I encountered an issue where both Forefront Identity Manager and Office 365 DirSync both failed to start.
My investigation of this after I received an email from @MicrosoftOnline.com which had informed me that Windows Azure Active Directory did not register a synchronization attempt from the Directory Sync tool.
First
I attempted to do was start the Microsoft Online Services Directory Synchronization Service. This had failed because depends on Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service which was also no longer starting.
Second
I attempted to start the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service this failed with the following message:
Verify that the service account has permissions to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Forefront Identity Manager\2010\Synchronization Service
If the problem persists, run setup and restore the encryption keys from backup.
Third
After my verification I attempted I uninstalled the Office 365 DirSync along with Forefront Identity Manager and SQL which were all installed. This time around I unable to even install the Office 365 DirSync
All three of my attempts had failed.
So what changed?
I rebooted the system; and after it had resumed the services which worked seemed to no longer function.
Then it *clicked* after much investigation and review. The question I did not ask. Could Office 365 exist on the same system that’s also running ADFS. I soon found out the answer is ” *NO* “.
The Directory Synchronization tool cannot be installed on Active Directory Federation Service.
So I uninstalled the Office 365 DirSync, along with SQL. Followed by the removal of the ADFS Role from the server.
After the restart I installed the Office 365 DirSync again and configured it as I have done before and all is working once again.
And now I and you all know
I hope this post help you and saves you some time. I spent a day working on this and waiting for Microsoft to call me. I seems like I have resolved this issue on my own; once again.
Summery
If your using Office 365 DirSync do NOT enable the ADFS Role if you do, you run the sure chance of breaking your working Office 365 DirSync.
Environment: Windows Server 2012 R2 Update 1 (x64)
– Jermal