Description

Richard Schwendiman, PFE at Microsoft, came up with a great SQL query that you could plug into SQL Server Management Studio to see time & date info for conversations with federated or PIC domains. In Richard’s case, he used the aol.com PIC domain. Since PIC federation with AOL and Yahoo is ending next month, I thought this was great timing on Richard’s part. But sometimes, Lync admins can’t login to SQL servers to run queries due to security policy. Plus, the query is something you’d have to keep handy and edit accordingly each time you wanted to get data. So I figured – hey, why not whip up a quick script to allow an admin to query SQL for this data, allowing for any domain and time frame to be specified? Poof – out comes my script.

This script will query a specific SQL server for information about a specific federated SIP domain. The domain does NOT need to be in the allowed domains list if you’re open federating. Any SIP domain name works. You can specify a start date/time in the yyyy-MM-dd format, such as 2014-05-13 using the -TimeSpan parameter. Or, you can use some handy ranges I’ve included, including LastWeek (the last 7 days), Last30Days, Last year (last 365 days), FirstOfYear or ThisYear (since Jan. 1), FirstOfMonth or ThisMonth (since the 1st of the month), FirstOfWeek or ThisWeek (since Sunday). Optionally, you can specify an end date/time in the yyyy-MM-dd format. This script will default to FirstOfYear with no end date, and aol.com for the domain. As we see below, only the SQL server holding the LcsCDR database is queried.

Now, from this output, we see that there is not a lot of communications with people on AOL since the first of the year. The upcoming change should have very little impact.

If you’re using a named instance in SQL, you can specify it as well.

The script outputs a full object, just like other cmdlets, so you can pipe it to other commands to alter the display, including sorting, or my favorite, Out-GridView, as well as outputting to files such as .csv.

Hopefully, this tool will make life a little easier in digging out data.

Syntax

Get-CsFederatedConversationDetails.ps1 [[-SqlServer] ] [[-SqlInstance] ] [[-SipDomain] ] [[-TimeSpan] <object>] [[-EndDate] <object>] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] [<commonparameters>]</commonparameters></object>

Installation

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.

Assumptions

None

Download

v1.0 – 05-13-2014 – Get-CsFederatedConversationDetails.v1.0.zip

Changelog

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

 

This is the changelog page for Get-CsFederatedConversationDetails.ps1. You will find a complete list of released versions, their dates, and the features and issues addressed in each. Please refer to the script’s main page for more information including download links, installation details, and more.

v1.0 – 05-13-2014

1. Initial version

Description

My work at Modality Systems often has me doing health checks for customer Lync environments. These can be due to customer requests, or as part of our onboarding for new managed support customers. If you’ve ever had an Active Directory Risk Assessment Program (ADRAP) or Exchange Risk Assessment Program (ExRAP), it’s quite similar. Lots of tasks to run, lots of data to sift through. So it’s always beneficial to standardize and automate the steps to get the data. The same is the case when you’re responsible for your own environment and want to ensure good health.

Just like Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.ps1, Dave Howe from the Lync product group and I teamed up to automate something. In this case, it’s looking at what Cumulative Updates are installed on each server throughout a Lync environment. This script queries each pool, then finds what servers are part of that pool, and queries each server to find the CU that’s installed. It then provides an easy to read output of the entire environment (with exceptions) for easy review. As shown below, we see three multi-server pools, the version number and “friendly” Cumulative Update info.

PS C:\> .\Get-CsUpdateVersion.ps1

ComputerName   : sjc-edge01
PoolFqdn       : sjc-edge01.contoso.com
Version        :
Product        :
Update         :
FriendlyResult : PSRemoting failure
UpToDate       :
UpdateUrl      :

ComputerName   : sjc-fe01
PoolFqdn       : sjc-fe01.contoso.com
Version        : 6.0.9319.272
Product        : Skype for Business Server 2015
Update         : CU4 - 11/04/2016
FriendlyResult : Skype for Business Server 2015 CU4 - 11/04/2016
UpToDate       : False
UpdateUrl      : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3199093

ComputerName   : sjc-pc01
PoolFqdn       : sjc-pc01.contoso.com
Version        : 6.0.9319.272
Product        : Skype for Business Server 2015
Update         : CU4 - 11/04/2016
FriendlyResult : Skype for Business Server 2015 CU4 - 11/04/2016
UpToDate       : False
UpdateUrl      : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3199093

The script works fine with Standard Edition servers as well.

In the first example, you see that the first two servers show “PSRemoting failure”. This is because the script uses PowerShell Remoting to connect to each remote server to query information (see installation notes below). PSRemoting doesn’t really work the same when dealing with non-domain joined machines, such as the first two, which are edge servers. So the script isn’t able to communicate with them via PSRemoting, and flags them. If the script can’t ping a server, it will show as “offline”. The friendly name of the CU shown is coded in the online XML file that the script queries. So I’ll update it each time a new CU is released.

By default, the script checks all pools. But you can specify a single pool by using the -PoolFqdn parameter.

Syntax

Get-CsUpdateVersion.ps1 [[-PoolFqdn] ] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm]

Installation

This script uses PowerShell Remoting to query remote servers. PSRemoting is enabled by default on Windows Server 2012 and later, but disabled by default on 2008 R2. To enable PSRemoting on 2008 R2 servers, see Enable-PSRemoting. The script requires Internet access on the machine the script is running on. This is to query the XML file containing the update information.

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.

Assumptions

None

Download

v3.9 – 03-08-2017 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.9.zip

v3.8 – 02-14-2017 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.8.zip

v3.7 – 02-05-2017 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.7.zip

v3.6 – 01-06-2017 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.6.zip

v3.5 – 11-28-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.5.zip

v3.4 – 11-12-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.4.zip

v3.3 – 08-31-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.3.zip

v3.2 – 07-15-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.2.zip

v3.1 – 07-05-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.1.zip

v3.0 – 04-21-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v3.0.zip

v2.9 – 04-07-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.9.zip

v2.8 – 01-26-2016 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.8.zip

v2.7 – 12-14-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.7.zip

v2.6 – 11-17-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.6.zip

v2.5 – 11-11-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.5.zip

v2.4 – 10-03-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.4.zip

v2.3 – 09-09-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.3.zip

v2.2 – 07-14-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.2.zip

v2.1 – 06-21-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.1.zip

v2.0 – 05-12-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v2.0.zip

v1.9 – 02-19-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.9.zip

v1.8 – 02-09-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.8.zip

v1.7 – 01-01-2015 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.7.zip

v1.6 – 12-12-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.6.zip

v1.5 – 11-21-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.5.zip

v1.4 – 09-24-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.4.zip

v1.3 – 09-02-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.3.zip

v1.2 – 08-07-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.2,zip

v1.1 – 06-02-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.1.zip

v1.0 – 05-02-2014 – Get-CsUpdateVersion.v1.0.zip

Changelog

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

This is the changelog page for Get-CsUpdateVersion.ps1. You will find a complete list of released versions, their dates, and the features and issues addressed in each. Please refer to the script’s main page for more information including download links, installation details, and more.

v3.9 – 03-08-2017

1. Converted script to return PowerShell objects instead of the previously used write-host and write-output. While this sheds the nicely colored output, it makes it far more effective, and better aligns with PowerShell best practices.
2. Converted the script to ONLY use the online data for version info. This means that every time a new update is released for Lync Server 2010, Lync Server 2013, and/or Skype for Business Server 2015, I don’t need to release a new version of the script – merely update the hosted XML file containing the data. This also means that users of the script won’t need to always download a new version. This doesn’t mean there will be no further updates to the script.
3. Fixed an issue where when using the online data (available in the last couple of versions using the -online switch) doesn’t check the online data for each server (and due to a glitch, sometimes twice for each server). The data is retrieved once when the script starts.
4. Added some more verbose output, as large environments or those with slower connections to remote servers, or those with unreachable servers would slow the script down. Running it with the -verbose option will at least give the user some running information.
5. Some code cleanup and optimization.

v3.8 – 02-14-2017

1. added version 6.0.9319.277 for Skype for Business Server

v3.7 – 02-05-2017

1. Code cleanup/optimization
2. added version 5.0.8308.984 for Lync Server 2013

v3.6 – 01-06-2017

1. Added 5.0.8308.977 for Lync Server 2013

v3.5 – 11-28-2016

1. Added 5.0.8308.974 for Lync Server 2013
2. Fixed an issue with the Get-UpdateInfo function that was causing unexpected “PSRemoting Failure” errors later in the script.
3. Added the -online option, which will query update information from an online source instead of the info within the script itself. If this pans out ok, it will be the default method in future versions. It does require that the machine running the script have Internet access.

v3.4 – 11-12-2016

1. Added new update mechanism
2. Added some logging
3. Added 4.0.7577.728 for Lync Server 2010
4. Added 6.0.9319.272 for Skype for Business Server 2015

v3.3 – 08-31-2016

1. Added build 5.0.8308.965 for Lync Server 2013

v3.2 – 07-15-2016

1. Added build 5.0.8308.956 for Lync Server 2013

v3.1 – 07-05-2016

1. Added build 6.0.9319.259 for Skype for Business Server 2015

v3.0 – 04-21-2016

1. Added build 4.0.7577.726 for Lync Server 2010
2. Added build 5.0.8308.949 for Lync Server 2013

v2.9 – 04-07-2016

1. Added build 6.0.9319.235 (03/18/2016) – Thanks to Geir Age Moretensen for pointing it out

v2.8 – 01-26-2016

1. Added support for Lync Server 2013 build 5.0.8308.945 (01/03/2016) – Thanks to Geir for pointing it out

v2.7 – 12-14-2015

1. Added support for Lync Server 2013 build 5.0.8308.941 (12-14-2015)

v2.6 – 11-17-2015

1. Added support for Skype for Business Server 2015 build 6.0.9319.102 (11/17/2015).

v2.5 – 11-11-2015

1. Added support for Skype for Business Server 2015 build 6.0.9319.88 (9/26/2015).
2. Removed references to Skype for Business Server 2015 Cumulative Updates due to general confusion.

v2.4 – 10-03-2015

1. Added support for Lync Server 2013 CU15 (5.0.8308.927)
2. Added support for Lync Server 2013 CU14 (5.0.8308.927). Thanks to Geir for submitting the info.
3. added -SkipUpdateCheck to skip update check

v2.3 – 09-09-2015

1. Added support for Skype for Business Server 2015 CU2 (6.0.9319.72)
2. Added default of “Unknown version”. Thanks to Bernard for the idea.
3. Code optimization
4. server name is now only displayed as NetBIOS name to help reduce wordwrap (was previously FQDN). It’s red if the version is not the latest (or unknown), and green if it’s the latest version.

v2.2 – 07-14-2015

1. Added support for Lync Server 2010 CU16 (4.0.7577.713) – Thanks to Martin for pointing it out.
2. Added support for Lync Server 2013 CU13 (5.0.8308.920)

v2.1 – 06-21-2015

1. Added support for Skype for Business Server 2015 RTM (6.0.9319.0)
2. Added support for Skype for Business Server 2015 CU1 (6.0.9319.45)

v2.0 – 05-12-2015

1. fixed typo for Lync Server 2010 CU15. Thanks to @greiginsydney for pointing it out.
2. Updated Lync Server 2013 CU 11 – original download was 5.0.8308.871, but current download of CU 11 shows as 5.0.8308.872
3. Added support for Lync Server 2013 CU 12 (5.0.8308.887)

v1.9 – 02-19-2015

1. Added Lync Server 2013 CU 11 (5.0.8308.871)

v1.8 – 02-09-2015

1. Added Lync Server 2010 CU 15 (4.0.7577.710)

v1.7 – 01-01-2015

1. Added Lync Server 2010 CU 13 (4.0.7577.707)
2. Added Lync Server 2010 CU 14 (4.0.7577.708)
3. Added Lync Server 2013 CU 10 (5.0.8308.866)

v1.6 – 12-12-2014

1. Added Lync Server 2013 CU 9 (5.0.8308.857)

v1.5 – 11-21-2014

1. Added Lync Server 2013 post CU5 (5.0.8308.803)
2. Added Lync Server 2013 CU 7 (5.0.8308.831)
3. Added Lync Server 2013 CU 8 (5.0.8308.834)

v1.4 – 09-24-2014

1. Added Lync Server 2013 CU6

v1.3 – 09-02-2014

1. Added Lync Server 2010 CU12

v1.2 – 08-07-2014

1. Added script check for updates. This is key because each time a new cumulative update comes out, the script will be updated with version info
2. Added some preliminary code around getting version info for OWAS servers. Need to find a graceful way of getting the server names in a OWAS farm.
3. Added Lync Server 2013 CU5

v1.1 – 06-02-2014

1. Tweaked the PSRemoting code block for retrieving version numbers per Chris Irons. This should resolve unexpected results when querying Lync Server 2010 pools.
2. Filtered out “Debugging Tools” “Resource Kit Tools” “Best Practices Analyzer” and “Meeting Room Portal” which could have a higher version number and cause incorrect results – thanks to Andy G for pointing that out.
3. Shortened some of the output text to reduce the likelihood of word wrap.

v1.0 – 05-02-2014

1. Initial version

Description

Anyone who has updated a Lync or Skype for Business environment with a recent Cumulative Update knows that there are often manual steps to perform after the LyncServerUpdateInstaller.exe/SkypeServerUpdateInstaller.exe program is finished. These are often database update functions. And often, multiple functions to update the various different databases, including the CMS, monitoring, archiving, Persistent Chat, etc. I’ve run across quite a few environments where the LyncServerUpdateInstaller.exe/SkypeServerUpdateInstaller.exe is run, and nothing else is done, and the client can’t figure out why things aren’t running as they expect. Fortunately, the Test-CsDatabase cmdlet will show you the current version of the database and the expected version. But then you have to manually compare each one to determine if an update is required. Of course, there are databases on the local Front End server(s), and the SQL backend server(s). Also, it’s important to review the status of SQL mirroring, and ensuring that databases are active on the principal node and not the mirror node. And that’s just part of the patching process.

Dave Howe, of the Lync product group, and I collaborated on a script that helps streamline part of this process. Dave did a lot of the initial grunt work, so he deserves a lot of the credit. I cleaned things up and optimized per some best practices.

Among the tasks that this script performs:

Determines whether database updates are required. It performs the following checks:

1. Detects whether the pool version is Lync Server 2013 or later, including Skype for Business
2. Detects whether database mirroring is enabled
3. Detects whether the primary and mirror SQL servers are online
4. Detects whether the mirror server is principal for any databases
5. Detects whether the local machine is a FE of the given pool
6. Detects whether the CMS is on Lync Server 2013 or later, including Skype for Business

And returns the following info:

1. Returns list of local databases, their versions, and whether a database update is required (if the local server is a member of the pool)
2. Returns list of backend databases, their versions, and whether a database update is required
3. Returns list of CMS databases, their versions, and whether a database update is required

An example output is shown below. Note that the local XDS database requires an update

Syntax

Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.ps1 [[-PoolFqdn] ] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] []

Installation

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.

Assumptions

None

Download

v1.2 – 02-24-2018 – Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.v1.2.zip

v1.1 – 04-30-2014 – Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.v1.1.zip

v1.0 – 04-30-2014 – Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.v1.0.zip

Changelog

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

This is the changelog page for Get-CsDatabaseUpdateStatus.ps1. You will find a complete list of released versions, their dates, and the features and issues addressed in each. Please refer to the script’s main page for more information including download links, installation details, and more.

v1.2 – 02-24-2018

1. Updated Write-Log to v3.4
2. Updated Get-UpdateInfo to v1.5
3. Updated Set-ModuleStatus to v1.6
4. Code cleanup per recommendations from refactoring

v1.1 – 04-30-2014

1. Fixed an issue with mangled parameter blocks. Thanks to Dave for reporting it.

v1.0 – 04-30-2014

1. Initial version

Description

One of the really cool features of Lync Server 2013 is the Lync Room System. LRS is comprised of a single or dual screen system, video camera, and control unit. This system provides for a rich conferencing experience by providing HD video, touch screens with white-boarding, audio & video inputs, and more. For more information on Lync Room system, see the Product Group’s blog post. To see the systems optimized for Lync, see the catalog.

Deploying a Lync Room System involves several steps, and is outlined (albeit poorly) in the LRS Deployment Guide. I say poorly because from a PowerShell perspective, the 10 steps outlined can be combined down to about 6. Some are Exchange related, some are Active Directory related, and some are Lync related.

What I’ve done is to automate & streamline the process, add a ton of error checking, optimization, and validation. Instead of picking an Exchange server, the script will automatically find and connect to Exchange. It then performs the following tasks:

1. Create an Exchange mailbox configured as a room resource. Additionally, the description is defined, and the company name on the account is configured (see https://www.ucunleashed.com/2266 for why this is important). The room account is enabled. You’re prompted for a password for the account, and that password must conform to the organizations’ password policy for complexity. If the mailbox already exists, which would be common in most scenarios, the script will handle it gracefully, ensuring it’s configured properly.
2. The mailtip for the account is defined. It merely reminds users to make meeting requests a Lync meeting.
3. Set calendar processing to AutoAccept so that when the room account is added to meetings, it will automatically accept the request.
4. The AD account is enabled
5. The Lync Meeting room is created, and uses the email address for the SIP address. This is important to avoid Exchange Web Services (EWS) issues.
6. If a LineURI is defined, the meeting room is enterprise voice enabled. LineURI should be specified in E.164 format.

Any other configuration, such as conferencing policies, etc., can be set after the script runs. I’ve used this script to deploy a 70″ dual display SMART Room System.

See the assumptions section below for more info.

Syntax

New-CsLyncRoomSystem.ps1 [[-Alias] ] [[-Name] ] [[-UPN] ] [[-SamAccountName] ] [[-RegistrarPool] ] [[-LineURI] ] [[-CompanyName] ] [[-ResponseText] ] [[-ResourceCapacity] ] [-DeleteSubject ] [[-EnableResponseDetails] ] [-WhatIf ] [-Confirm ] []

example

New-CsLyncRoomSystem.ps1 -Alias nycconfroom -Name "New York City Conference Room" -Upn "nycconfroom@contoso.com" -RegistrarPool "frontendpool.contoso.com"

The SamAccountName only needs to specified if it needs to be different than the alias.

Installation

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.

Assumptions

• The SIP address is set to match the SMTP address. This is to avoid issues where the two don’t match and Exchange Web Services (EWS) calls fail.
• Exchange 2010 or 2013 exists in the environment
• The user running the script has the appropriate rights in Exchange (Recipient Management or higher) and Lync (RTCUniversalUserAdmin or higher)
• The machine that the script runs on has both the Lync and Active Directory modules installed.

Download

v1.2 – 06-10-2014 – New-CsLyncRoomSystem.v1.2.zip

v1.1 – 02-08-2014 – New-CsLyncRoomSystem.v1.1.zip

v1.0 – 01-28-2014 – New-CsLyncRoomSystem.v1.0.zip

Changelog

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

This is the changelog for New-CsLyncRoomSystem.ps1. You will find a complete list of released versions, their dates, and the features and issues addressed in each. Please refer to the script’s main page for more information including download links, installation details, and more.

v1.2 – 06-10-2014

1. Added -AdditionalResponse option for Set-CalendarProcessing
2. Added -DomainController switch to every command that supports it to ensure that we don’t start getting errors due to AD replication being laggy.
3. A warning is now shown if the user services policy that is applied to the LRS has UCS enabled
4. ResourceCapacity option added. If defined, will set the mailbox capacity accordingly

v1.1 – 02-08-2014

1. comment help optimized per suggestions at http://www.lazywinadmin.com/2014/01/powershell-tip-adding-help-in-param.html
2. validation for registrar name
3. cleaned up param block
4. validate that FE pool is 2013, exit if not
5. new version of Set-ModuleStatus

v1.0 – 01-28-2014

1. Original version

In Customizing the Lync Server 2010 Meeting Page, I showed how simple it was to update the Lync Server 2010 Meet page with your organization’s logo. Here’s some info for updating the Lync Server 2013 pages.

Here we see the page with the default “Lync Web App” text image.

That test image file is called LyncWebApp_logo.png. It’s a 350×68 pixel 32 bit .png file. You’ll find the image in two folders: one for the external web site, and one for the internal website:

1. c:\Program Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Web Components\LWA\Ext\Images\LyncWebApp_logo.png
2. c:\Program Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Web Components\LWA\Int\Images\LyncWebApp_logo.png

If you’re going to swap out the image, it’s much easier if you overwrite the existing file with your custom file of the same name: just backup the original file first. This will eliminate the need to dive into the code that writes the page. Just create a new file of the same size, and save it into the appropriate folders.

The image background is not actually white. It’s a light gray with an RGB value of R:247 G:247 B:247. If you want to match the blue on the left, it’s R:3 G:110 B:202.

Once you overwrite the existing file, restart the Lync Server Web Conferencing service using either the Services.msc tool, or by using the following in PowerShell:

Restart-Service RTCDATAMCU

Once the service has restarted, you can check out the Meet page by creating a Meet Now, and going to the meeting URL on a machine without the Lync client (to avoid having the Lync client immediately attempt to join the meeting, which would close the Meet web page).

If you’re hard core and want to tweak or completely overhaul the web page itself, the CSS style sheets are available for the external and internal sites at:

1. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Web Components\LWA\Ext\Styles
2. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Web Components\LWA\Int\Styles

Just make sure you back everything up before making changed. Also, I have not paid much attention to if these files get overwritten during a Cumulative Update installation. So keep copies handy in case you need to re-apply your changes.

Migrating a customer from OCS 2007 R2 to Lync 2013 recently, I came across an issue that needed some extra work before I could continue.

When I opened the OCS 2007 R2 management console, I noticed a server listed under “Earlier Server Versions”.

I verified that the server no longer existed in Active Directory or DNS. The customer confirmed that it was an OCS 2007 server that had long been removed from service. This server would likely cause issues with publishing a Lync 2013 topology since OCS 2007 isn’t supported in a Lync topology. This server needed to be removed. Unfortunately, there was also no other servers in the environment with the OCS 2007 (non R2) management tools installed. And the OCS 2007 R2 management tools can’t remove the server. This meant that the only way I could remove this server is via our friend ADSIEdit. If you’ve got this issue, follow along as I show you how to remove it. Remember, we’re deep into Active Directory internals here, so tread lightly. Read twice, delete once. And for God’s sake, have a backup of AD.

Depending on where the OCS Global Settings are in Active Directory dictates where to connect to in ADSIEdit. These settings can info can either be in the root domain System container, such as if the environment originally held LCS and/or OCS 2007 servers and the settings were never migrated, or the Configuration container, where they would be if they had been migrated, or if OCS 2007 R2 was installed in a greenfield deployment. If you’re Global Settings are in the System container, open ADSIEdit and select “Configuration” in the Select a well known Naming Context field.

If your Global Settings are in the System container, as was the case for this customer, Select the “Default naming context”.

Expand the domain, then expand CN=System, then expand CN=Microsoft, then expand CN=RTC Service. Inside that, expand CN=Pools. You should see the pools and servers listed. Highlight CN=Pools on the left. On the right side, right-click on the server you wish to remove, and choose Delete.

Once that’s done, close ADSIEdit. Once AD replicates, open the OCS 2007 R2 Management Console and check. The “Earlier server versions” branch should now be empty.