Recovery and restore for Microsoft Entra External ID
Recovering a customer identity tenant is not just a matter of putting objects back. They reference each other, they have to be created in the right order, and a restore that half-works leaves sign-in broken. Every EIDGuard restore starts as a preview and applies in dependency order.
Nothing is written until you approve it
The restore wizard always runs a read-only preview first, a WhatIf pass that produces the exact list of actions it would take, object by object: create, update, or already present. Nothing has changed in your tenant at that point. If the list is not what you expected, adjust the resource selection or choose a different recovery point and preview again.
Two modes, deliberately separated
The separation is the point: the destructive capability is held by a different role from the everyday one, and the dashboard treats it accordingly, in Full mode the apply button becomes Apply disaster recovery and asks for confirmation.
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Missing only (default) | Recreates objects that no longer exist and never touches ones that are still present. The right choice for an accidental deletion. Operator or Admin. |
| Full | Also overwrites existing objects whose configuration differs from the recovery point. For rolling back unwanted changes or rebuilding a tenant. Admin only, Operators can preview but not apply. |
Restores understand dependencies
- Dependency-orderedAttribute definitions and identity providers are restored before the user flows that reference them; Conditional Access and role assignments after the objects they point at.
- References are remappedRecreated objects get new IDs. EIDGuard tracks every old-to-new mapping during a restore and rewrites group members, policy scopes, user-flow app links and role assignments so restored objects point at each other correctly.
- Conditional Access comes back disabledA restored policy is always created in a disabled state, so it can never lock anyone out before you have reviewed its assignments.
- Restores are idempotentRunning the same restore twice does not create duplicates. Existing objects are matched and reported as already present.
What no backup can bring back
Some material cannot be exported from Microsoft Graph, so it is in no backup, anyone's. EIDGuard restores these objects with placeholders and lists each one explicitly under Manual actions required, so the follow-ups are visible rather than discovered later.
| Not restorable | What happens on restore |
|---|---|
| User passwords | Users are recreated and reset their password on first sign-in. |
| App client secrets and certificate private keys | App metadata is restored; issue new credentials afterwards. |
| Per-user MFA and passkey registrations | Users re-register their methods. |
| Identity provider client secrets | The provider is recreated with a placeholder, paste the real value from the provider's console. |
| Federation signing keys | Re-establish federation with the partner. |
| Branding image binaries | Text and colour settings restore; re-upload logo images. |
Protect your tenant before you need to recover it.
Connect your Entra External ID tenant, set a schedule, and establish your first known-good recovery point.