When I started this quest, my initial thoughts on all this were to delegate the “Reset of the MFA Profile” to other service desks for a scoped list of users in AAD when something happened to the users’ mobile device/phone. That could be: lost, broken or stolen device/phone. With that in mind I tried the following roles “Privileged Authentication Administrator” and “Authentication Administrator”. Before continuing I first read a few things to understand what had changed since the last time I looked at it. I can tell you that was quite some time ago!
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In summary I saw the following:
- Still in preview!
- Managing Administrative Units and everything around that through PowerShell
- Requires AzureADPreview Module!
- Resources can only be users!
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My investigation started by first creating some users in AAD that used native AAD Authentication, no federation or anything special like that to keep it as simple as possible. My idea was to create 5 regular users per AU and for each AU also create 1 admin for 4 unique AAD roles. I used the following PowerShell CMDlets:
# Create Users In AAD
$tenantDomain = "<AAD Tenant Domain>" # Replace this with your own value
$mobile = "<Mobile Phone Number>" # Replace this with your own value
$pwdProfileAM = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.PasswordProfile
$pwdProfileAM.Password = ‘<Some Text String As Password>‘ # Replace this with your own value
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe (AM 1)" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe (AM 1)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "john.doe.am1@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Finance" -JobTitle "Accountant" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "john.doe.am1" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe (AM 2)" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe (AM 2)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "john.doe.am2@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Finance" -JobTitle "Accountant" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "john.doe.am2" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe (AM 3)" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe (AM 3)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "john.doe.am3@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Finance" -JobTitle "Accountant" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "john.doe.am3" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe (AM 4)" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe (AM 4)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "john.doe.am4@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Finance" -JobTitle "Accountant" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "john.doe.am4" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe (AM 5)" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe (AM 5)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "john.doe.am5@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Finance" -JobTitle "Accountant" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "john.doe.am5" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin Priv AuthN (AM Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "Priv AuthN (AM Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "admin.priv.authn.am@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – PrivAuthN" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.priv.authn.am" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin AuthN (AM Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "AuthN (AM Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "admin.authn.am@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – AuthN" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.authn.am" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin Helpdesk (AM Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "Helpdesk (AM Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "admin.helpdesk.am@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – Helpdesk" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.helpdesk.am" -UsageLocation "US"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin User Account (AM Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "User Account (AM Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileAM -UserPrincipalName "admin.user.account.am@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "New York" -Country "United States Of America" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – UserAccount" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.user.account.am" -UsageLocation "US"
$pwdProfileEU = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.PasswordProfile
$pwdProfileEU.Password = ‘<Some Text String As Password>‘ # Replace this with your own value
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Jan Janssen (EU 1)" -GivenName "Jan" -Surname "Janssen (EU 1)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "jan.janssen.eu1@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "ICT" -JobTitle "Engineer" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "jan.janssen.eu1" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Jan Janssen (EU 2)" -GivenName "Jan" -Surname "Janssen (EU 2)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "jan.janssen.eu2@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "ICT" -JobTitle "Engineer" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "jan.janssen.eu2" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Jan Janssen (EU 3)" -GivenName "Jan" -Surname "Janssen (EU 3)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "jan.janssen.eu3@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "ICT" -JobTitle "Engineer" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "jan.janssen.eu3" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Jan Janssen (EU 4)" -GivenName "Jan" -Surname "Janssen (EU 4)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "jan.janssen.eu4@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "ICT" -JobTitle "Engineer" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "jan.janssen.eu4" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Jan Janssen (EU 5)" -GivenName "Jan" -Surname "Janssen (EU 5)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "jan.janssen.eu5@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "ICT" -JobTitle "Engineer" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "jan.janssen.eu5" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin Priv AuthN (EU Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "Priv AuthN (EU Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "admin.priv.authn.eu@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – PrivAuthN" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.priv.authn.eu" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin AuthN (EU Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "AuthN (EU Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "admin.authn.eu@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – AuthN" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.authn.eu" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin Helpdesk (EU Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "Helpdesk (EU Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "admin.helpdesk.eu@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – Helpdesk" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.helpdesk.eu" -UsageLocation "NL"
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "Admin User Account (EU Admin)" -GivenName "Admin" -Surname "User Account (EU Admin)" -PasswordProfile $pwdProfileEU -UserPrincipalName "admin.user.account.eu@$tenantDomain" -AccountEnabled $true -City "Amsterdam" -Country "The Netherlands" -Department "Operations" -JobTitle "DevOpsAdmin – UserAccount" -Mobile $mobile -MailNickName "admin.user.account.eu" -UsageLocation "NL"
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After this I had to create some administrative units in AAD. 2 AUs was more than enough
# Create Administrative Units In AAD
New-AzureADAdministrativeUnit -Description "AM Region – City Of New York" -DisplayName "AM Region – NYC"
New-AzureADAdministrativeUnit -Description "EU Region – City Of Amsterdam" -DisplayName "EU Region – AMS"
–
Before being able to continue and configure things I needed to retrieve the objects that were created in AAD
# Get individual AUs
$auAMNYC = $aUs | ?{$_.Displayname -eq "AM Region – NYC"}
$auEUAMS = $aUs | ?{$_.Displayname -eq "EU Region – AMS"}
# Get List Of Candidate Users Using SOME Filter
$usersAMNYC = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘New York’)"
$usersEUAMS = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘Amsterdam’)"
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Now I needed to add the previously created users to the previously created AUs
# Add Users To AUs
$usersAMNYC | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
Add-AzureADAdministrativeUnitMember -ObjectId $auAMNYC.ObjectId -RefObjectId $userObjectID
}
$usersEUAMS | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
Add-AzureADAdministrativeUnitMember -ObjectId $auEUAMS.ObjectId -RefObjectId $userObjectID
}
–
Now I needed to assign the roles to specific admins for specific AUs
# Retrieve Admin Accounts For AM – New York
$adminPrivAuthNAMNYC = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘New York’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – PrivAuthN’)"
$adminAuthNAMNYC = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘New York’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – AuthN’)"
$adminHelpdeskAMNYC = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘New York’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – Helpdesk’)"
$adminUserAccountAMNYC = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘New York’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – UserAccount’)"
# Retrieve Admin Accounts For EU – Amsterdam
$adminPrivAuthNEUAMS = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘Amsterdam’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – PrivAuthN’)"
$adminAuthNEUAMS = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘Amsterdam’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – AuthN’)"
$adminHelpdeskEUAMS = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘Amsterdam’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – Helpdesk’)"
$adminUserAccountEUAMS = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "(City eq ‘Amsterdam’) and (Department eq ‘Operations’) and (JobTitle eq ‘DevOpsAdmin – UserAccount’)"
# Prepare The Role Definitions And Enable As Needed
# ROLE: Privileged Authentication Administrator
$privAuthAdminRoleDisplayName = "Privileged Authentication Administrator"
$privAuthAdminRole = Get-AzureADDirectoryRole | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $privAuthAdminRoleDisplayName} # Allowed to view, set and reset authentication method information for any user (admin or non-admin).
If (!$privAuthAdminRole) {
$privAuthAdminRoleTemplate = $null
$privAuthAdminRoleTemplate = Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleTemplate | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $privAuthAdminRoleDisplayName}
Enable-AzureADDirectoryRole -RoleTemplateId $privAuthAdminRoleTemplate.ObjectId
}
$privAuthAdminRoleObjectID = $privAuthAdminRole.ObjectId
# ROLE: Authentication Administrator
$authAdminRoleDisplayName = "Authentication Administrator"
$authAdminRole = Get-AzureADDirectoryRole | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $authAdminRoleDisplayName} # Allowed to view, set and reset authentication method information for any non-admin user.
If (!$authAdminRole) {
$authAdminRoleTemplate = $null
$authAdminRoleTemplate = Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleTemplate | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $authAdminRoleDisplayName}
Enable-AzureADDirectoryRole -RoleTemplateId $authAdminRoleTemplate.ObjectId
}
$authAdminRoleObjectID = $authAdminRole.ObjectId
# ROLE: Helpdesk Administrator
$helpdeskAdminRoleDisplayName = "Helpdesk Administrator"
$helpdeskAdminRole = Get-AzureADDirectoryRole | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $helpdeskAdminRoleDisplayName} # Can reset passwords for non-administrators and Helpdesk Administrators
If (!$helpdeskAdminRole) {
$helpdeskAdminRoleTemplate = $null
$helpdeskAdminRoleTemplate = Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleTemplate | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $helpdeskAdminRoleDisplayName}
Enable-AzureADDirectoryRole -RoleTemplateId $helpdeskAdminRoleTemplate.ObjectId
}
$helpdeskAdminRoleObjectID = $helpdeskAdminRole.ObjectId
# ROLE: User Account Administrator
$userAccountAdminRoleDisplayName = "User Account Administrator"
$userAccountAdminRole = Get-AzureADDirectoryRole | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq "User Account Administrator"} # Can manage all aspects of users and groups, including resetting passwords for limited admins
If (!$userAccountAdminRole) {
$userAccountAdminRoleTemplate = $null
$userAccountAdminRoleTemplate = Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleTemplate | ?{$_.DisplayName -eq $userAccountAdminRoleDisplayName}
Enable-AzureADDirectoryRole -RoleTemplateId $userAccountAdminRoleTemplate.ObjectId
}
$userAccountAdminRoleObjectID = $userAccountAdminRole.ObjectId
# Role Delegation For AM – New York
$adminPrivAuthNAMNYC | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auAMNYC.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $privAuthAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminAuthNAMNYC | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auAMNYC.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $authAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminHelpdeskAMNYC | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auAMNYC.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $helpdeskAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminUserAccountAMNYC | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auAMNYC.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $userAccountAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
# Role Delegation For EU – Amsterdam
$adminPrivAuthNEUAMS | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auEUAMS.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $privAuthAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminAuthNEUAMS | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auEUAMS.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $authAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminHelpdeskEUAMS | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auEUAMS.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $helpdeskAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
$adminUserAccountEUAMS | %{
$userObjectID = $null
$userObjectID = $_.ObjectId
$userMemberInfo = $null
$userMemberInfo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.AzureAD.Model.RoleMemberInfo -Property @{ObjectId = $userObjectID}
Add-AzureADScopedRoleMembership -ObjectId $auEUAMS.ObjectId -RoleObjectId $userAccountAdminRoleObjectID -RoleMemberInfo $userMemberInfo
}
–
While adding the “Privileged Authentication Administrator” AAD role I noticed the following
Figure 1: An Error Stating That Role Delegation For Administrative Units Is Only Possible For The “User Account Administrator” Role And The “Helpdesk Administrator” Role
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Now this is a bummer! Damn!
–
The end result of all this is:
Figure 2: The Administrative Units And Its AU Members
–
Figure 3: The Administrative Units And Its Scoped Role Members
–
It should be obvious the “Privileged Authentication Administrator” is missing as that one failed as displayed in figure 1. It is weird though the configuration for that one failed, as the configuration for the “Authentication Administrator” role succeeded.
–
As in the previous post I started with the AAD Portal (https://portal.azure.com/) and I logged on with admin.authn.am@iamtec.onmicrosoft.com which was delegated the “Authentication Administrator” in the “AM Region – NYC” AU. Looking at my own Directory Role I saw the following
Figure 4: The Assigned Directory Role To The Admin Account In The Directory Role Section Of The User Account
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Although the AAD Portal is able to see that I have the “Authentication Administrator” role assigned, on the main page of the AAD Portal it tells me I’m a regular user
Figure 5: The Assigned Directory Role To The Admin Account On The Main Overview Page
–
So is the AAD Portal having some role crisis regarding this user? Something else worth mentioning is that the AAD Portal unfortunately does not have a notion about AUs, at least I could not see anything about that when logged on with the delegated admin account.
Trying to reset the MFA profile for a scoped user….
Figure 6: Authentication Methods Section For A User Through The AAD Portal
–
Looking at that I see I can do something with the following because it is not greyed:
Edit Authentication InfoRevoke MFA sessionsRequire Re-Register MFA- Reset Password
–
This time stuff was not as I expected. Almost everything was greyed out and I got the message that I did not have access to the requested data. In the end I thing that the AAD Portal overview page was indeed right. Just a regular user!
I did try the Password Reset as that was not greyed out, but it failed with an error saying: “The password can not be reset. This may be due to an incorrect level of administrative privilege or if trying to reset your own password”
–
Let’s move on to the Office 365 Admin Center.
I logged on with admin.authn.am@iamtec.onmicrosoft.com and in the “Users – Active Users” section I could only see the users of the administrative unit I was had been assigned a role in. If I was assigned a role for multiple administrative units than the drop-down list would specify all applicable AUs and for each AU the AU members would be displayed below
Figure 7: List Of Users Within A Specific Administrative Unit The Admin Was Delegated To
–
In the Office 365 Admin Center I was not able to find a way to Reset the MFA profile or to revoke MFA sessions. Unfortunately that was disappointing as I was able to reset the password of the scoped users.
Moving to PowerShell using any of the following CMDlets:
Revoke-AzureADUserAllRefreshToken –ObjectId <Object ID Or UPN>
Reset-MsolStrongAuthenticationMethodByUpn -UserPrincipalName <UPN>
Set-MsolUserPassword -UserPrincipalName <UPN> -NewPassword ‘<Some Text String As Password>’
Set-AzureADUserPassword -ObjectId <Object ID Or UPN> -Password $(ConvertTo-SecureString -String ‘<Some Text String As Password>’ -AsPlainText -Force)
All CMDlets succeeded, except the one that I really needed!
Figure 8: Using PowerShell When Using Delegated AAD Roles For Administrative Units
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As it looks, there appears to be no way in delegating the reset of an MFA profile for a scoped user. The AAD Portal does not really understand administrative Units, The O365 Admin Center does understand administrative Units, but has no option to reset the MFA profile for a scoped user when using AUs. Through PowerShell, the CMDlet “Reset-MsolStrongAuthenticationMethodByUpn -UserPrincipalName <UPN>” does not work when using delegated permissions for AUs.
–
Not much has changed unfortunately. As how I look at it right now, although it does support delegated tasks in the Office 365 Admin Center, it lacks the options to be able to do everything. With this in mind the administrative units feature is not yet enterprise ready, especially when the need exists to delegate parts to other regions/locations.
Hopefully Microsoft changes this soon
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Cheers,
Jorge
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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights!
Always evaluate/test everything yourself first before using/implementing this in production!
This is today’s opinion/technology, it might be different tomorrow and will definitely be different in 10 years!
DISCLAIMER: https://jorgequestforknowledge.wordpress.com/disclaimer/
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########################### Jorge’s Quest For Knowledge ##########################
#################### http://JorgeQuestForKnowledge.wordpress.com/ ###################
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