Can not sign in automatically to Lync Server 2010.

I deployed a standalone Lync Server Standard 2010.
but When I was trying to sign in from client, I was unable to.
The error I was gettting :


" Can not sign in to Lync Server because the server is temporarily unavailable. If the problem continues, please contact your support team."


I verified that all the Lync Server Services on the server were up and running.


What I did was :
1. Open Lync 2010.
2. Go to Settings => Personal => Advanced.
3. Select Manual Configuration and add FQDN of Standard Edition Server.


and then tried again and it worked!


The client was unable to find the Lync Server automatically.
I solved the problem by adding a DNS record to service on Lync Server.


Just follow the steps on link below :


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb663700(office.12).aspx


After you add entry, you should now be able to sign in to Lync Automatically.

Problems Encountered in Deployment of Microsoft Lync server 2010.

Recently I had a chance to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010.
I encountered some errors during its installation.
I will list them down below.


With the topology published, and Local Configuration Store installed, I proceeded towards "Install or Update Lync Server System" => "Setup or Remove Lync Components"


The Setup or Remove Lync Components Makes necessary changes towards the deployment, as define them and publish them in Topology Builder.


As I ran the Setup or Remove Lync Components, It proceeded and came up with following.


Command execution failed: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070020)


It is a problem that is caused by a port number that is being used by server and preventing Lync Server Websites to start.
In order to get past this error you must be able to start both the Lync Server Internal Website and Lync Server External Website.
So when providing ports in Topology Builder, always make sure that those ports are unique and not used by any other process. Conflicting of these ports causes Lync server websites prevent from starting.


Following command may help you if you want to find out if any of the ports are being used or not :


netstat -aon | find ":portnumber"


Also check information and bindings in inetmgr, if any of the websites are using that port.




Another error was caused while "Requesting and Assigning new certificates" from my internal CA(Certificate Authority).


System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x800706BA): The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)


This is a problem caused by firewall, in my case.
Disable firewall, if any and then try connecting again, it will work for sure.
We have Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway installed.


What I did was :
1. Open Forefront TMG.
2. Right Click Access Rule that deals with internal network traffic.
3. Configure RPC Protocol
4. Uncheck "Enforce strict RPC Compliance."
5. Click "Firewall Policy" then click "Edit system policy" in right hand pane.
6. Under Authentication Services, Click Active directory and uncheck "Enforce strict RPC Comliance."
7. Apply changes.


The above procedure must almost be same for Microsoft ISA Server too.

CRM Deployment Problems with Windows 2000 Domain.

Recently I had one scenerio for deploying CRM in following environment :
Windows 2k Server Domain : DC01, DC02. Both Trusted, Replicated domain controllers.
Windows Server 2008 R2 as CRM Server.
Windows Server 2008 with SQL Server 2005 SP3.


I started CRM Setup filling all the information as guided in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Implemetation Guide provided by Microsoft.
Later in Self Check being second last step of setup, it showed me that Reporting Server was configured incorrectly and it was unable to connect to http://servername/ReportServer URL.
Then I tried browsing ReportServer URL. It showed up with error :
HTTP Error 500.23 - Internal Server Error
An ASP.NET setting has been detected that does not apply in Integrated managed pipeline mode.
This usually happens when you have IIS7 on Reporting Services Server.


What I did was :
1. Run inetmgr
2. Expand Default Website
3. Go to Basic Settings of ReportServer Website.
4. Change the application pool to Classic .net Apppool.
5. Restart website.


This should get yourself a working Report Server.


Now that The dynamics CRM Setup completed all of its checks,
I clicked "Install" to start installation.


With the installation completed half, I came up with the error:


 Error| System.Exception: Action Microsoft.Crm.Setup.Server.GrantConfigDBDatabaseAccessAction failed. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Windows NT user or group 'Domain\SQLAccessGroup {9e798758-54f6-44a6-93a6-51b6faf49928}' not found. Check the name again.


I clicked retry, Hail microsoft, it worked!


Installation completed its progress, Finish installation, now browsed http://servername:5555/
Navigated to administration => Users => New User
typed a name in logon name box, hit tab, then all the fields filled themselves up with information they retrieved from Active Directory.


Then when I clicked Save and Close, It showed up error :
"You are attempting to create a user with a domain logon that does not exist.  Select another domain logon and try again"


This had something to do with Domain and Active Directory.
Then what I did was :
1. Remove CRM from "Programs and Features"
2. Remove CRM Databases from SQL Server.
3. Remove User Groups created in Active Directory.
4. Remove installation Directory contents, if any.
5. Install hotfix KB976494 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976494
6. Reboot Computer.
7. Restart installation.
This time it again showed up with the same error when half the installation was completed.
8. Then retry, hail microsoft, it continued.
But after installing the hot fix the error was resolved.
I was able to add users easily.


I think this error was occurred because of something that has to do with the Active Directory synchronization. The time taken by AD to sync between DCs is insufficient when CRM setup creates users.

Errors encountered during installation of CRM 2011 Beta

One can easily follow steps required during CRM 2011 Beta Installation if he reads implementation guide supplied by Microsoft.
I will note down here some errors and recommendations that I encountered and my personal conclusions.
CRM Installation is not a big deal.
1. Create a seperate container in Active Directory to keep CRM 2011 Users and Groups. That will help you troubleshooting and managing your CRM.
2. The first error I encountered was with SQL Server. Most of the errors you come to know when second-last step of setup i.e. Self check stage. 

SqlServerValidator.Failure.OsVersion

This error caused due to OS on which the SQL Server was installed was x86.

This tell you need to have a x64 or 64 bit SQL Server.

3. Then I Installed SQL Server on a 64 bit Server. But the problem was the server was Threat Management Gateway. The Threat Management Gateway installs its database instances that run on port number 1433 named ISARS. When the self check was going on, It showed up with error that "Check SqlServerValidator : Failure: Could not connect to the following SQL Server: ''. Verify that the server is up and running and that you have SQL Server administrative credentials. "

Then I tried connecting to MSSQLSERVER i.e. default instance of SQL Server through SQL Server Management Studio. It got connected successfully. Then what was the problem.

Then I found out that the MSSQLSERVER instance and ISARS instance were listening to same port i.e. 1433.

Solution: Go to Start => All Programs => Microsoft SQL Server => Configuration Tools => SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Expand SQL Server Network Configuration in the left pane.

Click Protocols for MSSQLSERVER

Double click open TCP/IP in right hand pane.

Go to IP Addresses tab.

Verify that the instance is listening to port number 1433.

Repeat the process for other instances, but verify that other instances are using ports other than 1433.

My conclusion is To install CRM Server 2011 you need to run MSSQL instance on port number 1433 only.

No other instance should run on 1433.

Then Restart all the instances you have made changes to.

CRM Server self checkup should now be able to find your SQL Server instance.