What will happen if the Connections's users get blocked/password-expired/removed will the connection stay working

[johnjohn123]

I have created an MS Flow which uses connection to :-

1) Send emails to users

2) Send approval emails

3) Connect to sharepoint list

as follow:-

now i created the MS flow using the office 365 admin user, but this user might face these issues in the future:-

1) its password will get expired.

2) the username might be changed/removed

so what will happen to the connections inside the MS flow if any of the above 2 points happen to the user? will the connection stop working? and if the answer is Yes, then how i can overcome this problem that might occur by time? For example, atleast for the password, we have the password expires each 3 months, and there might be a time where the password is expired without been directly renewed, so will the connection stop working from the time the password is expired till it is renewed?

[jinivthakkar]

@johnjohn123 the flow will stop working and no one, not even tenant admin will be able to take control or continue using the flow and you will have to create a new flow from scratch.

The best practice is to have a service account whose password never expires.

Hope this helps.

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[johnjohn123]

@jinivthakkarthat look critical to me..

so i am not sure how i can fix these issues for my current MS flow? is regarding to:-

1) Who can edit the MS Flow in-case the creator account no longer exists? can i created a service account and transfer the ownership?

2) how the connection inside the MS Flow will run in-case the connections' user no longer exists or its password got expired? can i change the connections' username?

3) third question, now in our case we have a policy that all the accounts' passwords must be changed after 40 days, even for service accounts, so does this mean that we can not avoid downtime for the MS Flows?

4) fourth question, if we create a service account >> then what are the permissions needed to :-

   - connect to a sharepoint list

  - be able to send approval emails

  - be able to send emails using outlook connection (as shown in the picture inside my question)

Can you please advice on the above 4 questions?

Thanks

[jinivthakkar]

@johnjohn123 

1) Who can edit the MS Flow in-case the creator account no longer exists? can i created a service account and transfer the ownership?

- Yes create the service account and transfer the ownership to service account then service account can edit even if creator account no longer exists.

2) how the connection inside the MS Flow will run in-case the connections' user no longer exists or its password got expired? can i change the connections' username?

- You can add service account for actions and then the flow would use service account connection.

Check this link how to add connection to flow

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/create-team-flows#modify-a-connection

3) third question, now in our case we have a policy that all the accounts' passwords must be changed after 40 days, even for service accounts, so does this mean that we can not avoid downtime for the MS Flows?

- Please check once with the admin, even we have such policy but such policies are not applicable to service accounts or support accounts.

4) fourth question, if we create a service account >> then what are the permissions needed to :-

   - connect to a sharepoint list

  - be able to send approval emails

  - be able to send emails using outlook connection (as shown in the picture inside my question)

- You can add service account as site collection admin so you don't need to manager permissions for each and every list/library.

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[johnjohn123]

@jinivthakkarthanks for the reply... here are comments to your point:-

Yes create the service account and transfer the ownership to service account then service account can edit even if creator account no longer exists.

So you mean i can add the service account as Owner of the MS Flow beside the creator... is this correct?

You can add service account as site collection admin so you don't need to manager permissions for each and every list/library

Ok i will add the account as site collection admin.. but will this allow the user to access the Exchange/outlook connectors to send email? i added a screenshot of my 3 connectors... as i do not think adding a user a site collection admin will grant him any permission on the exchange/outlook connectors.. is this correct?

Thanks

[jinivthakkar]

@johnjohn123 

So you mean i can add the service account as Owner of the MS Flow beside the creator... is this correct? - YES

Ok i will add the account as site collection admin.. but will this allow the user to access the Exchange/outlook connectors to send email? i added a screenshot of my 3 connectors... as i do not think adding a user a site collection admin will grant him any permission on the exchange/outlook connectors.. is this correct?

- The service account should have a license which will provide access to all connectors, if your service account doesn't see the connectors you need to assign the outlook/any other connectors of your interest

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