Hybrid AADJ Windows 11 clients not obtaining Entra Kerberos ticket for Azure Files (cifs/<storage>.file.core.windows.net)
We are deploying Azure Files with Microsoft Entra Kerberos authentication in a hybrid environment. Our Windows 11 Pro 25H2 hybrid-joined device meets all prerequisites:
DSREGCMD /STATUS
AzureAdJoined = YES
DomainJoined = YES
AzureAdPrt = YES
CloudTgt = YES
NgcSet = YES (WHfB provisioned successfully)
- Executing Account Name = domain.local\username, ******@domain.com
Device is Intune-enrolled
Zscaler Private Access forwarding SMB/445 to the private endpoint
DNS resolution correctly returns privatelink IP
Storage account uses Standard tier, identity enabled
Azure Files Entra Kerberos enabled
Required RBAC roles assigned (user + storage MI)
However:
- Connecting to:
\\storage-account-name.file.core.windows.net\<share>always prompts for credentials. -
klistnever shows a cloud Kerberos ticket for:cifs/storage-account-name.file.core.windows.net - Authentication falls back to NTLM and fails.
- All local device prerequisites appear healthy.
- This persists even after WHfB provisioning and CloudKerberos-enabled registry configuration.
Does someone know why we can't get Entra Kerberos Ticket? Whatever we log in with domain\username or ******@domain.com or PIN (WHfB), kerberos request are ALWAYS answered by local AD.
We've even created a reg key on a test device to make sure kerberos request to domain.com are sent to Entra and not local AD but it still fails.