Here are 10 frequently-needed facts when you are first considering a Lync 2010 migration from OCS 2007 R2 (or if you are considering co-existence):
1. Lync 2010 Servers Can Coexist with OCS 2007 R2 Servers (in an OCS 2007 R2 Deployment)
- They can coexist in the same AD Forest and AD Domain, but not in the same OCS 2007 R2 Pool.
- Lync Server 2010 can coexist with OCS 2007 servers also, but it CANNOT coexist in an OCS deployment with BOTH OCS 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 servers. If you have a mixed OCS R1 and R2 environment, you need to finish your R2 upgrade first.
2. An Inside-Out Lync Deployment Approach is Generally Recommended
- For example, in an existing OCS 2007 R2 deployment, the internal Lync server pilot pool would be deployed first, followed by the Lync Edge Server and Director, etc…
3. Side-by-Side is the Only Supported “Upgrade” Path
- There is no ability to do an in-place upgrade of an existing OCS 2007 R2 server.
- Users can be moved from the OCS 2007 R2 server /pool to the Lync 2010 server/pool with the Lync management tools (the Lync Control Panel or Lync Management Shell) after the OCS topology has been merged with your Lync topology (see #9 below).
4. Using the Lync 2010 Client against an OCS 2007 R2 Server is Not Supported.
- Using a legacy Communicator 2007 R2 client against a Lync 2010 server IS supported.
5. The Lync 2010 Client Cannot Run side-by-side with Communicator 2007 R2.
- If you install the Lync client on a client with Communicator 2007 R2 installed, it silently removes Communicator 2007 R2. It does keep registry settings such as those in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Communicator.
6. There is a 32-bit and 64-bit Version of the new Lync Client
- This is not entirely true. The “64-bit” version is actually just a 64-bit installer wrapping a 32-bit version.
- The 64-bit installer version integrates with the 32-bit version of Microsoft Office.
7. The Lync Edge and Lync Director should be Deployed in Parallel
- You should not mix Lync Server and OCS versions of the Edge and the Director role – they should be upgraded (or deployed in parallel) at the same time.
- A OCS 2007 R2 Edge is supported with a Lync Server 2010 pool.
- If your users are experiencing a “Presence Unknown” for federated and PIC contacts after you have recently configured your Lync pool to use the existing OCS 2007 R2 Edge, consider rebooting the OCS 2007 R2 Edge. See Quick Tip – External Contacts with Lync Coexistence for more information.
- A Lync Server 2010 Edge is NOT fully supported against an OCS 2007 R2 Pool.
- See Chapter 6 – Planning for External User Access.doc – of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guide for more information.
8. The Lync Edge and Lync Mediation server should be Deployed in Parallel
- This is not well documented, but if you are using enterprise voice, you should not mix the Lync and OCS versions of the Edge and Mediation roles.
9. The Topology Builder or the Lync Management Shell can be used to Merge the OCS Topology into Lync
- From the Topology Builder, use the Merge Topology Wizard in the right-hand Tasks Pane.
- In the Lync Management Shell, use the Merge-CSLegacyTopology and the Import-CSLegacyConfiguration cmdlet’s. See the Import-CsLegacyConferenceDirectory cmdlet if you have OCS 2007 R2 conferencing directories.
10. The Lync and OCS Administration Tools must be used with their Respective Server Version
- With the exception that you can view a read-only copy of your OCS deployment in the Lync Topology.
- See Lync and OCS Administration Tools (http://blog.insideocs.com/2010/12/10/lync-and-ocs-administration-tools/) for more information.
11. OCS Meetings are Migrated to Lync Server 2010 (BONUS TIP 
)
- See Migration Considerations for Meetings (Office Communications Server 2007 Migration) for more details.
- One caveat is that any meeting content that the organizer uploaded is not moved over. You can manually move the content over.
Note: one of the original Top 10 used to be that Lync did not support SQL 2008 R2 for it’s databases. As of April 2011, Lync is fully supported with SQL 2008 R2: http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2011/04/20/lync-server-2010-support-for-sql-2008-r2.aspx.
Lync 2010 Migration Resources
InsideOCS - Migrating your OCS Federated Partner Settings to Lync
Microsoft TechNet (excellent short video on the basics) - Migrating from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to Lync Server 2010
Microsoft TechNet - Migration from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to Lync Server 2010
Microsoft TechNet - Migration from Office Communications Server 2007 to Lync Server 2010
Microsoft Video: Migrating from Office Communications Server 2007 to Lync Server 2010
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guides: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da9fa26-e032-4dcf-b487-da916ddc508f
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This is good stuff Curtis – precise and to the point!
Hi Octavio,
My understanding is that all OCS *servers* had to be upgraded to either R1 or R2 – you can’t have a mixed server environment before introducing Lync – but in terms of mixing R1 and R2 clients, I think this is mostly supported. Did you read somewhere that mixing the R1 and R2 clients were not supported in a mixed server environment?
The general rule on the client-side is that previous client version have the most recent updates (hotfixes) installed.
You should read the section “Client Interoperability” section in the Migrating from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to Lync Server 2010 Guide (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=9109).
There is also a section on “Lync Server 2010 Interoperability with Previous Client Versions”. It details what functionality is supported with previous client versions and Lync. In a nutshell, IM and Presence and Video are supported. There is some limitations on the voice. There are some noteworthy points about the conferencing functionality in there too.
Caveat – I have never mixed R1 and R2 clients in a mixed-server environment, but looking at that guide, I think you will be ok.
You should re-post this question to the Microsoft Lync Server Forums (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/ocs) for more answers.
Hope that helps,
Curtis
Hello Curtis. I have read that prior to bringing up my Lync pool and first servers, that I need to have all OCS R2 servers and clients on the latest version/build. I have not however found any published notes about what is broken if say a certain users is running the OCS 2007 R1 client. I surmise that when I run the AD Schema prep for Lync, that something changes which breaks the possibility for an older R1 client to connect to our existing 2007 R2 front end as it does today. We have one group of users that we have had to keep using the R1 client of OCS. Its complicated, but due to their hardware setup. Do you happen to know exactly what breaks, or better yet if OCS 2007 R1 client should still connect and work properly with the R2 FE even when I add the Lync pool?
Hi Josh,
You should be able to keep your existing ISA server. ISA 2006 SP1 (* Note the SP1 requirement *) is supported for Lync.
The Director acts as a standalone server, not installed or collocated with the FE. It sits between the Edge and FE (on the internal network side). Unless you have a specific reason (and there are some), with the environment you quoted, if you are looking to simplify your deployment, you likely do not need one. This is a good article about why you would deploy a Director: http://blogs.technet.com/b/drrez/archive/2010/08/09/why-deploy-a-director.aspx.
The value of a Director boils down to:
1] Adding a layer of protection between the external world and the internal pool (for such things as a DoS attack).
2] Offloading the external user authentication work.
3] Offloading the FE from redirecting to a clients’ home pool in a multi-pool scenario.
There is a lot of information in the guide you quoted but if you just focus on the section that is applicable to what you are trying to accomplish it is more digestible (e.g. if you are using a EE server, just read the table “Certificates for Front End Server in a Front End Pool”).
The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Documentation Help File is an excellent reference – I just use the index and search for what I need (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=23888). For example, there is a section on “Request and Configure a Certificate for Your Reverse HTTP Proxy” which outlines the certificate requirements for your proxy.
The Microsoft Lync Forums are well maintained by many experts who can respond to individual questions: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/ocs.
For understanding the different TYPES of certificates, the best guide is the Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2 Certificate Guide.doc (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=179053).
Note the New Subject Alternative Name (SAN) Entries Required for Lync (http://blog.insideocs.com/2010/11/02/microsoft-lync-server-certificates-whats-new-tips/)
Lastly, if you are not overwhelmed yet
, there is a Lync Planning Tool and Planning Guides available:
Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Planning Tool
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=19711
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=21646
To be honest, I find the tool and guide more valuable for planning larger deployments.
Hope that helps!
Curtis
Curtis,
Thanks for the response. We’re just going to go public CA certs for everything.
Our topology is
1 ISA server 2006, w2k3 OS
1 FE server 2003
1 Edge server 2003.
1. Can we keep the existing ISA server?
also, If we add a new FE and Edge, where does the director role go?
is it added to the FE?
As far as certs go, the link : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398094.aspx
is confusing.
We have a EE config.
If the director goes on the FE, do we ignore the director’s table and just do 3 SAN UCC certs? Or do we need to do double the amount? Confused.
I think on some certs we just got regular web certs. I believe we only had to purchase 2 UCC certs for the existing legacy setup.
Is there a guide that simplifies this?
Josh
Hi Josh.
This is an involved question. As such I would ask it in the Microsoft OCS/Lync Server Forums in addition to here – it will get a wider audience of expertise.
At a high level, if you can satisfy all the certificate requirements for your new 2010 (Lync) servers as laid out in the Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2 Certificate Guide.doc guide and the Microsoft Technet Lync Server Certificate Infrastructure Requirements, you will be able to reuse those certificates.
BTW, I assume you know the typical recommended course of action is a side-by-side upgrade whereby you install the Lync servers in a separate pool, migrate your users, and decommission the OCS 2007 R2 pool. With public certificate costs I understand why you want to reuse those existing certs though.
One issue that may prevent you from re-using those certificates is that Lync requires the FQDN’s of the Simple URL’s be listed on the Subject Alternative Names (SANs) on the certificates used for the Internal and External Web Services. However, wildcards are supported for the Simply URL SANs, so if your certificate have *.example.com in the SAN, you should be ok.
Could you use a private certificate (issued by a Windows Certificate Authority in your company) for the Lync Front-End and get your public CA to re-issue the public certificates for your Edge and other uses?
I’ll give more thought to your situation.
Curtis
Thanks for the resources!
We’ve had ocs 2007 r2 up prior to 2010’s release without much use. Now that we’re ready to upgrade to 2010 and take on some REAL users, we’d like to ditch 2007 r2 servers (2003 servers) and just to a fresh 2010 install. (mainly to not have to buy new third party certificates. We purchased 4 certificates for the original implementation.)
How should we proceed? Should we decommission the existing servers (1 Frontend enterprise pool, and 1 edge)
and then stand up a brand new pool (with the same name for the certs) same server names, etc.?
Can I re-use the certs we purchased?
Josh
Hi Richard, thanks for the clarification. You are correct, the *OCS* management console should not be used to move the users; I had meant to say management *tools* (not console – used to 4 years of saying ‘console’). As you say, the Lync Control Panel or Management Shell should be used after you have merged your OCS topology. I have updated Tip #3.
Curtis
“Users can be moved from the OCS 2007 R2 server /pool to the Lync 2010 server/pool with the management console.”
I can argue with this. The Lync documentation recommends to migrate using the Lync version of the tools (and not with the OCS version of the tools, mgmt console assumes an OCS utility).
“You cannot use the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in or the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 administrative tools to move users from your legacy environment to Lync Server 2010. You can move a pilot user to the new Microsoft Lync Server 2010 deployment using the following two methods: Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Control Panel and Lync Server Management Shell.”
that is the word-by-word copy from the Lync ITpro documentation.
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