Troubleshooting the AAD synctool
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Troubleshooting wizard
- Check is the synctool is up to date
- Force a manual sync
- Client secret expiration date
Introduction
Run through the wizard when you would like to check your configuration settings or experience problems running the synctool.
Troubleshooting wizard
Check is the synctool is up to date
We recommend to keep the synctool up to date. But how do you know what version you're running?
- Open the file location.
- Right click the configuration tool:
- Go to Properties.
- Select the Details tab.
- Check the File Version.
Version not up to date? You can download the newest version here.
Force a manual sync
In some situations, you may want to force a manual sync instead of waiting for the periodic synchronization to complete. For example, you're troubleshooting the synctool and want to see if a user is now added to the correct group or want to view the log folder immediately to see if there are any errors generated when restarting the sync.
There are two ways to run a manual sync. If you run multiple synctools, make sure you restart the correct synctool service.
Option 1 (recommended):
- Stop the synctool’s Windows service from Task Manager or services.msc.
- Navigate to the synctool’s directory and run 'NDAW.AzureActiveDirectorySync.Runner.exe'.
- The sync will run in a CMD window and you can see exactly what the synctool does (this will also be written to the logs). When finished, you'll see the following message:
You can review the log for error messages and subsequently close the CMD window. - Start the Windows service again.
Option 2:
- Restart the synctool’s Windows service from Task Manager or services.msc.
Client secret expiration date
In the first step in setting up the AAD synctool, you have created an Azure AD app registration in Azure. The corresponding client secret has an expiration date. If it is about to expire, or already expired, you will be notified in Azure:
You will then have to replace the client secret, or delete it and create a new one. To do this:
- Click the hyperlink as shown in the example above to create a new client secret.
- Fill in the Description and set a new Expiration date.
- Click Add.
- Note down the Value (not to confuse with 'secret ID'!).
- Open the file location where the synctool is running. Open the configuration tool:
- In the Connect to Azure AD window, replace the Client secret (value).
- Then, click Next.
You have now replaced the client secret.
Tip: after renewing the client secret, schedule a reminder in your calendar to renew the client secret again shortly before its expiration date.
