How to Fix “Hybrid Configuration Wizard doesn’t Connect to Office 365” Issue?

Ram Infotech Data Recovery March 25, 2024

             How to Fix “Hybrid Configuration Wizard doesn’t Connect to Office 365” Issue?

Summary: To set up connection between on-premises Exchange Server and Exchange Online in a hybrid environment, you need to use the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW). At times, Hybrid Configuration Wizard doesn’t connect to Office 365 and displays an error. In this post, we will discuss the ways to resolve the HCW does not connect to Office 365 issue.


When setting up a hybrid system, you need to use the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) to set up the connection between the local Exchange Server and Exchange Online. After opening the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW), you will need to enter the local Exchange Server details with the server credentials, and then enter the details of your Office 365 tenant. After this, the wizard will go through the information and try the connections and verify the connectivity between the two entities. Sometimes, HCW doesn’t connect to Office 365 and throws an error like the given below.

This issue can occur due to many reasons, such as network connectivity issues, problem with certificate, etc. Now, let’s see how to fix the Hybrid Configuration wizard doesn’t connect to Office 365 issue.

Read more about Testing a New Exchange Hybrid Configuration with Office 365.

Solutions to Fix Hybrid Configuration Wizard doesn’t connect to Office 365

There could be many reasons why HCW is not able to connect to the Office 365 tenant. To troubleshoot the problem, let us start with the basics. First, check the network connectivity. You must check with the network team that the internet connection is stable and with a good bandwidth. You will have issues if the broadband connection is saturated or not stable.

You can also see that the local firewall is not blocking connectivity to the destination address. If there is nothing blocking it, then you need to check if there is any issue with the certificate. However, it would not make sense that the certificate of Office 365 has issues. But to be sure, you can close the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) and try the connection again.

If still the problem persists, the issue could be related to the TLS support on the local machine. To connect with Office 365, only TLS 1.2 is supported as a connectivity protocol. This means that the local machine, where the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) is running, must have the TLS 1.2 enabled in the WinHTTP component.

The below table illustrates the TLS 1.2 support in the previous Windows systems.

If you’re using an operating system mentioned in the above table, then you need to modify the operating system to allow the TLS 1.2 protocol.

Note: If you are running a Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, or later, you need to check if there is a specific policy (in the Group Policy) to disable the TLS 1.2 in the WinHTTP component. Otherwise, confirm this with the Active Directory administrators.

To enable the TLS 1.2 protocol, follow the below instructions:

  • If you are using a Windows Server 2012, 2008 R2, or Windows 7, then the update KB3140245 must be installed. Although you can run the fix, you need to have TLS 1.2 enabled as the default secure protocol in WinHTTP.
  • Now, edit the registry on the server or machine.
After opening the registry editor, navigate to the following key for the 32-bit operating system.

If you are using a 64-bit operating system, navigate to the below key.

If it doesn’t exist, you need to create a new DWORD with the name DefualtSecureProtocols. Then, to enable TLS 1.2, you need to change the value to 0x00000800 (hexadecimal). If you want to enable all TLS protocols, i.e. 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2, you need to update the value to 0x00000A80 (hexadecimal). The decimal equivalent for the entries is 2048 for TLS 1.2 and 2688 for all TLS versions.


This will enable the TLS 1.2 at WinHTTP level.

If the problem still persists, you need to enable it from the operating system level. You can do this by editing the inetcpl.cpl. For this,


  • Click on the Advanced tab from the Internet Options.
  • Enable the Use TLS 1.2 option and click OK.

After this, restart the server. It should now be able to connect.

To Conclude

The hybrid migration method is good but the only issue is that the setup is complicated. When migrating data to the cloud, you would also consider the ease and peace of mind. For hassle-free migration process, you would need a solution that can easily migrate all the user mailboxes, user archives, disabled mailboxes, shared mailboxes, and even public folders in one go without going through scripting and other complexities.

 

 

Ram Infotech Data Recovery

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