Exchange 2013, SharePoint 2013 and Lync 2013 – virtual machines from Microsoft

Microsoft has published a complete set of virtual machines ready to use with Exchange 2013, Lync 2013 and SharePoint 2013.

You can use these virtual machines as a Lab for 180 days.

You can use all or part of these VM’s depending of the scenario you want to evaluate, including unified messaging.

If you want to run the full environment, you need to host the VM’s on a server which has 24 Gb of RAM and 150 Gb of disk space.

 

Download the VM’s here:

 

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Lync 2013 client update KB2825630 – lync status in system tray

 

Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Lync 2013.

 

This update provides the latest fixes for Lync 2013.

 

This KB2825630 update fixes the issue that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

  • 2880161 You can’t drag a contact from Lync 2013 to another application
  • 2880163 Proxy authentication dialog box appears when you sign in to Lync 2013
  • 2880164 Instant message sent from Lync Web App displays wrong symbols in Lync 2013
  • 2880167 Can’t sign in to Lync 2013 when a user logs on to a computer by using an account from a different AD forest
  • 2882812 A proxy authentication dialog box appears when you upload a PowerPoint presentation in Lync 2013
  • 2882813 Can’t sign in to Lync 2013 on a computer that is running Windows 7
  • 2882814 Extended character is displayed incorrectly in a disclaimer in Lync 2013
  • 2854650 You cannot start a collaboration application that is integrated with Lync 2013

 

Also it fixes system tray icon for Lync 2013 client.

With update we can again have Lync Client system tray icon which shows client status.

he following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

32-bit Download the 32-bit Lyncloc update package now.

64-bit Download the 64-bit Lyncloc update package now.

 

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Get-MessageTrackingLog expand all recipients

When you run Get-MessageTrackingLog to find emails send by someone or with some subject, then you will get list of recipients.

Recipients are returned as SystemObject to you can’t save them to file because you will get in file only string SystemObject[]

Also in Exchange Mamangement Shell you will get recipients list which ends with

So to display all recipients in EMS you need to modify Get-MessageTrackingLog using function join.

With join we will create string with all recipients separated by comma.

[string]::join(",",$_.recipients)

 

 

Now you need to add join to Get-MessageTrackingLog like this example, where you will get all emails sent by john@domain.com :

Get-TransportServer | Get-MessageTrackingLog -resultsize unlimited-eventid receive | ? {$_.sender -like "john@domain.com"  -and $_.source -eq "STOREDRIVER"} | Select-Object timestamp, sender, messagesubject, @{label="recipients";expression={[string]::join(",",$_.recipients)}} | sort timestamp | ft -auto

 

As a result we will get timestamp, sender address, message subject, and recipients in one line separated by comma.

But if you will get many recipients then EMS will display only few and will end by …

To get all recipinets in one line and save them in to a file you can use operator > and Out-String like below:

Out-String -Width 4096 > D:\logs\emails_sent.txt

 

Now your command will look like below:

Get-TransportServer | Get-MessageTrackingLog -resultsize unlimited-eventid receive | ? {$_.sender -like "john@domain.com"  -and $_.source -eq "STOREDRIVER"} | Select-Object timestamp, sender, messagesubject, @{label="recipients";expression={[string]::join(",",$_.recipients)}} | sort timestamp | ft -auto | Out-String -Width 4096 > D:\logs\emails_sent.txt

 

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Cecurity update KB2817630 removes Outlook folder pane

After installing the non-security update KB2817630 many people reports to Microsoft that they lost Folder Pane in Outlook 2013.

Microsoft pulled out this update in 3h of its release.

This patch couses desappearing Folder Pane in Outlook 2013 when you using Office 2013 Standard or Professional Plus.

How to resolve this problem:

Two updates can get a user into this state. Installing the September Public Update delivers an updated version of mso.dll without updating outlook.exe, resulting in the incorrect user interface.

  • If you have Automatic Updates enabled, visit the Add Remove Programs feature of your Windows Installation, and uninstall KB2817630. Close Outlook and restart.
  • If you have installed the August Cumulative update (which you must do manually), removing KB2817347 will correct the issue. From the Add Remove Programs feature, select KB2817347 from the list and select “Uninstall.” Close Outlook and restart.
  • If you have BOTH Updates installed, the problem is not evident. The issue only manifests when one of the updates has been installed. If you have updated to the September Public Update and you want to roll forward, install the August Cumulative update, KB2817347.
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Office 365 donation program for nonprofits

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the global availability of Office 365 for Nonprofits for qualifying nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) through its software donation program. The donation is available immediately in 41 countries around the world and for up to 90 countries by July 2014.

 

Office 365 for Nonprofits provides nonprofits and NGOs with access to Microsoft’s always up-to-date Office cloud service, tailored to the needs of nonprofits through the following benefits:

  • Ability to access information from virtually anywhere. Office 365 for Nonprofits increases an organization’s ability to work from virtually anywhere with access to documents and files from Office applications optimized for use across PCs, smartphones and tablets.
  • Easy collaboration. Nonprofits are able to work together easily across an organization by using familiar Office applications with email, shared calendar, document sharing and videoconferencing.
  • Easy IT implementation. Office 365 for Nonprofits includes access to easy-to-use administrative controls and the ability to install Office without uninstalling previous versions.
  • Reliability and up-to-date technology. Office 365 for Nonprofits allows organizations to spend less time on IT maintenance, while providing access to always up-to-date technology that is simple and easy to use. And Office 365 for Nonprofits is backed by industry-leading security features and a 99.9 percent financially backed uptime guarantee.

 

Below you can find table with available Office 365 Nonprofits:

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Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Protocol Workloads Poster

 

Lync Server 2013 Protocol Workloads Poster

 

 

 

 

 

Learn how Lync Server can help your organization provide instant messaging, web conferencing, application sharing, and voice communication.

Now you can download Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Protocol Workloads Poster to udnerstand the capabilities and requirements of Lync 2013.

This poster is divded into four parts:

  • IM and Presence
  • A/V and WEB conferencing
  • Application Sharing
  • Enterprise Voice

 

Poster is available as PDF or VSD file.

You can download it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39968

 

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Exchange 2010 OWA Help url change

If you have your own website where help files are located, then you can change OWA Help url to point to this website.

Then users will use yours help documents published by Helpdsk.

 

By default OWA Help url opens website:

http://help.outlook.com/pl-PL/140/ms.exch.owap.MailPremium.aspx

 

To change OWA Help URL you need to run EMS and then type:

Set-ExchangeAssistanceConfig -OWAHelpURL "http:\\mywebsite\owahelp.html"

 

You can easly change others urls used in Exchange environment like: ControlPanel, OWA, Windows Live Account etc.

 

To get list of all of those links, use command:

Get-ExchangeAssistanceConfig

 

OWAHelpURL

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Microsoft exams – Second Shot is back

Those of you who is going to take Microsoft exam, we have good news.

Since 08/30/2013 Second Shot for Microsoft exams is back.

Now you can get your Second Shot voucher for Microsoft exams with a prefix of 070 or 071, and for the Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certification exams administered through Prometric.

With Second Shot, if you fail your exam the first time you take it, you can use the same voucher for your retake exam.

secondshot

 

The Second Shot offer is available until May 31, 2014.

 

To get your voucher go to:

Microsoft Second Shot Vouchers

 

You will get voucher number on your email.

Schedule and pay for your exam at Prometric using your voucher code, take your exam and if you don’t pass the exam, use your voucher to register for the same exam again at no charge.

Additional terms and conditions you can find here:

Microsoft Commercial and MTA Second Shot Voucher Terms and Conditions

 

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Exchange Online mailbox sizes are doubling

Those of you who use Exchange Online or Office 365 are lucky.

Yesterday 08/29/2013 Office 365 technology blog informed that size of all mailboxes in all Exchange Online and Office 365 service plans is doubling !!!!

Current mailbox size was 25GB, but since yesterday it’s 50GB and there’s no price
increase associated with this change.!!!

This new mailbox size should stisfy even most active email users.

 

You don’t need to do anything to take advantage of this new mailbox size.
Your mailbox size will automatically be increased.
The increase starts rolling out to customers yesterday and continues through November.

Also shared mailbox size limit is increased to 10GB.

 

exchangeonlineLogo

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Microsoft.Exchange.RpcClientAccess.Service.exe process cause excessive CPU usage on Client Access servers in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

On Microsoft Support website you can find article about high CPU usage on Client Access Server.

 

CPU_usage

 

 

 

This issue can occur in following scenario:

  • You deploy some public folder databases in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 environment that has Update Rollup 5 version 2 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later-version update rollup installed.
  • The environment contains multiple Active Directory sites.
  • The default public folder server is unavailable. So, the Microsoft Exchange RPC Client Access service tries to connect to other public folder servers.

 

In this scenario, the Microsoft.Exchange.RpcClientAccess.Service.exe process consumes excessive CPU resources on one or more Client Access servers in the site. Additionally, Microsoft Outlook clients cannot connect to Exchange servers, or they encounter slow performance when they connect to Exchange servers.

To resolve this issue, install the following update rollup:

2866475 Description of Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3

More information you can find here…

 

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