Something on my list of things to do has been to update SAML roles for an application setup a few years ago before Microsoft simplified certain aspects of SAML applications. After tickets with Microsoft support that ended up escalated but with no assistance from them, I found that these roles could be updated via Microsoft Graph. Let’s dive in.

I have my application ID and have requested the body via GET below and the URL https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/servicePrincipals/{ID} (without the curly brackets surrounding your ID)

In the JSON Response Preview, you can see the appRoles listed for the application. After using my Google-FU and not finding any documentation on this at all, I experimented and after trial and error, figured out how to update the approles while keeping existing appRoles.

First, you’ll need a unique GUID for the new approle. In Powershell, you can run new-guid to generate a new GUID for your new approle(s).

Next, copy your entire existing Approle digest from the Response Preview to your editor of choice; I like Visual Studio Code. This means everything from the approles: [ line to the bracket at the end of the last role.

Add a new approle (you can copy a previously used one), paste in your GUID, and change the description, displayname, and value. Because this is JSON, you’ll need to add a comma to the curly bracket for the previous approle.

Once you’re done editing your approles, go back to Microsoft Graph. Where before you chosen to GET , now select PATCH. Keep the URL the same.

Be sure to validate the JSON (you may need to add curly brackets to the beginning and end of the JSON file) using any free online tool or Visual Studio Code. Paste the JSON code in to the Request Body in Microsoft Graph and hit Run Query.

If everything went well, you should see a green OK!