Learn Step By Step Microsoft Identity Platform Course guide
Microsoft Identity Platform for Beginners: Free Course Guide
Learn identity basics for the Microsoft identity platform: authentication vs authorization, identity providers, IAM, federation and OAuth 2.0. Free videos.
Learn Step By Step Microsoft Identity Platform is a short beginner course on the identity concepts that sit behind the Microsoft identity platform and Microsoft Entra ID. It is for anyone who keeps meeting words like authentication, identity provider, federation or OAuth 2.0 and wants to understand them clearly before working with Entra ID or building apps that sign users in.
The course is a first step towards learning Microsoft Entra ID. It is made of 14 short videos, about 46 minutes in total, and is free on YouTube. The full list is on the Microsoft identity platform course page.
Who this course is for
- Beginners in cloud and Microsoft 365 who need the identity vocabulary before going any further.
- Developers about to register an app or add sign-in, who want to know what authentication and authorisation actually mean.
- Administrators moving towards Entra ID work who want the concepts in place before the portal clicks.
- Students preparing for identity-focused study who want a quick, clear foundation.
The catalog marks it Beginner, so no prior identity knowledge is assumed. Because the videos are short and focused on one idea each, it also works well as a refresher when a term comes up at work and you want a clean explanation.
What you will learn
1. The core trio: identity, authentication and authorisation. Understand Identity Concept, Understand Authentication Concept, Understand Authorization Concept and Authentication Vs Authorization Basics separate three ideas that people often mix up. Put simply, authentication answers “who are you?” and authorisation answers “what are you allowed to do?”. Almost every identity problem you will ever debug starts with knowing which one is failing.
2. Identity providers. Understand Identity Provider Concept explains the service that holds identities and signs people in. This is the role Microsoft Entra ID plays for Microsoft 365 and Azure.
3. Identity and access management (IAM). Understand Identity And Access Management (IAM) and Identity Access Management - Understand Core Functionalities set out what an IAM system is responsible for. This gives you a map you can place every later feature on.
4. IAM in practice. Three videos go deeper into core functionality: identity federation, provisioning and deprovisioning users, and other core functionalities. How Does Identity Access Management Work? then ties them together. Federation and provisioning matter because they decide how users from other systems get in and how leavers lose access.
5. Standards and OAuth 2.0. Get To Know About - Authentication and Authorization Standards introduces the standards that make sign-in work across systems, and Understand OAUTH 2.0, the longest video in the course, explains the authorisation framework most modern apps rely on.
How the course is organised
There are 14 videos and about 46 minutes in total:
- Video 1: course introduction.
- Videos 2–5: identity, authentication, authorisation and the comparison between the last two.
- Videos 6–7: identity providers and an introduction to IAM.
- Videos 8–12: IAM core functionalities, including federation and provisioning, and how IAM works.
- Videos 13–14: authentication and authorisation standards, then OAuth 2.0.
It is a concepts course. There are no portal labs, and each video is short, mostly two to four minutes, with the federation and OAuth videos running about six minutes.
How to study it step by step
- Watch the introduction, then videos 2–5 in one sitting. Afterwards, try explaining the difference between authentication and authorisation in your own words.
- Write a one-line definition for each new term as you go: identity provider, IAM, federation, provisioning and deprovisioning.
- Connect each concept to something you use. For example, think about which identity provider signs you in at work, and what happens to your access when someone leaves the company.
- Watch the OAuth 2.0 video twice. It is the densest lesson and the one you will need most as a developer.
- Move on to hands-on work. Once the concepts are clear, apply them with Microsoft Graph with PowerShell Step By Step, which includes app registration in Entra ID and Conditional Access scenarios, or Step By Step SPFx Development, which uses Graph authorisation inside a SharePoint web part.
This course currently has no Skills Pragati hands-on lab guide, practice simulation or mock exam.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Microsoft identity platform course free?
Yes. All 14 videos are free to watch on YouTube, and you can follow them from the course page.
How long does it take?
The videos total about 46 minutes. You can finish in one evening, or spread it over two sessions with time to write notes.
Do I need an Azure or Microsoft 365 account?
Not for this course. It explains concepts rather than walking through portal steps, so you only need the videos. You will want a tenant later when you move on to hands-on Entra ID work.
Is this an exam preparation course?
No. It has no exam code. It is a beginner foundation in identity concepts, a first step towards learning Microsoft Entra ID.