11th MVP Award Rewarded

I am actually on vacation, but as I sit here under the summer sun, toes in the pool and a cold drink within reach, I have been waiting for that email confirming that I’ve been awarded my 11th Microsoft MVP Award! As last year, I am being awarded in both the Teams and Copilot category. To say I’m humbled would be an understatement. Being part of the global Microsoft MVP community for over a decade now has been an incredible journey, filled with learning, sharing, speaking, and connecting with passionate technologists from every corner of the world. What is the Microsoft MVP Award? The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award is given to technology experts who share their knowledge and real-world expertise with communities. With fewer than 4,000 MVPs worldwide, it’s an honor to be part of such a vibrant and dedicated group. MVPs contribute through speaking engagements, writing, open-source contributions, and helping others online and offline. You can learn more about the progra...

Don't forget to specify sql instance on install-csdatabase

I was upgrading a Lync 2010 standard edition server to 2013, when I came across a problem with the "Install-CsDatabse" command. The technet article (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj688013.aspx) is pretty good, but it left me with the impression "RTC" was the default database for the command.

I was using the following command:

Install-CsDatabase -CentralManagementDatabase -SqlServerFqdn myserver.domain.com -Verbose

But all I was getting was an error message saying the server\instance was not available:


According to the article, RTC is the default instance, and I made the mistake of beliving RTC was the default instance for the command as well. After reading a couple of logs, trying to make it work, I realized the default instance for the command is DEFAULT, not RTC.

When installing a database on a Standard Edition 2013 server, remember to specify the RTC instance, and save yourself some troubleshooting :).

This command worked like a charm:

Install-CsDatabase -CentralManagementDatabase -SqlServerFqdn myserver.domain.com -SqlInstanceName rtc