Creating DNS Records for the Autodiscover Service
Topic Last Modified: 2012-05-13
To support autodiscovery for Lync Server 2010 mobile users, you need to create the following Domain Name System (DNS) records:
An internal DNS record to support mobile users who connect from within your organization's network
An external, or public, DNS record to support mobile users who connect from the Internet
You must create an internal DNS record and an external DNS record for each SIP domain.
The DNS records can be either A (host) records or CNAME records. The following procedures describe how to create internal and external DNS records. For more details about the DNS requirements for mobile users, see Technical Requirements for Mobility.
Important
A successful deployment of mobility requires correct configuration of Edge server and reverse proxy DNS records. Confirm that you have the following record configured correctly for your Edge server deployment:
A DNS record hosted on the external DNS server is of type SRV, is defined as _sipfederationtls_tcp.<domain name> and is configured for your SIP domain name (for example, if your domain name is contoso.com, the record would be _sipfederation._tcp.contoso.com and would point to the Access Edge server host (A) record sip.contoso.com.
If the record does not exist or the SRV record is pointing to an A record that is not consistent with the SIP domain, there is a high likelihood that mobility services will not be successful. This happens because the Mobility Push Notification service is a special type of federation, and the record for federation is required on the DNS server that serves DNS for your external Internet presence.
To create DNS CNAME records
Log on to a DNS server as follows:
To create an internal DNS record, log on to a DNS server in your network as a member of the Domain Admins group or a member of the DnsAdmins group.
To create an external DNS record, connect to your public DNS provider.
Open the DNS administrative snap-in: Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
Do one of the following:
For an internal DNS record, in the console tree of the DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your Active Directory domain (for example, contoso.local).
Note
This domain is the Active Directory domain where your Lync Server Director pool and Front End pool are installed.
For an external DNS record, in the console tree of the DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).
Verify that a host A record exists for your Director pool as follows:
For an internal DNS record, a host A record should exist for the internal Web Services fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebdir01.contoso.local).
For an external DNS record, a host A record should exist for the external web services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebextdir.contoso.com).
Verify that a host A record exists for your Front End pool as follows:
For an internal DNS record, a host A record should exist for the internal Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebpool01.contoso.local).
For an external DNS record, a host A record should exist for the external Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebextpool01.contoso.com).
For an internal DNS record, in the console tree of your DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).
Note
If you are creating an external DNS record, Forward Lookup Zones is already expanded for your SIP domain from step 3.
Right-click the SIP domain name, and then click New Alias (CNAME).
In Alias name, type one of the following:
For an internal DNS record, type lyncdiscoverinternal as the host name for the internal Autodiscover Service URL.
For an external DNS record, type lyncdiscover as the host name for the external Autodiscover Service URL.
In Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for target host, do one of the following:
For an internal DNS record, type or browse to the internal Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebdir01.contoso.local), and then click OK.
For an external DNS record, type or browse to the external Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebextdir.contoso.com), and then click OK.
Note
If you do not use a Director, use the internal and external Web Services FQDN for the Front End pool, or, for a single server, the FQDN for the Front End Server or Standard Edition server.
Important
You must create a new Autodiscover CNAME record in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that you support in your Lync Server 2010 environment.
To create DNS A records
Log on to a DNS server as follows:
To create an internal DNS record, log on to a DNS server in your network as a member of the Domain Admins group or a member of the DnsAdmins group.
To create an external DNS record, connect to your public DNS provider.
Open the DNS administrative snap-in: Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
Do one of the following:
For an internal DNS record, in the console tree of the DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your Active Directory domain (for example, contoso.local).
Note
This domain is the Active Directory domain where your Lync Server Director pool and Front End pool are installed.
For an external DNS record, in the console tree of the DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).
Verify that a host A record exists for your Director pool as follows:
For an internal DNS record, a host A record should exist for the internal Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebdir01.contoso.local).
For an external DNS record, a host A record should exist for the external Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebextdir.contoso.com).
Verify that a host A record exists for your Front End pool as follows:
For an internal DNS record, a host A record should exist for the internal Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebpool01.contoso.local).
For an external DNS record, a host A record should exist for the external Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebextpool01.contoso.com).
For an internal DNS record, in the console tree of your DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).
Note
If you are creating an external DNS record, Forward Lookup Zones is already expanded for your SIP domain from step 3.
Right-click the SIP domain name, and then click New Host (A or AAAA).
In Name, type the host name as follows:
For an internal DNS record, type lyncdiscoverinternal as the host name for the internal Autodiscover Service URL.
For an external DNS record, type lyncdiscover as the host name for the external Autodiscover Service URL.
Note
The domain name is assumed from the zone in which the record is defined and, therefore, does not need to be entered as part of the A record.
In IP Address, type the IP address as follows:
For an internal DNS record, type the internal Web Services IP address of the Director (or, if you use a load balancer, type the virtual IP (VIP) of the Director load balancer).
Note
If you do not use a Director, type the IP address of the Front End Server or Standard Edition server, or, if you use a load balancer, type the VIP of the Front End pool load balancer.
For an external DNS record, type the external or public IP address of the reverse proxy.
Click Add Host, and then click OK.
To create an additional A record, repeat steps 8 through 10.
Important
You must create a new Autodiscover A record in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that you support in your Lync Server 2010 environment.
When you are finished creating A records, click Done.