Upgrading to the latest version of Azure AD Connect is a fairly painless process and solves a recent issue with high CPU usage.
Here’s how you do it.
First download the latest version of Azure AD Connect onto the server which currently runs it from here
Although the upgrade process keeps your current settings I always find it useful to view the current configuration to better undstand whats being used just in case the installer prompts you to reconfirm which options to you.
To view the current config load up the Azure AD Connect tool on the server.
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Active Directory Connect\AzureADConnect.exe”
Click on Configure.
Now click on ‘View current configuration’ and click Next.
From here you can view the current configuration and I commonly want to check if the option ‘FILTER OBJECTS TO SYNCRONIZE BY GROUP’ is being used along with which write back options are selected.
Nothing breaks your setup faster than enabling an option which is currently disabled. The upgrade shouldn’t ask you to confirm these but the upgrade software may change so I always cover myself and confirm the current setup.
Run the downloaded installer on the server.
The software will confirm an upgrade so click ‘Upgrade’.
Upgrade progresses and usually only takes a 1-3 minutes.
Enter your global Office 365 administrator credentials and click Next.
Click ‘Upgrade’ to complete the upgrade process.
Installer will continue with the upgrade process typically taking 1-3 minutes.
Once complete click ‘Exit’.
Now that the software has been upgraded its a good idea to check that you have a successful synchronisation after the upgrade. On the server launch the ‘Synchronization Service’ software as shown here:
The Synchronisation Service Manager should show a successful synchronisation and as a final check I always log into the cloud portal and verify everything looks correct https://portal.office.com
Conclusion
Upgrading Azure AD Connect is been made a lot easier in the current version and also resolves some high CPU usage issues on some servers.
