Azure Ad Connect Export and Import

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I was troubleshooting an Azure AD sync that had stopped syncing and stumbled on a new feature when going through the Azure Ad Connect Version History.

/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/reference-connect-version-history

I was thrilled to see that there is a new feature in public preview. Now you can export and import the Azure Ad Connect settings in an easy way. This has always been a tricky thing when for example setting up a standby server. This server needs to be setup with identical settings.

By the way, the standby server is a waste of time in my opinion. It takes the same time to just setup a new server and install Azure Ad Connect again from scratch with the same settings.

Another god thing with this new feature is that it stores the history of configurations changes. Each time the configuration is changed from the Azure AD Connect wizard, a new time-stamped JSON settings file is automatically exported to %ProgramData%\AADConnect. The settings file name is of the form Applied-SynchronizationPolicy-*.JSON, where the last part of the file name is a time stamp. Like you see in this example:

Important to know is that if the change is made by powershell, it is not registered in the above file. Thats why you always do a complete export to get the current configuration.

To export the configuration you follow these steps:

  1. Run the script C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Active Directory Connect\Tools\MigrateSettings.ps1 and add a path to where the configuration will be stored.
  1. Copy the entire directory to the new staging server or just save it for backup on another server.

To import the configuration you follow these steps:

  1. Start AzureADConnect.msi on the new server or staging server
  2. Select the Customize option after the Welcome page.
  3. Select Import synchronization settings. Browse for the previously exported JSON settings file.
  4. Select Install.

Really good new feature, and quite simple to use. For more information check out the docs: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=2117122

About The Author

Mr T-Bone

Torbjörn Tbone Granheden is a Solution Architect for Modern Workplace at Coligo AB.
Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on Enterprise Mobility. Certified in most Microsoft technologies and over 23 years as Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)

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Mr T-Bone

Torbjörn Tbone Granheden is a Solution Architect for Modern Workplace at Coligo AB. Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on Enterprise Mobility. Certified in most Microsoft technologies and over 23 years as Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)

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