Create users in Dynamics 365 (online) and assign security roles

Applies to Dynamics 365 (online), version 9.x
Applies to Dynamics 365 (online), version 8.x

You use the Office 365 Admin Center to create user accounts for every user who needs access to Dynamics 365 (online). The user account registers the user with Microsoft Online Services environment. In addition to registration with the online service, the user account must be assigned a license in order for the user to have access to the service. Note that when you assign a user the global administrator or the service administrator role in the Microsoft Online Services environment, it automatically assigns the user the System Administrator security role in Dynamics 365. More information: Differences between the Microsoft Online services environment administrative roles and Dynamics 365 (online) security roles

Create a user account

When you create a user account in the Office 365 Admin Center, the system generates a user ID and temporary password for the user. You have the option to let the service send an email message to the user as clear text. Although the password is temporary, you may consider copying the information to send to the user through a more secure channel, such as from an email service that can digitally encrypt the contents. For step-by-step instructions for creating a Microsoft Online Services user account, see Create or edit users in Office 365.

 Check out the following video: Add People to Dynamics 365.

Note

When you create a user and assign a license in the Office 365 Admin Center, the user is also created in Dynamics 365 (online). The synchronization process between the Office 365 Admin Center and Dynamics 365 (online) can take a few minutes to complete.

By entering a user ID and password, a user can access the Office 365 Admin Center to view information about the service. However, the user will not have access to Dynamics 365 (online) until you assign at least one Dynamics 365 (online) security role to this user.

Tip

To force an immediate synchronization between the Office 365 Admin Center and Dynamics 365 (online), do the following:

• Sign out of Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.
• Close all open browsers used for Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.
• Sign back in to Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.

User profile information

Some user profile information is maintained and managed in the Office 365 Admin Center. After you create or update a user, these user profile fields are automatically updated and synchronized in your Dynamics 365 (online) instances.

The following table shows the fields that are managed in the Users section of the Office 365 Admin Center.

Dynamics 365 user form	Office 365 / Azure Active Directory user
User Name	Username
Full Name	First name + Last name
Title	Job title
Primary Email	Email
Main Phone	Office phone
Mobile Phone	Mobile phone
Fax	Fax number
Address	Street address
Address	City
Address	State or province
Address	Country or region

The following are Office 365 user contact fields.

Add a license to a user account

You can license the user when you create the user account, or you can license the user later. You must assign a license to every user account that you want to access the online service.

For step-by-step instructions, see Assign, reassign, or remove licenses.

Important

Licensed users must be assigned at least one Dynamics 365 security role to access Dynamics 365 (online).

About user licenses

• Dynamics 365 (online) uses user licenses to provide access to your organization. You need one user license per person with an active user record who logs into your organization.

• When you add a new person, the New user account form displays the number of user licenses available. If you reach your limit, the On button is no longer available. You can add additional licenses by choosing Billing > Purchase Services from the left-side menu in the Office 365 Admin Center.

• An unaccepted invitation requires a user license until the invitation expires two weeks after it was issued.

• If you have more user licenses than you are using, contact support to reduce the number of licenses. You cannot reduce the number of licenses to less than you are currently using or less than your offer allows. Any changes are reflected in your next billing cycle.

• Each user license requires a unique Microsoft account, and every user who logs on to Dynamics 365 needs a license. Most Dynamics 365 subscriptions include a specific number of user licenses.

Assign a security role to a user

Security roles control a user’s access to data through a set of access levels and permissions. The combination of access levels and permissions that are included in a specific security role sets limits on the user’s view of data and on the user’s interactions with that data.

Dynamics 365 (online) provides a default set of security roles. If necessary for your organization, you can create new security roles by editing one of the default security roles and then saving it under a new name.

You can assign more than one security role to a user. The effect of multiple security roles is cumulative, which means that the user has the permissions associated with all security roles assigned to the user.

Security roles are associated with business units. If you have created business units, only those security roles associated with the business unit are available for the users in the business unit. You can use this feature to limit data access to only data owned by the business unit.

For more information about the difference between Microsoft Online Services administrator roles and Dynamics 365 (online) security roles, see Grant users access to Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) as a Microsoft Online service.

Important

You must assign at least one security role to every Dynamics 365 (online) user. The service does not allow access to users who do not have at least one security role. Even if a user is a member of a team with its own security privileges, the user won’t be able to see some data and may experience other problems when trying to use the system.

In Dynamics 365 (online):

1. Click Settings > Security > Users.

2. In the list, select the user or users that you want to assign a security role to.

3. Click Manage Roles.

   Only the security roles available for that user's business unit are displayed.

4. In the Manage User Roles dialog box, select the security role or roles you want for the user or users, and then click OK.

(Optional) Assign an administrator role

You can share Microsoft Online Services environment administration tasks among several people by assigning Microsoft Online Services environment administrator roles to users you select to fill each role. You might decide to assign the global administrator role to a second person in your organization for times when you are not available.

There are five Microsoft Online Services environment administrator roles with varying levels of permissions. For example, the password reset administrator role can reset user passwords only; the user management administrator role can reset user passwords as well as add, edit, or delete user accounts; and the global administrator role can add online service subscriptions for the organization and can manage all aspects of subscriptions. For detailed information about Microsoft Online Services administrator roles, see Assigning Admin Roles.

Note

Microsoft Online Services environment administrator roles are valid only for managing aspects of the online service subscription. These roles don’t affect permissions within the Dynamics 365 (online) service.

Enable or disable users

To enable a user, assign a license to the user and add a user to the security group that is associated with an instance of Dynamics 365 (online). If you enable a user that was disabled, you must send a new invitation for the user to access the system.

To disable a user, remove a license from the user or remove the user from the security group that is associated with an instance of Dynamics 365 (online). Removing a user from the security group doesn’t remove the user’s license. If you want to make the license available to another user, you have to remove the license from the disabled user.

Note

Removing all security roles from the user prevents the user from signing into and accessing Dynamics 365 (online). However, it doesn’t remove the license from the user and the user remains in the list of the enabled users in Dynamics 365 (online). Removing security roles from a user isn’t a recommended method of removing access to Dynamics 365 (online).

You must be a member of an appropriate administrator role to do these tasks. More information: Assigning Admin Roles

Enable a user by assigning a license to the user and adding a user to the security group

1. Browse to the Office 365 admin center and sign in.

2. Click Users > Active users and select the user.

3. Under Product licenses, click Edit.

4. Turn on a Dynamics 365 (online) license, and then click Save > Close.

5. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Groups > Groups.

6. Choose the security group that is associated with your Dynamics 365 (online) organization.

7. Under Members, click Edit, and then Add members. Select from the list of users with Office 365 licenses or use Search to find users.

8. Select the users to add to the security group, and then click Save > Close multiple times.

   To add multiple users, see: bulk add users to Office365 groups.

Disable a user by removing a license from the user

1. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Users > Active Users and select a user.

2. In the right-side menu, under Product licenses, click Edit.

3. Turn off the Dynamics 365 (online) license, and then click Save > Close multiple times.

Disable a user by removing the user from the security group that is associated with an instance of Dynamics 365 (online)

1. In the Office 365 Admin Center, click Groups > Groups.

2. Choose the security group that is associated with your Dynamics 365 (online) organization.

3. In the right-side menu, under Members, click Edit.

4. Click Remove members, and then the select users to remove from the security group.

5. Click Save > Close multiple times.

Note

You can also delete users in the Office 365 Admin Center. When you remove a user from your subscription, the license assigned to that user automatically becomes available to be assigned to a different user. If you want the user to still have access to other applications you manage through Office 365, for example Microsoft Exchange Online or SharePoint, don't delete them as a user. Instead, simply remove the Dynamics 365 license you've assigned to them.

Note

When you sign out of the Office 365 Admin Center, you aren’t signing out of Dynamics 365. You have to do that separately.

Tip

To force an immediate synchronization between the Office 365 Admin Center and Dynamics 365 (online), do the following:

• Sign out of Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.
• Close all open browsers used for Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.
• Sign back in to Dynamics 365 (online) and the Office 365 Admin Center.

Create an Administrative user account

An Administrative user is a user who has access to the Settings and Administration features but has no access to any of the customer engagement functionality. It is used to allow customers to assign administrative users to perform day-to-day maintenance functions (create user accounts, manage security roles, etc). Since the administrative user does not have access to customer data and any of the customer engagement functionalities, it does not require a Dynamics 365 (online) license (after setup).

You need to have the System Administrator security role or equivalent permissions in Dynamics 365 to create an administrative user. First, you’ll create a user account in Office 365 and then in Dynamics 365 (online), select the Administrative access mode for the account.

Note

See Create an administrative user and prevent elevation of security role privilege for an example of how an Administrative user account can be used.

1. Create a user account in the Office 365 Admin Center.

   Be sure to assign a Dynamics 365 (online) license to the account. You'll remove the license (step 6) once you've assigned the AdministrativeAccess Mode.

2. Go to Dynamics 365 (online).

3. Go to Settings > Security.

4. Choose Users > Enabled Users, and then click a user’s full name.

5. In the user form, scroll down under Administration to the Client Access License (CAL) Information section and select Administrative for Access Mode.

   You then need to remove the Dynamics 365 (online) license from the account.

6. Go to the Office 365 Admin Center.

7. Click Users > Active Users.

8. Choose the Administrative user account and under Product licenses, click Edit.

9. Turn off the Dynamics 365 (online) license, and then click Save > Close multiple times.

Create a non-interactive user account

The non-interactive user is not a ‘user’ in the typical sense – it is not a person but an access mode that is created with a user account. It is used for programmatic access to and from Dynamics 365 between applications. A non-interactive user account lets these applications or tools, such as a Dynamics 365 to ERP connector, authenticate and access Dynamics 365 (online), without requiring a Dynamics 365 (online) license. For each instance of Dynamics 365 (online), you can create up to five non-interactive user accounts.

You need to have the System Administrator security role or equivalent permissions in Dynamics 365 to create a non-interactive user. First, you’ll create a user account in Office 365 and then in Dynamics 365 (online), select the non-interactive access mode for the account.

1. Create a user account in the Office 365 Admin Center.

   Be sure to assign a Dynamics 365 (online) license to the account.

2. Go to Dynamics 365 (online).

3. Go to Settings > Security.

4. Choose Users > Enabled Users, and then click a user’s full name.

5. In the user form, scroll down under Administration to the Client Access License (CAL) Information section and select Non-interactive for Access Mode.

   You then need to remove the Dynamics 365 (online) license from the account.

6. Go to the Office 365 Admin Center.

7. Click Users > Active Users.

8. Choose the non-interactive user account and under Product licenses, click Edit.

9. Turn off the Dynamics 365 (online) license, and then click Save > Close multiple times.

10. Go back to Dynamics 365 (online) and confirm that the non-interactive user account Access Mode is still set for Non-interactive.

Create an application user

Introduced in December 2016 Update for Dynamics 365 (online), you can use server-to-server (S2S) authentication to securely and seamlessly communicate with December 2016 update for Dynamics 365 (online) with your web applications and services. S2S authentication is the common way that apps registered on Microsoft AppSource use to access the Dynamics 365 data of their subscribers. All operations performed by your application or service using S2S will be performed as the application user you provide rather than as the user who is accessing your application.

All application users are created with a non-interactive user account, however they are not counted towards the five non-interactive user accounts limit. In addition, there is no limit on how many application users you can create in an instance.

You will need to create a custom security role and an application user to associate with your registered app. For more information, see Build web applications using Server-to-Server (S2S) authentication.

How stub users are created

A stub user is a user record that has been created as a placeholder. For example, records have been imported that refer to this user but the user does not exist in Dynamics 365 (online). This user cannot log in, cannot be enabled, and cannot be synchronized to Office 365. This type of user can only be created through data import. Data import always creates stub users.