--- title: 8.3.0 slug: 830 createdAt: 2026-02-25T21:28:43.339Z --- **Release date: **May 20,2025 This release introduces significant enhancements, particularly focusing on strengthening support for cloud-only and domainless environments, improving the installer experience, refining the user interface, updating APIs, and addressing key bug fixes. This version represents a major step in making Activate even more flexible and powerful for managing identities and access in modern IT landscapes, whether on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid. Activate automates tasks like onboarding, offboarding, distribution list management, password management, and data access management, freeing up IT teams and providing instant service. ### Enhanced Cloud & Domainless Support A central theme of this release is the comprehensive improvement of Activate's functionality in cloud-only and domainless setups. - **Installer Flexibility:** Administrators now have more control during the initial installation, able to **pick between using On-Premise AD or Azure / Entra ID** for authentication, rather than this choice being dictated by domain connectivity. - **Improved Azure Configuration:** A **new interface has been introduced to the installer for capturing details about Azure connections**, including Login and Graph API details, simplifying the setup for domainless environments. An **app registration test dialog** was added to the installer to allow testing authentication when connecting via Azure. - **Domainless Installer Stability:** Various issues throughout the installer that previously didn't work correctly for a domainless setup have been fixed, officially supporting **Azure Only / Domainless setups** where Activate is installed outside of a domain and connects only to Azure. This includes fixing a bug where an installer message would show if a local user was not a member of admins on an Azure-only instance installed on a domain-connected machine, resolving issues where the connected domain showed up unexpectedly, and ensuring the Azure user is loaded instead of the domain user in such scenarios. - **Desktop Studio Access & Management:** - If Activate is configured solely for Azure authentication, a **new login dialog is displayed** before accessing Activate's Desktop Administrator. - Users logged in via Azure / Entra ID can now **logout of Activate Desktop Administrator** through the new user control center. - Security has been further strengthened for access to Activate Administrator with Azure users; **attempts to login to Desktop Studio will now return an error if the user is not in the Azure Activate Admins group**. - **Cloud User & Mailbox Management:** Core tasks for managing users and mailboxes have been enhanced to support cloud-only scenarios. This includes **enhanced scripts** for deleting mailboxes, creating mailboxes, archiving mail, archiving drives, archiving users, deleting utilities, and deleting users for cloud users. The **workflow for creating mailboxes has been enhanced to retry on errors** during the PostCreateScript for better support of cloud users. Enhancements were added to the **CreateScript of Create User to support cloud-only users**. - **Cloud Resource Configuration:** The **IdentityProvider on Office365 Exchange Server is now set out-of-the-box** to point at the Azure external directory. A **default exchange server pointing at the Office365 resource has been added** for the Azure external directory. - **Entra ID Sync & User Properties\:Support has been added for syncing more user properties from Entra ID** via the CustomSchema. The **Web.User.Properties.Details view has been enhanced to correctly show properties for cloud users**. - **Cloud Object Logic:** The logic for the **IsCloudObject field on ProvisioningDirectoryEntry has been improved** to use the DistinguishedName as the basis for determining if an object is cloud-based. - **Multi-Tenant Exchange Selection:** Activate now **accurately selects the correct Exchange Server for users in multi-tenant environments**. - **Distribution List Creation:** An issue where **duplicate distribution lists could be observed when creating them in a domainless environment** via Activate has been resolved by saving the ExternalDirectoryObjectId instead of Guid. - **Cloud-Only User Template:** A **new out-of-the-box User type template for Cloud Only employees** has been created as a configuration reference. - **IIS Configuration:** Windows Authentication is now **only enabled in IIS (Activate Web) when Activate is configured to use AD Authentication** in the installer. ### Installer Enhancements Several improvements have been made to streamline the installation process. - **Default Values Install Support:** Users can now **provide a set of defaults during the installer**, enabling **rapid and consistent installs** - **Simplified Input:** Redundant password text fields were **removed from the Application Pool and Orchestrator Service installer pages**. - **Prerequisites Visibility:** A **link to Activate's recommended prerequisites has been added to the initial installer page**, making it easier for users to confirm readiness. - **Improved Error Reporting:** More information, including the underlying error in the dialog, has been **added to error dialogs during the installer** to help diagnose issues quicker. - **Self-Signed Certificate Creation:** An issue in the installer where **newly created self-signed certificates could not be found** has been resolved. - **Database Upgrade Prompt:** The installer now **only prompts for upgrading the database if there are required pending database changes**. ### User Experience Improvements Updates to the user interface and interaction points enhance usability. - **Splash Screen Feedback:** Feedback has been added to the **splash screen of Activate Administrator to provide details to the user about the startup process**, improving visibility when the application is loading. - **Desktop Admin User Center:** A **new user control center has been added in Desktop Studio**, giving administrator users easy access to their account details and the ability to access their web user profile. - **Persistent Impersonation Banner:** While impersonating another user, the **impersonate banner now persists across every web page**. - **Virtualized Tree View Fixes:** An issue where the beta **Virtualized Tree View did not work correctly in popups**, such as in Select Object controls, has been improved. The new tree list control now **shows a spinner when sub-items are loading**, indicating Activate is waiting for a server response. - **Installer Navigation:** An issue where the **back button wouldn't work on the AD Group picker** on the installer has been fixed. - **Job Log Observability:** The source location is now stored and displayed with logged information in the **Job Log**, allowing administrators to **see where job logs originated** (e.g., which script or workflow location). ### API Updates - **Microsoft Graph API:** Activate's **Microsoft Graph API has been updated to v5.76.0**. The previous version was v5.49.0. ### Activate To Links Activate To Links are a new feature in Activate that allow you to create **shortcut URLs** — short, memorable links that redirect users to specific tools, dashboards, articles, or other resources within your Activate environment. e.g. Creating a String parameter named "give-feedback" with the value "/Job/new?id=123" under this resource would allow navigation to the site using a URL like https\://activate.mycompany.com/to/give-feedback. Read more about Activate To Links [here](docId\:Z-kyyLfhrjI9d3WnKKU_8) . ### General Maintenance & Fixes Specific issues identified have also been resolved. - **Remove Mailbox Job Title:** An expression was corrected in the title of the Mailboxes > Remove Access job, where the number "3" was incorrectly set as the separator instead of a comma.