OCS / LCS

To begin, follow the instructions here for the usual Server 2008 R2 workaround/fixes for Server 2008 R2 and OCS 2007 R2.

1. From an elevated PowerShell prompt: Import-Module ServerManager [Enter]
2. Install the prerequisites for Group Chat Server with: Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,FS-FileServer,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS,WAS-Process-Model,WAS-Config-APIs,Web-HTTP-Logging,Web-Mgmt-Compat,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-Static-Content,Web-Windows-Auth [Enter]
3. Install KB 975858 so certificate based authentication works properly.
4. Install the OCS Group Chat Server as you normally would on any other operating system. Elan's guide is helpful for this (Part 1 / Part 2).
5. Install the OCS Core update from here and the UC API update from here. (If those links are outdated, go to KB 968802 for the latest links or use the ServerUpdateInstaller.exe)
6. Install the OCS 2007 R2 CU6 Group Server update from here. It is also a good idea to grab the Admin tools update from here and updated client from here.
7. At this point, if you try to start the OCS Group Chat Server services, they will stop without anything useful in the Event Logs. I'll save you time debugging this by pointing you to this older KB article here. You need to run %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Group Chat Server\ServerConfigTool.exe so that the tool will update the Group Chat database schema to the QFE1 level.
8. After running the ServerConfigTool.exe, you'll be able to start the update OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat services.

Celebrate, at this point you'll have a working Group Chat install on Server 2008 R2.

I've heard of numerous reports of the CU6's SQL back-end update having version mismatch problems with the front-end update.

One cause I can speculate on is that the web caches that Microsoft uses publish the updated bits are lagging behind. Unfortunately, due to the updates always having the same filename from Cumulative Update to Cumulative Update, it is hard to determine what version you have downloaded without looking at the file dates stored in each individual update.

If the front-end is updated without the proper back-end update, the front-end will complain about version mismatches in the SQL stored procedures.

Update: A tip from Tom Pacyk - install the OCS2009-DBUpgrade.msi before the other CU6 updates.

I talked a little about the .NET 4.0 issue here a few days ago but now that .NET 4.0 is on Windows/Microsoft Update as a recommended update, it is hitting more users during OCS installation.

If you install .NET 4.0 Framework before installing any OCS server role, the OCS setup program will complain that .NET 3.5x is not installed, even if you have .NET 3.5x installed (x being equal to 0 or 1, meaning .NET 3.50 or .NET 3.51).

Solution? Uninstall .NET 4.0 Framework, install OCS server roles, and then install .NET 4.0 if necessary. The OCS product team is working with the Windows product team to get a hotfix/update out for this.

Ideally, I wish there was a service pack for OCS 2007 R2 that had updated install bits for the ASN fix and the Server 2008 R2 gotchas.

OCS 2007 R2 Server:
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 - KB 968802 - Download
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Back-end database update - KB 2032834 - Download

OCS 2007 R2 Client:
Office Communicator 2007 R2 - KB 2028888 - Download
Office Communicator Phone Edition 2007 R2 - KB 2267962 - Download

Group Chat:
Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat Server - KB 2032881 - Download
Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat Client - KB 2032922 - Download
Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat Admin Tool - KB 2032949 - Download

Open a PowerShell instance with elevated rights.
In the PowerShell window, type: Import-Module ServerManager and hit [Enter].
When that completes, enter the command below for the OCS server role(s) needed:

Archiving Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS

Communicator Web Access Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS,WAS-Process-Model,WAS-Config-APIs,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Common-HTTP,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-HTTP-Logging,Web-HTTP-Redirect,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-HTTP-Logging,Web-Mgmt-Compat,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-Request-Monitor,Web-Windows-Auth

Edge Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core

Front-End (Standard Edition) Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,FS-FileServer,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS,WAS-Process-Model,WAS-Config-APIs,Web-HTTP-Logging,Web-Mgmt-Compat,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-Static-Content,Web-Windows-Auth

Front-End (Enterprise Edition) Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS,WAS-Process-Model,WAS-Config-APIs,Web-HTTP-Logging,Web-Mgmt-Compat,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-Static-Content,Web-Windows-Auth

Mediation Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS

Monitoring Server:
Add-WindowsFeature AS-NET-Framework,Desktop-Experience,NET-Framework-Core,MSMQ-Server,MSMQ-Directory,RSAT-ADDS

These commands are largely based on the Server 2008 R1 blog entries here and here.

If my blog software shows the Add-WindowsFeature items on multiple lines, cut and paste the commands together onto one line inside PowerShell.

Note: If you install .NET Framework 4.0 before installing OCS, the OCS setup program will complain that .NET Framework 3.5 is missing, even if .NET Framework 3.5 has been installed. Thankfully, you can uninstall .NET Framework 4.0 if you bump into this issue and the setup program will behave normally. Thanks go out to Mark Rineck for discovering this.

Note 2: As mentioned on other sites, Web-HTTP-Logging is technically optional, but makes debugging IIS and OCS much easier if available.

I always get nervous on the morning of July 1st ever since 2006. Thankfully I received this in email:
"Dear Aaron Tiensivu, Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2010 Microsoft® MVP Award!"

I haven't posted much lately but that will change as some of these newer products get out the door. W7 SP1 and OCS/CS "Wave 14" in particular. Can't neglect Exchange 2010 SP1 either, but the public beta is already out for that.

Woohoo!

I will be mostly talking about the Springboard site at the booth and how it can help you plan/adopt/migrate to Windows 7.

I'll be there with a few other fellow MVPs and Stephen Rose. Last year, we had Mark Russinovich stop by for a while. So, look for me in the Windows Client area!

Also, I will be on a panel for OCS 2007 R2 voice deployment 'war stories' during the Wednesday morning "UNC06-INT - Microsoft Communications Server "14": Voice Post Deployment" session with Francois Doremieux.

It is bound to be a great learning session, so try to stop by and say hi! I am amazed at the new feature sets and advancements that have been made with CS 2010 "Wave 14" aka OCS v.Next.

See you there!

Issue #1: Using the OCS 2007 R2 Administration tools on Server 2008 R2 has shown to be problematic for moving users from LCS and OCS 2007 R1/R2 to other OCS servers. For now, it is best to use a non-Server 2008 R2 workstation or server to move users to and from OCS servers. You can 'force' the users to move, but it doesn't always result in a good move. So, avoid it if possible.

Issue #2: If you are trying to run "ABServer.exe -SyncNow" on an OCS 2007 R2 server running on Server 2008 R2, you will need to create a new DWORD registry entry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\DisableLoopbackCheck set to the value of 1.

Due to .NET 3.5 SP1 on Server 2008 R2, if this registry value is not set, you will receive an error message of "Triggering Address Book Server synchronization pass - function not available when RTCSRV service is not running. Start the RTCSRV service." A reboot may be required for the new registry setting to take effect.

Usually, manual regeneration of the address book is not required since the front end will refresh the contents every night by default. It is only the manual run of ABServer.exe that is affected on Server 2008 R2. It is normally best to leave DisableLoopbackCheck disabled (set to 0) if possible for security reasons.

Thankfully, OCS seems to perform very well on Server 2008 R2 once the known issues are worked around.

Microsoft keeps an updated KB article about these issues, which do not have these documented yet, here.

I also have my original guidance for OCS 2007 R2 on Server 2008 R2 here. I will work on getting these incorporated into the original post when I have a free moment.

The redesign of the Office website at Microsoft has made a few of the older links related to download of the Live Meeting client and Conferencing Add-In invalid, as pointed out by Matt Wade and followers of his website.

The issue has been reported to Microsoft and will hopefully soon be resolved, and this blog entry will be removed from this site.

In the meantime, here are the direct download links until this issue has been resolved:
Live Meeting Client
Conferencing Add-In for Outlook

2 fixes since last year it looks like:

KB 978164 - A conversation window opens unexpectedly when you press ENTER in the Search box in Office Communicator 2007
KB 979145 - The Office Communicator 2007 user interface pops up for all users who log on to a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2008

I suspect the release is mainly for the terminal server update and maybe OCS v.Next support.

You can grab the update at here.

One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of publishing OCS - the use of hardware load balancers. Thankfully there is a brand new document from Microsoft to help you out.

To quote the download page:
"This document explains infrastructure and system requirements for hardware load balancing of Office Communications Server Enterprise pools, Edge Server arrays, and Communicator Web Access. It also explains various networking concepts, such as one arm vs. two arm configurations, network address translation (NAT), VLAN tagging, and Mutual Transport Layer Security (MTLS) connection multiplexing, in the context of an Office Communications Server deployment."

Grab the document here.

It turns out that a little while ago I had discovered part of the puzzle to getting OCS 2007 R2 working on Windows 2008 R2. Strangely, a somewhat related blog entry I made around the same time was the other piece of the puzzle.

Namely, for 2008 R2 support, you need a Server 2008 R2 specific hotfix (KB 975858) and modify a few NTLM security settings that differ as defaults on Server 2008 R2 compared to Server 2008 R1.

Ideally, if you can support it in your environment, I would configure your servers and clients to be the most secure by default with use of a GPO or registry setting. That way, you are using the latest NTLM protocol with 128-bit encryption.

In the screenshot below, it shows the security setup on my laptop for client security:


Keep in mind, it is best to match these settings on the client side and server side.
If you configure the client side and do not configure the server side, you will still be able to connect.
If you configure the server side, and leave the client side at defaults, depending on the OS release, connection problems may happen due to the mismatch.

You can also read the official Microsoft guidance on Server 2008 R2 and OCS 2007 R2 here and here.

Update: I've discovered some additional issues that can be worked around. I have documented them in a new entry here.

You can file this one under 'Things you find while browsing recently posted downloads'.

Since this has been posted for download on Microsoft's download site, you know that a public beta for the OCS release can only be right around the corner.

It won't be useful yet, because this will be used for the LiveMeeting functionality of the upcoming OCS version. Interesting to see it posted already though.

You can check it out here.

The big news with this release is support for Windows 2008 R2 and workarounds for specific VOIP inter-op scenarios. I will be publishing some more info on both of these items later but wanted to get the word out because this update has been a long time coming!

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 CU5 Update
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 CU5 Database Update
Office Communicator 2007 R2 CU5 Update
Office Communicator Phone Edition 2007 R2 CU5 Update
Office Communicator Attendant Console 2007 R2 CU5 Update

Very interesting thread about a problem I haven't run into both others might if they have USB powered headsets with OCS. It looks like two possible models that it can occur with are the Polycom CX300 and some other handsets/headsets.

Basically, due to some of the 'green options' on some PCs, the USB power to the connected devices can be lowered when idle. If the OS/BIOS detects that the device has become active, it will fire up the juice. Unfortunately, at the start of a call, the voltage might not be high enough yet to experience full volume.

This explains the audio problem described here.

If at all possible, try not to disable ACPI and just try to disable the USB power-disabling green features in the BIOS or OS. If that is not an option, you could always use a powered (complete with wall-wart power adapter) USB hub to keep the phones/headsets powered up while your other devices can sleep normally on the 'green' USB ports.

I'm curious how widespread this problem is, because I think the Polycom CX300 is a fantastic little OCS handset.

It is handy to see what version levels are out there and what devices are in use. You can also use some SQL kung-foo to correlate the device with the user. A more detailed example is available from here.

By default, this is what the MMC shows for connected devices: