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This is only needed if your organization does not already have at least a hybrid Entra (Azure Active Directory) instance.
Wirespeed uses directory data to learn your organization, understand user personas when triaging alerts, and confirm metadata. This guide will help an organization with an on-premises only Active Directory instance deploy a FREE Entra (Azure Active Directory - AAD) sync instance which can be used with Wirespeed without any additional charge to your organization.

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Integration Instructions

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1. Prepare the On-Premises Environment

  1. Identify a Server to run Azure AD Connect (can be a domain-joined Windows Server, ideally 2016+).
  2. Check Requirements:
  • .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later
  • PowerShell 5.1 or later
  • Internet access from the server
  1. Ensure you have an admin account in both:
  • On-prem AD (for reading users/groups)
  • Azure AD tenant (global admin)

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2: Create a Free Azure AD Tenant

  1. Go to Azure Portal.
  2. Click Azure Active Directory → Create a tenant → Azure AD (Free).
  3. Enter organization name, domain, region.
  4. After creation, note the tenant ID.
Free tier supports up to 500,000 objects, enough for most customers.

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3: Install Azure AD Connect

  1. Download Azure AD Connect.
  2. Run the installer on your chosen server.
  3. Choose Customize (for more control) or Express Settings if you just need directory sync.
  4. Authentication Method:
  • To limit secure password storage to your on-premises instance only, choose “Pass-through Authentication”
  • “Password Hash Sync” may be chosen to securely replicate hashes of passwords to Entra, but is not required for our integration
  1. Connect to your on-prem AD and your Azure AD tenant.
  2. Select the OUs you want to sync
  • NOTE: this must include every computer and user object that Wirespeed is monitoring
  1. Complete the setup and run an initial sync.

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4: Verify the Sync

  1. Log into Azure AD portal → Users → All Users.
  2. Ensure your on-prem users appear in the cloud tenant.
  3. Optional: Check that groups and metadata (like department, job title) are synced.

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5: Maintain Sync

  • Azure AD Connect syncs automatically every 30 minutes by default.
  • You can force sync via PowerShell if needed:
Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta

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Continue Integrations

  • Continue with the Microsoft integration to sync your on-premises directory via Entra to Wirespeed.
  • Follow the Microsoft Windows integration guide to collect and send on-premises logs to Wirespeed.