Cannot publish topology changes. Conference directories still exist on a pool that would be deleted. Remove the conference directories before continuing.

In my test environment I was making changes to the topology and I removed a pool and server from the the Enterprise Pool.

After publishing the topology it failed with the above error. To fix this we need to first find where the conference directory is homed, open up the Lync Management Shell and run the following command:

• get-csconferencedirectory

Once you have located the correct one to delete (if you make a mistake you will need to start over) then still using the same session from your previous Lync Management Shell run the following command:

• remove-csconferencedirectory -identity [number] -force

Force switch included due to errors without running it. Wait for replication to take place and then try removing the pool from your Topology and publishing it, this time it should succeed.

Hope it helps.

Lync Server Service Startup Pending Error

Event Log Error:

Lync Server Service Startup Pending as Backup Store BackEnd is not yet available.
Service Startup will be delayed until the Backup Store BackEnd becomes available.
Cause: Possible Issues with the Backup Store BackEnd.

Resolution:
Ensure that the Backup Store BackEnd SQL Server is running and connectivity is working. The Backup Store needs to be available for initial startup to complete.

__________________________________________________________________

If you are using Azure as you playground like I am or for production and you are trying to install the CS Database, here is a scenario that works.

Login to Azure and locate your SQL VM if you using remote SQL like I am or your Lync Front End if you have a standard installation.

Attach an empty disk and set the HOST CACHE PREFERENCE to NONE. Now in Windows go to Computer Management and bring in the disk and format it.

Now from the Lync Management Shell run the following to create the CS Database on the new drive:

• Install-CsDatabase -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn sqlserver.domain.com -DatabasePaths “F:\CSLog”,”F:\CSLog”,”F:\CSDB”

Give it a few minutes to install and after it has completed start the Lync Front-End Service.

Hope it helps.

Topology Builder encountered an issue and cannot publish this topology.

ERROR

“Topology Builder encountered an issue and cannot publish this topology.

SQL store is not defined in the topology. You must ensure that the SQL store that is used for the Central Management Store is part of the defined topology and that the SQL store is associated with a Front End Pool.”

SOLUTION

To fix the error and publish the topology:

• Open Lync Management Shell on your Lync 2013 Server.
• Run Get-CsConfigurationStoreLocation. This command reports back the location of the Active Directory service control point for the Central Management store.
• Run Remove-CsConfigurationStoreLocation command.

Now try and publish your Topology and it should all be successful.

Hope it helps.

Lync Server 2013 – Prerequisite not satisfied: Windows Identity Foundation is required.

While running the Lync Setup you may come across the following error from Step 1: Install Local Configuration Store in the Lync Server 2013 – Deployment Wizard.

Fix: You can launch Server Manager and then add the feature: Windows Identity Foundation 3.5

After that run the wizard to “Install Local Configuration Store” and it should succeed.

Hope it helps.

Lync 2013 Management Shell not giving a prompt

Today after starting with my Lync Server 2013 setup I needed to access the Lync Management Shell. After opening the shell i was presented with a black screen and solid cursor.

Opening and closing the shell doesn’t make a difference. To fix this launch a normal PowerShell window as Administrator and run the following command:

• powershell.exe -noexit -command “cd $env:UserProfile; Import-Module ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Modules\Lync\Lync.psd1′”

After that launch the Lync Server Management Shell and all should be working again.

Hope it helps.

Enable Lync 2013 On-Premise To Federate With Lync Online (Office 365)

Recently we needed to communicate with one of our federated partners on Lync 2013 and we added the SIP Federated Domain in the Lync control panel however if you opened up the Lync Client it would list the contact with an unknown presence.

Even though under SIP Federated Providers Microsoft is listed you need to add another hosted provider.

Lync 2013 doesn’t allow communication with Lync Online (Office 365) out of the box. You need to add a provider for Lync Online for the communication to work.

Let’s start. Launch Lync Control Panel and navigate to Federation and External Access. Click on SIP Federated Providers on the top. There are only three providers by default. (Below)

Now we are going to add a new SIP Provider. Click on New -> Hosted Provider, Fill in the details as per below:

Provider Name: LyncOnline
Access Edge FQDN: sipfed.online.lync.com

Select the last radio button -> Allow all communications with this provider

Once done click on the Commit button.

Now you can see the new provider (highlighted in black)

If you prefer using PowerShell then you can run the following command:

• New-CSHostingProvider –identity LyncOnline –ProxyFqdn sipfed.online.lync.com –Enabled $True

Now if you try finding the contact in Lync again their status show become active.

Hope it helps.

Create new User in Active Directory 2012/Exchange 2013/Lync 2013 with Powershell V3.2

I created a script from multiple Technet sources that will allow an individual to work quicker and login to less servers and consoles.

This script allows you to create a user in Active Directory, mailbox in Exchange 2013 and Enable the users Lync 2013 Account.

It also sets the users mobile and telephone number attributes in Active directory.

Requirements:

• Exchange 2013 Management Tools
• User Account that has access to AD, Exchange and Lync.
• (If you dont want to install this you can enable the 2 lines of code to create a PSSession to Exchange)

The Read-Host command didnt work too well running it from the Exchange Management Shell or Windows PowerShell so I resorted to using the InputBoxDialog. I import an assembly to allow this function to work.

I have not tested this on Exchange 2010, Lync 2010 or any earlier version of Active Directory.

Change Log:

**V2 now adds the new user to a group that exists in AD**
**V3 now adds the new users Telephone Number in AD**
**V3.1 now adds the new users Mobile Number in AD**
**V3.2 now adds the new users Manager and Company in AD**

I have uploaded it to Technet, here is the address to download it:

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Create-a-New-User-in-a21601c9

Hope it helps.

Lync 2013 & APP Fabric logs

Recently SCOM starting reporting low disk space on my Lync Application Server.

A server that  had a couple of GB’s free space suddenly had less than 1GB and Lync Clients were failing to login.

I ran a cool utility call TreeSize and this identified the location and identification of these trace logs on the Lync server. I noticed that the file would grow to about 131MB and then generate a new file.

Location: C:\ProgramData\Windows Fabric\Fabric\log\Traces

I quickly put together a batch file that would remove these logs/traces each day. Since doing so Lync is working fine and SCOM is happy. Here is the info in my .BAT file.

• cd..
  cd C:\ProgramData\Windows Fabric\Fabric\log\Traces
  ECHO Y | DEL *.*

Hope it helps.

Lync Server 2013 – CU3 Problem

Yesterday I ran CU3 upgrade for Lync Server 2013 on my Front-End Server.  After the upgrade I noticed that the Front-End Service was stuck starting.

In event viewer the errors were just rolling over like informational alerts. I ran a repair, that did not work. I rebooted again, nothing.

I then uninstalled all components of Lync (You might be thinking where are your backups, I do have them). Rebooted the server and then started the install again. Step 1 was pretty easy as I still had my DB’s. Step 2 became tricky. All prerequisites were satisfied until it came time to install Server.MSI. This is the error I got:

“Lync Server Installation Error. Error installing Server.msi feature (Server.MSI) code 1603”

The error 1603 means a permission error. I verified the account I was running was an Admin account, nothing really changed. Made sure that none of the windows features got uninstalled (you never know with updates). All seemed fine.

I then stumbled across 2 installs that were still sitting under programs and features. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API. I uninstalled these 2 components, went back to my Lync Server 2013 installation and Server.MSI plus everything else installed perfectly.

I proceeded to Step 3, assigned my Certs and voila, Front-End Service started like a charm and all Lync clients started connecting again.

Hope it helps.

Lync Server 2013 Edge Server

Today I started with my Lync Edge Server installation. A few steps that need to be done on your Front-End Server before you can do much with the lync installation on the Edge server.

I created a new Edge pool, went through all the steps and added in all the correct IPs, etc. After that I exported the config using a simple command Export-CsConfiguration -File C:\export.zip

I copied the export to the new edge server as you need to select the option for Edge when running the install. After I ran step one I got a warning, I went to step 2 and got the following error in the installation.

“Warning, no host found in topology”, I realised my mistake, the Edge Pool name was different to the Edge server name and it needs to match the Edge Server. I quickly created a new Edge pool, removed the old one and published it. This time the install succeeded.

Hope it helps.