Azure Active Directory Connect error after upgrading Windows Server 2012R2 to 2019

Question

Azure Active Directory Connect error after upgrading Windows Server 2012R2 to 2019

I have upgraded my Windows server from 2012R2 to 2019 and am trying to get the Azure AD Connect V1.6 upgraded to it can sync with Azure AD (Entra ID) again. Can you help? I downloaded the Entra Connect sync tool, from the link in Directory sync status page on Office365 portal. After installing, I launch Azure AD Connect, I must click on Upgrade as it prompts me to, then I get an error: "Upgrade cannot proceed because the Azure Active Directory is missing."

Is anyone able to provide some insight and a way forward to this?

I try to follow the Microsoft documentation for this upgrade and within a few minutes I have 10 or more tabs open with all different information and guides - This is not helpful.

Answer 1

@AV

To add to Amit's answer, an upgrade on the same server that has the old version of AAD Connect is not recommended. If you refer to the Swing Migration section of the documentation, it is recommended to set up a new server with Windows 2019 and install the latest version of AAD Connect in staging mode. When the staging server syncs once or twice and everything looks good, then make that one active and set the old server in staging mode.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/hybrid/connect/how-to-upgrade-previous-version?source=recommendations#swing-migration

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/how-to-connect-import-export-config

If you don't want to go the route of rebuilding the server, you can try the steps in this article to troubleshoot not being able to uninstall the program. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed-cca7d1b6-65a9-3d98-426b-e9f927e1eb4d

You can also get hints by collecting the Event Application Logs, and you can validate if the Connector is missing by running:

Get-ADSyncConnector -Identifier "b891884f-051e-4a83-95af-2544101c9083”

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/how-to-upgrade-previous-version#azure-active-directory-connector-missing-error-during-azure-ad-connect-upgrade

If the troubleshooting steps do not work, you may to rebuild the server since the Windows registry could be damaged/corrupted.

Let me know if this helps and if you still run into any issues.

If the information helped you, please Accept the answer. This will help us as well as others in the community who may be researching similar questions. Otherwise let me know if you run into any issues.

Answer 2

The reason that this occurs is that the current Azure AD Connect configuration is not supported for upgrade. If you want to install a newer version of Azure AD Connect:

Close the Azure AD Connect wizard.

Uninstall the existing Azure AD Connect.

Perform a clean install of the more unique Azure AD Connect.