
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.PerfCounterCollector
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Web
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer
Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer.TelemetryChannel
I've configured my InstrumentationKey in the config file and I'm firing up a TelemetryClient on startup using the with the following code:
var telemetryClient = new TelemetryClient();
telemetryClient.Context.User.Id = Environment.UserName;
telemetryClient.Context.Session.Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
telemetryClient.Context.Device.OperatingSystem = Environment.OSVersion.ToString();
Everything is working well except AI is not capturing any requests that get sent to Mongo, I can see requests going off to SQL server in the 'Application map' but no sign of any other external requests. Is there any way that I can see telemetry of requests made to Mongo?
EDIT - Thanks to Peter Bons I ended up with pretty much the following which works like a charm and allows me to distinguish between success and failure:
var telemetryClient = new TelemetryClient();
var connectionString = connectionStringSettings.ConnectionString;
var mongoUrl = new MongoUrl(connectionString);
var mongoClientSettings = MongoClientSettings.FromUrl(mongoUrl);
mongoClientSettings.ClusterConfigurator = clusterConfigurator =>
{
clusterConfigurator.Subscribe<CommandSucceededEvent>(e =>
{
telemetryClient.TrackDependency("MongoDB", e.CommandName, DateTime.Now.Subtract(e.Duration), e.Duration, true);
});
clusterConfigurator.Subscribe<CommandFailedEvent>(e =>
{
telemetryClient.TrackDependency("MongoDB", $"{e.CommandName} - {e.ToString()}", DateTime.Now.Subtract(e.Duration), e.Duration, false);
});
};
var mongoClient = new MongoClient(mongoClientSettings);

I am not familiar with MongoDB but as far as I can tell there is no default support for it when it comes to Application Insights. But that does not mean you cannot do this, it will just involve some more code.
Again, I am not familiar with MongoDB but according to http://www.mattburkedev.com/logging-queries-from-mongodb-c-number-driver/ there is built-in support for logging the generated queries. Now, we only need to hook this up to Application Insights.
Since you already know how to use the TelemetryClient we can use the custom tracking methods provided by that class. See https://learn.microsoft.com/nl-nl/azure/application-insights/app-insights-api-custom-events-metrics for the available custom tracking methods.
All you need to do is to insert some code like this:
telemetryClient.TrackDependency(
"MongoDB", // The name of the dependency
query, // Text of the query
DateTime.Now, // Time that query is executed
TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0), // Time taken to execute query
true); // Indicates success
The class telemetryClient is thread-safe so you can reuse it.
Now, according to the referenced blogpost you should be able to do something like this:
var client = new MongoClient(new MongoClientSettings()
{
Server = new MongoServerAddress("localhost"),
ClusterConfigurator = cb =>
{
cb.Subscribe<CommandStartedEvent>(e =>
{
telemetryClient.TrackDependency(
"MongoDB", // The name of the dependency
e.Command.ToJson() // Text of the query
DateTime.Now, // Time that query is executed
TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0), // Time taken to execute query
true); // Indicates success
});
}
});
Again, I am not familiar with MongoDB but I hope this is a starting point for your imagination on how to adapt it to your needs using your knowledge of MongoDB.
EDIT:
If there is also a CommandCompletedEvent or similar event as opposed to the CommandStartedEvent event you should probably track the dependency there because you should then be able to calculate (or simpel read) the time spent and maybe get the actual value for the success indicator.

Scaling out SignalR with SQL Server - is it possible to add messages from an outside service?

I am using SQL Server as a backplane for scaling out my SignalR.
In my scenario there are some services which run on other servers and I need to integrate their working status into my SignalR hub.
I tried as a test running a simple Console application with the SQL server scaleout and publish a message like this:
var config = new SqlScaleoutConfiguration(connectionString);
GlobalHost.DependencyResolver.UseSqlServer(connectionString);
var messageBus = new SqlMessageBus(GlobalHost.DependencyResolver, config);
var message = new Message("TransactionHub", "RegisterClient","{userId:1}");
messageBus.Publish(message);
Can I use the SQLScaleout like this somehow?
If not, is there some other way to do what I am trying to do?
Edit:
I've done as halter73 suggested and it works ok, you have to notice that if you activate a client side function, the parameter you send has to match, ie if the object is "Namespace.ClassName" then you should send an object of the same type exactly.

You should try using GlobalHost.ConnectionManager.GetHubContext instead of publishing to the bus directly. Your code would look something like this:
var context = GlobalHost.ConnectionManager.GetHubContext<TransactionHub>();
context.Clients.All.registerClient(new { userId = 1 });

SignalR 1.0 - send data to a specific client

I want to be able to send messages to a specific client, I have working code but I cannot find a way to identify users, as on each page load/refresh the client id will change, so I cannot rely on that.
I have tried to append a querystring to the connection, but I have only been able to find the querystring of the same context.
This is my hub, and within the send method i want to be able to match the id that is sent in to a particular connection id at the point of sending the message:
public class Chat : Hub
{
public string addMsg()
{
return "";
}
public void Send(string message, string id)
{
Clients.Client(Context.ConnectionId).receiveMessage(message);
}
}
Here is my client code, i want to pass the id of the person to send a message to to the server send method, and use the querystring value of the other connected user to match it to the id i am sending.
var chat = $.connection.chat;
chat.client.receiveMessage = function (message) {
alert("Received from server: " + message);
};
chat.addMsg = function (message) {
};
$("#sendMessage").click(function () {
chat.server.send($('#newMessage').val(), 6);
});
$.connection.hub.qs = "id=1";
$.connection.hub.start().done(function () {
var myClientId = $.connection.hub.id;
var qs = $.connection.hub.qs;
});
I hope my question makes sense, I have been trying to crack this for a while now, below are some links to some of the articles i have used to get to where i am now, I am just missing the last piece of the puzzle, please go easy on me :)
http://weblogs.asp.net/davidfowler/archive/2012/11/11/microsoft-asp-net-signalr.aspx
SignalR- send data to a specific client
https://github.com/SignalR/SignalR/wiki/QuickStart-Hubs

I don't think this is going to work the way you want it to. The connection ID is just that -- an identifier for a particular connection. SignalR itself doesn't know anything about authenticating users. It is, however, built on top of ASP.NET and all of your familiar authentication methods (Windows, Forms, etc.) work as you would expect.
Once ASP.NET has authenticated the user, you have access to this in your hubs as Context.User. It's now up to you to maintain a mapping between this user and one or more connection IDs. Besides browser refreshes, you might need to deal with a user accessing your service from multiple browsers or machines. Sending a message to this user means sending it to all of those browsers and machines.
Jabbr does all this and more. You really should take a look at that code for a good way to implement this.

How about using the Clients.Caller object int he hub, and overriding the OnConnected method:
public override Task OnConnected()
{
Clients.Caller.sendInitMessage(...);
return base.OnConnected();
}