Exchange Versions

So was looking for exchange versions today to see what version of UM Language Pack we needed to run with and came across this TechNet article.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/240.exchange-server-and-update-rollups-build-numbers.aspx

Lync Documentation

So by now everyone has noticed that the default MS documentation for Lync is for Server 2013.  To get the Lync Server 2010 documentation you can update the URL to include (v=ocs.14) in the URL as shown below.

New-CsRgsAgentGroup for Lync 2010

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg413065(v=ocs.14).aspx

New-CsRgsAgentGroup for Lync 2013

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg413065.aspx

Lync Client Authenticaition

Here is a great article on how Lync Client authentication works, from both an internal and external perspective.

Amazed at some of the posts on the Lync NextHop website...

http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2012/11/28/lync-2010-client-authentication.aspx

Lync 2013 Client Address Book Update

The Lync client by default will download the address book from the Lync FE server after a random amout of time once the address book is more that 24 hours old.

There is a Registry Key that can be updated to set the initial delay to 0 mins, in other words as soon as your local file is either: 

1. Not on the PC (has been deleted)
2. Or is more that 24 hours old

The following reg add is the key, its slightly different to from the 2010 client as Lync 2013 policies now reside under the office 15.0 side of things.

reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Lync /v GalDownloadInitialDelay /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

The address book files on the client are now also stored at a different location.

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Lync\sip_<lync_signin_address>

Lync Client Comparison Tables

I attended the Lync 2013 Ignite training the other week in Sydney and was keen to get some more information around Lync client capabilities.

Well Microsoft have published a nice little article on what each client functionality is:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg425836%28v=ocs.15%29

Lync Server Install Fails on SQL Express Install

Have run across this issue a few times now and it always take me a while to find to find the registry key that needs to be updated so thought I would port about it.

The issue is that the SQLExpress install fails as the systems thinks there are pending file deletes to happen during a reboot, but even after the reboot you get the same error.

The below is the error that is seen.

The registry key that needs to be updated is under:

HKLM > SYSTEM > ControlSet001 > Control > Session Manager > PendingFileRenameOperations

Just open the entry and delete the contents, close the Lync Deployment Wizard and re-run the Lync Bootstrapper.  All should be good.

Lync IP Phones Software Update

The update process for Lync IP Phones is a simple process with five (5) steps:

1. Download the UCUpdates.zip file from MS for the required phone types
2. Unpack the .exe file to get the .cab file
3. Upload the phone firmware to the Lync Front End Servers
4. Approve the update from Lync Control panel
5. Wait for the phone to update

Step 1.

Phone firmware can be found from the MS site at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/lync/gg131945

Step 2.

The downloaded file from step 1 is an .exe file, this file needs to be run to get the required .cab file.

Double click the UCUpdates.exe file

Agree to the MS Licencing Agreement

Select the location for the .cab file to be stored

Click Finish, this will now have create a file called UCUdates.cab in the required location

Step 3.

Next step is to upload the .cab file upto the web server service on the Lync Front End Servers, this step needs to be completed for all FE severs in your Lync deployment.

From the Lync Management Shell run the following command:

Import-CsDeviceUpdate -Identity service:webserver:lyncserver.FQDN -FileName "path to file just extracted"

Step 4.

From the Lync Server Control Panel, select "Cleints --> Device Update"

This will show the updates for Phones installed, approved versions of firmware and Pending versions.

Select the phone hardware type, select "Action --> Approve", this will allow ALL phone to update to the newly installed version of firmware.  

If you wish to only update selected phones for "testing" select "Clients --> Test Device", this will show a list of phones addressed via either Serial number or MAC address that the update will be available for.

Step 5.

Once a Lync IP phone has been idle for approx 10mins it will check the web service to see if any available updates are available. If updates are available the phone will start the update process.

The update process generally requires the IP Phone to reboot, if PC are network attached via the Phone they will loose connectivity.  So be careful when you approve the updates.