TechDays Belgium returns on 14-15-16 February 2012! Since we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary it will be a special edition: we’re moving to a brand new location (to be disclosed soon) and will offer you new ways to experience the conference.

For those who aren’t familiar with TechDays: it is the biggest IT event in Belgium, gathering thousands of professionals each year during 3 days. Fascinating technical sessions on both current and new technologies from Microsoft are complemented with many networking opportunities with your peers. And we welcome top notch speakers and local IT community leaders.

Curious? Nostalgic? At www.techdays.be you can relive the atmosphere of TechDays 2011.

Registrations will be open soon, so for now: save the date and don’t miss out!

You can also RSVP already on Facebook or LinkedIn and let your network know you will be attending. If you’re on Twitter, you can join the conversation via #techdaysbe.

Subscribe to our newsletters for developers and IT pros and stay up-to-date about TechDays 2012 (registration, speakers, session content, agenda, ...).

When talking about Office365, and how you can manage the Exchange Online piece of it using Exchange Management, Exchange Control Panel, and Exchange Management Console, people are often disappointed when finding out there is no Lync Control Panel, or Lync Management Shell to manage the Lync Online bit.

Looking at Lync Online, you can only manage it today using the Admin home page of your Office 365 portal:

You can manage organization wide the following settings:

• Enable/Disable Federation
• Enable/Disable Public IM Connectivity

Per user you can manage:

• Enable/Disable Federation
• Enable/Disable Public IM Connectivity
• Enable file transfer
• Enable audio and video

The following question often pops up: what are the configuration settings a user gets when signing into Lync Online?

Is there a way you can get your hands on the information provided via the process called in-band provisioning?

A nice definition/overview on how Lync takes advantage of this in-band provisioning is given for example in this blog article:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/csps/p/cmgmtprovisioning.aspx, from where the following copy-paste:

In-band provisioning is not a new feature; in-band provisioning already exists in several versions of Microsoft Office Communications Server. With Microsoft Lync Server 2010 (formerly known as Microsoft Communications Server “14”), however, in-band provisioning becomes an especially powerful mechanism for managing the behavior of client applications such as Microsoft Lync.

One way of seeing the information provided to a user signing into Lync Online, is by enabling logging in the Lync Online before signing in. In Microsoft Lync client, click Options, and select Tools:

In General, select Turn on logging in Lync:

Then sign into Lync.

You will see that there is a log file created, by default in the c:\Users\<UserName>\tracing folder:

The tool to read this file, is the Snooper tool, which you can access once you have installed the Lync Resource Kit Tools, available for download here:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=21165

After installing it, double-click Snooper.exe

And open the just created log file, by clicking File, Open File, and browse to the location of the log file:

Click on messages, and scroll to the message or search for the word property name

And there you will find all the info:

Omitted most of the info, to just get the property names:

<property name="ShowRecentContacts" >true</property>

<property name="ShowManagePrivacyRelationships" >false</property>

<property name="MaxPhotoSizeKB" >30</property>

<property name="DisableMusicOnHold" >true</property>

<property name="PhotoUsage" >AllPhotos</property>

<property name="AbsUsage" >WebSearchOnly</property>

<property name="EnableEnterpriseCustomizedHelp" >true</property>

<property name="CustomizedHelpUrl" >http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidlyncon?clid=1033&amp;p1=4&amp;p2=1041</property>

<property name="HotdeskingTimeout" >300</property>

<property name="EnableContactSync" >true</property>

<property name="ShowSharepointPhotoEditLink" >false</property>

<property name="EnableVOIPCallDefault" >false</property>

<property name="MaximumDGsAllowedInContactList" >10</property>

<property name="P2PAppSharingEncryption" >0</property>

<property name="EnhancedEmergencyServicesEnabled" >false</property>

<property name="LocationPolicyTagID" >user-tagid</property>

<property name="bypassEnabled" >true</property>

<property name="internalBypassMode" >Any</property>

<property name="externalBypassMode" >Off</property>

<property name="bypassId" >2e3ff79e-fb4b-4f6e-9668-eaa6ed79d3d1</property>

<property name="AllowIPAudio" >true</property>

<property name="AllowIPVideo" >true</property>

<property name="EnableAppDesktopSharing" >true</property>

<property name="AllowAppSharingForExternalMeeting" >Desktop</property>

<property name="RetainPPTForExternalMeeting" >true</property>

<property name="AllowPresenterToRecord" >false</property>

<property name="EnableDataCollaboration" >true</property>

<property name="MeetingSize" >250</property>

<property name="EnablePSTNConferencing" >false</property>

<property name="TrustedConferencingPinRequired" >false</property>

<property name="AllowParticipantControl" >true</property>

<property name="AllowAnnotations" >true</property>

<property name="AllowAnonymousParticipants" >true</property>

<property name="AllowExternalUserControl" >true</property>

<property name="AllowExternalUsersToSaveContent" >true</property>

<property name="AllowExternalUserRecording" >false</property>

<property name="AllowPolls" >true</property>

<property name="AllowRecording" >false</property>

<property name="EnableP2PRecording" >false</property>

<property name="AllowFileTransfer" >true</property>

<property name="MaxConferenceVideoResolution" >VGA</property>

<property name="AllowUserToScheduleMeetingsWithAppSharing" >true</property>

<property name="EnableP2PFileTransfer" >true</property>

<property name="AllowedAppDesktopSharingLevel" >Desktop</property>

<property name="AudioBitRate" >200</property>

<property name="VideoBitRate" >50000</property>

<property name="AppSharingBitRate" >50000</property>

<property name="FileTransferBitRate" >50000</property>

<property name="EnableP2PVideo" >true</property>

<property name="EnablePrivacyMode" >false</property>

<property name="AutoInitiateContacts" >true</property>

<property name="PublishLocationDataDefault" >true</property>

<property name="DisplayPublishedPhotoDefault" >true</property>

<property name="PersonalNoteHistoryDepth" >3</property>

<property name="SubscribeToCollapsedDG" >true</property>

<updatesServerEnabled>true</updatesServerEnabled>

<ucPortRangeEnabled>true</ucPortRangeEnabled>

<ucMinMediaPort>5350</ucMinMediaPort>

<ucMaxMediaPort>5389</ucMaxMediaPort>

<ucMinSipDynamicPort>7100</ucMinSipDynamicPort>

<ucMaxSipDynamicPort>7102</ucMaxSipDynamicPort>

<ucMinAudioPort>50000</ucMinAudioPort>

<ucMaxAudioPort>50019</ucMaxAudioPort>

<ucMinVideoPort>50020</ucMinVideoPort>

<ucMaxVideoPort>50039</ucMaxVideoPort>

<ucMinAppSharingPort>50040</ucMinAppSharingPort>

<ucMaxAppSharingPort>50049</ucMaxAppSharingPort>

<ucMinFileTransferPort>50050</ucMinFileTransferPort>

<ucMaxFileTransferPort>50059</ucMaxFileTransferPort>

<ucPC2PCAVEncryption>SupportEncryption</ucPC2PCAVEncryption>

<ucMaxVideoRateAllowed>VGA-600K</ucMaxVideoRateAllowed>

<qosEnabled>false</qosEnabled>

<ucDiffServVoice>40</ucDiffServVoice>

<ucVoice802_1p>0</ucVoice802_1p>

<ucEnforcePinLock>true</ucEnforcePinLock>

<ucMinPinLength>6</ucMinPinLength>

<ucPhoneTimeOut>10</ucPhoneTimeOut>

<ucExchangeMWIPoll>3</ucExchangeMWIPoll>

<ucEnableSIPSecurityMode>High</ucEnableSIPSecurityMode>

<ucEnableUserLogging>true</ucEnableUserLogging>

<loggingLevel>Low</loggingLevel>

<enableBWPolicyCheck>false</enableBWPolicyCheck>

<property name="name" >Standard User</property>

<property name="AllowSimultaneousRinging" >false</property>

<property name="AllowCallForwarding" >false</property>

<property name="EnableDelegation" >false</property>

<property name="EnableTeamCall" >false</property>

<property name="EnableCallPark" >false</property>

<property name="EnableCallTransfer" >false</property>

<property name="EnableMaliciousCallTrace" >false</property>

<property name="enableBWPolicyOverride" >false</property>

<property name="UcEnabled" >false</property>

Ilse

When reading through the Exchange Online Service Description, it clearly states that there is a built-in Deleted Mailbox Recovery Time of 30 days:

Deleted Mailbox Recovery

When an Exchange Online mailbox is deleted, its contents are recoverable for 30 days. A recovered mailbox contains all of the data stored in it at the time it was deleted. After 30 days, the mailbox is not recoverable. Administrators can recover a deleted mailbox using the Exchange Control Panel.

If the mailbox was originally deleted from the Exchange Control Panel and the user's account still exists in the Microsoft Online Services Portal, the administrator can recover the mailbox without assistance. If the user's account was deleted from the Microsoft Online Services Portal, then a call to Office 365 support is required in order to restore the Microsoft Online account so it can be linked to the recovered mailbox.

How does one recover a mailbox when the user has been deleted?

Time to test…

I have created a Demo User 99, and I can see this user using the Exchange Control Panel:

And when using the Exchange Management Console, connect to my online tenant,, it’s visible as well:

Using Remote PowerShell, I can clearly see that it’s a mailbox-enabled user, with one item in the mailbox:

Now, let’s delete the user Demo User 99

How can I retrieve the deleted mailbox now?

Option 1. The Shell = No

The cmdlet used in an On Premise Exchange environment, is not available Online!

Option 2. The Exchange Management Console = No

When connecting to an Exchange On Premise, you can scroll down to Recipient Configuration, and have a look in Disconnected Mailbox. But that’s not available in the EMC when connecting to an Exchange Online.

Option 3. Using the Exchange Control Panel = Yes

Open ECP, select Manage My Organization, go to Mailboxes (in Users & Groups), and select the Deleted Mailboxes…

This will show you a list of all deleted mailboxes, currently homed in de Deleted Mailbox Recovery

Select the mailbox you want to recover, and click Recover

Fill in the data needed, and click Recover

The newly created user will pop up

And the mailbox is recovered…

If you want to reconnect the mailbox to another existing user in your environment, you will need to issue a service request!

More information is available here: http://help.outlook.com/en-US/140/ms.exch.ecp.RecoverMailbox.aspx

Ilse

Since Lync for Mac is now available for download from TechNet, MSDN, and through the download site customers have access to via their volume licensing agreement, two questions often come back:

Q1. Can I use Lync for Mac to connect to my Office 365 Lync Online environment?

A1. Yes you can

Q2. Can I schedule Online Meetings using Outlook for Mac?

A2. Yes you can,

as long as you are using Outlook 2011 for Mac, deployed with the latest update 14.1.3, available for download from http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads:

Or you can go straight to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2598783 to download this Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1.3 Update:

Once you have Lync for Mac deployed, and Microsoft Outlook:Mac 2011, Version 14.1.3, you are ready to schedule online meetings

I’m using Lync for Mac and Outlook for Mac, to connect to Lync Online (Office 365). To schedule an online meeting, I first need to create a new meeting, and then I will see I can convert the meeting to an Online Meeting

Since I haven’t added dial-in conferencing with one of our approved dial-in conferencing providers, I can only click Join Online meeting at this point.

I can select Set Access and Permissions:

Here you can specify who gets directly into the meeting without waiting in the lobby.

And we can decide who can be a presenter as well:

And the Online Meeting is visible in Outlook for Mac as well

Ilse

Intro

When thinking about configuring a hybrid environment, as in moving some mailboxes online, and keeping some on premises, one the questions you need to answer is: how do you want to have your mail flow configured? Do you want your MX record to point to the Microsoft Datacenters, and configure mail routes to make sure internet mail destined for users homed On Premises are delivered, or do you want to have the MX record pointing to your local On Premises Exchange environment, and configure mail routes to assure mails are delivered to users with their mailboxes in Exchange Online.  The Exchange Deployment Assistant will provide you with the steps to follow for whatever configuration you opt:

Our environment

In our environment, we have chosen to keep our MX record pointing to our on premises environment, and thereby configuring mail flow as pictured below

Example of a message from the internet that is sent to demo.user2@msbelux.be, will be delivered to our Exchange On Premises environment. Exchange accepts the message, being responsible for the domain msbelux.be, and retrieves the following information about this user:

Demo.User2 is a so-called Remote Mailbox, being, a user in our on-premises Active Directory, having a mailbox in the cloud-based service, Exchange Online.

Where the RemoteRoutingAddress is the one of importance in our mail routing story, being (looking at TechNet):

The RemoteRoutingAddress parameter specifies the SMTP address of the mailbox in the service that this user is associated with.

If you've configured mail flow between the on-premises organization and the service, you don't need to specify this parameter. The remote routing address is calculated automatically

Mail is routed to Exchange Online, using the therefor configured Send Connector, with address space office365.msbelux.be, and smarthost Exchange Online.

When Demo User2 replies to the mail, since it’s primary address is set to demo.user2@msbelux.be, the mail will be sent using that e-mailaddress.

How do you create these Remote Mailboxes?

After setting up your hybrid environment, following the rules given by the Exchange Deployment Assistant, you can start moving mailboxes from On Premises to Online. After moving a mailbox, the user will be converted to a RemoteMailbox automatically, and there is nothing you need to configure manually, you just need to define the Remote Domain when launching a remote move request, as you can see in the pictures below when moving the mailbox of user1 to Exchange Online:

After the move, the user will show up as a remote user mailbox in the EMC

And as a mailbox-enabled user in Exchange Online

How about a new user?

Easiest way is to use the EMC, to create that user as new Remote Mailbox.

Open the EMC, go down to Recipient Configuration, Mail Contact, and select New Remote Mailbox

Chose the type of remote resource mailbox you wish to create

Enter the required user information

Add an archive if wanted

Review the configuration summary

Remote Mailbox successfully created!

Launch dirsync and assign a license to the newly created user

And that’s it, demo user3 can sign in, using his on premises credentials, and open his online mailbox

How about an existing user?

If you already have created a user in Active Directory, and the user has already been sync’ed to online (or not), you can give that user a mailbox in Exchange Online, by using the Exchange Management Shell cmdlet Enable-RemoteMailbox, as shown below where demo user 4 gets a mailbox in Exchange Online:

And this is seen online

One happy demo user 4

Be Careful: What happens if you would simply use the Exchange Online Management tools, like the Shell to mailbox-enable a sync’ed user, and give that user mailbox in Exchange Online?

The mailbox-enabled user will be able to send messages outbound, BUT won’t be able to receive messages from the internet or from an On-Premises homed mailbox, since the Exchange server On Premises doesn’t know anything about this user…messages will be queued, and an NDR will be sent back after (by default 2 days)… Let’s have a look at an example here…

After creating a user, Dummy Test, On Premises, and running DirSync, we have the following:

* On Premises Exchange shows:

* Online Portal shows

* Let’s enable Dummy Test for Exchange

* Connecting to Exchange Online using Remote PowerShell, reveals:

* sending messages outbound works fine, but whenever someone replies to a mail from the internet or from an On Premises mailbox, the messages are not delivered, and queued on the On Premises Hub Transport server:

Solution? Yes, run Enable-RemoteMailbox, force Directory Synchronization, and all good

On Premises:

Online:

Mail flow ok:

Ilse