Active Directory

How often do you RDP to the AD Connect server to run a Delta Sync?

Yes I know, quite often right? And that is only once you find out which server it is running on. Especially If you are in new environments a lot or someone moved it since last time… sheesh thanks for telling us Dave!! 😭🤣

This script can be run from any Windows 10, 2016 or later endpoint… it will attempt to get the servername from AD then connect remotely and run a delta sync (we do some checks and have some messaging if things fail).

🙂👍 🙂

NOTE: Update 13/12/21 – when finding the AD Connect server, if you’ve already had more than one and someone hasn’t deleted the old computer account, both names will be returned causing the script to fail. Just run that bit of code first and delete any old accounts from the domain (or just replace the code with the server name)

First thing we do is run the following commands in an elevated PowerShell prompt to add the AD PowerShell module:

Install-PackageProvider Nuget -Force #justbecause

For Windows 10/11:
Add-WindowsCapability –online –Name Rsat.ActiveDirectory.DS-LDS.Tools~~~~0.0.1.0

For Windows 2016/2019:
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-AD-PowerShell -Confirm:$false

Next, let’s make this easy to run with elevated rights by copying the script text into notepad and saving it into the c:\_scripts folder as “Force AD Connect Sync.ps1”

Then create a “Force AD Connect Sync.cmd” on your desktop with the following in it:

start powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "c:\_scripts\Force AD Connect Sync.ps1"

Now we can right-click on the cmd file and click ‘Run as Administrator”. Does the trick and time is life!

To find the server we use a method from easy365manager, and the link for enabling remoting is from faqforge. Thanks peoples!

Easy365manager:
https://www.easy365manager.com/how-to-identify-your-azure-ad-connect-server/

Faqforge:
https://www.faqforge.com/windows/create-powershell-session-remote-computer/

Here is the script – let me know if it worked or if it sucked and how you made it better! Until next time! Cheers, Simon 🍺 …oh and PS – if you want a great rundown on AD Connect, check out Adam’s post:

https://adamtheautomator.com/azure-ad-connect/#Install_Azure_AD_Connect

# force a delta sync to Azure AD

# load AD module
Try {
    Import-Module ActiveDirectory
}
    Catch {
        Write-Warning "Encountered a problem importing AD module."
        Write-Host
        Read-Host "Press Enter to exit..."
        Exit
    }
Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "AD module loaded successfully."
Write-Host

Try {
    $ADConnectServer = Get-ADUser -LDAPFilter "(description=*configured to synchronize to tenant*)" -Properties description | % { $_.description.SubString(142, $_.description.IndexOf(" ", 142) - 142)}
}
    Catch {
        Write-Warning "Encountered a problem obtaining name of AD Connect server."
        Write-Host
        Read-Host "Press Enter to exit..."
        Exit
    }

Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Found AD Connect server $ADConnectServer!  Testing connection..."
Write-Host

Try {
    $session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ADConnectServer -Authentication Default
    Enter-PSSession $ADConnectServer
}
    Catch {
        Write-Warning "Cannot connect to $ADConnectServer, please check remote connectivity." 
        Write-Warning "ref - https://www.faqforge.com/windows/create-powershell-session-remote-computer/"
        Write-Host
        Read-Host "Press Enter to exit..."
        Exit
    }

Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Connected to $ADConnectServer - Forcing a delta sync... one moment!"
Write-Host

Try {
    Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta
}
    Catch {
        Write-Warning "The command failed - either a sync is already in progress," 
        Write-Warning "or you are not a member of the 'ADSyncAdmins' group on the AD Connect server."
        Write-Host
        Read-Host "Press Enter to exit..."
        Exit
    }

Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Sync started successfully!"
Write-Host
Read-Host "Press Enter to exit..."

# clean up
Exit-PSSession
Remove-PSSession $session