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Apr 23

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Lync Administrative template (GPO)

Categories:

LCS / OCS / Lync

by Jeroen

23/04/2012

Twitt

Within Lync you can use in-band provisioning to perform most of the Clientside settings. An overview of these settings can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398300.aspx or for a more friendly blog: http://www.shudnow.net/2010/10/28/lync-2010-client-policies/

However, there are some settings that aren’t available (yet?), therefore I’ve downloaded the default template and documentation from this location: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27217 

After reading the documentation, I’ve got multiple requests of customers that they would like to have some additional settings in there… I’ll explain the settings and afterwards provide you a link to where you can download the custom Lync Administrative Template.

  1. Modify the time before the client downloads the (delta or full) addressbook. Remark. This is not recommended in a production or large scale deployment as clients are instantly downloading the Addressbook instead of the default waiting time (between 0 and 60 minutes). This sets the registry GalDownloadInitialDelay as documented here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972403
  2. Allow or disallow the autostarting of the Microsft Lync client. This sets the AutoRunWhenLogonToWindows as documented here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/csps/archive/2011/06/14/regautostartonlogon.aspx
  3. Modify the Idle and Away threshold. These are set to 5 minutes by default. The screenshot below shows the settings screen when you open Settings – Tools – Options – Statusimage
  4. Updated: I’ve added the functionality to Disable PC 2 PC Video.

There are excellent blogs on how to add the administrative template to a Group Policy, examples are: http://www.petri.co.il/adding_new_administrative_templates_to_gpo.htm or http://www.petri.co.il/administrative-templates-for-group-policy-objects.htm 

So for short, here is the file: lyncADM.zip

image

Have fun and if you have any more requests, feel free to contact me!!

Update 26-4: I’ve updated into version 1.1 to disable PC 2 PC Video. This could be handy in a scenario where you have Citrix and don’t want to allow Video calls on that specific server.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.reijling.nl/?p=876

34 comments

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  1. Ned

    29/04/2012 at 22:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi

    Good work, this would be handy.
    Cant access the file, it says file has been removed or does not have permission to view the file.

    Thanks

  2. Michael

    30/04/2012 at 22:32 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    The link to lyncADM.zip on your SkyDrive account is 404. Can you update the link? TIA

  3. Abaig

    01/05/2012 at 20:18 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    I would like to disable audio, Video and sharing options from Lync 2010 client side using GPO. Please create a ADM file so I can download and disable these options.

    Thanks
    AB

  4. Jeroen

    03/05/2012 at 12:07 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    I’ve updated the link, please try again ;-)

  5. Jeroen

    03/05/2012 at 12:09 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    I’ve updated it and you should be able to access it right now.

  6. Jeroen

    03/05/2012 at 12:47 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    With regards to disable Audio, use the TelephonyMode = 5… This disables PC 2 PC Audio.
    Video is covered in the updated ADM.
    Disabling Application/Desktop Sharing can be done using conferencing policies (see http://www.reijling.nl/?p=749).

  7. Dan

    12/06/2012 at 09:11 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Thanks Jeroen, great stuff.

  8. Rick

    20/06/2012 at 17:18 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    I did this, and the idle and away timeout do not show up.

  9. Jeroen

    21/06/2012 at 19:03 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi Rick,

    Are you sure the Group Policy was applied?
    Applying of a Group Policy is normally done at logon of the user. You need to be connected to the domain to have the Group Policies applied.
    If you are sure the Group Policy is on the correct OU or Group, start a command prompt and type:
    GPUPDATE /FORCE

    Then validate the numbers again.
    Good luck and if you have any questions, just ask!!

  10. Jorge

    26/06/2012 at 12:49 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Do this custom adm templates tattoo the registry?

    Thank you.

  11. Jeroen

    27/06/2012 at 08:16 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi,

    Yes, this adm template modifies registry settings indeed.

  12. Tobias

    05/07/2012 at 09:51 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi,

    I added your template, but there is no feature “allow or disallow auto sign-in” …. did you remove this feature?

  13. Jeroen

    09/07/2012 at 13:14 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi Tobias,

    It is based on user level, but I’ve added computer level as well. Please download again: http://sdrv.ms/PzOho5

  14. Geoff Lawrence

    12/07/2012 at 13:20 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hello
    Am interested in disabling video for a citrix installation, but unable to download the updated ADM, is it still available?

  15. Jeroen

    17/07/2012 at 10:42 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi Geoff,

    Yes, it is available, please try again: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=E288E33C8E7C25DA!15659

  16. lpm

    17/07/2012 at 11:40 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi jeroen,

    The set value idle and set value away options do not appear in the policy settings. Everything else is there but not those options.

    Maybe it’s because i’m using win2008R2 AD?

    They are there in the .adm file when I look inside, they just dont show up in the settings i don’t understand why.

  17. Jeroen

    17/07/2012 at 12:12 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    You should be able to see it under the User or Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Classic Administrative Templates (ADM) – Microsoft Lync Policy Settings.

    If not, please contact me again.

  18. Nathan

    19/07/2012 at 14:19 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi Jeroen,

    Would you be able to update the link please.

    Cheers

  19. chuckTesta

    21/07/2012 at 01:15 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    you are awesome. saved me a ton of time. thank you!

  20. Jeroen

    21/07/2012 at 05:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    It is updated, thank you for the feedback

  21. John van Poelgeest

    25/07/2012 at 08:40 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi Jeroen,

    The lync is outdated again…

  22. nicolas

    01/08/2012 at 12:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    hi jeroen

    the link is dead again… this is just what im looking for could you re instate it?

  23. Geoff Lawrence

    03/08/2012 at 11:16 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi,
    I wish to remove the video icons from lync conversations started from a Citrix environment.
    As advised in the blog, i downloaded the modified admin template to set telephonymode to 5. However, the users conferencin policies setting appears to be in conflict.
    For a user with “audio video disabled”, the video icon is not presented, users with “PC to PC” do have the video icon displayed, but this does not function; resulting in users logging service calls.
    Any thoughts on how to completely remove the video icons from a Citrix environment?

  24. Scott

    16/08/2012 at 16:05 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    This download appears to be broken.

  25. Jeroen

    23/08/2012 at 09:30 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Please try again

  26. Jeroen

    23/08/2012 at 09:31 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Please try again and otherwise send me a mail: jeroen at reijling.nl

  27. Jeroen

    23/08/2012 at 09:31 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Please try again and otherwise send me a mail: jeroen at reijling.nl.

  28. Geoff Lawrence

    23/08/2012 at 15:56 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    hi again, are you able to offer further advice regarding my query concerning removing the video icon from Lync Clints in citrix, where the user account has “PC to PC” enabled.

  29. Vlad

    05/09/2012 at 08:25 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hi, Jeroen Reijling!
    great job!
    But the reference to the file is not working.
    (SkyDrive)
    can you fix it?
    Thank you.

  30. Jeroen

    11/09/2012 at 13:20 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Please try again or contact me on jeroen at reijling . nl

  31. Ben

    20/11/2012 at 08:36 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    I am also experiencing the same issue as Geoff Lawrence. I am attempting to remove the Audio and Video feaures for PC to PC users by modifying the registry on Server 2008 R2 Citrix Terminal Servers.

    Disable Audio
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\TelephonyMode=5

    Disable Video
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\DisablePC2PCVideo=1

    These keys when use individualy work perfectly but combined seem to create a bug in which the video button is still visable. If the user clicks the video button, the button will disappear. Not sure why this is occuring? Any help?

  32. Stig Paulsen

    28/11/2012 at 00:16 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Hello, regarding update for disable PC 2 PC Video, is it also possible to disable Lync voice Call ?
    Thank you :)

  33. Andrew Stevens

    30/01/2013 at 21:47 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Downloaded this and gave it a try to prevent the auto starting of Lync, but it doesn’t work, from what I can tell this adm uses SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator but from what I can tell this won’t work and only HKCurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Communicator\AutoRunWhenLogonToWindows will actually be used by Lync.

    This is a shame, and no fault of this adm, but Microsoft not having Lync listen to Policies!

    Therefore, to get this to work, I added an additional section for this entry, however due to it not being in Policies it is technically a Preference, not a Policy (GPMC likes to remind us of this), so the new sections are:
    Microsoft Lync Preferences Settings
    Microsoft Lync Feature Preferences
    Then under here I add the AutoRunWhenLogonToWindows entry using the Current User registry entry above, this works but the user can change the value in Lync and from this point on it will continue to AutoRun.

    I can’t help but feel this is Microsoft’s intention, the Lync team seem very arrogant, where they insist on things like the AutoRun and not being able to Force the corporate Picture/remove the Do not show my picture option. While I understand Lync is a messenger for users, it’s a service provided by a Company/IT Department, and it’s them to set policy on these software/services.

    Wonder if any of them worked with Sharepoint… that’s another Microsoft product that boggles my mind… the way it integrates with AD or rather doesn’t with no two-way sync, ridiculous.

  34. Tom

    05/03/2013 at 16:28 (UTC 1) Link to this comment

    Thank You Jeroen :)

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