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How to sync users from a second domain using AD Connect

In this blog post we show you how to sync users from a second AD domain using your existing Azure AD connect sync to Azure AD

13 Oct 2020Updated12 Apr 20263 min read
How to sync users from a second domain using AD Connect

Overview

Are you looking to integrate a new company into your existing Azure AD tenant? Or perhaps you need to share your tenancy and Office 365 services with more than one company? If you find yourself in a position where you need to sync users from another domain and have already configured AD Connect, then there is a way to add the second domain to your current Azure tenancy, so you can sync those users from the second domain.

Before proceeding, make sure you review the supported topology when it comes to AD Connect and multiple domains/tenants. You can find the information in this Microsoft article: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/plan-connect-topologies

However, there is one limitation that will most likely cause you the most grief, and is probably why you landed here in the first place. You can only have one AD Connect instance per tenant. So, if you need to sync users from a second domain, you will have to follow the process outlined below.

Establish Domain Trust Before proceeding, you need to establish an AD trust between the two domains. If you have not done this yet, you will need to perform this step first. If you are not sure how to do this, you can refer to this guide: https://www.azure365pro.com/how-to-create-two-way-transitive-trust-windows-server-2008-r2/

OK, now that we have our domain trust established, let’s step into the process.

Step by step guide how to synchronise users from a second domain in to Azure Active Directory.

Launch AD Connect and click on Configure Welcome to AD Connect

Click on Customize synchronization options and click Next AD Connect Additional Tasks

Enter the credentials to connect to Azure AD and ensure the account is a global administrator.

Connect to Azure AD

Enter the name of the second domain and click Add Directory Connect your directories

Enter the details of a user account in the domain that is a member of the enterprise administrators group.

AD Forest account

You will now see the second domain added to the configured directories list.

Second Domain

Select whether to sync all the objects in the domain, or to sync only objects in specific OUs.

Domain and OU Filtering

Select any optional feature you require and click Next Optional Features

Tick the box if you want to start the synchronisation process once the configuration completes, or you may untick it and place AD Connect into a “disabled” mode (will require PowerShell commands to activate it).

Ready to configure Azure AD

Click Configure when ready to finish the process.

Azure AD Configuration Complete

AD Connect will now synchronise objects from both domains into your Azure AD tenant.

You can monitor the process by launching the AD Connect Synchronization Service Manager.

Azure AD synchronisation

Ready when you are

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