M365 Changelog: New Guide: Discover and configure sites that require IE mode

MC254894 – Updated May 20, 2021: Microsoft has updated the post with additional details for clarity. Thank you for your patience.

Microsoft is releasing a new assistant for admins who want to configure Internet Explorer mode (IE mode) for Microsoft Edge. To detect the sites that need to use IE mode, many admins follow the Enterprise Site Discovery process. In this step-by-step assistant, you’ll get scripts to automate configuration of Enterprise Site Discovery, get IE mode recommendations from a cloud-based tool, and create an Enterprise Mode Site List that you’ll deploy to your users. This assistant will soon be available to Global Readers and Global Admins in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 72236.

When this will happen:

This assistant will be available on the Setup guidance page in mid-May.

How this will affect your organization:

Currently, you must manually configure Enterprise Site Discovery which involves many time-consuming tasks. If you’re using Group Policy, you can’t easily review site compatibility detections and other information to help you determine what sites you should include in your site list. If you’re using Configuration Manager, you can review more details from your collected data, however you’ll need to add sites to your list one at a time using the Enterprise Mode Site List Manager, as this tool will not accept an .xml file exported from Configuration Manager.

The Configure IE mode for Microsoft Edge assistant provides an easy-to-use interface and tools to discover sites and create a site list for IE mode in Microsoft Edge:

For admins with Configuration Manager, you’ll use the guide to generate a customized script that:

• Automatically completes IE telemetry class configuration.
• Downloads the Site Discovery and ActiveX reports and updates them with your Configuration Manager environment information.
• Creates a package for clients containing the Internet Explorer telemetry files.
• Automatically distributes the package to the distribution points and groups you specify.

For admins who don’t have Configuration Manager, the guide generates a script that:

• Creates a new Group Policy Object (GPO) in the domain-level Group Policy.
• Turns on .xml file site collection and configures the specified filename and path on targeted clients.

Regardless of the management tool, you can use the built-in site review tool to upload collected site data from an .xml file and complete the following:

• Review compatibility detections and IE mode recommendations.
• Sort and filter sites by detection, zone, and configuration status.
• Bulk configure IE mode and neutral site behavior with minimal effort.
• Export your site list to an .xml file that’s ready to be deployed to your users.

What you need to do to prepare:

If you want your individuals in your org to have access to this guide, make sure they’re assigned an admin role, like Global Reader. For instructions, see Assign a role to a cloud group in Azure Active Directory.

If you’re using Configuration Manager as a management tool in your organization, here are the prerequisites to configure Enterprise Site Discovery:

• Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
• Configuration Manager Reporting Services point site role

Additional information