Azure Active Directory Synchronization

Retarus Azure Active Directory Synchronization (AAD Sync) synchronizes directory data, such as email addresses, from Microsoft Azure Active Directory, making administration in Microsoft 365 environments easier.

Azure Active Directory & Microsoft Entra ID

Azure Active Directory (AAD) has recently been renamed to Microsoft Entra ID. Therefore, any mention of Azure Active Directory now refers to Microsoft Entra ID.

On-premises Active Directory

For local Active Directories, please refer to DirSync Client for Windows.

Depending on the Retarus solution in use, the following information can be exported from the directory:

Directory information	Email Security	Email-to-Fax	Fax-to-Email	Email-to-SMS
email address	✔️
alias email addresses	✔️
fax number		in development	in development
mobile phone number				in development
OU information

Synchronization options

There are two options to synchronize with an Azure Active Directory:

Sync via Microsoft Azure App (Graph API)
Retarus AAD Sync App using Microsoft Graph API - the default option for synchronizing Azure AD with Retarus, which is sufficient for most use cases.
Sync via Retarus DirSync Client for Windows (LDAPS)
Advanced option, if the default option via the app does not cover all requirements, for example, to sync “Shared Mailboxes” or for profile mappings based on sync data.

The following table compares the two options:

	AAD Sync App (Graph API)	DirSync Client for Windows (LDAPS)
Functionality	Cloud only Azure App to be registered in MS365 tenant Accessing AAD via Microsoft Graph API	On-premises Retarus DirSync for Windows installed on a server Accessing AAD data via LDAPS
Microsoft licensing	Microsoft AAD including Graph API included in Microsoft 365 subscription	Microsoft AAD including Azure AD Domain Services (AD DS) additional license may be required
Available user data and supported features	Domains Email addresses Alias email addresses Groups	Domains Email addresses Alias email addresses Groups Shared Mailboxes filter by attributes profile mapping using data for Signature/Disclaimer feature User-Based Routing
Data not available	Group Owners, Mail-enabled Public Folders, Dynamic Distribution Groups