Synchronize user and group profiles in SharePoint Server 2013
This article mentions that You must have a full installation of SQL Server, not the Express edition. Profile synchronization will not work if you have installed SharePoint Server 2013 by following the instructions in Install SharePoint 2013 on a single server with a built-in database.
However, we are setting up the Profile synchronization by using SharePoint AD Import.
We would like to know if the profile sync using SP AD import is supported for single server installation.