In a nutshell, if you try to install any of the OCS 2007 R2 roles or Group Chat Server, on a server that has the .NET 4.0 Framework installed along side the .NET Framework 2.0 or .NET Framework [...]]]> A quick update on the reported issues with installing OCS 2007 R2 on machines that have .NET 4.0.

In a nutshell, if you try to install any of the OCS 2007 R2 roles or Group Chat Server, on a server that has the .NET 4.0 Framework installed along side the .NET Framework 2.0 or .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1), you’ll get an error.

A Knowledge Base article was released this morning that provides more details and gives a workaround: You cannot install Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core Redist or Office Communications Server 2007, Unified Communications Managed API v1.0 Redist.

** July 30, 2010 Update **: It appears that the reported CU6 problems have been attributable to either the back end database update not being installed first, or [...]]]> There has been a new round of updates for Communicator 2007 R2, OCS 2007 R2, and OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat – known as Cumulative Update 6 (CU6).

** July 30, 2010 Update **: It appears that the reported CU6 problems have been attributable to either the back end database update not being installed first, or the OCS 2007 R2 .NET Framework 4.0 issue. Having said that, there was at least one report (on this blog) of the “mismatch error” even after the database install was applied first.

** July 26, 2010 Update **:  There have been several reports of problems (failure of the Front End Service to start) after applying the CU6 updates on the server. Consider holding off applying this update until more information is known.  It is important to install the CU 6 update to the back end database role first (see Description of the cumulative update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 database: July, 2010).  So far, the problems appear to be related to this, but more information to come.

Client Updates

Communicator 2007 R2:

• The July, 2010 update for Communicator 2007 R2 can be found here:  Description of the cumulative update package for Communicator 2007 R2: July 2010. This update brings the Communicator version up to 3.5.6907.206 from the last update in April 2010 (3.5.6907.196).
• Note: the links to the knowledge base article for the individual fixes do not work right now, or not ready yet, on the Microsoft support site.
• The update can be downloaded here.

Communicator 2007 R2 Phone Edition:

• The July, 2010 update for Communicator 2007 R2 can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2267962/.
• The update can be downloaded here.

Communicator 2007 R2 Mobile:

• This was update was released about 2 weeks ago, but the knowledge base article has been updated. The description can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969816.
• You can download the Smartphone update here.
• You can download the Pocket PC packager here.

OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat Client:

• The July 2010 update can be found here: Description of the update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Client: July 2010.
• The update can be downloaded here.

Server Updates

OCS 2007 R2 Server:

• Note: the update for the SE/EE Back End Database is here: Description of the cumulative update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 database: July, 2010.  This update (OCS2009-DBUpgrade.msi) SHOULD BE RUN FIRST.
• All of the Cumulative 6 server updates can be found here: Updates for Communications Server 2007 R2.
• The updates can be downloaded here.
• It looks like the update includes new hotfixes for the following server roles: Audio/Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing Server, Core Components, Communicator Web Access, Conferencing Attendant, Standard/Enterprise edition Server Back End, and the UCMA Managed API 2.0 Core Redist 64-bit.
• Note: the links to the knowledge base article for the individual fixes do not work right now, or not ready yet, on the Microsoft support site.

OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat Server:

• The Cumulative 6 updates for the Group Chat Server can be found here: Update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server: July 2010.
• The Group Chat Server update can be downloaded here.

OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat Admin Tool:

• The update can be found here: Description of the update for the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Administration Tool: July 2010.
• The update can be downloaded here.

Microsoft recently released a licensing brief (Base and Additive Client Access Licenses: An Explanation) which details future licensing changes upcoming in the next release of OCS (OCS Wave 14).

 Here is a summary of the key changes:

 1) A new OCS Voice CAL:

Office Communicator 2007 R2

Note: the 32-bit version is currently not supported on Windows XP; only Windows Vista SP1 (Business or Enterprise), Windows Server 2003 with SP2, and Windows Server 2008.

The 32-bit installation is available [...]]]> Further to my post on OCS R2 Administrative Tools – Quick Facts, here is how to install the 32-bit version of the OCS R2 32-bit Administrative Tools.

Note: the 32-bit version is currently not supported on Windows XP; only Windows Vista SP1 (Business or Enterprise), Windows Server 2003 with SP2, and Windows Server 2008.

The 32-bit installation is available in the “\Support\i386” directory on the 64-bit media. The required pre-requisites are also located in this directory, and must be installed in the following order:

1. sqlncli.msi  (SQL Server Native Client – contains the SQL OLE DB and SQL ODBC drivers in on native DLL)
2. vcredist_x86.exe  (x86 VC++ 2008 redistributable)
3. .NET Framework 3.5 SP1  (download it here from Microsoft’s Web Site or use \Setup\amd64\dotnetfx35.exe)
4. OCSCore.msi  (OCS 2007 R2 Core Components)
5. AdminTools.msi  (Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Administrative Tools)

Note: the 64-bit Deployment Setup Wizard will install these prerequisites automatically. If you want to install the tools without running the Deployment Wizard, the AdminTools.msi can be found in the \Setup\amd64\Setup directory.

If you do not install the prerequisites in the order above, you’ll receive error messages such as “Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Administrative Tools installation requires that a compatible version of Core Components is installed”.  The OCS 2007 R2 Administrative Tools installation requires that a compatible version of the Core Components is installed.

An OCS 2007 R1 note – I ran across this known issue if you are having trouble getting the OCS Communications tab to appear in Active Directory Users & Computers (ADUC) on a x64 bit machine.  Remember OCS 2007 R1 was only 32-bit, so to get the Communications tab to show up you need to start ADUC in 32-bit mode: dsa.msc -32.

In all cases installing MSXML 6.0 [...]]]> Recently I have been involved in several cases involving users on Windows XP SP3 machines who have upgraded to the Communicator R2 client and do not have the Share Desktop feature available in Communicator R2. The whole “Share” option is completely missing from the right-click menu on a user contact!

In all cases installing MSXML 6.0 SP1 and restarting Communicator R2 has resolved the issue.

As per the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Client System Requirements the minimum Operation System requirements for Windows XP is only SP2, but it appears the Share feature has a dependency on a more recent version of MSXML (or it is getting uninstalled during the upgrade process).  Despite no mention of this prerequisite in the Communicator R2 Deployment Guide, Release Notes, or System Requirements, I found a TechNet article stating that indeed MSXML 6.0 is a requirement for Communicator R2.

Desktop Sharing is one the best new features of Communicator R2 (see my previous post: Communicator R2 Desktop Sharing Rocks!).

Here are some notable reminders about the OCS  R2 Administrative Tools in a mixed deployment that you should know about:

Changes to Existing OCS 2007 Server Role

OCS 2007 Role

Change(s)

Notes

Front-End

Several key changes:

·         Application Sharing [...]]]> In light of the new OCS R2 server roles and capabilities, here is a summary of the significant changes on the server side and topology (from OCS 2007).

Changes to Existing OCS 2007 Server Role

(1) The Application Sharing Server ships with 4 new UC Applications (implemented as services on the OCS R2 Front-End in addition to the Application Sharing service)

a. Conferencing Attendant – Provides the ability for PSTN users to dial into a conference.

b. Conferencing Announcement Service – Enables audio notification when users join or leave a conference.

c. Response Group Service – Enables the creation of automated response groups by users to route or queue incoming phone calls to designated agents.

d. Outside Voice Control – Enables call control functionality for mobile phones that are not enabled for enterprise voice.

New OCS R2 Server Roles

A complete list of the capabilities enabled by the OCS R2 server roles is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver/en/us/capabilities.aspx Key Topology Changes

Client

Server

Supported

Notes

Office Communicator 2005

OCS R2

Yes (*)

With the introduction of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, many are asking which Office Communicator clients are supported in an R2 environment. The following table should help answer the most common questions about client interoperability.