After installing the latest cumulative Windows Update patch, some people are experiencing high CPU issues being used by the “Azure AD Connect Health Sync Monitor” (microsoft.online.reporting.monitoringagent.startup) (AzureADConnectHealthSyncMonitor) version 1.1.819.0. If you have the Azure AD Connect utility installed on a server, this is a service that goes along with it. According to Microsoft, they will be releasing an update to the Azure AD Connect Utility to resolve this issue, but as of this article, there’s no ETA yet for this update. Luckily, there are two options you have to temporarily resolve the high CPU issues.
According to Microsoft, “Azure AD Connect Health helps you monitor and gain insights into your on-premises identity infrastructure”. While it is an important service to have, it is not required for Azure AD Connect to work.
Update Released
UPDATE 8/1/2018: Microsoft has released version 1.1.880.0, which you can download from here. This updated version does fix the microsoft.online.reporting.monitoringagent.startup High CPU bug.
Stop the Azure AD Connect Health Sync Monitor Service
The first option is to stop the Azure AD Connect Health Sync Monitor service and set it to manual until the updated utility is released.
- Click on Start and search for Services
- Find the Azure AD Connect Health Sync Monitor service
- Right click on it and click Stop
- Right click on the same service and go to Properties
- Change the Startup Type to Manual
Uninstall the KB4338814 Windows Update
The next option is to uninstall the Windows Updates that caused the problem. In my case, it was the KB4338814 “2018-07 Cumulative Update for Windows Server”. Some other people have reported success by uninstalling any or all of these updates: KB4103725, KB4096417, KB4095875, KB4054566, KB4338815, KB4338419, KB4340558, KB4338605, KB4339093, KB4340006, or KB4338824.
- Click on Start and go to Settings
- Go to Windows Update
- Go to Update History
- Click on Uninstall Updates
- Find the KB updates you want to uninstall
- Click on the update then click Uninstall
Uninstall .NET Framework 4.7.2 Update
Some people have reported luck by uninstalling the .NET Framework 4.7.2 update. Depending on your Windows version, here are the KB numbers for the updates:
- Windows Server 2012 – Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4054542)
- Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 – Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4054566)
- Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Windows 10 Creators Update and Windows Server 2016 – Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4054590)
- Windows 10 Fall Creators Update – Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4073120)
Final Notes
Once the new Azure AD Connect Utility is released, you’ll want to upgrade it and either turn on the Azure AD Connect Health Sync Monitor Service or reinstall the Windows Updates you uninstalled, depending on which option you applied above. Keep an eye on this Microsoft Download page for an updated version. The affected version is 1.1.819.0 which was released May 14, 2018. Microsoft has also published KB4346822 which offers the updates that caused the issue as well as the statement that there will be an update to Azure AD Connect coming soon that will resolve the issue.
Have all the latest versions, Azure AD Connect as well as WIndows 2016 updates and the issue still exists….Currently removing KB4338814, Good job MS, considering this is an Azure hosted VM we had to double our vCPU just to be able to get into the VM.
thanks,
I was having problems with this issue for a long time.