Copilot: Self-Service Purchase coming soon

According to the message center Microsoft will roll out the new license request feature and self-service purchase option for Microsoft 365 Copilot by the end of March. These features will be available to users with various Microsoft 365 plans, including E1, E3, E5, and standalone products. Both features will be integrated within Microsoft 365 apps, such as Copilot Chat. The License Request feature I find quite beneficial, as it empowers end-users to justify their usage and request access. At least as long as the organization is already rolling out Copilot to their employees. However, the Self-Service Purchase option may raise concerns for organizations that are not yet prepared to deploy Copilot. It is advisable for all organizations to review their self-purchase settings and make decisions to allow or deny access based on their readiness state. License Request: This feature allows users to request a Microsoft 365 Copilot license directly from their admin. It helps efficiently assign ...

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