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In this article we will have a look at configuring the monitoring server role for enterprise deployment  in a remote instance for Lync server 2013 and SFB.

If you want to monitor Lync server 2013/SFB  and Lync client 2013 you need deploy Lync Monitoring server role.

As an overview deploying the monitoring role into an Existing Lync enterprise deployment would look easier. Un proper planning according to your environment and  installation will result you in Empty reports.

But when we look into the real time practical scenarios the situation changes on each and every environment basis according to your SQL setup.

So we cannot follow the installation  as such  unless and until we are clear on the SQL configuration.

In this article based out of my real time experience i will post few points and tips  :

1) Before installing the monitoring server role ,You need to deploy the monitoring server and then you need to deploy the monitoring reporting service.

2) For that your Lync Admin user account should have SYSADMIN on the SQL server (assigned through SQL Server Management Studio > Security > Logins).

3) Lync only supports Windows Authentication.  So the remote SQL Server instance  you have chosen to install the monitoring role  will need Windows Authentication enabled, similarly user who launches topology builder needs to have permissions to create/edit databases and access the SRS you have configured.

Make sure the use windows credentials is selected.

4) You need to have  lcsqoeq and lcsCDRQ on the public queues of Message Queuing accessible from the Lync Server so that it can pull the data and show you the reports.

For example you can try accessing the reporting services instance you configured from the Lync Monitoring server and the configured SRSS should show as below.

5) The lync monitor server name (NETBIOS) should not be more than 15 characters
If this is the case MSMQ will not able to deliver the messages

Basically the approach should be the below:

a) First you need to configure the SRS instance on your remote SQL.
b) Install the SQL reporting services.You’ll have to run the SQL report server setup wizard to define the report server URL. usually sql.domain.com/reportserver_lync
c) Define the monitoring server in the topology.
d) Publish the topology.
e) And then install the reports from the installation wizard.

f) Make sure the lync server monitoring services is started, and the connectivity is good with sql server

g) Make sure that your SSRS instance SQL version (version and SP level) match the SQL version of your database instance that has the monitoring databases.

h) You should verify that the LcsCDR database was created in the SQL Server instance that you specified for Monitoring Server.

i) You need to run the dbo.RtcRecreateSummaryTable once the databases are created from the management studio.

Very IMP : You need to make sure that you are allowing the required ports for the srs url

Example if you have multiple srs configured on a SQL enterprise farm like one for Archive solution use a different port rather than 80 since the other application will be using this port.

Make sure that you are able to access the webpage of the report service URL from the Monitoring  server you are trying the installation

Usually the url would be your SQL server the port you defined and then the reports

Example :- http://SQL:8888/reports

If you have multiple applications using the SRS then you need to create the URL for the lync and make them to listen on different ports. Also you can see the other instances created under this location.

If its not accessible then you are having an issue with the permission with the account you have logged in on the SQL server.

Finally a healthy report should look like below

Hope this helps

Thanks

Sathish Veerapandian

MVP – Exchange Server

Normalization rules are Created to translate phone numbers in different format so that lync/SFB  can understand and transfer them to a correct location, User.

It is created to translate dial strings to E.164 format for the purpose of performing reverse number lookup.

This reverse lookup  is applied and reverse number lookup is performed, the called number is translated to  appropriate format so that the Lync/SFB mediation or the PBX receives the number in their understandable format so that they can perform the routing.

Its better to Classify  Normalization rules in the below scope :

User Dial plan –  Per User basis

Pool Dial plan –  Applicable to PSTN or registrar

Site dial plan –  Applies to Entire site

Global Dial plan – For all users

Its always better to create normalization rules rather than leaving the global as such . It will be easier to assign valid number patterns for each site according to the country and their area codes.

You need to keep these things in mind while creating a Normalization Rule

Dial plan – Per user, Per site , Pool or Global.
Country code – Choose the correct country codes according to your area.
Area code – Choose the right area code.
Length of extension – Make sure choose the correct length of extension that your PBX supports.

Below is the sample  format

^(\d{4})$

A regular expression should start with a ^ – This is a beginning of the string
Should end with $ – which should be at the end.

So any number within the brackets is counted as variable : $1

Similarly add the digit line URI format that your PBX supports for the SIP Trunk integration. So you need to input the right pattern and the correct  digits which combines and creates a right translation rule.

These Translation rules modify the number before it leaves your Lync server so that your integrated PBX setup can understand the routing correctly.

Basically the normalization rules input is provided by the address book service.So the rules are triggered once the number is received from the Address Book Service.The Address Book Service is designed in a way that it removes all the non-mandatory characters before the rule triggers. So you wouldn’t need to worry about these non-mandatory characters.

So you need to make sure the phone numbers are correctly populated in the Active Directory so that they can be fetched and used for the Lync.

If you already have provided the numbers in E.164 format then your job would be pretty much easy.

Now we will see how to populate these values in Lync 2013 and Skype for Business

If its Lync server 2013 you need to use Company_Phone_Number_Normalization_Rules.txt file located in your Lync File Store location. Open the topology builder and see your file store location in the below folder

Webservices\ABfiles\Company_Phone_Number_Normalization_Rules.txt

In the above example we need to open the text file and add below and save it

(\d{4})
+971$1

Once the above is done you need to run the below command

Get-CsAddressBookConfiguration

Make sure that use normalizationrules is set to true

Also there will be a notepad named Invalid_AD_Phone_Numbers created inside ABS files folder

Those numbers you get them in the txt are not acceptable number formats and you need to change them form the AD.

You can also test the normalization rule by running ABServer.exe file in the below path

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Server\Core\ABServer.exe -testPhoneNorm “1234565”

From Skype for Business this job has been made simpler. There is no such files we need to modify them for this functionality.

The only thing you need to make sure is that you have entered the phone numbering format in the correct pattern E.164

If that is the case you can run the below commands from which we need to modify the new set of default roles according to your region and country , area codes

These can be defined in the Organizational  Level by the below commands

New-CsAddressBookNormalizationConfiguration

Set-CsAddressBookNormalizationConfiguration

In-turn we need to create rules for translations and conversions.

New-CsAddressBookNormalizationRule

Set-CsAddressBookNormalizationRule

Thanks & Regards

Sathish Veerapandian

MVP – Exchange server