Azure AD Connect Masterclass

Azure AD Connect Masterclass

This Masterclass goes into great detail about Azure AD Connect, and this information is not found anywhere in the Microsoft documentation that I have seen so far. It goes to the bones of Azure AD Connect and gives you great insight into what’s going on underneath. I have used this product for a while, but there are some things I do where I don’t really have a good understanding of what’s going on. But this class makes it clear.

Hailemichael, Programmer/Analyst, US

Online Self-Paced Course

Learn in your own time with tutor support. Start any time!

Live Instructor-Led Course

attend from anywhere via Teams

£1500 / $2025 / €1725

plus VAT if applicable

Course code: A638

Available as a private course

Find out more about private training or ask us about it here.

Written by an expert team including Andreas Kjellman (formerly MIM and Azure AD Connect Program Manager for Microsoft), and diving deep beyond the wizard, our Azure AD Connect Masterclass is the only comprehensive, structured training course for this complex and powerful technology. And, unlike free information on the internet, our courses are regularly updated.

HOW MUCH YOU DO YOU KNOW ABOUT AZURE AD CONNECT? TAKE OUR QUICK QUIZ

Who is the Azure AD Connect Masterclass for?

Our Azure AD Connect Masterclass is for architects and administrators responsible for connecting their on-premises Active Directory with an Azure Active Directory tenant who want to:

  • Understand what Azure AD Connect can do beyond its ‘out-of-the-box’ form and investigate its many additional capabilities
  • Learn how to configure and maintain it, and which configurations are supported​

Azure AD Connect is now a key part of a hybrid AD infrastructure. The “out-of-the-box” installation offers some great features, and it is important that these are fully understood. But it’s also vital to learn about the additional configurations that are possible, and which are supported.

Having the optimal configuration for your organization will enable you to provide consistent, secure and user-friendly authentication, as well as consistent authorization across on-premises and cloud applications through automated and reliable group management – even in complex environments, and all while minimizing the strain on your administrators and helpdesk staff.

The Azure AD Connect Masterclass covers both the ‘easy’ things (installation and configuration using the wizard) as well as ‘harder’ things, like how provisioning and deprovisioning works, and the disaster recovery options. It has realistic hands-on labs enabling you to get a proper understanding of its capabilities in real-world scenarios.

Familiarity with AD and basic concepts of authentication will be advantageous​ – the same goes for Exchange (unless you will never use it).

Azure AD Connect is based on Microsoft Identity Manager, and while we will call out similarities and differences, no prior knowledge is required – and the same goes for Azure Active Directory.

The training comprises presentations, discussions, demonstrations, and 22 hands-on exercises! The 10 hands-on labs – crucial to a proper understanding of the topics – have been made as realistic as possible. Students will use a real domain and fully implement Azure AD Connect in various configurations. The labs are complex and reflect issues you will face in the real world. Students taking this training in the classroom get a month’s access to online videos and quizzes.

Thinking of taking the Azure AD Connect Masterclass online, self-paced?

In this movie our CEO, Hugh Simpson-Wells explains what you get and how it works:

How to take the Azure AD Connect Masterclass:

  • Attend live instructor-led for 3 days, remotely via Teams.
  • Study online, self-paced. You get access to online learning videos that cover the same content as classroom course, tutor support, access to a real Azure cloud and on-premises environment for up to 3 weeks, a soft copy of our course manual, plus notifications of any significant Azure AD/Azure AD Connect updates. Find out what you get if you take this course online, self-paced.
  • Arrange a private training course for your team (currently via Teams only). Find out more about private training.
  • View it, then do it! Our Azure AD Connect video training series covers the same content as our Azure AD Connect Masterclass in seven individual courses. They’re comprehensive, highly practical, and teach and demo everything from installation to configuration and include all-important troubleshooting, giving you “how-to” knowledge as and when you need it.

Training outcomes

At the end of our Azure AD Connect Masterclass you’ll understand:

  • Everything you can do through the wizard, and how to extend that
  • Different authentication options – how you move from one to the other, and how they interact
  • Azure AD Connect architecture and configuration, understanding and editing rules, and handling errors
  • Scheduling, statistics, basic troubleshooting, high availability, and Azure AD Connect health
  • Managing Azure AD Connect with PowerShell
  • Precedence, provisioning/deprovisioning, joining rules, and transformations
  • Upgrading, backup, restore and recovery options
  • Multi-forest, multi-tenant and non-AD directory scenarios
  • Integrating cloud-based HR systems
  • What’s supported and what’s not

Post-course, you’ll have:

  • Perpetual access to the course e-manual
  • 3 weeks’ access (from the course start date) to:
    • 33 video lectures covering the entire course, and specifically designed and recorded to support online learning
    • 10 lab demos – videos of all the labs performed in class, including helpful tips. tricks and explanations to improve understanding
    • 7 revision quizzes which can be taken as many times as you like – a fun way to test your knowledge!

This course was written by Andreas Kjellman (formerly MIM and Azure AD Connect Program Manager for Microsoft), Hugh Simpson-Wells (CEO, OCG), Jimmy Andersson (MVP Enterprise Mobility) and James Cowling (CTO, OCG).

Andreas Kjellman – Hugh Simpson-Wells – Jimmy Andersson – James Cowling

This course is available: live instructor-led via Teams | online, self-paced | private training via Teams.

Delegates on this course will learn about the product in detail and its many features through lectures, discussion, and hands-on labs. The hands-on labs are crucial to a proper understanding of the product and have been designed to be as realistic as possible.

What you will study:

  • The role of Azure AD Connect, and sources of identity objects and attributes, and what is synchronized
  • An overview of Azure Active Directory, its relationship with Office 365, and the Sync, PowerShell and Graph interfaces
  • The relationship between AD Connect and Microsoft Identity Manager: similarities and differences
  • Prerequisites and preparation for Azure AD Connect installation, and enterprise considerations
  • Different ways of managing passwords
  • Azure AD Connect architecture and configuration, understanding and editing rules, and handling errors
  • Scheduling, statistics, basic troubleshooting, high availability
  • AD Connect health, and recovery scenarios
  • Managing AD Connect with PowerShell
  • Precedence, provisioning/deprovisioning, joining rules, and transformations
  • Windows 10 with Azure AD, and Configuration for SSO
  • Authentication scenarios: Password Sync and write-back, SSO with ADFS, Pass-Through Authentication (PTA): Seamless Single Sign-On (SSSO): advantages and disadvantages of each, troubleshooting, event logs, high availability, reliability, fall-back options, user experience etc.
  • Upgrading AAD Connect, importing and exporting, and documenting sync rules
  • Uninstall options, and what remains after uninstall, recovering AAD ownership of AD-owned objects
  • Issues around Azure AD preferred data location, and multiple AAD instances
  • Handling data quality issues: duplicate UPN, duplicate proxy addresses
  • Hybrid Exchange issues and limitations
  • Non-AD scenarios, cloud HR
  • Multi-Forest Issues and Configurations: adding new AD connector vs reinstall, joining, filtering

Modules:

  • Module 1: Overview of AD, Azure AD and Azure AD Connect
  • Module 2: Concepts: identities, objects, attributes, and synchronization
  • Module 3: Relationship between Azure AD Connect and MIM
  • Module 4: Azure AD Connect scenarios
  • Module 5: Azure AD Connect architecture and custom installation
  • Module 6: Data flow: attributes and transformations
  • Module 7: Data flow: objects and orchestration
  • Module 8: Authentication options
  • Module 9: Maintenance and operations
  • Module 10: More scenarios and other considerations

Our Azure AD Connect Masterclass is for architects and administrators responsible for connecting their on-premises Active Directory with an Azure Active Directory tenant who want to:

  • Understand what Azure AD Connect can do beyond its ‘out-of-the-box’ form and investigate its many additional capabilities
  • Learn how to configure and maintain it, and which configurations are supported​

Familiarity with AD and basic concepts of authentication will be advantageous​ – the same goes for Exchange (unless you will never use it).