Install Lync 2010 Standard Edition Server – Part 1

In part one of this multi-part article series, we will set the scene, install the pre-reqs for Lync 2010 and prepare AD.

The lab that I am using for this series have the following servers.

• 2003 DC & Certificate Authority
• Exchange 2010 Multi-role server
• A 2008 R2 SP1 server for installing Lync 2010

All our work will be done from the 2008 R2 SP1 server, which will run Lync 2010 eventually. Lync 2010 requires .Net framework 3.5.1, IIS components, Silverlight and AD admin tools as pre-reqs. In order to install the necessary pre-reqs, open an elevated Windows PowerShell and run the following.

Import-Module ServerManager

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Static-Content,Web-Default-Doc,Web-Http-Errors,Web-Http-Redirect,Web-Asp-Net,Web-Net-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Http-Logging,Web-Log-Libraries,Web-Http-Tracing,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Client-Auth,Web-Filtering,Web-Stat-Compression,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-Scripting-Tools –Restart

The server will be restarted once the components are installed. Download and install Silverlight from here.

It’s time to run the setup from Lync 2010 DVD/ISO. Running setup will bring the window below, asking us to install Visual C++ 2008 package before proceeding further. Click Yes and the necessary software will be installed.

Specify the location for the installation files in the next step. The default location is good for a lab. If your company have set policies, choose an appropriate location and click Install.

Agree to the terms and conditions by checking the box and clicking OK.

Your server will have three Lync tools by now – the Lync Deployment Wizard, Lync Logging Tool and Lync Shell. The Lync Deployment Wizard will be run automatically and the first step is to prepare AD for Lync 2010 server. This involves preparing the Schema, then the Forest and then the Domain.

Click on Prepare Active Directory.

There are seven steps to complete before AD is fully prepared to take Lync Server 2010, the first being preparing the schema. Click the Run button to prepare the schema.

Click Next on the wizard which explains the process of preparing the schema.

The wizard will invoke Install-CSAdServerSchema, which is the cmdlet to prepare the schema. The schema preparation takes a couple of minutes. Be patient! The Finish button will be enabled when the schema upgrade is complete.

Click the Finish button and you will have a green tick mark against the Prepare Schema step.

Wait for the replication to finish if you are a large organization.

Next step is to prepare the forest. Click on the Run button in step 3.

Click Next on the wizard window.

The universal group location needs to be selected. Go with local domain unless you have a valid reason to put the groups in a different domain.

The wizard will run the Enable-CSAdForest cmdlet, which will prepare the forest for Lync 2010.

Click the Finish button when it is enabled and you will have a green tick mark against the Prepare Forest step.

Next step is to prepare the current domain. Click the Run button in step 5.

Click Next on the wizard window.

The wizard will run the Enable-CSAdDomain cmdlet, which will prepare the domain for Lync 2010.

Click the Finish button when it is enabled and you will have a green tick mark against the Prepare Domain step.

Repeat the Prepare Domain steps if you have more than one domain for Lync services.

The last step (not related to AD preparation) is to add your admin account to the CSAdministrator group in AD. This group will have already been created by the forest prep. This group membership gives accounts admin access to the Lync Control Panel.

This completes the AD preparation for Lync 2010. If all steps have been completed successfully, you will have a green tick against the Prepare Active Directory in the main page of Deployment Wizard.

This concludes part 1 of the article series. In the next article, we will be installing Topology Builder and preparing the first Standard Edition Server.