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M365 Changelog: Microsoft is updating the Hybrid federated search

MC270671 – Updated October 07, 2021: Microsoft has extended the timeline outlined below to provide additional time to take action.

Microsoft is making changes to Hybrid federated search, also called Inbound Hybrid Search, where users search from the SharePoint Online in the Microsoft 365 Search Center to display hybrid results from SharePoint Server.

In modernizing search in Microsoft 365, Microsoft is updating the infrastructure used by SharePoint Server’s Hybrid federated search. As part of the process, customers who are using the Hybrid federated search with SharePoint deployments will need to update their configuration to continue using hybrid search with SharePoint Server and SharePoint Online.

If you are not actively using or have not implemented Hybrid federated inbound search with on-premises SharePoint, you can safely ignore this communication.

Key points

Timing: By October 10, 2021 customers using the Hybrid federated search with SharePoint Server will need to update their configuration to continue using hybrid search features with SharePoint Online.
Roll-out: tenant level
Control type: admin control
Action: review, assess, and apply configuration change by October 10, 2021

How this will affect your organization:

The necessary configuration updates are provided as a Windows PowerShell script that is used to adjust an existing SharePoint Hybrid configuration to work with and authenticate using the new Microsoft 365 search engine.

There are four main procedures executed as part of the script:

Register a new Service Principal for Federated Search Skill in SharePoint Online.
Register a new Application Principal for Federated Search Skill in SharePoint On-Premises.
Grant appropriate permissions to SharePoint On-Premises Federated Search Skill Application Principal.
Register EVO/eSTS as a Trusted Token Issuer at SharePoint On-Premises.

Note: In the event you have not updated your servers by October 10, 2021 as outlined, users will no longer receive on-premises SharePoint results in SharePoint Online. Applying the configuration change will not affect the user experience.

Below you will find the required dependencies to run the script. If they do not exist, the script will attempt to install them on the server where it is being run.

Please use the following information as a reference for the required dependencies, if for any reason the script cannot install them, please attempt to manually install them using the instructions provided.

PowerShell Snap-Ins:

Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
This Snap-In comes preinstalled with the SharePoint Server installation.
On a regular PowerShell window on a SharePoint machine, you can run:
- Add-PsSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

PowerShell Modules:

AzureAD / AzureADPreview
You should be able to use either AzureAD or AzureADPreview module. In case you don’t have any of them installed please install AzureAD since they cannot be installed together.
On regular PowerShell window, you can run:
- Import-Module AzureAD
- Import-Module AzureADPreview
MSOnline
On a regular PowerShell window, you can use the command below for installation:
- Install-Module MSOnline
On regular PowerShell window, you can run:
- Import-Module MSOnline

What you need to do to prepare:

The script must be run on a server where SharePoint On-Premises is installed (2013, 2016 or 2019). Please use the same server which you installed AzureAD and MSOnline PowerShell modules.

Please download the configuration script.
From the directory where the script was downloaded, execute the script using SharePoint On-Premises Farm Administrator account, using the following command:Update-FederatedHybridSearchForM365.ps1 -HybridWebApp YourHybridWebApplication -Force
When prompted, login using Microsoft 365 Global Administrator account.
Wait for script execution to finish, in case there are any issues, please contact Microsoft Support.
After script execution, users will see no changes when this change is implemented.

Please click Additional Information to learn more.

Review: Plan hybrid federated search for SharePoint Server Additional information