Adventures in Technology: Lync Server 2010 Troubleshooting Tips

When deploying Lync Server 2010 you will most likely come across a lot of strange behaviour and stuff that don’t work as expected due to configuration errors or environmental issues. I will in this post try to collect the solutions and articles I find and update along the way, to have troubleshooting tips in one place. Please let me know if any good blog posts or articles that solve some specific problems is not listed here.
General Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Lync may be a daunting task since there is a lot of elements that is involved in a deployment. Over the years troubleshooting OCS and Lync I have found a routine for eliminating problems. If you have deployed Lync Server and there is connectivity issues or some features not working I usually go about it in the following order:

Remember to run the Lync Control Panel, Lync Server Management Shell, BPA and other tools by right clicking and choose “Run as administrator”
Check that services are running
- Use PS command: Get-CsWindowsService -ExcludeActivityLevel | ft Name, Status
Start any stopped services
- Use PS onliner: Get-CsWindowsService -ExcludeActivityLevel | where {$_.Status -like "Stopped"} | Start-CsWindowsService
Check CMS replication
- Use PS command: Get-CsManagementStoreReplicationStatus
Check Event Viewer on Server and Client if there are any errors
Open the Topology Builder, check for misconfiguration
Check that ports are open and listening using the PortQueryUI tool
- Download it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310099
- Use netstat: netstat -an | find /i “5060″
Install the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tools, if its not already installed
- Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=80cc5ce7-970d-4fd2-8731-d5d7d0829266&displaylang=en
Run the TopologyValidator from the Resource Kit
- Using the Lync Topology Validator: http://www.confusedamused.com/notebook/using-the-lync-topology-validator/
Install and run Lync Server 2010, Best Practices Analyzer
- Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=030548df-0dc7-4f86-b8a9-2f5ec8de8ba5&displaylang=en
Break out Lync Logging tool and analyze traffic with Snooper from the Resource Kit
- Lync Logging Tool: http://www.ultimate-communications.com/2010/11/how-to-troubleshoot-lync-using-lync-server-logging-tool-snooper-v4/
- Snooper: http://blogs.technet.com/b/drrez/archive/2011/01/17/microsoft-lync-server-2010-resource-kit-tool-snooper.aspx
Analyze protocol traffic with Network Monitor or Wireshark
- Network Monitor: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f&displaylang=en
- Wireshark: http://www.wireshark.org/
- Wireshark Capture Tips: http://blog.schertz.name/2011/10/wireshark-capture-tips/
Stress test the solution to see if load is the issue, download and install Lync Server 2010, Stress and Performance Tool
- Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=94b5f191-6d80-4dec-94c2-fca57995f8b7&displaylang=en