Louis-Charles Gagnon

Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and SharePoint Blog

Azure AD Azure AD Connect - Force Delta and Initial Sync via Powershell

21. November 2016 Louis-Charles Gagnon Microsoft Azure, Office 365 (0)
Azure AD Connect will integrate your on-premises directories with Azure Active Directory. This allows you to provide a common identity for your users for Office 365, Azure, and SaaS applications integrated with Azure AD.

Azure AD Connect is the best way to connect your on-premises directory with Azure AD and Office 365. This is a great time to upgrade to Azure AD Connect from Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync) or Azure AD Sync as these tools are now deprecated and will reach end of support on April 13, 2017.


With AAD Connect, we no longer have a scheduled task that runs every 3 hour. AAD Connect has a built-in scheduler, which by default performs a delta sync every 30 minutes.

Although a synchronization now runs every 30 minutes, there may be occasions, where you still want to force a sync. 

To do so, you launch Windows PowerShell (run as Administrator) on the respective server on which AAD Connect has been installed and type the following to import the AAD Connect PowerShell module:

Import-Module ADSync

To force a delta sync, use the following command: Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta

To force a initial sync, use the following command: Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Initial

To check scheduler settings , use the following command: Get-ADSyncScheduler


You can see sync issue on your Office 365 administrator page:



High Performance Cache - Azure Redis Cache (Output Cache and Session State)

21. May 2016 Louis-Charles Gagnon Microsoft Azure (0)
One of Azure new preview feature is Azure Redis Cache. This feature allows you to speed up your .net application running Windows Azure. This feature is available since .NET 4.0




The Azure Redis Cache offers High Performance caching with this feature. This features helps your application become more responsive even as user load increases. It leverages the low-latency, high-throughput capabilities of the Redis engine. This separate, distributed cache layer allows your data tier to scale independently for more efficient use of compute resources in your application layer.

How to use it?

  • Login to Azure Portal
  • Add a ressource "Redis Cache"

High Performance - Output Cache

You can configure .net application or website (MVC or other) to use Output Cache via Redis Cache.
In order to do this, you must install the following nuget "RedisOutputCacheProvider" once the dll are loaded to the project, simply modify your web.config to use this feature:

<caching>
  <outputCache defaultProvider="RedisOutputCache">
    <providers>
          <add name="RedisOutputCache" 
               type="Microsoft.Web.Redis.RedisOutputCacheProvider" 
                port="6380" 
                host="MYID.redis.cache.windows.net" 
                accessKey="MYACCESSKEYINAZURE" 
                ssl="true" />
    </providers>
  </outputCache>
</caching>
In order to use in your .aspx page, simply add the following to the page (at the top)

<%@ OutputCache Duration="60" VaryByParam="*" %>
For more information on this feature, view ASP.NET Output Cache Provider for Azure Redis Cache

High Performance - Session State

You can configure .net application or website (MVC or other) to use Session Cache via Redis Cache.
In order to do this, you must install the following nuget "RedisSessionStateProvider" once the dll are loaded to the project, simply modify your web.config to use this feature:

<sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="RedisSessionProvider">
 <providers>
         <add name="RedisSessionProvider" 
   type="Microsoft.Web.Redis.RedisSessionStateProvider" 
   port="6380" 
   host="MYHOST.redis.cache.windows.net" 
   accessKey="MYAZUREKEY" 
   ssl="true" />
      </providers>
</sessionState>
For more information on this feature, see ASP.NET Session State Provider for Azure Redis Cache

Shall you have any questions, need help or other, feel free to contact me lcg@ls2.ca

Microsoft Azure App Service - Set TimeZone for your web application

9. May 2016 Louis-Charles Gagnon Microsoft Azure (0)
Azure App Service is a cloud app service that integrates everything you need to quickly and easily build web and mobile apps for any platform or device.



Usually the application would be run on Internet Information Services (IIS) and take the time of the server hosting the application.

In one of my recent migration, we had a web application hosted on IIS that was being migrated to Windows Azure.

This application uses DateTime.Now to display current time and sql time. Once the application was moved to the cloud we notice a timezone offset. The Azure App Service time was based on UTC (GMT 0).

In order to resolve this issue and set the timezone on the app service. You can change the App Settings via the Azure Portal of the web application.

To do so:
  • Log-in to your Azure Portal
  • Click on your App Service
  • Click on Application Settings




Here is the list of possible values for TimeZone (WEBSITE_TIME_ZONE).

  • Value="Morocco Standard Time" For (GMT) Casablanca
  • Value="GMT Standard Time" For (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
  • Value="Greenwich Standard Time" For (GMT) Monrovia, Reykjavik
  • Value="W. Europe Standard Time" For (GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
  • Value="Central Europe Standard Time" For (GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague
  • Value="Romance Standard Time" For (GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris
  • Value="Central European Standard Time" For (GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb
  • Value="W. Central Africa Standard Time" For (GMT+01:00) West Central Africa
  • Value="Jordan Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Amman
  • Value="GTB Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul
  • Value="Middle East Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Beirut
  • Value="Egypt Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Cairo
  • Value="South Africa Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria
  • Value="FLE Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius
  • Value="Israel Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Jerusalem
  • Value="E. Europe Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Minsk
  • Value="Namibia Standard Time" For (GMT+02:00) Windhoek
  • Value="Arabic Standard Time" For (GMT+03:00) Baghdad
  • Value="Arab Standard Time" For (GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh
  • Value="Russian Standard Time" For (GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd
  • Value="E. Africa Standard Time" For (GMT+03:00) Nairobi
  • Value="Georgian Standard Time" For (GMT+03:00) Tbilisi
  • Value="Iran Standard Time" For (GMT+03:30) Tehran
  • Value="Arabian Standard Time" For (GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat
  • Value="Azerbaijan Standard Time" For (GMT+04:00) Baku
  • Value="Mauritius Standard Time" For (GMT+04:00) Port Louis
  • Value="Caucasus Standard Time" For (GMT+04:00) Yerevan
  • Value="Afghanistan Standard Time" For (GMT+04:30) Kabul
  • Value="Ekaterinburg Standard Time" For (GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg
  • Value="Pakistan Standard Time" For (GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi
  • Value="West Asia Standard Time" For (GMT+05:00) Tashkent
  • Value="India Standard Time" For (GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi
  • Value="Sri Lanka Standard Time" For (GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura
  • Value="Nepal Standard Time" For (GMT+05:45) Kathmandu
  • Value="N. Central Asia Standard Time" For (GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk
  • Value="Central Asia Standard Time" For (GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka
  • Value="Myanmar Standard Time" For (GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)
  • Value="SE Asia Standard Time" For (GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta
  • Value="North Asia Standard Time" For (GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk
  • Value="China Standard Time" For (GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi
  • Value="North Asia East Standard Time" For (GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar
  • Value="Singapore Standard Time" For (GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore
  • Value="W. Australia Standard Time" For (GMT+08:00) Perth
  • Value="Taipei Standard Time" For (GMT+08:00) Taipei
  • Value="Tokyo Standard Time" For (GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
  • Value="Korea Standard Time" For (GMT+09:00) Seoul
  • Value="Yakutsk Standard Time" For (GMT+09:00) Yakutsk
  • Value="Cen. Australia Standard Time" For (GMT+09:30) Adelaide
  • Value="AUS Central Standard Time" For (GMT+09:30) Darwin
  • Value="E. Australia Standard Time" For (GMT+10:00) Brisbane
  • Value="AUS Eastern Standard Time" For (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
  • Value="West Pacific Standard Time" For (GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby
  • Value="Tasmania Standard Time" For (GMT+10:00) Hobart
  • Value="Vladivostok Standard Time" For (GMT+10:00) Vladivostok
  • Value="Central Pacific Standard Time" For (GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia
  • Value="New Zealand Standard Time" For (GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington
  • Value="Fiji Standard Time" For (GMT+12:00) Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is.
  • Value="Tonga Standard Time" For (GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa
  • Value="Azores Standard Time" For (GMT-01:00) Azores
  • Value="Cape Verde Standard Time" For (GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is.
  • Value="Mid-Atlantic Standard Time" For (GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic
  • Value="E. South America Standard Time" For (GMT-03:00) Brasilia
  • Value="Argentina Standard Time" For (GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires
  • Value="SA Eastern Standard Time" For (GMT-03:00) Georgetown
  • Value="Greenland Standard Time" For (GMT-03:00) Greenland
  • Value="Montevideo Standard Time" For (GMT-03:00) Montevideo
  • Value="Newfoundland Standard Time" For (GMT-03:30) Newfoundland
  • Value="Atlantic Standard Time" For (GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)
  • Value="SA Western Standard Time" For (GMT-04:00) La Paz
  • Value="Central Brazilian Standard Time" For (GMT-04:00) Manaus
  • Value="Pacific SA Standard Time" For (GMT-04:00) Santiago
  • Value="Venezuela Standard Time" For (GMT-04:30) Caracas
  • Value="SA Pacific Standard Time" For (GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco
  • Value="Eastern Standard Time" For (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
  • Value="US Eastern Standard Time" For (GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)
  • Value="Central America Standard Time" For (GMT-06:00) Central America
  • Value="Central Standard Time" For (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
  • Value="Central Standard Time (Mexico)" For (GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City,Monterrey
  • Value="Canada Central Standard Time" For (GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan
  • Value="US Mountain Standard Time" For (GMT-07:00) Arizona
  • Value="Mountain Standard Time (Mexico)" For (GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan
  • Value="Mountain Standard Time" For (GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)
  • Value="Pacific Standard Time" For (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
  • Value="Pacific Standard Time (Mexico)" For (GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California
  • Value="Alaskan Standard Time" For (GMT-09:00) Alaska
  • Value="Hawaiian Standard Time" For (GMT-10:00) Hawaii
  • Value="Samoa Standard Time" For (GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa
  • Value="Dateline Standard Time" For (GMT-12:00) International Date Line West

Shall you any questions, problems or need help, free fell to contact me lcg@ls2.ca