Creation of My New Dev Hybrid Tenant
This is my first proper piece of documentation, so it may be a little rough around the edges, but it marks the start of building out a lab environment I can actually learn from properly.
Summary
My first exposure to Active Directory was when I built a Windows Server 2008 VM at home at around 14 years old. Since then, I’ve worked in both college and MSP environments, which opened me up to Microsoft 365, endpoint support, and production systems.
The problem is that production environments are not the place to freely experiment, break things, or prepare properly for certifications. Because of that, I decided to build a separate development tenant and hybrid setup so I could test, learn, and prepare for MD-102 without risking my personal environment.
Objective
My objective was to configure a new Microsoft 365 tenant and Active Directory environment to create a hybrid setup using Microsoft Entra Connect. As part of that, I also wanted to enable automatic device enrolment through Group Policy so I could begin building a more realistic Intune lab for MD-102 exam preparation.
I had already been running Active Directory at home for authentication to some web services and light testing, but this was the point where I wanted to move beyond basic use and start building something properly structured for endpoint and cloud learning.
Environment
- New Microsoft 365 tenant created for testing
- Added a new domain controller, DC02, to my second hypervisor
- Hyper-V on my PC with two Windows 11 VMs
- One Microsoft Entra hybrid joined device and one Microsoft Entra joined device
- Microsoft Entra Connect
What I configured
- Promoted DC02 as a domain controller
- Added dev.calebwhorton.com as a UPN suffix in Active Directory Domains and Trusts
- Installed Microsoft Entra Connect and created a new account with the Enterprise Admin group
- Enabled password hash synchronisation and writeback
- Enabled seamless single sign-on
- Configured Enable automatic MDM enrolment using default Microsoft Entra credentials Group Policy
Outcome
The end result was a working hybrid lab environment that now gives me a proper base for Microsoft 365 and Intune testing. Devices were registering successfully, hybrid identity was in place, and the environment was ready for future enrolment and compliance testing.
This is a much better setup for learning than relying only on production exposure or limited home testing because it gives me room to experiment properly and build repeatable documentation around what I’m doing.
What I learned
This build reinforced that the identity side has to be right before the rest of the endpoint work becomes meaningful. Before getting into compliance policies, Conditional Access, app protection, or device configuration, the hybrid identity layer needs to be in place first.
It also helped me understand more clearly how on-prem Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID work together in a hybrid setup, especially when preparing devices for future management and policy-based testing.
Screenshots
Next steps
From here, the next stage is to build on top of this with compliance policies, Conditional Access, and further MD-102-focused labs. This post acts as the starting point for that progression.