Azure & Active Directory Center

In the previous part of this article series, we've taken a first look at Azure AD Connect and reviewed what a default installation looks like using the express settings. In this part, we'll dive deeper into the advanced options of the installation wizard. The express settings option likely meets the needs for most organizations looking into deploying directory synchronization alone. However, if you are looking at a more complex synchronization scenario, like a multi-forest environment or if you would like to deploy and configure Active Directory Federation Services, the advanced options are what you are looking for!

Microsoft released Azure AD Connect to the public on June 24. The long-anticipated tool is the successor to Azure AD Sync and DirSync. But it’s much more than that.

Although a large part of Azure AD Connect still revolves around directory synchronization, I like to look at it more as a "Cloud Identity Enablement" — a solution rather than just a synchronization component. This is because Azure AD Connect not only allows you to deploy directory synchronization for almost every possible identity scenario you can dream of, but it also enables you to set up and configure identity federation through Active Directory Federation Services from within the same wizard.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the General Availability (GA) of Azure AD Connect. Azure AD Connect is considered to be the successor to DirSync/AADSync. However, it is much more than just a synchronization engine. The tool allows customers to use a single wizard to configure various aspects of identity synchronization and authentication with Microsoft's Online Services.

As mentioned in my 2015 New Year in Review "Here We Are" blog article, the purpose of this article series is to explore 3rd-party federation solutions that work with Office 365 and which can be an alternative to a Windows’ built-in ADFS server role. In this first article however, I will be discussing a solution which is somewhat different from the others that I will be looking into.

Last year, Exchange Server MVP Mike Crowley wrote a script which would interactively report on the Office 365 Directory Synchronization tool. In the meantime –last September to be more exact – Microsoft released the new “Azure AD Sync Service” tool which seems deemed to replace DirSync at some point in the future. As I do see the tool being used in production from time to time, effectively already replacing DirSync, I thought it would be useful to “upgrade” Mike’s script to work with the new kid on the block.