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Assign user roles with Microsoft Entra ID

  • How-to

The ability to manage resources is granted by assigning roles that provide the required permissions. Roles can be assigned to individual users or groups. To align with the Zero Trust guiding principles, use Just-In-Time and Just-Enough-Access policies when assigning roles.

Prerequisites

Before assigning roles to users, review the following Microsoft Learn articles:

Assign roles

There are two main steps to the role assignment process. First you'll select the role to assign. Then you'll adjust the role settings and duration.

Select the role to assign

Tip

Steps in this article might vary slightly based on the portal you start from.

  • Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as a Privileged Role Administrator.

  • Browse to Identity > Users > All users.

    Screenshot of the All users page.

  • Search for and select the user getting the role assignment.

    Screenshot of the Users - All users list with Alain Charon highlighted.

  • Select Assigned roles from the side menu, then select Add assignments.

    Screenshot of the user's overview page with Assigned roles option highlighted.

  • Select a role to assign from the dropdown list and select the Next button.

Adjust the role settings

You can assign roles as either eligible or active. Eligible roles are assigned to a user but must be elevated Just-In-Time by the user through Privileged Identity Management (PIM). For more information about how to use PIM, see Privileged Identity Management.

Screenshot of the assigned roles page with the assignment types highlighted.

  1. From the Setting section of the Add assignments page, select an Assignment type option.

  2. Leave the Permanently eligible option selected if the role should always be available to elevate for the user.

    If you uncheck this option, you can specify a date range for the role eligibility.

  3. Select the Assign button.

    Assigned roles appear in the associated section for the user, so eligible and active roles are listed separately.

    Screenshot of the role assignment settings.

Update roles

You can change the settings of a role assignment, for example to change an active role to eligible.

  1. Browse to Identity > Users > All users.

  2. Search for and select the user getting their role updated.

  3. Go to the Assigned roles page and select the Update link for the role that needs to be changed.

  4. Change the settings as needed and select the Save button.

    Screenshot of assigned roles page with the Remove and Update options highlighted.

Remove roles

You can remove role assignments from the Administrative roles page for a selected user.

  1. Browse to Identity > Users > All users.

  2. Search for and select the user getting the role assignment removed.

  3. Go to the Assigned roles page and select the Remove link for the role that needs to be removed. Confirm the change in the pop-up message.

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