Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Front End : Installation (part 1) - Lync Server Topology Builder & Standard Edition Installation

Lync Server Topology Builder

After preparing Active Directory, the next step is to install the Lync Server Topology Builder. This tool is new and powerful. With a single tool it enables an administrator to design and validate a Lync Server topology, and then publish it to Active Directory. This process greatly simplifies deployments compared to previous versions of Communications Server.

Installation of the Topology Builder comes with some prerequisites and requirements. First, the administrator must be a member of the Domain Admins account in Active Directory. The right to install the Topology Builder can be delegated, but only by a user who is a member of both the Domain Admins and RTCUniversalServerAdmin groups. The other requirements and prerequisites are outlined in the following list:

• 64-bit edition of the following:

  • Windows Server 2008 R2

  • Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later

  • Windows 7

  • Windows Vista SP2 or later

• Net Framework 3.5 SP1 or a later service pack.

• Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x64 9.0.30729.4148. The Deployment Wizard automatically installs this package if it is not already installed.

• Windows PowerShell 2.0. This is already installed for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. For Windows Server 2008, it must be downloaded separately (Microsoft KB968930).

  Caution

  Note that the previous versions of PowerShell must be uninstalled prior to installing PowerShell 2.0.

  
  

• Message Queueing (MSMQ) services. Be sure to also install Directory Services integration during the “Features” Installation Wizard.

• Backward Compatibility Pack for SQL Server 2005 v. 8.05.2312. Although this is not technically required to install Topology Builder, it is required to run the Install-CsDatabase cmdlets. These cmdlets are sometimes called by Topology Builder, depending on the chosen topology, and this should also be considered a prerequisite. This installation package can be found on the installation media in the \Setup\amd64 directory as SQLServer2005_BC.msi.

After the prerequisites are installed, the actual installation of the Topology Builder tool can begin. To install Topology Builder, follow these steps:

1.	Run setup.exe from the installation media. It is located at \setup\amd64\setup.exe.
2.	If the installer prompts you to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, click yes and follow the Installation Wizard.
3.	Click Install Topology Builder in the right column menu of the Deployment Wizard.
4.	After installation is complete, there is a check mark next to the Install Topology Builder link, which is grayed out, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Completed Topology Builder Installation

The Topology Builder tool functions differ depending on your choice of Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition deployment. The process is outlined in each respective section that follows.

Standard Edition Installation

As noted previously, Lync Server Standard Edition is designed for smaller deployments. Standard Edition deployments can have only one server per pool and use SQL Server 2008 Express on the same server as the front end. This results in limited scalability and no redundancy. For this reason, Standard Edition is recommended only for small deployments or where high availability is not a requirement.

The first step for any Standard Edition deployment is to prepare the server as a Central Management Store and prepare the database.

The next step is to define the topology with Topology Builder.

Topology Builder for Standard Edition Deployments

Lync Server uses the published topology to process traffic and maintain overall topology information. To ensure the topology is valid, it is recommended you run Topology Builder before your initial deployment and publish an updated topology after each topological change. This example shows a Standard Edition topology. Remember, if you change the topology later, it should be republished to ensure consistency.

When you first launch Lync Server Topology Builder, you see a partially blank MMC screen, as shown in Figure 2. Compare that to the detailed result at the end of this example.

Figure 2. Topology Builder without a Defined Topology

To begin using Topology Builder, follow the steps that follow:

1.	In the right side of the Action pane, click New.
2.	Define the default SIP domain. In many deployments, this is simply your domain name, as shown in Figure 3. In more complex deployments, additional SIP domains might be added by clicking the Add button. When you are done defining SIP domains, click OK. Figure 3. Define Default SIP Domain
3.	The Next window will ask you to define the first site name as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Define Site Note Note that Lync Server sites have no relationship to Active Directory sites. They are completely separate and unique to Lync Server.
4.	The next window prompts the Administrator for the geographic location of the first site. Click Finish to complete the wizard.
5.	This brings up the Define Front End Pool wizard.
6.	Define the pool FQDN and select the radio button for Standard Edition, and then click Next as shown in Figure 5. Figure 5. Define Front End Pool
7.	Choose the appropriate workloads for your deployment, and then click Next. Choose the proper collocation options and click Next. Choose whether other server roles such as Archiving and Monitoring should be associated with this pool and click Next.
8.	Define the database to be used by the pool, as shown in Figure 6. For a Standard Edition deployment, the SQL box is grayed out because a local instance of SQL Express is always used. Click Next. Then define the file share to be used by the pool and click Next. Figure 6. Define SQL Instance and File Share for Front End Pool Note Note that you need to manually create the share on the front end before progressing past step 8. After the share is created, Lync Server assigns the appropriate permissions.
9.	When you are ready, click Next.
10.	Specify the Web Services URL and click Next. Specify the PSTN Gateway as shown in Figure 7 and click Finish. Figure 7. Enterprise Voice Topology

This completes the initial topology definition. However, there are additional steps to complete a fully functional topology. The next step is to define easy-to-remember URLs for common Lync Server functions.

1.

From the main Topology Builder page where Lync Server 2010 is highlighted, expand Simple URLs in the main pane, as shown in Figure 8, and then click Properties in the right pane. Figure 8. Expand the Simple URLs

2.

Enter easy-to-remember URLs, as shown in Figure 9. Figure 9. Configured Simple URLs Note The following three examples are all valid for Lync Server simple URLs: https://<function>.<domain _fqdn>: https://dialin.companyabc.com https://<sip_domain>/<function>: https://companyabc.com/dialin https://<External_WebPool_FQDN>/<function>: https://cs2010.companyabc.com/dialin Note that these are the only allowed syntaxes.

Port information, such as https://dialin.companyabc.com:443, is invalid. If you choose the first option, the FQDNs need to be included as SANs on your certificates. If you choose the second or third option, note that the following virtual directory names are reserved and cannot be used as part of a simple URL:

• ABS

• Conf

• LocationInformation

• RequestHandler

• AutoUpdate

• cscp

• OCSPowerShell

• RGSClients

• CertProv

• GetHealth

• ReachWeb

• RGSConfig

• CollabContent

• GroupExpansion

• RequestHandlerExt

• WebTicket

Publish the Topology

The final step is to publish the topology to the Central Management Store. In a Standard Edition deployment, this is the first front end you define. Perform the following steps to publish your topology:

1.	In the Topology Builder tool, in the top-level menu item in the left pane, select Lync Server, as shown in Figure 10. Figure 10. Top Level of Topology Builder
2.	In the right pane, select Publish Topology.
3.	At the opening screen, click Next.
4.	Ensure that correct Central Management Store is selected, and then click Next. This starts the publishing process and overwrites any existing topologies.
5.	The Publish Topology window displays the actions being performed. Ensure it says “Succeeded” at the bottom when it is finished, as shown in Figure 11, and then click Finish. Figure 11. Successfully Published Topology

Installing the Front End Role

It is important to note that if you jumped to this section before completing the previous steps, you need to go back. Preparing the server for the first Standard Edition server and building a valid topology in the Topology Builder tool are both prerequisites to installing the Front End role. This is a different process from Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2, and it involves more steps.

The following prerequisites are required to install the Standard Edition Front End role:

• IIS with the following options:

  • Static Content

  • Default Document

  • Directory Browsing

  • HTTP Errors

  • HTTP Redirection

  • ASP.NET

  • .NET Extensibility

  • Internet Server API (ISAPI) Extensions

  • ISAPI Filters

  • HTTP Logging

  • Logging Tools

  • Request Monitor

  • Tracing

  • Basic Authentication

  • Windows Authentication

  • Request Filtering

  • Static Content Compression

  • IIS Management Console

  • IIS Management Scripts and Tools

• Message Queueing with Directory Service Integration

After you’ve completed the steps outlined previously, the server is ready to install the Front End role. In the main Lync Server Deployment Wizard screen, click Install or Update Lync Server System from the main pane. Follow the steps that follow to complete the installation process:

1.	Click Run to Install the local configuration store and follow the wizard.
2.	For Step 2: Setup or Remove Lync Server Components, click Run.
3.	The next screen shows the actions being performed, as shown in Figure 12. This process takes a few minutes to complete. Figure 12. Installing the Front End Role
4.	After the task completes, click Finish, and you are brought back to the Deployment Wizard.
5.	Review Step 3: Request, Install or Assign Certificates and click Run. This deployment requires a total of four certificates, so you need to run this step eight times: four times to request certificates and four times to assign them.
6.	Because this is a new deployment, choose Create a new certificate.
7.	At the next screen, choose Default as shown in Figure 13, and then click Request. Figure 13. Request the Default Certificate
8.	Assuming you are using an internal CA, choose Send the request immediately to an online certificate authority and click Next. This is the default option.
9.	Select the appropriate CA for your environment from the drop-down list, choose a friendly name and key length, enable Mark the certificate’s private key as exportable as shown in Figure 14, and then click Next. Figure 14. Certificate Request Settings
10.	Enter your Organization Name and Organizational Unit, and then click Next.
11.	Select your country from the drop-down menu, and then enter your state/province and city/locality. Remember that full names must be entered, and abbreviations are not considered valid for certificate requests. When complete, click Next.
12.	The Deployment Wizard automatically adds the SANs required based on the published topology. Unless you have special requirements, select the option to Skip and then click Next.
13.	Review the information to ensure it is correct, and then click Next.
14.	This screen shows the commands executed, as shown in Figure 15. Figure 15. Certificate Request Process
15.	Click Next.
16.	Ensure the Assign this certificate to Lync Server usages box is checked and click Finish. Click Next through the wizard to assign the certificate. Figure 16 shows the actions taking place. Figure 16. Choose the Default Certificate
17.	Ensure the process completes successfully, and then click Finish.
18.	Click Close to close the wizard.
19.	After the certificates have been assigned, there is a check mark by step 3 as shown in Figure 17. If there is not a check mark, check your process because you might have skipped a step. Figure 17. Certificate Process Completed
20.	If the file store for the pool is located on this system, you need to reboot before continuing. After the reboot, restart the Deployment Wizard by launching Setup.exe.
21.	Click Install or Update Lync Server System, and then click Run for Step 4: Start Services.
22.	Click Next.
23.	Ensure all services start, as shown in Figure 18. Figure 18. All Services Started
24.	Click Exit to leave the Deployment Wizard.

The Standard Edition front end is now installed and ready for further configuration using the Lync Server Control Panel.

The following DNS records are required for client autoconfiguration:

• SRV record of _sipinternaltls._tcp.<sip_Domain> for port 5061 pointing to the FQDN of your front end pool or Director

• Host (A) record of sipinternal.<sip_Domain> pointing to the IP address assigned to your front end pool or Director

• Host (A) record of sip.<sip_Domain> pointing to the IP address assigned to your front end pool or Director