Azure connect went a bit wrong!

Hicksi 1 Reputation point
2021-02-18T08:09:29.8+00:00

I used azure connect to sync my on site AD with azure AD thinking this would be a great backup and maybe eventually just use azure AD and get rid of my on site server.

Little did I know, once I did it, It then changed my online exchange! It changed all emails to on-prem and also took my AD distribution groups and changed my exchange distribution groups to on-prem too. It also changed the people within the groups and changed the usernames of the email accounts. It completely messed with everything.
I couldnt even change anything in the online exchange in these emails and groups.

I then uninstalled azure sync and took all the connections out of azure ad connect online. But it still showed everything as on-prem.

After some searching around I found a powershell script to change azure ad connect to show the sync as "never run" so it was as if nothing happened.

I checked my online exchange and all email accounts were accessible and back to normal! BUT my distribution groups are still showing "on-prem" which means i cant change them. There are people in those groups that shouldnt be and i cant change them at all. I went into azure ad and its showing the group source as "windows server ad" and i cant change that at all.

Is there another powershell script I can run that will change the groups to in cloud so i can have the ability to access and change them again?

Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
7,360 questions
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID
A Microsoft Entra identity service that provides identity management and access control capabilities. Replaces Azure Active Directory.
19,601 questions
{count} votes

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. KyleXu-MSFT 26,211 Reputation points
    2021-02-19T02:10:22.52+00:00

    @Hicksi

    The distribution group just a relationship for mailboxes, you can sync it to make it visible for Exchange online, but you cannot migrate it to Exchange online as mailbox. You need to recreate them on Exchange online again.

    You can use script like this blog to recreate distribution on Exchange online: How to migrate Distribution Groups from Exchange on-premises to Exchange Online
    Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.


    If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.