New-MtrWallpaper – Automatically Change Wallpaper on Teams Room System Every Day

January 19th, 2020 Pat Richard 5 comments

Description

In playing with setting a custom wallpaper on some Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) systems, I wondered how hard it would be to have a new wallpaper everyday. I looked up the official documentation, as well as chatted with Eric Marsi (@EricMarsi) about how custom wallpaper is handled on MTRs. Eric has written an article, Configuring Custom Themes for Microsoft Teams/Skype Room Systems, on the basics of how to set a custom theme for an MTR, which includes a custom wallpaper. Check out his article. My article focuses on using the same core process, but automating it and having it run daily, randomly picking a new wallpaper each day.

My first theory was to just copy a wallpaper and generic SkypeSettings.xml file to the folder each day, then send a reboot command to the computer to implement the change. I had it all figured out, but then a coincidence made life easier. I was working at my PC on an unrelated project late one night (about 2:30am), when I heard the Rally camera behind me start it’s initialization process. When I checked, the Intel Nuc that serves as the compute for my Logitech Tap, was rebooting. I added “figure out what’s wrong with the Tap” to my task list. Anyways, next night, not having gotten that far down my task list yet, same thing happened, and I noticed it was at the exact same time. Time to roll up my sleeves. What I determined was there was a scheduled task called ‘NightlyReboot’ that runs at 2:00AM daily on MTRs. Drilling down, I discovered that a BUNCH of PowerShell scripts run as a result, including some that do Windows Updates, and some routine cleanup. At the end of this ~30 minute process was a Restart-Computer -Force command. I figured that makes life easier for my wallpaper idea. So, I came up with a function that looks into a folder full of wallpaper .jpg files, randomly selects one, and copies it to the appropriate folder. Next, the script writes a new XML file that includes ONLY the elements required for a custom theme. That’s all that’s done. I thought about just adding my function to one of these existing PowerShell scripts, but then opted not to do that to ensure it survives any upgrades and updates to the MTR software. The script is executed daily with a dedicated scheduled task. We then leverage the daily reboot that’s already in place to implement the changes. Presto – daily wallpaper change. I think I spent more time looking for cool wallpaper images than writing the code. One of my favorites is the Spy vs. Spy image shown above on one of the MTRs in my home office.

There is nothing fancy about my method, and it could easily be customized to use, say, an XML file full of dates and wallpaper names to use specific wallpaper images on certain days, such as holidays or company events and announcements.

Installation

Log onto the MTR as admin

Life is much easier if you use RDP to do all of this. RDP isn’t enabled by default on MTRs, but just enabling it Windows 10 is straight forward. Click ‘Settings’ on the touch screen, enter the password, then go to Windows settings. Enter the admin password and you’re in Windows 10. A quick search for ‘remote desktop’ gets you there. Everything configured here is done so while logged in as Admin.

Create folder

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to ‘C:\Users\Skype\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState’. Create a folder there called ‘Wallpapers’.

Copy script to the Wallpapers folder.

Download the New-MtrWallpaper.ps1 script file from the link below, and copy it to the folder created above.

Upload wallpaper images

Copy all of your wallpaper files to that same folder. The script is written for .jpg files. You should now have a folder with the script and wallpapers in it.

Create scheduled task

Open Task Scheduler

Navigate to Task Scheduler Library>Microsoft>Skype
Create a new Basic Task called ‘Rotate Wallpaper’

On the ‘General’ tab:

Ensure that the admin account is specified under ‘When running the task, use the following user account’.
Select ‘Run whether user is logged on or not’
Select ‘Run with highest privileges’

On the ‘Triggers’ tab, create a trigger:

‘Begin the task’ set to ‘On a schedule’
Set the ‘Settings’ to ‘Daily’
Set the time to any time before 2:00am. I use 10:15:00 PM. Set the recurrence to every 1 days (or whatever schedule you’d like, keeping in mind that the scheduled reboot only happens once a day).
All other check boxes except ‘Enabled’ should NOT be checked.

On the ‘Actions’ tab:

Set ‘Action’ to ‘Start a program’.
For Program/script, use ‘Powershell’.
For ‘Add arguments (optional)’, paste the following single line:

-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy bypass -file C:\Users\Skype\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Wallpapers\New-MtrWallpaper.ps1

For ‘Start in (optional), paste the following single line:

C:\Users\Skype\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Wallpapers

On the ‘Conditions’ tab

Leave all blank except the first two under ‘Power’.

On the ‘Settings’ tab:

Select ‘Allow task to be run on demand’
Select ‘Stop the task if it runs longer than 1 hour’
Select ‘If the running task does not end when requested, force it to stop’.

Save the task, entering the password for the admin account when prompted. Now, right-click the task in the list, and select ‘Run’. Wait a few seconds and refresh, and the ‘Last Run Result’ field should say ‘The operation completed successfully. (0x0)’. Verify that both the SkypeSettings.xml and wallpaper.jpg now exist in the ‘C:\Users\Skype\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState’ folder. Restart Windows. The MTR will boot accordingly, and you’ll have a new wallpaper. If you look into that folder now, the XML and wallpaper files will no longer be there.

Known Issues

There is a strange occurrence where I’ve manually run the script, then manually rebooted one of my MTRs and the new wallpaper wasn’t incorporated. However, every time the schedule task runs, and the MTR restarts as part of its nightly maintenance, it’s worked fine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What resolution do my wallpaper files need to be?

A. They need to be exactly 3840×1080, regardless of whether you have a single or dual screen Teams Room System.

Q. How many wallpaper images can I have?

A. As many as you like, keeping in mind that the more you have, the less likely you’ll have consecutive days with the same image.

Q. Does this impact performance?

A. This script does NOT impact performance in any way. It can easily run while the MTR is connected to a meeting. The reboot occurs regardless, so no added impact there.

Download

This script is available in my GitHub repo at https://github.com/patrichard/New-MtrWallpaper. Feel free to grab it from there, and contribute any updates or improvements.

If you’re looking for wallpaper, Bing search yields a ton of them.

Changelog

See the changelog for information on what’s changed/included in each version.

Categories: Microsoft Teams Tags: configuration, Deployment, Microsoft Teams, MTR, PowerShell, Provisioning, Teams Room System

Script: Set-CsFeatures.ps1 – Easily Install Prerequisites and Tools for Lync Server 2013 and Skype for Business Server 2015/2019

October 24th, 2016 Pat Richard 52 comments

Description

Installing Skype for Business and Lync servers is usually boring if you’re a consultant who does it often. Making sure the server specs are right, installing OS features, configuring NICs, etc. It’s even more boring if you’re building a bunch of servers at one time. There’s always a chance for human error, too. So why not automate as much as possible? That’s what I was after when I built the Lync Server 2010 prereq script, then the Lync Server 2013 prereq script. And it’s certainly what I’m after for Skype for Business Server 2015 and 2019. This time, however, I opted to not have a separate script for Skype for Business. Many of the requirements are the same, or just slightly different, than Lync Server 2013. So I just added the Skype for Business functionality to the 2013 script, and updated everything as a whole.

When calling the script, one only needs to specify the –Skype4b switch to put the script into “Skype for Business 2015 mode” or -Skype4b2019 for “Skype for Business 2019 mode”. Not specifying that switch cause a pop-up to appear, asking what mode you’d like. The menus don’t change based on what mode the script is in. Options for only one platform are clearly noted. Otherwise, the options automatically adjust for the platform you’ve chosen. The menu starts out with core prerequisite options for common Lync/SfB roles, followed by Microsoft tools and resources, some third-party tools and options, and then some sub-menus. Sub-menus are broken down by Misc server config, Desktop shortcuts, Taskbar shortcuts, Downloads, Security options, and Misc reports. As you can see, there are TONS of options. I’m not going to list every menu and option here, as the nature of the script means I’ll be adding/updating things as people request them, or as vendors update/alter their offerings. Just note that the options from the 2013 script have been moved around a little bit as I try to keep things organized.

This version also uses my new method of checking for updates, as mentioned in Function: Get-UpdateInfo – Making It Easy for Your Users to Get the Latest Version of Your Scripts. When a new version is available, you’ll get a pop-up notifying you.

If you’re aware of a third-party product, or even Microsoft product, that is a good match for Skype for Business servers, let me know. I’m happy to take a look and see if it would make a good addition to the script. This script has more than 100 options for prereqs, post install config, third party tools, and reports.

Super big thanks to my beta testers for supplying bug reports, suggestions, and comments.

Syntax

C:\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 [-TargetFolder <String>] [-WindowsSource <String>] [-SQLPath <String>] [-InitialMenuOption <Int32>] [-IncludeSSMS ] [-IncludeTelnet ] [-IncludeFW ] [-IncludeHighPower ] [-IncludeStandard ] [-GetInfoFromRegistry ] [-OWASOveride ] [-DownloadOnly ] [-SkipCoreCheck ] [-Tail ] [-Skype4b ] [-Skype4b2019 ] [-SkipUpdateCheck ] [-DisableAutoUpdates ] [-IncludeLanguagePack ] [-SkipEdgeNicConfig ] [-DisableWac] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] [-IncludeTotalCount ] [-Skip <UInt64>] [-First <UInt64>] [<CommonParameters>]

C:\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 [-TargetFolder <String>] [-GetInfoFromRegistry ] [-DownloadAll ] [-SkipCoreCheck ] [-Tail ] [-Skype4b ] [-Skype4b2019 ] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] [-IncludeTotalCount ] [-Skip <UInt64>] [-First <UInt64>] [<CommonParameters>]

C:\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 [-GetInfoFromRegistry ] [-ClearRunningStatus ] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] [-IncludeTotalCount ] [-Skip <UInt64>] [-First <UInt64>] [<CommonParameters>]

C:\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 [-GetInfoFromRegistry ] [-Skype4b ] [-Skype4b2019 ] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] [-IncludeTotalCount ] [-Skip <UInt64>] [-First <UInt64>] [<CommonParameters>]

Examples

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -Skype4b2019

Runs script in Skype for Business Server 2019 mode. Options chosen while running in this mode are tailored to Skype for Business Server 2019. Not specifying this option will cause a pop-up prompt when the script starts, allowing a user to choose the desired mode.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -Skype4b

Runs script in Skype for Business Server 2015 mode. Options chosen while running in this mode are tailored to Skype for Business Server 2015. Not specifying this option will cause a pop-up prompt when the script starts, allowing a user to choose the desired mode.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1

Runs script with default values. The script will prompt for which platform (Lync Server 2013/Skype for Business Server 2015/Skype for Business Server 2019) is being installed.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -WindowsSource "d:"

Runs script with the location defined for the Windows Server installation files.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -SQLPath "d:\sqlexpress"

Runs the script and installs any required SQL Express instances in the specified location.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -TargetFolder "d:\installbits"

Runs the script, and saves any downloaded files and written logs in the specified location instead of the default “c:\_install”.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -InitialMenuOption 3

Runs the script, and automatically starts option 3 (Front End server). Once it’s finished with that option, the script functions as normal, and displays the menu. NOTE: only options from the main menu can be specified. Options in sub-menus are not available with -InitialMenuOption.

.\Set-CsFeatures.ps1 -tail

Runs script with default values, but also shows an additional PowerShell window showing a live running log file, similar to a Unix tail function. Please note that running this option may result in some popup alerts or prompts being behind the log (tail) window.

Parameters

-TargetFolder

Defines the location for any downloaded files. Defaults to “c:\_install”. Additionally, log files generated by this script are located in a sub-folder of TargetFolder called “logs”. TargetFolder does not support paths with spaces, but does support non-hidden UNC paths.

-WindowsSource

Defines the location of the Windows Server installation files. This is needed to install .Net 3.5 since those files are not installed on the server by default. Defaults to first detected CD-ROM/DVD drive. This can be a local file path, path to an .ISO file, or a non-hidden UNC path.

-SQLPath

Defines the desired installation path for SQL Express. Defaults to “c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server”.

-InitialMenuOption

Allows you to start the script with the option you want, without first displaying the menu.

-IncludeSSMS

If specified, will include SQL Server Management Studio automatically when prerequisites are installed for any server that has SQL Express instances. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeTelnet

If specified, will include Telnet automatically when prerequisites for Front End servers, Director servers, Mediation servers, Edge servers, and/or Persistent Chat servers are installed. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeFW

If specified, will include the firewall rules for Get-CsConnections automatically when prerequisites for Front End servers are installed. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeHighPower

If specified, tells the script to automatically set the Power Config on the server to High Power. This is instead of the script prompting. This option is available for all server roles.

-IncludeOnlineAdminTools

If specified, tells the script to automatically include the Skype for Business Online admin tools when installing prerequisites for front-end servers.

-IncludeStandard

If specified, tells the script to include the extra SQL Express instance required for Standard Edition front end servers. This is instead of the script prompting.

-GetInfoFromRegistry

This value is only used during mid-prereq reboots. It is automatically set and read by the script, and should never be manually specified.

-DownloadOnly

Tells this script to not install or configure anything – just download the files. This is useful if you’re going to be building servers that do not have Internet access and want to fetch the files beforehand. The big difference between this option and -DownloadAll, is that this option presents the normal menus, and allows you to download files for the options you pick. The -DownloadAll option downloads ALL files needed for ALL options.

-DownloadAll

Tells this script to not install or configure anything – just download ALL of the files. This is useful if you’re going to be building servers that do not have Internet access and want to fetch the files beforehand from a desktop computer. The big difference between this option and -DownloadOnly, is that this option downloads ALL files needed for ALL options, whereas -DownloadOnly allows a user to download files for specific options they choose.

-ClearRunningStatus

This switch forces the running status to be reset. This option should ONLY be used if the script exits/aborts dirty, and attempts to run the script again yield a “Script is already running” message.

-SkipCoreCheck

When specified, skips the check for Server Core. It is not meant to be called manually, as it’s used when the script needs to restart after a server reboot.

-Tail

When specified, opens another PowerShell session and tails the log file, similar to *nix. This is really only beneficial during troubleshooting.

-Skype4b

When specified, uses values specific to Skype For Business Server 2015 for prerequisites. If this option or -Skype4b2019 is NOT specified, a pop-up will appear, asking which mode the script should operate in: Lync Server 2013 or Skype for Business Server 2015, or Skype for Business Server 2019.

-Skype4b2019

When specified, uses values specific to Skype For Business Server 2019 for prerequisites. If this option of -Skype4b is NOT specified, a pop-up will appear, asking which mode the script should operate in: Lync Server 2013, Skype for Business Server 2015, or Skype for Business Server 2019.

-SkipUpdateCheck

When specified, skips the check for a newer version of the script. This option is included mainly for when the script reboots the server.

-DisableAutoUpdates

When specified, skips the prompt and automatically disables auto updates for Windows Server. If not specified, a prompt is displayed.

-IncludeLanguagePack

When specified, skips the prompt for the installation of the Office Online Server English language pack. If not specified, a prompt is displayed.

-SkipEdgeNicConfig

When specified, skips the configuration of the NICs on edge servers. This requires that you manually complete those steps.

-SkipAutoStart

When specified, will not automatically restart the script after a required reboot. The ONLY time this should be used is if you need to do something before the script starts again, like manually mounting an ISO file that the script needs.

-DisableWac

When specified, will automatically disable the Windows Action Center prompt when Server Manager is launched on Windows Server 2019. This can be crucial, as installing Windows Admin Center can cause some conflicts with some of the IIS settings for Skype for Business Server 2019. If this is not specified, and the script is running on Windows Server 2019, a prompt will appear.

-DomainSuffix

When specified, is used for the domain suffix configured on edge servers. If not specified, a prompt will appear to enter a domain suffix.

-DisableFPSharing

When specified, will disable Microsoft File and Printer Sharing. This is useful when building edge servers. If not specified, a prompt will appear at the appropriate time in the build process.

-DisableLmHosts

When specified, will disable LMHosts file lookup. This is useful when building edge servers. If not specified, a prompt will appear at the appropriate time in the build process.

-DisableNetBios

When specified, will disable NetBIOS. This is useful when building edge servers. If not specified, a prompt will appear at the appropriate time in the build process.

-IncludeTrustedCerts

Automatically adds trusted certificates to edge servers. This includes comodo, digicert, entrust, geotrust, globalsign, godaddy, letsencrypt, networksolutions, ssl, swisssign, symantec, thawte, and wisekey.

Installation

No installation is necessary.

Execution Policy: Third-party PowerShell scripts may require that the PowerShell Execution Policy be set to either AllSigned, RemoteSigned, or Unrestricted. The default is Restricted, which prevents scripts – even code signed scripts – from running. For more information about setting your Execution Policy, see Using the Set-ExecutionPolicy Cmdlet.

Donations

I’ve never been one to really solicit donations for my work. My offerings are created because *I* need to solve a problem, and once I do, it makes sense to offer the results of my work to the public. I mean, let’s face it: I can’t be the only one with that particular issue, right? Quite often, to my surprise, I’m asked why I don’t have a “donate” button so people can donate a few bucks. I’ve never really put much thought into it. But those inquiries are coming more often now, so I’m yielding to them. If you’d like to donate, you can send a few bucks via PayPal at https://www.paypal.me/PatRichard. Money collected from that will go to the costs of my website (hosting and domain names), as well as to my home lab.

Known Issues

The only issue I’m aware of at the release of the latest version is that pinning shortcuts to the taskbar in Windows Server 2016 doesn’t seem to be working, and doesn’t work at all in Windows Server 2019. If you come across something, please let me know. Contact info is in the header of the script, and the script also has option 96, ‘how to report a bug’ that will tell you what information is critical when reporting a problem (including where the log file is).

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Does the script support Windows Server 2019?

Answer: Yes – starting with version 5.0, prerequisites for Windows Server 2019 are included for Skype for Business Server 2019.

Question: Does this script support Windows Server 2016?

Answer: Yes – starting with version 4.20, prerequisites for Windows Server 2016 are included.

Question: Why doesn’t this script support Windows Server 2008 R2 and earlier?

Answer: I used to get asked this all the time. There are several reasons. The first is that out of the box, Server 2008 R2 has PowerShell 2.0 installed, and this script is written in PowerShell 3.0. Requiring you to upgrade to PowerShell 3.0 first, before running a script that installs prerequisites, seems counter-intuitive. And converting the script to just use PowerShell 2.0 is taking a step backwards, especially considering that the current version of PowerShell is 5.x.

Next is sheer time. I test changes I make. And then I test them again. And then I choose different options and combinations and test them. Testing on just Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Server 2016, and Server 2019 is exhausting. Adding Server 2008 R2 would mean even more testing, plus I’d have to add those resources in my already overtaxed test labs. That would slow down my ability to add new features and test fixes.

Third is that Server 2008 R2 is four versions back. Get with the times already!

Question: Can you add feature x?

Answer: I LOVE getting feature requests. Seriously! Best method to suggest features is to send me an email. My email address is in the comment section at the top of every script I publish. Please be detailed in what you’d like to see, as well as any scenarios you’d use the option (so I can try to duplicate testing). This also goes for additional tools, whether Microsoft or third-party.

Question: How do I submit bug reports?

Answer: Email is best. Grab my email address from the comment section at the top of the script. Please be VERY detailed. Please include screen shots if possible, and ALWAYS include the log file. If the script will start, select option 96, “Report a bug/problem with this script”. If you’re not using the latest version of the script, please download it from the Downloads section below and see if you can duplicate the problem before reporting it.

Question: What if my server doesn’t have Internet access?

Answer: Fear not. Download the required files using either the -DownloadOnly or -DownloadAll options from another machine and place them in the TargetFolder, which is c:\_install by default. The script looks to see if the file is available locally before attempting to download. An exception to this is the latest cumulative update, which is always downloaded, since the URL and file name don’t change, even when the version does.

Question: When I run the script again, I get “Script already running”

Answer: This is because the script didn’t exit gracefully previously. Many reasons this can happen, such as rebooting the server while it’s still running. If you’re positive it’s not running anywhere else (including by other users logged into the same server), run the script with the -ClearRunningStatus switch to clear that flag. Then run it as normal.

Question: Is there an option to specify where (i.e. path) all of the various tools are installed?

Answer: No. And not for a lack of trying. Some tools don’t support automated installs with a specified path. And some of those that DO, actually still dump some core files in a “default” location. The more I tried to come up with the solution, the more I realized that it would entail a substantial amount of overhead in the script.

Question: Why does the script report an unsupported version of .NET Framework?

Answer: Because Lync Server 2013 and Skype for Business Server 2015 don’t support the version detected. Once they do, I’ll adjust the script accordingly.

Question: Can I run the script more than once?

Answer: Absolutely. The script was designed to not only support running more than once, but also to be safe if run on a working Lync/Skype for Business server. HOWEVER, I wouldn’t recommend running the script in a different mode (Lync/SfB 2015/Sfb 2019) than what was run previously. That could be problematic.

Question: Why do I get prompted for some things? Can’t I run the script without all of those prompts?

Answer: The prompts are for things that are not explicitly required for the installation of the role you’ve chosen (according to official Microsoft documentation), but are recommended. The telnet client is a perfect example. It’s not required for any role, but I’ve found a lot of people install it to help with functionality testing and troubleshooting. So, optional items involve a prompt. Can you run without the prompts? Yep. Plenty of options when calling the script to accept some optional features. In the example of telnet, -IncludeTelnet will install the telnet client without prompting. For a complete list of command line options, see the parameter section above, or run ‘Get-Help Set-CsFeatures.ps1’

Download

v5.5 – 08-12-2019 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.5.zip

v5.4 – 12-26-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.4.zip

v5.3 – 11-21-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.3.zip

v5.2 – 11-11-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.2.zip

v5.1 – 10-05-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.1.zip

v5.0 – 09-17-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v5.0.zip

v4.9 – 08-31-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.9.zip

v4.8 – 03-10-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.8.zip

v4.7 – 02-23-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.7.zip

v4.6 – 01-19-2018 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.6.zip

v4.5 – 12-21-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.5.zip

v4.4 – 11-12-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.40.zip

v4.30 – 10-11-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.30.zip

v4.20 – 09-04-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.20.zip

v4.10 – 05-15-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.10.zip

v4.09 – 05-13-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.09.zip

v4.08 – 04-19-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.08.zip

v4.07 – 04-14-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.07.zip

v4.06 – 02-05-2017 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.06.zip

v4.05 – 11-04-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.05.zip

v4.04 – 11-02-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.04.zip

v4.03 – 11-01-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.03.zip

v4.02 – 10-28-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.02.zip

v4.01 – 10-25-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.01.zip

v4.0 – 10-24-2016 – Set-CsFeatures.v4.0.zip

Changelog

See the changelog for information on what’s changed/included in each version.

Categories: Lync Server/Skype for Business Server Tags: Administration, automation, configuration, Deployment, Installation, Lync Server 2013, PowerShell, prerequisites, script, Skype for Business Server 2015

Quality of Service (QoS) Calculator – Plan Your Network, GPO, and Lync/Skype for Business Config More Easily

November 5th, 2014 Pat Richard 25 comments

Description

When deploying Microsoft Lync/Skype for Business Server, network health and configuration can be crucial.

The QoS Calculator allows you to pick and choose what components and clients will be used in your environment as well as which specific clients. You’re also able to pick a starting port number, port count, and DSCP value for each modality. The calculator will ensure that port ranges are consecutive, and that they don’t extend past 65535. The calculator will list all relevant Group Policy Object (GPO) settings, as well as the PowerShell commands needed to configure Lync/Skype for Business Server. Clients available for configuration include Lync 2010 and Lync 2013 full client, Lync 2010 Attendant and Landis Computer’s Attendant Pro attendant clients, Windows Store App client, Lync Phone Edition, and more. Server side options include A/V conferencing, application sharing, Response Group Service applications, Conference Announcement service, Call Park, UCMA apps, PSTN audio, A/V Edge services, Exchange UM, and the VDI client.

To start with, go to the INPUT tab. Any of the green cells can be changed. Reset buttons allow you to set port and port count settings back to their original values. Future releases will also reset the DSCP values as well (just need to figure out how to do that in Office VBA). Red cells indicate an error (missing or incorrect data).

Enter your Front End and Edge pool FQDNs. If you have a separate mediation pool, enter that name as well. The values defined here are used to compose the PowerShell commands needed to configure Lync/Skype for Business Server.

You can show/hide different policy types using the appropriate check boxes.

If your Mediation role is collocated with your Front End servers, check the box. This will combine the appropriate GPO policies together.

Changes to green cells are immediately reflected elsewhere in the calculator.

Once you have the values entered/verified, go to the POLICIES tab to see a list of GPO settings needed. Check out Elan Shudnow’s awesome Enabling QoS for Lync Server 2013 and Various Clients and Jeff Schertz’s Lync Quality of Service Behavior for a deep dive into setting up QoS.

Next, go to the POWERSHELL-SERVER tab, and you’ll see the relevant Lync/Skype for Business Management Shell commands to configure the server-side based on the info you supplied. Copy and paste each into Lync/Skype for Business Server Management Shell.

Now, go to the POWERSHELL-GPO tab, and you can copy and paste PowerShell code into a PowerShell console on a domain controller to automatically create and configure the Group Policy Objects for server and client machines.

Lastly, the Registry-Edge tab contains the PowerShell code that updates the local security policy on the edge servers is used to configure QoS, since GPOs aren’t used in non-domain joined machines. It’s important that these commands be run in an elevated PowerShell session.

I have tons of ideas for more features and functionality. Feel free to comment below on things you’d like to see in future versions.

Syntax

None

Installation

None. Just open the file in Excel. As this is a macro based file, you’ll need to enable content when prompted.

Assumptions

None

Download

v1.7 – 02/28/2017 – QoS-Calculator-v1.7.xlsm

v1.6 – 12-19-2016 – QoS Calculator v1.6.xlsm

v1.5 – 11-04-2016 – QoS-Calculator-v1.5.xlsm

v1.4 – 09-13-2016 – QOS Calculator v1.4.xlsm

v1.3 – 04-26-2016 – Lync 2013 QoS Calculator v1.3.xlsm

v1.2 – 02-27-2015 – Lync 2013 QoS Calculator v1.2.xlsm

v1.1 – 01-26-2015 – Lync 2013 QoS Calculator v1.1.xslm

v1.0 – 11-5-2014 – Lync 2013 QoS Calculator v1.0.xlsm

Changelog

See the changelog for information on what’s changes/included in each version.

Categories: Lync Server/Skype for Business Server Tags: configuration, Installation, Lync Server 2010, Lync Server 2013, Planning, Quality of Service (QoS)

Lync and Skype for Business Contacts – Where Does the Company Name Come From?

August 16th, 2013 Pat Richard 2 comments

I was curious the other day about where the company name comes from in the Lync/Skype for Business Contacts. For instance, we see Elan and Jeff below:

The quick answer is it can pull that info from an Outlook contact in your mailbox. But what if you don’t have the user in your Outlook contacts?

I knew that it was in Active Directory somewhere, and thought it would be an organization setting somewhere since my experience has shown that the company name is always exactly the same for all users in each company I see in my contacts – right down to punctuation. Some cmdlets let you specify an org name, like Set-CsConferencingConfiguration, but that wasn’t it.

With the help of fellow Skype for Business MVP Brian Ricks, we got it narrowed down to the Company field on a user’s account in Active Directory. For example, we look at Sara’s account in Active Directory Users and Computers, and see her company set:

And when a federated Lync/Skype for Business user looks at her in the Lync/Skype for Business client, we see her company defined:

But some people show as “External Network” as we see for fellow UC Architects member John Cook:

And there are two reasons why this can happen. The first is that the user is homed on a cloud hosted solution like Office 365. Not the case here for John. Like me, he’s got a full Lync install going on at home. The other reason this could happen is that the user’s company field is completely blank. Sure enough, John’s is blank. So he updates that field, and a short time later, his company name shows up to federated contacts.

This is really a minor thing, but I’ve noticed the company field is hit or miss in orgs where onboarding of users is done manually. But no worries, updating the users is fairly straight-forward in ADUC. You can highlight multiple users in one OU, right click to edit, go to the Organization tab, and enter a valid company name. In more complex orgs, you could use a query to list all of the users without a company name. This can be accomplished by right clicking on the Saved Query branch on the left, and selecting New>Query. Click Define Query, set Find to Custom Search, and add to conditions: Field to Company and Condition to Not Present. And second, Field to Office Communications Server Address, and Condition to Present.

Once you click OK, you’ll be presented with a list of the users who don’t have a company, but are Lync/Skype for Business enabled. Just like mentioned above, you can select multiple/all of the users, right click, go to Properties>Organization, and enter a company name.

Once updated and replicated, federated users should see the changes within a short time. We can also query and update user accounts via PowerShell on any machine with the ActiveDirectory module installed. We can query for users where the company name is not set using:

Get-AdUser -Filter {Company -notlike '*'} -Properties * -ResultSetSize $null | Select-Object -Property Name,Company

And we can update them all at once using:

Get-AdUser -Filter {Company -notlike '*'} -Properties * -ResultSetSize $null | Set-AdUser -Company 'Contoso'

Having it on the individual user’s account does make more sense as this allows for multiple names within the same org. But it does require ensuring that the company field is set for each user.

As for the title, the same applies – it’s set on the individual user account. However, unlike company name, title can also be set on Office 365 accounts.

Categories: Lync Server/Skype for Business Server Tags: configuration, Federation, Lync Server, Skype for Business Server 2015

Script: Set-Cs2013Features.ps1 – Easily Install Prerequisites and Tools for Microsoft Lync Server 2013

February 8th, 2013 Pat Richard 131 comments

Note: This script is now deprecated. Please see the newer Script: Set-CsFeatures.ps1 – Easily Install Prerequisites and Tools for Lync Server 2013 and Skype for Business Server 2015 script for the latest version.

Description

This script will assist in getting servers ready for the installation of Microsoft Lync Server 2013 on Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2. This includes the operating system prerequisites, SQL Express (where necessary), Silverlight, and more. Some post installation options are also available, and include Microsoft tools such as the debugging tools, the Best Practices Analyzer (BPA), Connectivity Analyzer, and more. Where the script needs files available online, it will automatically download them. More options will be added as I have time, and can properly test. This includes Edge, Director, Front End, Office Web Apps, Persistent Chat, and Mediation server prerequisites, and more tools. If you have suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

In the event that the server needs to be rebooted before prereqs can continue, it will automatically restart the script and continue after you reboot and login again.

The current options are:

1. Director – Installs the OS prerequisites and SQL Express instances required to install this role.

2. Edge – Installs the OS prerequisites and SQL Express instances required for this role. It also verifies the server is not domain joined, then goes through the process of setting the primary DNS suffix (same as option 50-13). Also configures NICs to remove DNS and gateway from the internal NIC, remove dynamic registration in external NIC, and prompt to disable both lmhosts and NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

3. Front End – includes the Operating System prerequisites, Microsoft Silverlight, as well as the installation of SQL Express SP2 and creation of the various required instances. The SQL Express installs are done because Lync Server installs the RTM version by default. So installing the SP2 version saves a long update later. Note that each instance takes 3-5 minutes to install – longer on slower machines. Enterprise edition servers have two instances, RTCLocal and LyncLocal, and Standard edition servers also have the RTC instance. Choosing the Front End option will ask if it’s a Standard Edition server. This option will also prompt (if the firewall is enabled) if you’d like the required firewall exceptions created for my Get-CsConnections.ps1 script. This option will also prompt if the Lync Room System Admin Portal will be installed. If you select Yes, the ASP.NET MVC 4 for Visual Studio 2010 SP1 and Visual Web Developer 2010 SP1 prerequisite for that is installed.

4. Mediation – Installs the OS prerequisites required and the RTCLocal SQL instance.

5. Office Web App – Installs the OS prerequisites required, then installs the Office Web App binaries, and then prompts to install the English language pack, followed by the most recent cumulative update. Almost everything needed to deploy an Office Web Apps server. This option also verifies that Windows Update settings are NOT set to automatic, as that is not recommended.

6. Persistent Chat – Installs the OS prerequisites and SQL instance required for this role.

7. Lync Server 2013 Resource Kit – tools that make troubleshooting and administrating a Lync environment easier, such as Address Book config, etc.

8. Lync Server 2013 Persistent Chat Resource Kit – tools useful for Persistent Chat environments.

9. Lync Server 2013 Debugging Tools – includes the logging tools such as OCSLogger and Snooper. Helpful for troubleshooting.

10. Lync Server 2013 Stress and Performance Tool – prepare, define, and validate performance

11. Lync Server 2013 Best Practices Analyzer – this tool helps identify any issues from a best practices perspective

12. Lync Server Connectivity Analyzer – identifies any issues that may result in connectivity problems for mobility clients including the Lync Windows Store app

15. Launch Windows Update

16. SCOM Watcher Node prerequisites

17. Custom PortQryUI. PortQryUI is installed, along with a custom config file that adds Lync related options.

18. Install Microsoft Message Analyzer (formerly NetMon)

19. Add custom Scheduler simple URL – if you’d like to have a simple URL for the scheduler app, such as scheduler.contoso.com, this option will handle the configuration of that. Note that this option requires that the simple URL provided be in the Subject Alternative Names (SAN) list of the certificate on your Front End servers. See Understanding the Lync Web Scheduler for additional info.

20. Install SQL Server 2012 Management Studio

21. ARR (“Pirate Proxy”) prerequisites. This installs the Windows features, and downloads the Web installer. It also verifies the server is not domain joined, then goes through the process of setting the primary DNS suffix (same as option 50-13). Also configures NICs to remove DNS and gateway from the internal NIC, remove dynamic registration in external NIC, and prompt to disable both lmhosts and NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

24. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Runtime (UCMA 4.0) – this is required if you’re going to run sefautil.exe from the resource kit. It’s still recommended that sefautil.exe be used on a dedicated box.

28. Configure Skype Federation. This removes the MSN Public Provider and adds the Skype Public Provider, complete with icon. Download includes the Lync-Skype Provisioning Guide. See http://blogs.technet.com/b/lync/archive/2013/05/23/lync-skype-connectivity-available-today.aspx for more info.

30. Wireshark. This downloads the installer, and two compiled macro exe files and runs them. The first installs WireShark, and the second configures WireShark for optimized Lync tracing, including the steps recommended by Matt Landis (Getting Started With Lync and Wireshark: Tips & Quirks) and Jeff Schertz (Wireshark Capture Tips). That config includes:

adds Source Port (resolved) column
adds Destination Port (resolved) column
adds DSCP column
Configures RTP protocol “Try to decode RTP outside of conversations”
Configures SIP protocol for ports 5060-5068 (instead of WireShark’s default of 5060)
Sets the time format to human readable format

31. Enable Photo URL option. Enables the photo URL option in the client. See http://www.lynclog.com/2013/11/lync-2013-client-and-and-pictures-from.html for more info.

34. Lync Room System (LRS) Admin portal prerequisites.

36. Create Lync file share on local computer. This creates a file share on the local computer called “LyncShare”, and assigns the basic NTFS and share rights. This can then be added to the Lync Topology Builder.

50. Misc server config menu.

Install/Update Lync Server 2013 Documentation Help
Create scheduled task to automatically update PowerShell help files daily. I discuss this in Function: New-PSUpdateHelpScheduledTask – Auto Update PowerShell Help
Install telnet client
Disable automatic updates. The automatic updating of Lync servers isn’t recommended due to the additional manual steps that must take place. And it’s not supported at all on Office Web Apps servers.
Set recovery of Lync and/or OWAS services to “restart”. See Set recovery of Lync services to “restart” for more info.
Set fabric logging to circular. See Tom’s excellent article at Check your lync server windows fabric log size with PowerShell
Disable Server Manager on logon. For those of you who hate that it always pops up when logging in.
Upgrade to PowerShell v4.0. This is for Windows Server 2012 RTM (not R2) boxes that still have the default PowerShell v3.0 on them. Upgrading PowerShell both before and after Lync Server is installed is supported.
Fix Control Panel font. Reverts the font in the Control Panel back to the original Segoe UI. See Resetting the Font in Lync Server Control Panel – Goodbye Times New Roman!
Set server power plan to “High Performance”. See https://www.ucunleashed.com/2558
Open HOSTS file in notepad for editing. This is convenient on edge servers.
Configure edge static routing – adds the static routes for all private address ranges to use the internal NIC. The user is prompted with a list of NICs discovered, and asked to pick which will be used for the internal connection. Once picked, the script will determine if there is already a gateway defined. If so, it will use that IP address to create the static routes. If there is no default gateway assigned, the user is prompted to enter the gateway that the static routes should use. The DNS server config is removed from the internal NIC. The gateway on the internal NIC is removed. A prompt will appear, and if accepted, lmhosts lookup is disabled on all NICs. Another prompt will appear, and if accepted, NetBIOS over TCP/IP is disabled.
Configure primary DNS suffix. This prompts for a domain name, assigns it as the primary DNS suffix, then reboots. This configuration is required for edge and ARR (reverse proxy) servers.

60. Desktop shortcuts menu. This is basically an enhanced menu driven version of Create a Shutdown/Restart/Logoff Windows 8 Tile for the Start menu (PowerShell) that puts easy to reach tiles on the Start screen. The available tiles are:

Logoff
Restart
Shutdown
Windows Update
Lync Server Management Shell
Lync Server Deployment Wizard
Lync Server Control Panel
Exchange UM Integration Utility (OcsUmUtil)
Snooper
OCSLogger Logging Tool
Lync Server Topology Builder
Certificate Management (local machine)
Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC)
Microsoft Message Analyzer
Notepad Desktop Shortcut for Edge servers to open the HOSTS file

70. Taskbar shortcuts menu. These options create shortcuts on the taskbar for commonly used tools.

Lync Server Management Shell
Lync Server Deployment Wizard
Lync Server Control panel
Exchange UM Integration Utility (OcsUmUtil)
Snooper
OCSLogger Logging Tool
Lync Server Topology Builder
REMOVE shortcut for PowerShell
Certificate Management (local machine)
Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC)
Microsoft Message Analyzer
REMOVE Windows App Store shortcut (Windows Server 2012 R2)

80. Downloads only menu. This menu shows options for download (only) of some key Lync related products.

1. Download latest Lync Server 2013 Cumulative Update
Lync Server 2013 Watcher Node
Lync Server 2013 Management Pack & Documentation
Lync 2013 Rollout and Adoption Success Kit (RASK)
Lync Server SDN API 2.1 (includes the API installer, the management utility, the docs, and the .chm file)
Lync Online Admin components
Event Zero connector

90. Security menu. This menu has a few related security options

Disable SSL 2.0
Disable SSL 3.0
EnableSessionTicket: Event IDs 32402, 61045 are logged in Lync Server 2013 Front End servers that are installed on Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB 2901554)

Simply choose your desired option. When the script is finished, it will return to the menu.

Note: The installation of some Lync Server 2013 roles requires some .Net 3.5 components, which are not installed in Windows Server 2012 by default. So the script will need to know where your Server 2012 installation media is. The script defaults to the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive with the lowest drive letter (typically D: or E:), but can be configured for other locations.

The script will also create a log file that can be used for troubleshooting. The log file is created in a logs folder inside the $TargetFolder (by default, c:\_install). This log file should be included when reporting any bugs.

Syntax

C:\Set-Cs2013Features.ps1 [-TargetFolder ] [-Win2012Source ]
[-SQLPath ] [-InitialMenuOption ] [-IncludeSSMS] [-IncludeTelnet] [-IncludeFW] [-IncludeHighPower]
[-IncludeStandard] [-DownloadOnly] [-Tail] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [-IncludeTotalCount] [-ClearRunningStatus] []

Examples

Set-Cs2013Features.ps1

This will launch the script with the default options for Enterprise edition servers

Set-Cs2013Features.ps1 -Win2012Source e:

This will launch the script using the e: drive for the source of the Windows Server 2012 installation files

Set-Cs2013Features.ps1 -sqlpath "d:\sqlexpress"

This will install any related SQL Express instances to the specified path

Parameters

-TargetFolder

Defines the location for any downloaded files. Defaults to “c:\_install”. Additionally, log files generated by this script are located in a subfolder of TargetFolder called “logs”. TargetFolder does not support paths with spaces. UNC paths are acceptable provided they are not hidden, such as \\server\share$.

-Win2012Source <String>

Defines the location of the Windows Server 2012 installation files. This is needed to install .Net 3.5 since those files are not installed on the server by default. Defaults to first detected CD-ROM/DVD drive. UNC paths are acceptable provided they are not hidden, such as \\server\share$. Unmounted .ISO images are also supported.

-SQLPath

Defines the desired installation path for SQL Express. Defaults to “c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server”

-InitialMenuOption

Allows you to start the script with the option you want, without first displaying the menu.

-IncludeSSMS []

If specified, will include SQL Server Management Studio automatically when prereqs for Front End servers are installed. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeTelnet []

If specified, will include Telnet automatically when prereqs for Front End servers, Director servers, Mediation servers, Edge servers, and/or Persistent Chat servers are installed. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeFW []

If specified, will include the firewall rules for Get-CsConnections automatically when prereqs for Front End servers are installed. If not specified, a prompt will appear.

-IncludeHighPower []

If specified, tells the script to automatically set the Power Config on the server to High Power. This is instead of the script prompting.

-IncludeStandard []

If specified, tells the script to include the extra SQL Express instance required for Standard Edition front end servers. This is instead of the script prompting.

-GetInfoFromRegistry []

This value is only used during mid-prereq reboots. It is automatically set and read by the script, and should not be manually specified.

-DownloadOnly []

Tells this script to not install or configure anything – just download the files for the option you select. This is useful if you’re going to be building servers that do not have Internet access and want to fetch the files beforehand.

-DownloadAll []

-Tail

Shows a tail of the log file as it’s written. It automatically restarts if the script reboots the server, too. Really only beneficial for troubleshooting.

-ClearRunningStatus

Resets the warning flag if the script didn’t close gracefully and you get the “The script is already running” error.

Installation

WARNING!

An issue has been identified in Windows Server 2012 servers that are built as Server Core, but converted later to Server with GUI. Installation of Windows Features, either manually or via a script, fail if Windows Updates are installed BEFOREHAND. That being the case, this script cannot be used in such scenarios. I’m working on detecting (if possible) servers that are converted, as well as researching why they fail. Thanks to John for pointing it out. It’s likely that the issue detailed here is the cause.

Donations

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why doesn’t this script support Windows Server 2008 R2?

Answer: I get asked this all the time. There are several reasons. The first is that out of the box, Server 2008 R2 has PowerShell 2.0 installed, and this script is written in PowerShell 3.0. Requiring you to upgrade to PowerShell 3.0 first, before running a script that installs prerequisites, seems counter-intuitive. And converting the script to just use PowerShell 2.0 is taking a step backwards, especially considering that the current version of PowerShell is 4.0, and even as this is written, 5.0 is in preview.

Next is sheer time. I test changes I make. And then I test them again. And then I choose different options and combinations and test them. Testing on just Server 2012 and Server 2012 is exhausting. Adding Server 2008 R2 would mean even more testing, plus I’d have to add those resources in my already overtaxed test labs. That would slow down my ability to add new features and test fixes.

Third is that Server 2008 R2 is two versions back. Get with the times already!

Question: Can you add feature x?

Answer: I LOVE getting feature requests. Seriously! Best method to suggest features is to send me an email. My email address is in the comment section at the top of every script I release. Please be detailed in what you’d like to see, as well as any scenarios you’d use the option (so I can try to duplicate testing).

Question: How do I submit bug reports?

Answer: Email is best. Grab my email address from the comment section at the top of the script. Please be VERY detailed. Please include screen shots if possible, and ALWAYS include the log file (by default, it’s in c:\_install\logs). If you’re not using the latest version of the script, please download it and see if you can duplicate the problem before reporting it.

Question: What if my server doesn’t have Internet access?

Question: When I run the script again, I get “Script already running”

Answer: This is because the script didn’t exit gracefully. Many reasons this can happen, such as rebooting the server while it’s still running. If you’re positive it’s not running anywhere else (including by other users logged into the same server), run the script with the -ClearRunningStatus switch to clear that flag. Then run it as normal.