Pending File Rename Registry Key Causes Lync/SQL Install to Halt

Posted on January 4, 2011 by

I’ve run into this one a few times, so I figured I’d share my experience.  During the “Prepare First Standard Edition Wizard” the installer says “The server must be restarted before installation can continue”.   I’ve also seen this same error when doing SQL installs, such as the backend database.

After a reboot, the installation still halts with the same error.  To correct the behavior we have to hop into our registry editor and navigate to: HKLM>System>ControlSet001>Control>Session Manager

Under the “PendingFileRename” entry you will see text like what is in the box below.

This tells the system that the file in question is pending a rename and causes the SQL install to fail because it checks this entry before proceeding.  If you delete the contents in the “Value data” box and restart the installer (not the machine), the issue will be resolved temporarily and will allow you to continue with the installation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Adding More than 10 Distribution Lists to the Lync Contact List

Posted on December 21, 2010 by

Just like in OCS with Lync you can add distribution lists to your contact list.  However, there is a default limitation on how many groups you can add to your list.  In Lync and OCS that limit is 10, which at a recent deployment wasn’t quite enough for all the teams that certain users may need to have on their contact list.

The client used these lists for a number of business functions and would like the limitation to be removed.  To start off let’s look at my contact list with 10 distribution lists already added to it.

Now I’ll search for a new distribution list and try to add it to my contact list.

As you can see I get the error “The Contact list already contains the maximum number of distribution groups” when trying to add the eleventh list.  To change this behavior we need to modify the client policy in the Lync Management Shell.  In this case I’ve chosen to allow the maximum number of distribution lists to be added (64).  If you have multiple policies in Lync you will need to modify each one by specifying the identity.  Since I only have the one client policy, I can change just that one with the command:

Set-CsClientPolicy -Identity Global -MaximumDGsAllowedInContactList 64

After signing out and back in I can now add additional distribution lists to my contact list.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

How to Customize the Meeting Entry Page for Lync

Posted on December 4, 2010 by

With Lync 2010 we now have a single client for Lync Client and the Online Meeting (formerly called Live Meeting) functionality which makes everything a little simpler.  If you have the Lync Client you get your meeting functionality and the Outlook integration for scheduling online meetings all from the one client.

Even better than the single install for our own clients is the capability to customize the meeting entry page that is sent as part of the Online Meeting invite.  This makes it easier for external contacts that don’t already have the Lync client or attendee to join the meeting (if the Reach client doesn’t provide the functionality they need for the meeting).

There are two options with this customization:

1.       Provide a link to the Lync Attendee client download

2.       Provide the option to join the meeting from a legacy client

To customize the page we need to use the Lync Server Management Shell (LSMS).

We’ll start by enabling the Lync Attendee client download.  To do this we need to run the following command from LSMS:

Set-CsWebServiceConfiguration -ShowDownloadCommunicatorAttendeeLink $true

After running the command we can open our meeting page and see the change:


It may also make sense to enable users to join from their Communicator clients (with limited functionality).  To do that we run the following command from the LSMS:

Set-CsWebServiceConfiguration -ShowJoinUsingLegacyClientLink $true

After the command completes we can once again open our meeting and see the change:


The lack of these options was definitely felt in OCS 2007 R2, just another way Lync is making the user experience even better!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Deploying XMPP for Lync

Posted on November 29, 2010 by

 After deploying our edge server and enabling federation in this article the next logical step may be to enable communication with other IM platforms such as Google Chat via the XMPP gateway.  At the time of Lync RTM there was no updated XMPP server, so in this article we will utilize the OCS 2007 R2 version available from Microsoft here.

To start off with, this is what our environment will look like:


Since we will be adding another server, I have updated the hostname and IP address table below

Server Name Role IP Address
LyncDC.lyncguy.local Domain Controller/DNS/CA 10.255.106.160
LyncFE.lyncguy.local Lync Standard Edition Front End 10.255.106.161
Lyncedge.lyncguy.local Lync Edge server – not domain joined 10.255.106.162 (internal NIC)
LyncXMPP.lyncguy.com Lync XMPP Server – not domain joined 10.255.110.166

For this scenario we will be using a single NIC on our XMPP server, with the NIC placed in the same DMZ network our edge server’s external interface is on.  This will allow the edge and XMPP servers to communicate directly and to be protected by the corporate firewall.

No internal DNS changes are required to make this work, but since the XMPP server will be behind NAT and sharing the same network segment as the XMPP gateway we will update its host file so it can resolve the address of the XMPP gateway to the DMZ IP address and not the public IP.

To do that we will add an entry for the LyncXMPP.lyncguy.com on the edges host file pointing to its DMZ IP address (10.255.106.166).


Now we need to log into our XMPP server, set up the IP address and modify the hostname.  First we’ll assign our IP Address:


Now we modify our hostname


And modify the primary DNS suffix


To allow the XMPP server to reach our access edge I have added an entry for sip.lyncguy.com pointing to the DMZ IP address of the access edge

These entries allow the XMPP gateway and the edge server to communicate directly, not sending the traffic back and forth through the firewall since they are on the same network.

I will not cover the XMPP Gateway install or configuration; there is a great article here that covers everything you need to know including external DNS and firewalls (although those are covered below as well).

Once you have completed the steps in the article above you are ready to configure your Lync environment for XMPP.  To do that we start on the Front End server by opening the Lync Server Control Panel, going to “External Access” and then clicking on “Federated Domains”

Click New>Allowed Domain and add in the information for gmail.com and your XMPP server

Now click “Commit” to save your changes.  The changes will automatically be pushed to your edge server, but you can also check the Event Viewer under the Lync Server section to verify you see the following event

Next you need to open NAT port 5269 inbound from the public IP to your private IP

Rule Public IP Private IP Allowed Protocol – Port
XMPP Access XX.102.182.166 10.255.110.166 TCP – 5269

Last but not least you need to create public DNS records.  The first record will be an A record

Record Type Public Name Public IP Port
A Lyncxmpp.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.166  

Then we will create an SRV Record

Record Type Public Name Name Port
SRV _xmpp-server._tcp.lyncguy.com Lyncxmpp.lyncguy.com 5269

 

And now you should be able to chat with your google chat contacts via Lync.  XMPP can also be used to communicate with other IM services, see the documentation for more detail.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Deploying an Edge Server with Lync

Posted on November 21, 2010 by

For this article and the next I am going to add an Edge server and an XMPP gateway to an existing Lync environment.  All articles moving forward will be built on the RTM bits of Lync, but to build the Front End server for this environment I followed the original article here, the only difference is the name of the server and the domain.  The lab has the following servers and IPs:

Server Name Role IP Address
LyncDC.lyncguy.local Domain Controller/DNS/CA 10.255.106.160
LyncFE.lyncguy.local Lync Standard Edition Front End 10.255.106.161
Lyncedge.lyncguy.local Lync Edge server – not domain joined 10.255.106.162 (internal NIC)

The active directory domain name for this lab is LyncGuy.local, with the public sip domain LyncGuy.com.  I prefer to do these labs with different name spaces for AD and the public domain because that is the most common scenario I’ve run into in the real world.  To make this work you have to have an internal copy of the public zone and an external copy; this is commonly referred to as “split brain DNS”.

To start with I have to create a copy of my public zone on my internal DNS server so internal clients can reach the Lync server directly.  To accomplish this I’ve created the following records in DNS:

Record Type DNS Entry IP Address
A meet.lyncguy.com 10.255.106.161
A dialin.lyncguy.com 10.255.106.161
A sip.lyncguy.com 10.255.106.161

We also need to create an SRV record for client automatic sign-in.  The new record will be for “_sipinternaltls._tcp.lyncguy.com” and will point to sip.lyncguy.com on port 5061.


***Note – you can utilize another name here such as the Front End servers name, however the domain must match the sip domain.  You also must have a SAN entry on the front end certificate to match this entry***

Now that our DNS zone is in order we can plan for our edge server.  In this example I will be using 1 internal IP, 3 DMZ IPs and 3 Public IPs.  Instead of placing the public IPs directly on the edge servers public NIC, I will NAT the public IPs to the private IPs with my lab ASA.  I’ve also matched the last octet of the address to make it easier to manage at a glance.

Public Name Public IP DMZ IP
Sip.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.163 10.255.110.163
Webconf.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.164 10.255.110.164
Av.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.165 10.255.110.165

Here is what the design looks like:


To start we need to add an edge to our topology, on the front end server (lyncfe) open “Lync Server Topology Builder”. Then we need to expand our topology, right click “Edge Pools” and choose “New Edge Pool”


Click “Next” on the “Define Edge Pool” page


Enter the FQDN you will be using for your edge and select “Single Computer Pool”

Next we have a screen offering 3 options:

  • “Use a Single FQDN & IP Address” – this option will not be selected because we have plenty of public IPs to use.  If you only have 1 IP this is a good option – however this will force you to use ports other than 443 which aren’t always open outbound from corporate networks and may cause usability issues on networks you cannot control.
  • “Enable Federation (port 5061) – this option will configure the edge server to listen on port 5061 of the access edge IP for inbound federation traffic from other Lync and OCS environments
  • “The external IP address of this edge pool is translated by NAT” – this option tells Lync the IP addresses on the outside interface of the edge are not the actual public IP addresses.  Putting the edge behind another firewall can give an extra layer of security and help prevent the server from being compromised.

For this scenario we have selected “Enable Federation (port 5061)” and “The external IP address of this edge pools is translated by NAT”

Next we define our public names for the edge roles, notice all roles use port 443.  I would highly recommend using this method if possible.

Now we set the IP address for the internal network of our edge server.  In this scenario I have placed the internal NIC on the same subnet as the domain controller and front end server.  Because of limited resources in my lab I have configured the environment this way, whenever possible I recommend placing this NIC in another DMZ that has a higher security level than the DMZ for the outside interfaces.


At this point we specify the DMZ IP addresses of our edge server

In the next box we will enter the Public IP address of the A/V edge services (av.lyncguy.com).  In OCS 2007 R2 we had to make sure the edge server could resolve the public name to the public IP, however, this box allows that requirement to be removed and we can just enter the IP here.

Next we select our next hop server (the front end server)


Next we click “Finish” and the wizard completes, we can now see our newly defined edge server in the Topology.


Now we can publish our topology.


Before we move on to working on the edge server we need to open the Lync Server Control Panel and configure our External User Access policies.

Under External Access Policy>Global Policy: Modify the existing policy to allow remote user access, federation and public IM connectivity (all of these are optional).  Click “Commit” when you have selected the options that are right for your environment


Now under Access Edge Configuration>Global Policy: Modify the existing policy to Enable Federation, remote user access and anonymous access to meetings.  I’ve also enabled dynamic domain discovery.  This allows our Lync users to automatically add Lync/OCS users from other environments without requiring administrative configuration.  This option may not be right for all environments, if it isn’t right for your environment you’ll want to use the “Federated Domains” tab to define the allowed domains and uncheck this option.  Next click “Commit”

Now that our environment is ready, we need to export the topologies configuration to a file which we we’ll import during the Edge install.  On the front end server open “Lync Server Management Shell” and run the command:

Export-csconfiguration –filename c:\topology_export.zip

The file “topology_export.zip” will now be on the C drive of your front end server.  This file will need to be copied to the edge server.


Now that the topology has been updated we need to log into our edge server and configure it.

First we need to make sure that all the IP Addresses get assigned to the appropriate NIC.

On the internal NIC we will use only an IP Address and subnet mask, we cannot put a default gateway on this interface.


Next, on the external NIC we will fill in an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS, do not click “OK” yet

We also need to bind our other 2 IP addresses to the external NIC, to do this click the “Advanced” button and then click “Add” under “IP Addresses” and add each IP address

At this point we’ll want to add a route back to any internal networks the internal NIC.  For this example I will be adding a route back to an internal network of 10.255.200.0/24, this could be another client or server subnet that the edge server will need to know how to route to.  The edge’s internal interface must be able to route to all internal networks via a gateway on the same network as its internal NIC, so if you have multiple networks you will have to add them all.  To do this we will use the route add command from a command prompt (Run As Administrator):

Route add –p 10.255.200.0 mask 255.255.255.0 10.255.106.1

The “-p” portion of this command makes the route persistent, “10.255.106.1” is the next hop router to reach the other internal networks.

Next we need to configure hostname of our edge server.  When we configure this value we must also add a primary DNS suffix.  This is different than adding the computer to the domain, but it does tell the computer it’s full name (i.e. LyncEdge.lyncguy.local).

Once you have updated the name and primary DNS suffix and you click “OK” you will be prompted to reboot the edge server.

While the edge server is rebooting we can add a DNS entry on the domain controller so all internal resources know how to reach the server by its “FQDN” – it’s not actually an FQDN because it isn’t domain joined, but the rest of the systems will need to be able to route to it like it is.


Once the edge has rebooted we will need to add the feature “Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5”, to do this open Server Manager, go to Features, click “Add Features” and choose “Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5”.

You can click “next” through all other screens and then click “Install”.  Once the install completes we can move on to starting the Lync install.  First we need to copy the topology_export.zip file created above to the C drive of the edge server.

Now we can run the CD, we will immediately be prompted to install the “Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable”, click OK here:


The install window for Lync will pop up when the C++ install completes

Click “Install” and then accept the terms and click “OK”

Now we are back in the familiar Lync Server Deployment Wizard


Click on “Install or Update Lync Server System”

Under Step 1 we click “Run”


Select the topology_export.zip file from the C drive and click “Next”.  This will allow the edge server to gather its settings from the export file.


A number of pre-requisites are installed at this point.  When this completes click “Finish”

Now click “Run” under Step 2

Click “Next” and a number of pre-requisites are installed

Once the install completes we can open up the Services snap-in and see the Lync Services are now present


Before we can move on to Step 3 (Requesting Certificates), we need to make it possible for the edge server to resolve names of the internal servers it will talk to.  This will include the CA because we will need to request the certificate for the internal interface from the internal CA.  Also, we will need to trust the internal CA so we will need to export its certificate and install it on the edge server.

To allow the edge server to resolve some internal names but not all we have a few options, a DNS server in the DMZ is one, but for this article we will be editing the host file.  The reason I’ve chosen not to utilize the internal DNS servers is to limit the number of servers the edge server can look up in case it is compromised.

The host file is located at “C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc”, the best method of editing this file is to run Notepad as administrator and then open this file (You’ll have to switch to “All Files” in the file type selection box)

For this scenario I will add entries for the CA and the Front End server:


Now that we can resolve the CA, we’ll use the web enrollment page to download the Root CA chain.

Open IE and go to https://lyncdc.lyncguy.local/certsrv, you may have to authenticate, if you do use your domain account.  Click on “Download a CA Certificate, Certificate Chain, or CRL”


Click on “Download CA Certificate”


Save the file to the desktop or another location on the edge server.

Open the certificates snap-in for the local computer, expand “Trusted Root Certificate Authorites”, right click “Certificates” and choose “Import”


Browse to the file you download in the last step and click “Open”


This will import the certificate into the trusted store for the local computer.

Now we move on to Step 3 in the Deployment Wizard, requesting and installing certificates

Highlight “Edge Internal” and click “Request” – this will allow us to request the certificate for our internal communications between the edge server and the front end.


I won’t cover every step in this wizard; you should be using all defaults here other than information specific to your environment.  I will however strongly suggest you do not add any SANs to this certificate.  One other thing of note, you will want to do this certificate request online, specifying your internal CA as show below

You will also have to provide domain credentials to request the certificate

Once the request is completed the wizard will automatically take you to the next wizard to assign the certificate.  Again, this is a next-next-finish scenario.

Because this is a lab scenario and I will not be requesting public certificates I will just re-run this wizard select “External Edge Certificate” for the second certificate.  If you are using public certificates you will want to choose “Prepare Request now but send later (offline request)” for your request.

***One important difference between OCS 2007 R2 and Lync is the edge roles can now all share one certificate with a subject (CN) of only the access edge, you no longer need to re-generate the certificate for each role, utilizing that roles FQDN as the subject name.  For information on how that worked in OCS 2007 R2 please see this article***

The new certificate will have the following fields automatically, unless you are configuring multiple sip domains there is no need to modify this or add additional SANs.

Subject (Common Name) Sip.lyncguy.com
SAN 1 Webconf.lyncguy.com
SAN2 Sip.lyncguy.com

Now we can run Step 4 to start the services and our edge server should be up and running.

Once this process is complete the NATs and access lists must be created on the firewall to allow the appropriate traffic in and out.  I have only covered the inbound rules in the table below, please see the edge server documentation or the Lync Server Planning Tool for more detail.

Rule 1 Public IP Private IP Allowed Protocol – Port
Access Edge (client access) XX.102.182.163 10.255.110.163 TCP – 443
Access Edge (federation) XX.102.182.163 10.255.110.163 TCP – 5061
Web Conferencing Edge XX.102.182.164 10.255.110.164 TCP – 443
A/V Edge XX.102.182.165 10.255.110.165 TCP – 443
A/V Edge XX.102.182.165 10.255.110.165 UDP – 3478
A/V Edge XX.102.182.165 10.255.110.165 TCP – 50,000 through 59,999
A/V Edge XX.102.182.165 10.255.110.165 UDP – 50,000 through 59,999

After the firewall changes are made we need to create the A records for each of our services on the public DNS server

Record Type Name IP Address
A Sip.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.163
A Webconf.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.164
A Av.lyncguy.com XX.102.182.165

You will also need to create an SRV record for auto sign-in on the domain and federation. For automatic sign-in you can create an SRV record for _sip._tls.lyncguy.com pointing to your access edge server (sip.lyncguy.com) on port 443.  For federation you will need to createn an SRV record for _sipfederationtls._tcp.lyncguy.com pointing to your access edge server on port 5061.

Now we can test the server using https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/ and get ready to deploy reverse proxy.  For that I’m going to point you to Randy Wintle’s article on the subject.

For the next article I will go through configuring XMPP for Lync using the OCS 2007 R2 XMPP gateway.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 354 Comments

Exchange 2010 SP1 and Cisco Unity Voicemail Issue

Posted on November 2, 2010 by

Today I was contacted by a client who installed Exchange 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and after the reboot voicemail no longer worked for users who were homed on the Cisco Call Manager and using Exchange for Voicemail.  The customer was seeing the event ID 2021 with the following information in the application log on the Exchange server:

The Unified Messaging server rejected an incoming call with the ID “1b70bb00-cd011f77-98-604a8c0@192.168.4.6″. Reason: “Invalid Route header: mismatched character: expected: ‘”‘, found: ‘EOF’”

The issue is described very well in this article (but no fix or link to a fix):

http://blogs.technet.com/b/wesglock/archive/2010/09/07/exchange-2010-unified-messaging-sp1-um-rejects-incoming-call-from-gateway.aspx

The problem is the Unity system is including a common in the Alerting Name (i.e Peters,Kevin).

To correct this behavior we modified the following fields for the Cisco user and removed the comma:

Alerting Name

ASCII Alerting Name

Display Name

ASCII Display Name

There is also an option to upgrade to build “7.1.5bsu2” or newer to correct the issue. However, there are many things to consider when upgrading versions of your Call Manager so I would suggest working with Cisco TAC to verify this upgrade is the right approach to resolve the issue while leaving your environment intact.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment