The C-spot

A blog post has been published by Damien Caro (a Microsoft IT Pro evangelist based in Paris) on his TechNet blog dispelling rumours and uncertainty around whether Lync Server 2010 will work with the newly RTM’d SQL Server 2012

Damien writes:

“There are some excellent reasons for willing to use SQL 2012 with Microsoft Lync like the support of the new availability model (Always On). However, Lync 2010 is using a feature called DMO (Distributed Management Objects) that was introduced in SQL 7.0 (a long time ago !).

SQL 2012 does not support this feature anymore as it is indicated in this article : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms131540.aspx so SQL 2012 will not be a supported platform for Lync 2010 as it is now.”

Full post over here.

/Tim

Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX500, Polycom CX600 and Polycom CX3000 [UCUpdates.exe version: 7577.4066] (KB2672349, download)

Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Aastra 6721ip and Aastra 6725ip [UCUpdates.exe version: 7577.4066] (KB2672352, download)

Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for HP 4110 and HP 4120 [UCUpdates.exe version: 7577.4066] (KB2672743, download)

Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX700 and LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 [UCUpdates.exe version: 7577.4066] (KB2670373, download)

Microsoft Lync 2010 for Android [version: 4.1.5014.8880] (updated 23 Feb 2012, download)

/Tim

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen any movement on the Lync front for Windows Phone, so it’s nice to see the mobile app gets a small update to version 4.1.

The popular mobile app for the Lync service has an anticipated update for Windows Phone.

There is no changelog published to detail what, if anything, is changed. If you notice anything different, comment below so we all keep posted about the changes!

/Tim

Microsoft has released the MS Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack.

Microsoft®Lync™ Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting is a unified communications (UC) solution for telecom and hosting providers. Unified communications is a way for telecom and hosting providers to expand their service offering to their current customers.

The Deployment Guide can be downloaded here

Note: Please be aware that some features such as Call Park and Public IM is not supported!

Features Comparision:

 

Lync Server feature	Lync Multitenant Hosting Pack	Lync Online
Presence
Contacts list	Yes	Yes
Address Book Service Web Query service	Yes	Yes
Distribution List Expansion protocol (DLX)	Yes	Yes
Instant Messaging (IM)
Point-to-point IM	Yes	Yes
Multiparty/Group IM	Yes	Yes
Group Chat	No	No
Client Support
Lync desktop client	Yes	Yes
Mac Messenger	Yes	Yes
Attendee (meeting only)	Yes	Yes
Lync Mobile on: iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone 7, Android	Yes	Yes
Conferencing and Sharing
Point-to-point audio/video	Yes	Yes
Video conferencing over IP	Yes	Yes
Audio conferencing over IP only	Yes	Yes
Meeting recording	Yes	Yes
Ad-hoc audio dial-out conferencing	Yes via SIP Trunk	Yes via SIP Trunk
“Meet now” audio dial-out conferencing	Yes via ACP	Yes via ACP
Scheduled audio dial-out conferencing	Yes via ACP	Yes via ACP
Sharing
Point-to-point/multiparty data conference (white boarding)	Yes	Yes
Point-to-point/multiparty file share	Yes	Yes
Point-to-point/multiparty desktop and application sharing	Yes	Yes
Point-to-point/multiparty Microsoft PowerPoint® slide sharing	Yes	Yes
Polling	Yes	Yes
Integration
Microsoft Outlook integration for IM, presence, calendar (with users on the same hosting partner)	Yes	Yes
Microsoft SharePoint® integration for IM, presence (with users on the same hosting partner)	Yes	Yes
PIC and Federation
Intertenant federation	Yes	Yes
Federation with Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)	No	No
Public IM connectivity and presence Windows Live®, AOL®, Yahoo!®	No	Yes
Public IM connectivity audio/video Windows Live	No	Yes
Basic calling features
Public switched telephone network (PSTN) calling via Lync incoming and outgoing	Yes	Yes
Call controls hold, transfer, forward, simultaneous ring	Yes	Yes
Voice policies	Yes	Yes
Advanced calling features
Team call	No	No
Response groups	No	No
Delegation	No	No
Private line (secondary Direct Inward Dialing (DID))	No	No
Call park	No	No
Outgoing DID manipulation	No	No
Voice features
Private dial plans	No	No
Hosted Exchange Unified Messaging (UM) for voice mail	Yes	Yes

/Tim

 

If you want to have a play with the new Windows Phone client (WP7) for Lync then Microsoft haven’t quite setup the DNS records yet (or they are still propagating round the internet). Not to worry you can force it by manually specifying some URL’s…

If you’re using your own domain with Office 365 or on one of the higher plans check these guides… Set up Lync mobile devices and Set up your network for Lync Online.

Start the Lync mobile client

Enter your username as: <name>@<domain>.onmicrosoft.com

Enter your password:

Specify a username in the same format: <name>@<domain>.onmicrosoft.com

Toggle the “Auto-detect services” & enter the following as the “External Discovery URL”
https://meet.lync.com/Autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/Root

Chances are you’ll never be “internal” to the Office 365 network so we can probably leave the internal one clear for now..!

It looks like some clients don’t work if you don’t give them an “internal URL” too, so just repeat the process for the Internal Discovery URL:

You should now be able to connect & enjoy having a play around.

/Tim

For all instructions on how to use the Lync 2010 client (schedule meeting, change presence status, make a call…) take a look at the following website.

http://www.lynctip.be/

/Tim

After preparing the environment we are ready to start the installation of Lync 2010.

Please keep in mind that the names and ip’s are fictive in this documentation.

In this setup I choose to install Archiving and Monitoring on seperate hardware. Also keep in mind that you first have to prepare thes servers the way I described in part 1.

If you need more information or if you have questions please send an e-mail to tim.peeters@ictinus.be and I will reply or help you as soon as possible.

 

Prepare Active Directory Domain Services for Lync Server 2010

The next area for preparation is Active Directory Domain Services. Preparing AD DS for Lync Server 2010 consists of three steps:

· Schema Preparation

· Forest Preparation

· Domain Preparation

Each of these steps can be performed by using the Lync Server Deployment Wizard or the Lync Server Management Shell cmdlets directly.

 

Install Topology Builder and define Topology for Lync Front-End Pool

Now we have all of the infrastructure preparation complete, so it’s time to move on to defining the topology for Lync 2010 Enterprise Edition in Topology Builder.

1. Log on to Lync Front-End server

2. Go to Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft Lync Server 2010, and then click Lync Server Topology Builder.

3. On the Topology Builder dialog box, select the New Topology option, and then click OK.

4. On the Save New Topology As dialog box, enter a name in the File name field, and then click OK.

5. On the Define the primary domain page, enter the primary SIP domain, and then click Next.

6. On the Specify additional supported domains page, click Next.

7. On the Define the first site page, enter a site name into the Name field, enter a description into the Description field if desired, and then click Next.

8. On the Specify site details page, enter the location details, and then click Next.

9. On the New topology was successfully defined page, ensure the Open the New Front End Wizard when this wizard closes option is selected, and then click Finish.

10. The Define the New Front End Pool wizard opens. Click Next.

11. On the Define the Front End pool FQDN page, type pool1.domain.local into the Pool FQDN field, ensure the Enterprise Edition Front End Pool option is selected, and then click Next.

12. On the Define the computers in this pool page, enter lyncserver.domain.local into the Computer FQDN field, click Add, and then click Next.

13. On the Select features page, check all options you need and then click Next.

14. On the Select collocated server roles page, collocate A/V Conferencing service, and then click Next.

15. On the Associate server roles with this Front End pool page, select all options, and then click Next.

16. On the Define the SQL store page, select the Define a new SQL store option, enter the specified into the SQL Server FQDN field, ensure the SQL Instance option is selected, enter the specified name into the Named Instance field, and then click Next.

17. On the Define the file share page, select the Define a new file share option, enter the specified name into the File Server FQDN field, enter the file share name into the File Share field, and then click Next.

18. On the Specify the Web Services URL page, click Finish.

19. On the Select an Archiving Server page, click New.

20. On the Define the fully qualified domain name page, enter the specified name into the FQDN field, and then click Next.

21. On the Define the SQL store page, select the Use a previously defined SQL store option, enter the specified name into the SQL Server FQDN field.

22. On the Define the file store page, select the Use a previously defined file share option, select the the specified file share from the drop down, and then click Next.

23. On the Select an Archiving Server page, click Finish.

24. On the Select a Monitoring Server page, click New.

25. On the Define the fully qualified domain name page, enter the specified name into the FQDN field, and then click Next.

26. On the Define the SQL store page, select the Use a previously defined SQL store option, enter the specified name into the SQL Server FQDN field, and then click Finish.

27. On the Select a Monitoring Server page, click Finish.

28. You will be presented with the Lync Server 2010, Topology Builder page, which is where you can view and modify the topology that was just created.

 

/Tim

Next part (part 3) will be Publishing the Topology and Setup the Lync 2010 Front-End server and Front-End pool.

This guide will run through a consolidated Enterprise edition install (without voice gateway integration, whereby all roles will be deployed on virtual machines.

The guide will be split up in different chapters.

The first chapter is all about preparing your Lync 2010 environment.

 

Prepare the Lync 2010 Enterprise Edition Server Infrastructure

The following sections outline the step to prepare the Lync 2010 Enterprise Edition server infrastructure.

1. Set Up Enterprise Edition Hardware and System Infrastructure

2. Install Prerequisite Software

· Lync Server requires Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 with SP1.

· Prerequisite software for database servers.

· Message Queuing. Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) role components and Directory Service Integration should be installed on the Front End Server, the Archiving Server, and the Monitoring Server if you plan to deploy the Lync Server 2010 Archiving or Monitoring Server roles. The Message Queuing components can be found in Server Manager or can be deployed by using servermanagercmd.exe or the Add-WindowsFeature Windows PowerShell cmdlet.

· Configure IIS:

Role Heading	Role Service
Common HTTP features installed	Static content
Common HTTP features installed	Default document
Common HTTP features installed	HTTP errors
Application development	ASP.NET
Application development	.NET extensibility
Application development	Internet Server API (ISAPI) extensions
Application development	ISAPI filters
Health and diagnostics	HTTP logging
Health and diagnostics	Logging tools
Health and diagnostics	Tracing
Security	Anonymous authentication (installed and enabled by default)
Security	Windows authentication
Security	Client Certificate Mapping authentication
Security	Request filtering
Performance	Static content compression
Management Tools	IIS Management Console
Management Tools	IIS Management Scripts and Tools

· Install the Remote Server Administration Tools

· Install Silverlight

Silverlight is required to run the Lync Server Control Panel. Although we won’t be using the Control Panel until everything is installed, you can install it now since we’re installing the prerequisite software. Silverlight needs to be installed on the Front-End servers.

· Install and Configure SQL Server

Lync Server 2010 leverages SQL Server for the back-end database and the Archiving and Monitoring databases. SQL Server needs to be installed before we can install Lync Server 2010. For this lab, SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 will be used, and installed on the Back End Server as well as the Monitoring/Archiving Server.

3. DNS records

Lync Server 2010 leverages DNS for various features. Certain DNS records are required as part of the infrastructure preparation. Each server within this lab will already have an A record in DNS. This is attributed to the fact that I am using Active Directory-Integrated DNS, which has Dynamic DNS enabled by default. However, there are additional DNS records that are required before we proceed, including:

pool1.domain.com	A	IP of Front End Server
admin.domain.com	A	IP of Front End Pool
sip.domain.com	A	IP of Front End Pool
_sipinternaltls._tcp.domain.com	SRV	sip.domain.com Port: 5061

4. Grant Administration Permissions

Follow these steps to grant Administration permissions:

1. Ensure you are in the Users Container in Active Directory Users and Computers.

2. In the details pane, locate the CsAdministrator group, right-click on it, and select Properties.

3. On the CsAdministrator Properties page, click on the Members tab.

4. Click Add.

5. On the Select Users, Contacts, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups dialog box, type Administrator in the Enter the object names to select field, and then click OK.

6. On the CsAdministrator Properties page, click OK.

5. Create the Lync File Share

The user account that we will use to publish the topology must have full control (read/write/modify) on the file share in order for Topology Builder to configure the required permissions. Because I’m going with an Enterprise Edition deployment, the file share cannot be located on the Front End Server. As a result, We prefer to create the file share on the Monitoring/Archiving Server.

Log on to Lync Monitoring/Archiving server

2. Go Start, click Computer, and then click Local Disk (C:).

3. Right-click in the Details Pane, select New, and then select Folder.

4. Name the new folder LyncShare.

5. Right-click on the LyncShare folder, select Properties, click on the Sharing Tab, and then click Advanced Sharing.

6. On the Advanced Sharing dialog box, select the Share this folder option, leave the Share Name field as LyncShare.

 

/Tim

When installing Lync at a customer on Server 2008 R2 SP1, the installation failed with the following error while adding the first Lync Server Components:

Problem: The Lync Server 2010 Setup or Remove Component installation prerequisite check cannot locate the  Server 2008 R2 SP1 version of Microsoft Windows Media Format.

Use the command line listed below from a command prompt window to install Windows Media Format Runtime for Server 2008 R2 SP1 before you begin the installation of Lync Server 2010:

%systemroot%\system32\dism.exe /online /add-package /packagepath:%windir%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-Media-Format-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.7601.17514.mum /ignorecheck

 /Tim

After installing Lync at one of our customers we experienced the following problem when the user was trying to log in.

When I try to make the remote sign-in with the appropriate credentials, Lync reports me “Cannot sign in to Lync. Lync was unable to sign in. Please verify your logon credentials. But it only happened on Windows XP/Windows 7 machines.

When I try to sign-in using the same credentials and Windows 2008 R2 as the client, Lync is signin in!

TheLync server was running Windows 2008 R2. With Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, 128-bit encryption is (by default) required for all NTLM authentication requests. After disabling the 128-bit encryption requirement using information from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd566199(WS.10).aspx and running a gpupdate the computer was able to authenticate successfully.

/Tim