Cloud Connector Custom Configurations

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by Nikolay Muravlyannikov, Carolyn Blanding, Bob Wille

With the introduction of Auto update feature in Cloud Connector, we started receiving asks what will happen with the custom changes made by tenant administrators.

Just to remind, Cloud Connector first  setup requires providing parameters such as SIP domains, IP addresses of virtual machines, the configuration of REFER, and some other parameters in the INI file. The full list of the parameters is in the Plan Cloud Connector Edition documentation. The INI file is the main source of configuration information for Cloud Connector.  During the update process, Cloud Connector installs the fresh set of Virtual machines and applies configuration settings from the INI file. Any parameters that are not present in INI are set to the default values.

Tenant administrators might have a need to change other parameters, that are not part of the INI to provide interoperability with 3rd party gateways or SBCs or for billing purposes. In this case, administrators need to disable auto update, perform the manual update, and return the settings after every update. We are working on a better management story moving forward.

For example, we receive many questions on how to enable History-info and Referred-By headers which are disabled by default.

By enabling these headers enterprises can more effectively bill for their services for calls forwarded or transferred to another PSTN number. More about the headers are here: https://download.microsoft.com/download/2/4/5/245583A7-E9E1-403B-BD15-AB711C7DF744/Lync%202013%20Headers%20for%20SIP%20trunk%20provider%20billing.docx

To set these headers, run the following in PowerShell on each Cloud Connector mediation server deployed:

Set-CSTrunkConfiguration -ForwardCallHistory $true.

However, when Cloud Connector is updated, the headers will be set to the default value of $false.

For custom configurations, we recommend the following:

  1. Set auto update to Manual instead of Automated. To set manual update, run the following in Skype for Business Online Powershell for every Cloud Connector PSTN site:

Set-CsHybridPSTNSite -EnableAutoupdate $false.

  1. When an update is available, update one appliance in a site at a time as follows:
  2. Follow instructions here to manually update the appliance: https://technet.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/mt740656.aspx Step 7 (Switch-CcVersion). Important: do not perform Step 7 (Switch-CCVersion) yet. Switching the version will bring the appliance to the production before you reapplied the custom configuration
  3. Apply the custom changes, for example by running Set-CSTrunkConfiguration -ForwardCallHistory $true in PowerShell on the Cloud Connector mediation server
  4. Run Step 7 (Switch-CCVersion) from https://technet.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/mt740656.aspx

Note: Microsoft supports the previously released version of Cloud Connector for 60 days after a new version is released. Cloud Connector appliances must be updated within 60 days of a new release.