Skype for Business Patching Process

Patching of the Skype for business front end pool is critical as well as very risky. Certain steps needs to be followed for SFB pool patching. Below are the steps to follow during patching of SFB servers.

Verify the replica status of the pool running below

Get-CsPoolFabricState -PoolFqdn <PoolFQDN>

If the result shows any missing replicas fix/recover the same using below command

Reset-CsPoolRegistrarState -ResetType QuorumLossRecovery

If you are applying Cumulative Updates to SFB servers verify the upgrade readiness state before applying CU

Get-CsPoolUpgradeReadinessState

If the result is not ready wait till the readiness of the upgrade domain. Apply the cumulative updates based on the Upgrade domain

Once both the commands are verified failover the computer which is going to be patched first.

Invoke-CsComputerFailOver -ComputerName <Front End Server to be patched>

Apply the patches to the server

Run the below command once the server returned back after patching.

Invoke-CsComputerFailBack -ComputerName <Front End Server patched>

Follow the above steps on each Front End servers one by one.

Lync 2013 Issue with EWS integration - Continuous Prompt for Credentials

Reason to write this article is recently i faced an issue for EWS integration with Skype For Business/Lync 2013.This may be helpful for you....

Most of the articles talking about adding the domain to trusted model registry,auto-discovery and EWS URLs configuration.But after doing all these my issue did not solved.

Issue: EWS Status showing EWS is not fully Initialized / EWS Not Deployed

Basic Things we need to check :-

• DNS Entry for autodiscover.domain.com,Client machine should be able to resolve auto discover and EWS URLs
• If the SIP domain and SMTP Domain is different Email address Comparisoncheckdisabled value in Client policy should be True.
• EWS URL Should be deployed in Exchange Organisation
• Basic Authentication should be Enabled for Auto discover and EWS Virtual directory of Exchange server(All CAS Servers).
• Verify the Basic authentication using below command

         AutoDiscovery

Get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -Server <CAS01> |fl BasicAuthentication .This should return value True.

If false set the value using 

Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -Server <CAS01> -BasicAuthentication $true

EWS

Get-WebServicesVirtualDirectory -Identity CAS01 |fl BasicAuthentication .This Should return value True.

If false set the value using

Set-WebServicesVirtualDirectory -Identity CAS01 -BasicAuthentication $true

• System web Proxy(PAC File or Manual Proxy) should exclude auto discover and EWS URLs

Now Will come to actual issue.Even after implementing all the above Lync client was not able to authenticate with Exchange server.Authentication windows was continuously popping up/Not accepting the credentials.

Solution:-We used fiddler to check what is happening with Exchange URL connectivity from Lync and found Lync client is trying to authenticate with Exchange using Negotiate:Kerberose mode and getting 401 Unauthorized access

• Logged on to Exchange server
• Opened INETMGR
• Clicked on Auto discover Virtual Directory
• Clicked on Authentication
• Right Click on Windows authentication and Select Providers
• Move NTLM to Top
• Repeated the same for EWS

But even after doing this Lync is trying to Negotiate for the challenge

• Logged on to Exchange server
• Opened INETMGR
• Clicked on Auto discover Virtual Directory
• Clicked on Authentication
• Right Click on Windows authentication and Select Providers
• Remove Negotiate mode
• Repeated the same for EWS

Enjoy Reading...Any doubt please comment...

Limited Functionality Error After Cumulative update

After Installing cumulaive update on all Lync servers we need to update database.
Installation of update will be very smooth and very less issues.But when it comes to update database its very critical and your heart beat will increase!!!For me yes..i have very bad experience on update database command.Whenever i have updated my database(SQL Cluster) My lync shows limited Functionlity error.
I tried with bothe of the commands

1- Install-CsDatabase -Update -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn <EEBE.Fqdn> -UseDefaultSqlPaths

2- Install-CsDatabase -Update -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn <EEBE.Fqdn>

Initially i struggled alot and played in SQL,but no luck last i got the solution.
Whenever i am getting Limited Functionlaty error i went and checked in my SQL databases using SQL management Studio and Found my rtcdyn database changed to single user mode.If i try to alter the same to multiuser mode it will not allow.
But Dont worry rtcdyn doesn't have any critical datat and it is only a dynamic content based on users login and activities it will udate.So what i done here is

Stoped SQL services
Gone to the physical path of the rtcdyn data path and Log Path
Renamed those files to something Else
Started SQL services
Open SQL Management Studio
Now you can see empty rtcdyn Database
Just right Click and delete the same.
Now goto the Front end server and run Below command

Install-CsDatabase -Update -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn < EEBE.Fqdn > -DatabasePaths <RtcDyn log path>, <RtcDyn data path>

 This will recreate your rtcdyn database and if you signout your Lync and signin back you can see preence and contacts.
Enjoy!!!!!!

If you have any suggession or any other solution Feel free to write here in Comments.

 

Lync 2013 Guides

Microsoft come up with new product every now and there it is very difficult to support people to upto date on their technologies.Anyway we have to be upto dated else we will be out of market.
Ignite have wonder full document to learn more about Lync 2013 and Exchange 2013 ,here it goes

Lync 2013 Guides

Exchange 2013 Guides

Move CMS from Lync 2010 to Lync 2013

When we introduce Lync 2013 on Lync 2010 infra CMS will be on Lync 2010.So if we want to move the CMS to new 2013 pool here is the steps.
For safer part we can take config backup using export-csconfig and export-cslisconfig.
Next step is to install CMS store new Lync 2013 pool for that run the below command.

Install-Csdatabase -centralmanagementdatabase -usedefaultsqlpaths -sqlserverfqdn <backendsqlserverfqdn>

Next step is to move CMS server.

move-csmanagementserver

If the source cms server is offline you can use below command.

Move-CsManagementServer -ConfigurationFileName "C:\configfile.zip" -LisConfigurationFileName "C:\CsLisConfigfile.zip" -Force

Lync with Cisco VCS Integration/HD Integration

Most of the organisation wil be having High defnition conference feature available.So the users who are using Lync they can utilise that feature using Lync client easily with below steps.The document is svailable on Cisco sites but still below one will be an easy refernce for you.

First you need to add VCS domain as truted application in Lync topology then only Lync will accept request from VCS.

Here is command to make VCS as trusted application:
1- Add application pool
New-CsTrustedApplicationPool -Identity <vcsdomainfqdn> -Registrar LyncFEPool -site <Sitenumber you want to integrate> -RequiresReplication $false -ThrottleAsServer $true -TreatAsAuthenticated $true

2- Add application
New-CsTrustedApplication -ApplicationID VCSApplication1 -TrustedApplicationPoolFqdn <vcsdomainfqdn> -Port 5061
3- Set The encryption Level.
set-CsMediaConfiguration -EncryptionLevel supportencryption
4- Create static route to route the request towards VCS.
$Route1=New-CsStaticRoute -TLSRoute -Destination "vcsdomainfqdn" -MatchUri "domainname" –Port 5061 -UseDefaultCertificate $true
Set-CsStaticRoutingConfiguration -Identity global -Route @{Add=$Route1}

Above part is from Lync side.Same way need to configure Cisco VCS to accept lync request.
Once both side configured you can dial conference number from Lync and enjoy the conference from your Desk.
 

Port Requirements for Lync 2010 Application sharing with external user

For Small buisness network this topic may not be that much usefull,but for a Large enterprise with restricted network setup this will be very usefull.Below requirements i captured using lot of testing and network tracing.When i recieved this requirement there was no articles clearly mentioned about how we can achieve this,all was mentioned some specific ports for application wise.

Scenario:Users are sitting in a restricted network.User only have text IM access with othere users as well as federation/external users.Requirement here is to application sharing with external/federated users.After the study i concluded with below ports for application sharing with external users.

Public to edgeserver:

TCP/443

UDP/3478

TCP/8057

TCP/50,000-59,999 (Outbound only)

From the internal Client to the internal Edge:

TCP - 443
UDP – 3478

Above ports for only to conference and Media traffic from internal user to External user.

If you wanted to have internal conference between 2 restricted netwok users below is the port requirements.

Client to Front End Pool

UDP		49152 to 57500
TCP		8057
TCP		443
TCP		49152 to 65535
TCP		448

Client to AV Pool

UDP		49152 to 57500
UDP		57501 to 65535

 

Lync 2010 User provisioning using AD Attributes

When it comes to Large setup you may need to provision users using some thirdparty tools or any other scripts.Here i faced major challenge like tried with dfault attributes but it was not success.User was showing not enabled for Lync access.

Below is the attributes i enabled initially.

sRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress:
msRTCSIP-UserEnabled: TRUE
msRTCSIP-PrimaryHomeServer:
msRTCSIP-FederationEnabled: TRUE
msRTCSIP-InternetAccessEnabled: TRUE
msRTCSIP-OptionFlags: 257

But it failed to enable users in Lync.Finally after lot of try i got solution like i need to enable default user policy also.below is the attribute which we need to enable.

msRTCSIP-UserPolicies:

Hope this will help you to enable using AD attributes or using FIM or any other provisioning tools.

Set Media Port Ranges in Lync

Here i am explaining this mainly for Enabing QoS for Lync services.If your organization is with large network this is necessary to limit lync Media traffic into a defined port ranges.SO this QoS can be enabled inall network appliances and assign the bandwidth from the network level.
Below is the commands to set the mediaports in Lync 2010

Client Ranges

Set-CsConferencingConfiguration -ClientMediaPortRangeEnabled 1 Set-CsConferencingConfiguration -ClientAudioPort 20000 -ClientAudioPortRange 40 -ClientVideoPort 20040 -ClientVideoPortRange 40 -ClientAppSharingPort 20080 -ClientAppSharingPortRange 40 -ClientFileTransferPort 20120 -ClientFileTransferPortRange 40 -ClientMediaPort 20160 -ClientMediaPortRange 40

Lync Pools

Set-CsConferenceServer -Identity <PoolFQDN> -AppSharingPortStart 40803 -AppSharingPortCount 8348

Set-CsApplicationServer -Identity <PoolFQDN> -AppSharingPortStart 40803 -AppSharingPortCount 8348

 

 

SQL Server Cannot open user default database Login Failed

As a Lync support person you might need to handle some SQL issues. Most of the cases you want to move database here and there because of the disk space issue or for proper allocation of disk. Here i faced a challenge while doing LCSLOG database movement from one disk to another Disk.

I have detached the database and copy the database in another disk after that i was not able to login to SQL management studio. I was getting "Cannot open user default database.Login Failed error".

I thought my SQL got corrupted ,After lot of search i got the solution like below.

Open SQL Managemnet Studio
Select options tab

Now change the connect to database to master or any available database on your setup

 

Now click on connect and it will successfully log you in. Once you login in the system run following statement for your username and it should fix your problem. Make sure to replace [test] with your username and master with yourdatabase name.

ALTER LOGIN [username] WITH DEFAULT_DATABASE = master
GO

 

 

Lync 2013 Evaluation And Subscriber Download available Now

Microsoft has released Lync 2013 Evaluation and Lync Basic Client.
Find the download Link and details below.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh973393.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_118_1_1

Also Released Lync subscriber download.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/securedownloads/hh442904

Intermittent AOL PIC issue in Lync

Initially when we configured Lync fo Public IM communication we have recieved lot of omplaints from users related IM failed when the communicate with AOL users.After Lot of touble shooting found one solution and it helped me to resolve our issue.

In order to resolve this, you need to change the Cipher Suite order used by Windows such that TLS RSA with RC4 128 MD5 is tried first.
In order to change the Cipher Suite order, do the following on your Access Edge server:

1. Launch the Group Policy Object Editor using: Start --> Run -> gpedit.msc
2. Within the Group Policy Object Editor, traverse down to; Computer Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> Network --> SSL Configuration
3. Click on SSL Configuration, and then double-click on SSL Cipher Suite Order (by default, the SSL Cipher Suite Order is set to "Not Configured")
4. Select the “Enabled” radio button, and in the in the SSL Cipher Suites text box, copy the entire string into Notepad.
5. Find  TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5, in the list and cut and paste it to the first item in the list.  (Be sure to take the trailing comma with it so you don't end up with a ",," in the list)
6. Paste the newly-formatted string back into the text field in the GPO Editor, click OK
7. Restart (reboot) the Lync Access Edge server for these changes to take effect.

Thanks for below Link.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/messaging_with_communications/archive/2011/09/27/lync-and-aol-pic-issues.aspx

Lync Server 2010 Cumulative Update 7

Microsoft has realeased new Lync 2010 Cumulative update on October 2012.
It fixes multiple issues reported till date,below are the major features of new update.

1-New Media Quality Comparison Report in Monitoring server
2-Call Leg media Quality report addition in Monitoring
3-Mobile user status showing as inactive in some users.

Also it fixing some invalid meeting URL error and some other web component issues.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2740403
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2493736

What's New Lync 2013

Below is the some major feature about Lync 2013 Preview

• Full IPv6 support
• VDI plugin, allowing full A/V support in virtual desktop environments
• H.264 SVC codec support
• Skype federation support
• Persistent chat (or group chat) becomes a "full-fledged" Lync service, not just a bolted-on add-on
• Audio and video added to Lync Web App
• Consolidation of roles; no separate server role needed for monitoring and archiving
• Hybrid deployments of on-premises and Lync Online cloud servers now supported (this capability is called "hybrid voice")
• Support for M-N trunk routing, plus support for inter-trunk routing. Lasko explains: "This feature allows Lync to act as an intermediary between two or more different phone systems. For example, Lync can accept calls from one PBX, and pass the call through to another PBX. This can be very useful in larger environments and allows Lync to be the backbone of a corporate telephone network."
• Support for a unified contact store, with information maintained in MIcrosoft Exchange Server 2013, enabling users to access/manage contacts from Lync 2013 Preview, Outlook or Outlook Web App

Remove + from FromURI or RequestURI in Lync 2010

Some of the call manager will not suppot when lync initiate call with +symbol in both to and From URI's(E.164).In such cases You can remove the + from lync side while sending to the call manager or gateway.

ToURI + you can strip from the trunk configuration using GUI.Like below.

But to remove + from FromURi there is  no option available in GUI mode.Format will be something  like this.from<sip:+12345@.....>.In this case gateway or call manager may not acept such request.

This option you can change using powersehell script.Run the get-cstrunkconfiguration.You will get output like below.

Here in the image highlighted seeting we need to make it as true.So it will remove + before sending to Call manager or gateway.Command will be like this.Set-CStrunk configuration -identity "test" RemovePlusFromUri $true.Now the Header wil be like From<Sip:12345@.....>to<.....>

Change Lync Database default path

This is one of the major topic which i faced lot of issues.I tried multiple time to create databse using install-csdatabase command but it always create database its on logic.not wher you want.So after lot of study i found a solution and moved databse in to proper disks where i required.
Here in my case most of the databses created in C drive.I wanted create in E drive.Find the below steps how i achived the same.
Logon to SQL server
Open SQL managemnet Studio
Click on New Query
Follow the Steps Below
Example:-
rtccab
Note down the database path
  use rtcab
  go
  sp_helpfile
  go
C:\CsData\ABSStore\(default)\dbpath\rtcab.mdf
c:\csdata\absstore\(default)\logpath\rtcab.ldf
Detatch the databse
   use master
   go
   sp_detach_db 'rtcab'
   go

Lync Simultaneous ring Leads to grabbled voicemail

When you enable simultaneous ring in lync client and your not answered the call.you will get a grabbled voice mail.

This issue is because your ifrastructure configuration mismatch of lync and call manager.below is the solution for this issue.
Go to UM dial plan o your Unified messaging server configuration.In general tab go to VOIP security settings select secured insted of SIP secured.



This solved my issue.Hope this will Help you also.

If this solved your issue dont forget to write down your feedback here..........

Unified Messaging Service Not Starting

After installing Unified Messaging Role on Exchange 2010 the Unified Messaging service is not starting.Getting below Error.

The Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging service was unable to start. More information: "Microsoft.Exchange.UM.UMService.UMServiceException: No certificate was found using the thumbprint '' specified in the UMCertificateThumbprint property of the UMServer object.

at Microsoft.Exchange.UM.UMService.UMConnectionManagerHelper.TLSConnectionManager.Initialize()

at Microsoft.Exchange.UM.UMService.UMService.InitializeConnectionManager()

at Microsoft.Exchange.UM.UMService.UMService.StartService()

at Microsoft.Exchange.UM.UMService.UMService.OnStartInternal(String[] args)"

For this issue First thing you need to check poper certificate is available in local system.
If certificate availbale Follow the below steps.
Go to Exchange management Console
Open Server configuration
Click on Unified Messaging
Click on the server
Go to right pane
Click on Assign certificate option
Follow the wizard and select the decided certificate.
Start the Service again..

Wow...now it is started right??????

Dont forget to put feedback.

Lync 2010 Power Shell Commands

Name	Synopsis	HelpUri
Approve-CsDeviceUpdateRule	Approves a device update rule that has been imported to the system. After a device update rule has been approved, the corresponding update will automatically be downloaded and installed by client devices affected by the update.	Link
Clear-CsDeviceUpdateFile	Deletes any rejected device update files that are no longer associated with a device.	Link
Clear-CsDeviceUpdateLog	Deletes all the Device Update Web service log and audit files that are older than the specified number of days.	Link
Debug-CsLisConfiguration	Displays the Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) Location Information service (LIS) configuration in XML format.	Link
Disable-CsAdDomain	Undoes the domain preparation tasks carried out by the Enable-CsAdDomain cmdlet. This cmdlet is typically used only if you are uninstalling Microsoft Lync Server 2010 from a domain.	Link
Disable-CsAdForest	Undoes the forest preparation tasks carried out by the Enable-CsAdForest cmdlet. This cmdlet is typically used only if you are uninstalling Microsoft Lync Server 2010.	Link
Disable-CsComputer	Disables a service or server role that has been removed from a computer running Microsoft Lync Server 2010.	Link
Disable-CsHostingProvider	Disables a hosting provider currently in use in your organization. A hosting provider is a third-party organization that provides instant messaging, presence, and related services for a domain that you would like to federate with. Hosting providers, such as Microsoft Lync Online 2010, differ from public providers (such as Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL) in that their services are not offered to the general public.	Link
Disable-CsPublicProvider	Disables a public provider configured for use in your organization. A public provider is an organization that provides instant messaging, presence, and related services to the general public. Microsoft Lync Server 2010 ships with three public providers configured but not enabled: Yahoo!; AOL; and MSN.

Force to use Lync Web App for conferences

If you have lync 2010 instaled on your system ,when you click on join conference URL it will launch your Lync 2010 client.What will happen some other organisation send you the link to join conference?you will not be able to join the meeting.
If you dont have Lync 2010 in your system you wil get below screen

 

So this will give you the option to join the meeting.But for such above case it is difficult because Lync default behaviour is like that.So if you want to force the use of Lync web app follow the below steps

simply add ?sl= to the meeting URL

Eg:https://meet.sipdomain.com/test/abcdefg34?sl=

The Lync Client will not launch and you can choose to run Lync Web App