Waveformation

Microsoft just released a compelling update for it’s Communicator Mobile client. See the KB article for a full list of improvements. The update brings the current CoMo version to 6906.29.

Download the Smartphone package.

Download the Pocket PC package.

Issues that this hotfix package fixes

• Provides home screen support for new home screens in Windows Mobile 6.5+ phones.
• Provides integration within the phone dialer for Windows Mobile 6.5+ phones.
• Enables Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 to recognize when the phone is roaming and by default prevents Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 from signing in to roaming networks.
• Provides additional support for joining conference calls from a Windows Mobile appointment. To do this, press Menu, and then press Join Conference.
• Lets users log on by using a user name in the user@example.com format, in addition to the domain\user format.
• Enables the functionality by which callbacks are now automatically accepted when the user uses the Call via Work option.
• Resolves the problem in which the Microsoft Installer (.msi) installation fails on a Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)-based computer. In this situation, users should install Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 by using a (.cab) installation.
• Fixes the problem in which AT&T FUZE devices that are set for a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) connection cannot handle voice and data at the same time. In this situation, calls that use the Call via Work option fail unless the device is reverted to 3rd Generation (3G) by disabling HSDPA.
• End User License Agreement (EULA) update to allow OEMs pre-install Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 in addition to Standalone Web downloads.

I ran into an issue trying to call a new Exchange UM Auto Attendant from OCS today. Calls to the AA’s DID kept failing and the only error in the OCS Log (Snooper) was “The application specified an invalid request-uri”. The issue ended up being a problem with the name of the Exchange UM Auto Attendant. The Auto Attendant must be created without any spaces in the name. To fix the issue, delete the Auto Attendant and the associated OCS Contact object, recreate the Auto Attendant with no spaces in the name, e.g. “My Auto Attendant” -> “MyAutoAttendant”, and then rerun OCSUmUtil.exe and recreate the contact object.

Tom Pacyk wrote an article on how check the version of all endpoints connected to an OCS pool. Great way to weed out those users who haven’t upgraded.

http://www.confusedamused.com/notebook/checking-communicator-endpoint-versions-on-your-ocs-pools/

Microsoft has officially announced that OCS 2007 R2 will be supported starting in Q1 2010. They don’t give an exact date in Q1, but check it out on this page dedicated to listing apps officially supported by Microsoft on Windows 2008 R2.

Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals fame, has announced that he is retiring the NewSID utility. After questioning the common belief that duplicate SIDs posed a risk, he offers a compelling rationale why this is false and that we have been duped. The debate that follows in the comments leads me to the conclusion that machine images used for deployment should always be SysPrepped!

The new download pages on TechNet have just about any link you need for OCS 2007 R1/R2. My only criticism is there should be a section for all the latest hotfix patches. The Updates Resource Center has all the latest hotfix patches and firmware. Thanks Adam!

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Clients Downloads

Office Communications Server 2007 and Client Downloads

Updates Resource Center for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Clients

New features were introduced in Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) 7.0 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Now these features are available to XP SP3 and Vista SP1/SP2 with update KB969084.

New features in the RDC 7.0 client update
Web Single Sign-On (SSO) and Web forms-based authentication
Access to personal virtual desktops by using RD Connection Broker
Access to virtual desktop pools by using RD Connection Broker
Status & disconnect system tray icon
RD Gateway-based device redirection enforcement
RD Gateway system and logon messages
RD Gateway background authorization & authentication
RD Gateway idle & session time-outs
NAP remediation with RD Gateway
Windows Media Player redirection
Bidirectional audio
Multiple monitor support
Enhanced video playback

So you’re in the middle of an OCS deployment and you need to change a WMI value. It’s easy to use PowerShell to view and modify OCS 2007 R2 WMI values and I find it to be much easier and faster than using the alternatives, WBEMTest or VBScript.

The PowerShell command that makes this possible is Get-WmiObject.

To view WMI values, use the following syntax:

PS > Get-WmiObject -computer HOSTNAME -query "select * from WMI_CLASS where
 backend='SQL_SERVER\\SQL_INSTANCE'"

Enterprise Edition Example:

PS > Get-WmiObject -computer ocsent_hostname -query "select * from
 MSFT_SIPGroupExpansionSetting where backend='SQL01\\OCSInstance'"

Standard Edition Example:

PS > Get-WmiObject -computer ocsstd_hostname -query "select * from
 MSFT_SIPGroupExpansionSetting where backend='(local)\\rtc'"

Depending on where the WMI value lives, you may not need the

where backend='SQL_SERVER\\SQL_INSTANCE'

For example, the where clause is not necessary when using WMI to query Mediation server config settings. This is because a Mediation server is not associated with a particular pool. Any value that is associated with a particular Enterprise Pool or Standard Server will need this where clause.

Mediation Server Example:

PS > Get-WmiObject -computer ocsmed1 -query "select * from
 MSFT_SIPMediationServerConfigSetting"

This should produce output that looks like this:

__GENUS                  : 2
__CLASS                  : MSFT_SIPMediationServerConfigSetting
__SUPERCLASS             :
__DYNASTY                : MSFT_SIPMediationServerConfigSetting
__RELPATH                : MSFT_SIPMediationServerConfigSetting.InstanceID="{...
__PROPERTY_COUNT         : 17
__DERIVATION             : {}
__SERVER                 : OCSMED1
__NAMESPACE              : root\cimv2
__PATH                   : \\OCSMED1\root\cimv2:MSFT_SIPMediationServer...
DefaultCodec             : RTA_NB
GatewayEncryptionLevel   : DoNotSupportEncryption
GatewayListeningAddress  : 205.134.81.3
GatewayListeningPort     : 5060
GatewayNextHopAddress    : 205.134.81.2
GatewayNextHopPort       : 5060
GatewayTransportType     : TCP
InstanceID               : {3338C248-FA9C-4151-AAE5-75A556E8C73E}
MediaPortRangeFrom       : 60000
MediaPortRangeTo         : 64000
ProxyEncryptionLevel     : SupportEncryption
ProxyListeningAddress    : 192.168.133.79
ProxyListeningPort       : 5061
ProxyNextHopFQDN         : CORPOCS3.contoso.com
ProxyNextHopPort         : 5061
QoSEnabled               : False
RemovePlusFromRequestURI : False

So now we can view WMI values in PowerShell, let’s see how to change a WMI value. I’ll show you how to configure the Mediation server to strip the leading (+) plus sign from outbound calls. For this example, the Mediation server is named ‘ocsmed1′.

First, I want to store the Mediation server WMI values in a temporary variable.

PS > $temp = Get-WmiObject -computer ocsmed1 -query "select * from
 MSFT_SIPMediationServerConfigSetting"

You can verify that the values were stored correctly by typing the variable and hitting Enter. It should return the exact same output as shown above:

PS > $temp

Now set the ‘RemovePlusFromRequestURI’ value to true:

PS > $temp.RemovePlusFromRequestURI = $true

Next, write the changed values back to WMI:

PS > $temp.Put()

On Windows 2008, use the following command to install PowerShell:

Servermanagercmd.exe -install powershell

Other platforms can download PowerShell here.

OCS 2007 R2 WMI Reference

Office Communications Server and WMI

Where OCS Finds Data for WMI Classes

OCS, WMI, and PowerShell

UPDATED: Install OCSASNFix.exe on OCS Servers before installing KB974571.

Applies to the following OCS/LCS Roles:

• Standard Edition Server
• Director server role
• Enterprise Edition Consolidated
• Enterprise Edition Distributed – Front End
• Edge Server
• Proxy server role
• Office Communicator 2007 Evaluation version only
• Office Communicator 2007 R2 Evaluation version only
• Office Communicator 2005 Evaluation version only

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RT from Aaron Tiensivu’s Blog
I didn’t discover this one, so I’m just the messenger passing word on – KB 974571 (part of Patch Tuesday today – specifically related to Crypto-API/ASN1) will make OCS think it is an evaluation version that has expired. Uninstall KB 974571 and OCS works again. You will want to apply the KB once an updated patch, or an updated patch for OCS becomes available. I’ve verified this problem in my lab too.

Originally documented here, and here.

It’s finally here! An OCS client for iPhone users. Created by Microsoft partner Modality Systems, the iPhone App appears promising. Search for it in the App Store.