Last week Microsoft released Azure AD Connect version 1.1. This version brings some significant new enhancements to the installation and configuration of Azure AD Connect as well as General Availability of the Device write-back and custom Schema properties that have existed in preview since Azure AD Connect was released last year.
With this latest release the biggest enhancement in my opinion is support of Automatic Upgrades for all future Azure AD Connect releases. This feature will be enabled on new installations and existing installations once upgraded to version 1.1 will be able to enable the auto upgrade functionality. This is huge as it will enable a faster innovation cycle support from Microsoft and enable organizations to support it going forward.
Additionally, with version 1.1 we now have a sync cycle that is down to every 30 minutes by default and supported. This is huge for organizations that provision account throughout the day especially when you have that hiring manager who forgot to inform IT that they have an employee starting and they are there standing waiting for their credentials to get to work on their first day.
Beyond these key features there are other enhancements that have come with version 1.1 including:
- Domain & OU Filtering within the Azure AD Connect Wizard
- Change between federated authentication and password synchronization for user authentication in the Azure AD Connect Wizard
- Support for Azure AD Modern Authentication with the Azure AD Connect Wizard
This covers the highlights for the Azure AD Connect version 1.1 release. If you want more detail I suggest reading Girish Chander’s blog over at: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ad/2016/02/18/azure-ad-connect-1-1-is-now-ga-faster-sync-times-automatic-upgrades-and-more/