The tool was born out of my former MOCLogin troubleshooting tool, but I decided to rename it because of the expanded features and all [...]]]> I haven’t done a blog entry for awhile on InsideOCS because I have spent a lot of my extra time developing a small free tool called: The Remote UC Troubleshooting Tool (RUCT).

The tool was born out of my former MOCLogin troubleshooting tool, but I decided to rename it because of the expanded features and all the great things it can do besides just troubleshoot DNS entries with Communicator and Lync client automatic sign-in.

I’ll go on record as saying that I think this is one of the best tools available for troubleshooting Lync and Communicator certificate issues!

A full description of RUCT is available here, and the tool can be downloaded here.

Here is a summary of what the tool can do:

1.    Easily Query Important DNS Records used by Microsoft Lync Server and OCS.

DNS queries for the following Lync and OCS records are issued with one-click:

• All Lync and Communicator internal and external records used for automatic sign-in.
• Lync sign-in records used for Lync Online (in Office 365).
• Lync simple URL records used for Dial-In, Meetings, and Administration.
• Home registrar location records used by Lync devices.
• The automatic partner discovery record used in an Open Federation configuration.

2.    Test Network Availability.

• Easily test the network connectivity to the hostname and port belonging to any matching DNS SRV record, or IP address belonging to an A record.
• A TCP connection is attempted for hostnames and ports, and a ping is attempted for IP addresses.

3.    Certificate Retrieval, Installation, and Export.

• The tool can remotely retrieve X509 Certificate information on any Lync or OCS port that is secured using TLS (or SSL).  Certificate information returned includes the Common Name (CN), Subject Name, Issuer, Certificate Authority, Expiry Date, Creation Date, and Subject Alternative Names (SANs), and the complete certificate chain.
• The remote certificate can also be installed locally or exported to a file. This makes client access to labs and self-signed certificates much easier to setup.

4.    Easily Retrieve Important Client-Side Troubleshooting Information.

• Important client-side environment settings such as O/S version, 32-bit or 64-bit, current domain credentials, and Lync/Communicator sign-on settings are automatically retrieved and consolidated in one place.
• Recent Lync and Communicator specific event log errors and warnings can be retrieved with one-click.

Screenshots

DNS Information

Certificate Functionality

Client Troubleshooting

I hope this tool is a big help to people troubleshooting Lync Server and OCS issues.  Feel free to provide any feedback.

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In the spirit of a new year, here is a glimpse of what to expect from OCS [...]]]> ** Sept 13, 2010 Update **: Microsoft has announced that OCS is being rebranded as Microsoft Lync, and a public Release Candidate is now available.  Read all about it here: OCS Renamed to “Microsoft Lync” & Public Release Candidate Available.

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In the spirit of a new year, here is a glimpse of what to expect from OCS in 2010.

The next release of Office Communications Server and Communicator together with Exchange 2010 is currently referred to as UC “Wave 14″ (code-name). The latest publicly available release date is in “late 2010”.

March 22, 2010 Update: more details were released at VoiceCon on March 22nd, 2010 – the recap of what was announced is here.

Few details exist on new stuff coming on the server-side, but here is a recap of what is publicly known:

1) A new version of Office Communications Server (likely to be called Microsoft Communications Server 2010).  Here are the highlights:

• A full software powered communications stack, including capabilities intended to make a PBX unnecessary.
• Enhancements to the resiliency and reliability capabilities of OCS 2007 R2.
  • More branch office survivability options.
  • There will likely be re-routing capabilities depending on the network or PSTN outage.
• Remote Call Control (RCC) will still be supported in Wave 14, though the future beyond that is uncertain and Microsoft generally recommends other integration options.
• Location Awareness:
  • The ability to provide location information via a new server role: the Integrated Location Information Server (ILS).
  • Location information can be sent on the SIP channel and used in the E.911 scenario.
  • Location information will be integrated into the next release (W14) version of Communicator.
• Call Admission Control:
  • The ability to use bandwidth information and policies to allow or disallow if a video call can be initiated.

2) A new version Office Communicator (code-named “14” right-now).

• Will likely be called Office Communicator 2010.
• Many new features nicely summarized in this Microsoft Showcase video:  What’s New in Microsoft Communicator “14″.
• The Communicator Tabs extensions will likely be deprecated.
• SharePoint Integration:
  • New Communicator “skill search” functionality built into the next release of Communicator that searches SharePoint profiles to find people with the skills you are looking for.
  • Initiate audio and video communication directly from SharePoint search results.
  • Phonetic based search in Communicator to locate associated SharePoint information.
• Voicemail Features:
  • Visual voicemail capabilities directly integrated into Communicator 14.
  • Multi-language translation capabilities (with Exchange 2010 voicemail integration).
  • Ability to jump to a specific point in voicemail.
• Test Calls: the abilility to place a test call directly from the Communicator client will likely be added.
• Music On Hold (MoH): this functionality will likely move to the client.

3) New OCS Server and Client Development SDK’s:

• A set of fully supported (not just samples) Communicator controls in WPF and Silverlight.
• UCMA 3.0 will be a server-side API with workflow activities.
• Much more information is available in Chris Mayo’s PDC session (see below).
• An Early Adopter Program is available if you are interested in getting an early look at the SDKs (see the UC 14 Metro link below).

References and More Information

Microsoft TechDays 2010: Introduction to Microsoft Communications Server “W14″.

Chris Mayo’s Recap of the PDC 2009 Session: Microsoft Unified Communications: Developer Platform Futures

UC 14 Metro Early Adopter Program Available

PDC 2009 Sessions:

1. Integrating and Extending the Microsoft Office Communicator Experience with Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Silverlight
2. Microsoft Unified Communications: Developer Platform Futures

PBX killer, Voice CAL coming to OCS (Network World’s early summary of the next version of OCS)

Microsoft drops new hints on next Communications Server Release (ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley does a write-up)

Interoperability support between Cisco and Microsoft products in unified communications

Microsoft readies Office Communicator 2010 beta

When an OCS user gets enabled for Enhanced Presence, either through the OCS management console or programmatically (through a script modifying AD directly or the WMI provider), Communicator 2005 users can still login.  [...]]]> A quick but important reminder for those deployments upgrading their user clients from Office Communicator 2005 to Office Communicator 2007 or 2007 R2.

When an OCS user gets enabled for Enhanced Presence, either through the OCS management console or programmatically (through a script modifying AD directly or the WMI provider), Communicator 2005 users can still login.  However, when the user signs-in for the first time with a newer Office Communicator client (such as 2007, 2007 R2, or even the R2 version of Communicator Web Access), there is no going back – the user will not be able to sign-in again with Communicator 2005. The “RichMode” value gets set to ‘true’ for that user in the OCS backend database when a newer client is used for the first time.

The Enhanced Presence status for a particular user can be seen in the OCS management console in the user properties (“Other settings” in the User properties in R2, or the Communications tab | Configure button” in the Active Directory snap-in).

For more information about modifying the AD user property to enable Enhanced Presence programmatically see my previous blog entry “Provisioning OCS Users (and the AD msRTCSIP-OptionFlags Attribute)”.

A good explanation of the different stages of Enhanced Presence is available here on the Office Communicator team blog.

There are some key features not currently available in the [...]]]> I have heard and read some confusion lately regarding the availability of a Microsoft Office Live Meeting Web Access client. To clarify, there is such a client, but it cannot be used for on-premise OCS deployments; only for the hosted Microsoft Office Online Live Meeting Service.

There are some key features not currently available in the Web Access version. Most notably:

• No Audio from the PC
• No Video from a PC or RoundTable
• No Desktop Sharing (when running on Windows)
• Available in English only

Also, this is not to be confused with the OCS Web Scheduler (which has been recently updated to support OCS R2 – read about it here). The Web Scheduler is basically a replacement for scheduling a Live Meeting through the Live Meeting Outlook Conferencing Add-In, but the native Windows Live Meeting Console is still required to participate in the Live Meeting. It also has some functional limitations compared to the Live Meeting Outlook Conferencing Add-In.

You can choose to manually enter your Edge Access hostname and port (normally 443), or by using auto-discovery (via DNS records). The auto-discovery option is good because it inherently [...]]]> Microsoft has recently made available a Beta version of a web tool that can be used to test the external connectivty of your OCS Edge deployment: https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/.

You can choose to manually enter your Edge Access hostname and port (normally 443), or by using auto-discovery (via DNS records). The auto-discovery option is good because it inherently tests that the correct external DNS entries exists which allow remote clients to automatically logon.

You need to provide a valid SIP user and password to the test the external SIP login through the Edge. Testing the complete login process is beneficial because the SSL Certificate configuration is validated.

Here is the results of a sample test run (domains and user details ommitted):

Attempting to Resolve the host name lcs.example.com in DNS.
Host successfully Resolved
Additional Details: IP(s) returned: xxx.xxx.xxx.xx

Testing TCP Port 443 on host lcs.example.com to ensure it is listening/open.
The port was opened successfully.

Testing SSLCertificate for validity.
The certificate passed all validation requirements.validation checks.
Additional Details: Subject: CN=lcs.example.com, OU=example, O=”Example, Inc.”, L=Example City, S=Example State, C=Example country, Issuer CN=<Certificate Authority>, OU=<CA URL>, O=<CA Organization Name>, C=<CA Country>

Testing OCS remote sign in through Access Edge Server: Port Number (lcs.example.com:443), for SignInAddress (exampe_user@example.com).
The specified user successfully signed in remotely through the Access Edge Server.
Additional Details:  Registration is successfully completed.

Original Post:

I have been asked several times recently about the BlackBerry® client support for OCS R2 (RIM makes a BlackBerry client that works with OCS. You can read more about it in my original post: Mobile Options for OCS).

The short answer [...]]]> **April 2011 Update: Blackberry Support for OCS 2007 R2 and Lync is Now Available

Original Post:

I have been asked several times recently about the BlackBerry® client support for OCS R2 (RIM makes a BlackBerry client that works with OCS. You can read more about it in my original post: Mobile Options for OCS).

The short answer is that OCS R2 is not supported, however there is a workaround that amounts to leaving an OCS R1 CWA (Communicator Web Access) Server for the BlackBerry client to use after upgrading to OCS R2. Trying to install an OCS R1 CWA after upgrading to R2 will not work. You must leave an OCS R1 CWA server intact before upgrading. My understanding is that OCS R2 Active Directory changes will not make it possible to install an OCS R1 CWA after the fact.

The official workaround is described in more detail here: BlackBerry Enterprise Instant Messaging is not functional with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

The Microsoft description of the situation and the workaround is available in KB Article 969336: “How to set up a Communicator Web Access 2007 server in a Communications Server 2007 R2 topology to support UC AJAX applications”.

The issue is that the BlackBerry client uses the Web API used for R1 Communicator Web Access (the Asynchronous JavaScript® and XML (AJAX) API) and Microsoft no longer supports this API in the OCS R2 version of CWA.  There are no current plans at this time to re-release or support this API in future releases.

(BlackBerry® is a registered trademark of Research in Motion Limited).

My name is Curtis Johnstone.  I’ve been meaning to start blogging about my adventures in OCS land for some time now, and I’ve finally gotton around to it!  Enjoy.