Edit

Share via

Active Directory Federation Server to Microsoft Entra FAQ

  • Article

Microsoft Entra ID provides a simple cloud-based sign-in experience to all your resources and apps with strong authentication and real-time, risk-based adaptive access policies to grant access to resources reducing operational costs of managing and maintaining an AD FS environment and increasing IT efficiency.

For more info on why you should upgrade from AD FS to Microsoft Entra ID, visit moving from AD FS to Microsoft Entra ID. See migrate from federation to cloud authentication to understand how to upgrade from AD FS.

General questions

This document will provide you with answers to frequently asked questions with migrating from AD FS to Microsoft Entra ID.

Can I run AD FS side by side with Password Hash Sync or Pass Through Authentication?

Yes you can. This is quite common. Using staged rollout can help you validate a subset of your users are able to authenticate to Microsoft Entra ID directly while the domain remains federated. This document Migrate from federation to cloud authentication will walk you through the process.

When accessing sites through AD FS internally users get a single-sign on experience. How do we keep the same experience when moving to Microsoft Entra ID?

There are a few ways. The first and recommend way is to Microsoft Entra hybrid join your existing Windows 10/11 domain joined machines or use Microsoft Entra join. This will provide you with the same seamless signle-sign on experience. The second way would be to leverage seamless single-sign on for non Microsoft Entra hybrid joined machines or downlevel Windows clients can still get that same experience.

I’m registering Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices using AD FS device claims. How do I allow devices to continue to complete their Hybrid AADJ process with AD FS?

You can follow the configure Microsoft Entra hybrid join process for devices to complete the registration process without AD FS.

I have authorization rules in AD FS. What are the equivalent way to do this in Microsoft Entra ID?

These would translate into Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policies. There are several pre-built template policies to start with.

When putting users into a staged rollout group are their current sessions impacted and forced to re-authenticate?

No, their current session will remain valid and the next time they would need to authenticate they would authenticate using managed authentication instead of federation.

I have a claims provider trust with another company to access resources? How should I move this trust relationship?

You should look to take advantage of Microsoft Entra B2B to accomplish the same authentication access.

We have custom claim rules can Microsoft Entra ID support these?

Yes depending on the rules needed. The best place to investigate is to use AD FS application activity report and then see how to customize SAML claims

When switching a domain from federated to managed how long does it take for the change to take place?

It can take up to 4 hours to fully cutover so plan your maintenance window accordingly

Is AD FS required for using O365?

No, O365 can authenticate you directly without needing ADFS.

Once I move the application configuration to Microsoft Entra ID, is there anything else I have to do to complete the migration?

Yes, the migration of an application to Microsoft Entra isn’t complete until you have reconfigured the app itself (cutover) to use Microsoft Entra ID.

Is ADFS required so users can login with their Email Address or User Principal Name (UPN)?

No, Microsoft Entra ID supports sign-in with an Email Address or User Principal Name.

Next Steps