Publishing the Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition topology fails when the Central Management Store is created

The topology builder in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition fails when the Central Management Store (CMS) databases are created on the Lync Server 2010 back-end server that is running Microsoft SQL Server. The following error information is returned by the Lync Server 2010 topology builder:

(Red X) Topology publication failed

Creating Central Management Store     Failure

The Lync Server 2010 deployment log displays the following related error information:

InstallDatabaseCmdlet.CreateDatabaseForFeature

Error: An error occurred: Microsoft.Rtc.Common.Data.SqlConnectionException A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)

Note: The same error information is displayed in the Lync Server 2010 deployment log by using either the Install Database action or the Publish Topology action in the Lync Server 2010 topology builder.

The SQL Server installation that will host the Lync Server 2010 Central Management Store and databases is hosted on a supported Windows Server operating system. This issue occurs when the Windows Server operating system has a Windows firewall configuration that does not support the Lync Server 2010 database installation process.

 

  To resolve this issue on the Windows Server 2008 computer that hosts the Lync Server 2010 back-end SQL Server configuration, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Open the Windows Firewall program.
3. Click Change Settings to view the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box. 
4. Verify that Windows Firewall is turned on, and then click the Exceptions tab. 
5. In the To enable an exception, select its check box window, scroll to locate the Remote Administration Program or Port exception.
6. Make sure that the Remote Administration Program or Port exception is selected.
7. Click OK to close the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.

This procedure enables the Lync Server 2010 topology builder to connect to the Lync Server 2010 instance of SQL Server for remote administration by using the Windows PowerShell command Install-CsDatabase.

To finish creating the CMS, you may have to create port exceptions for the Windows firewall. The port exceptions that you must create for the Windows Firewall depend on the configuration of the Lync Server 2010 back-end instance of SQL Server as described here:

• The Lync Server 2010 SQL Server is hosted as a default instance
• You must create a port exception for TCP port 1433 for the SQL Server service.
• The Lync Server 2010 SQL Server is hosted as a named instance
• You must create a port exception for the TCP port that the Lync Server 2010 SQL Server service listens on.
• You must create a port exception for UDP port 1434 for the SQL Server Browser service.

Note: On a SQL Server installation that is hosted as a named instance, the SQL Server service uses a dynamic TCP port assignment to listen on. The SQL Server Browser service is hosted by the SQL Server installation. The SQL Server Browser service listens for client application requests for named instances on UDP port 1434. The SQL Server Browser service responds to these client requests by providing specific TCP port information for that named instance.

To locate the dynamic TCP port information for a SQL Server named instance that will host the Lync Server 2010 databases, follow these steps:

1. Start SQL Server.
2. Click Configuration Tools.
3. Select the SQL Server Configuration Manager.
4. Expand the SQL Server Network Configuration.
5. Select the protocols for the specific SQL Server named instance. Note: For a named instance, the TCP/IP protocol must be enabled.
6. When you have selected the protocols for the specific named instance, select TCP/IP in the details pane on the right side.
7. Right-click the TCP/IP network protocol to open its properties dialog box, and then click the IP Addresses tab.
8. Scroll down to locate the IP All section of the IP Addresses tab, and then note the value for TCP Dynamic Ports. This number represents the TCP port number of the SQL Server named instance that will host the Lync Server 2010 databases.
9. Click OK to close the TCP/IP properties dialog box.

To finish configuring the Windows Firewall port exceptions to enable access to the SQL Server service, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Open the Windows Firewall program.
3. Click Change Settings to view the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.
4. Make sure that Windows Firewall is turned on, and then click the Exceptions tab.
5. Click Add port to open the Add a port dialog box.
6. Enter a name for the port exception, such as SQL Server service.
7. Make sure that TCP is selected, and then enter the TCP port number that the SQL Server service is listening on.
8. Click OK two times to close the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.

Note: You can use steps 1 through 9 to configure the Windows Firewall TCP port exception for a SQL Server default instance or for a SQL Server named instance.

To finish configuring the Windows Firewall port exceptions to enable access to the SQL Server Browser service, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Open the Windows Firewall program.
3. Click Change Settings to open the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.
4. Make sure that Windows Firewall is turned on, and then click the Exceptions tab.
5. Click Add port to open the Add a port dialog box.
6. Enter a name for the port exception, such as SQL Server Browser Service.
7. Make sure that UDP is selected, and then enter UDP port number 1434. This is the default port that the SQL Server Browser service listens on.
8. Click OK two times to close the Windows Firewall Settings dialog box.

Note: You must create similar port exceptions for any network firewall that is between the server that hosts the topology builder and the server that hosts the instance of SQL Server for the CMS.

 

The error information that is listed in the Symptoms section of this article can be caused by the two configuration scenarios that are listed below:

Scenario 1

When defining the Lync server 2010 installation using Lync Server Topology Builder (TB) the wrong Fully Qualified domain name (FQDN) for the SQL Server store in entered. This will cause TB Publish Topology...  action to fail.

1. Use the Lync Server TB to locate the SQL Server store node and expand it
2. Right click on the FQDN of the SQL Server instance that that will be hosting the Lync Server 2010 CMS
3. Choose Edit Properties from the pop up menu
   
   

   Note: The SQL Server Store that will host the CMS cannot be edited after the CMS for the Lync Server 2010 pool has been succesfully published.

4. Enter the correct FQDN for the SQL Server store
5. Click on the OK button
6. Use the TB to complete the publishing of the CMS to the SQL Server store.
   

Scenario 2

The SQL Server's Network Configuration for the TCP\IP protocol is disabled. To review and update the TCP/IP protocol configuration for the instance of the SQL Server that will be hosting the Lync Server 2010 Central Management Store (CMS):

1. Locate the SQL Server Configuration Manager for either SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 from the All Programs menu
2. Expand the SQL Server Network Configuration node
3. Locate the Protocols for <SQL Server Instance Name> node for view and update the TCP/IP protocol configuration for the instance of the SQL Server that will be hosting the Lync Server 2010 CMS
4. In the details pane locate the TCP/IP node if it is disabled right click on it and choose the Enable menu option
5. This update requires a restart of the SQL server service on the the SQL Server that will be hosting the Lync Server 2010 CMS

Additional Information 

The Lync Server 2010 topology builder can fail in a similar manner when you republish a modified topology to the remote CMS and LS2010 databases that are located on a Windows Server 2008 computer that has a Windows Firewall configuration that does not support the Lync Server 2010 database installation process. The Publish Topology and Install Database actions in the topology builder in Lync Server 2010 will return the following error messages when these processes fail:

Publish Topology

Error: An error occurred: Microsoft.Rtc.Management.Deployment.DeploymentException Cannot determine where to install database files because Windows Management Instrumentation on the database server is unavailable from your computer or user account. To continue, you can resolve this issue, or you can specify where you want to install the files.

Install Database

Error: An error occurred: Microsoft.Rtc.Common.Data.SqlConnectionException Cannot open database xds requested by the login. The login failed. Login failed for user CONTOSO\administrator.

To troubleshoot this error information follow the steps that are listed in the Resolution section .