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3. Starting an Automated Deployment (Part 1)

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Raimund Andée [MSFT] edited this page Feb 7, 2017 · 5 revisions

Part 1 of the document describes the steps to deploy a Skype for Business 2015 lab based on the topology file.

For the following steps, it is recommended to use the ISE and not the PowerShell console windows.

1. The deployment steps in a short overview:

  • SfbAutomatedLab uses AutomatedLab to create a base disk (VHDX) per OS used. All VMs use differential disks.
  • AutomatedLab creates the virtual networks (internal and external virtual switches)
  • Then Ignore VMs are created
  • AutomatedLab sets up the Active Directory forest
  • AutomatedLab sets up an Enterprise Root CA
  • AutomatedLab sets up the SQL Servers defined in the topology file
  • AutomatedLab sets up file servers and the shares defined in the topology
  • AutomatedLab installs all the required features and hotfixes for Skype for Business on all machines
  • The Active Directory Schema and Domain is prepared for Skype for Business 2015
  • Skype for Business Management Tools are installed in the first frontend server
  • Skype for Business components are installed to all servers according to the roles defined in the topology

2. Test / set the requirements

There are some further requirements that should be checked prior to the deployment. If this is the first deployment, you need to run the Cmdlet "Set-SfBLabRequirements" first. This Cmdlets makes sure that everything is in the right place. It will ask you for the full paths to the required ISO files. It also checks if the required hotfixes are available in the LabSources\OSUpdates folder. The information is stored in the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\AutomatedLab\Cache\SfB) and will not be needed again. If you need to change something, just call "Set-SfBLabRequirements" again.

Calling "Set-SfBLabRequirements" should look like this: Set-SfBLabRequirements

You can always test with the Cmdlet "Test-SfBLabRequirements", if the requirements are still good. t

3. Convert the topology file into a script for AutomatedLab

After having made sure that all requirements are met, it is time to convert the topology file into a script that AutomatedLab understands. This process is fully automated. SfBAutomatedLab reads the topology file and extracts all data to understand how many virtual machines to create and how the Skype for Buiness roles are configured. The deployment script is stored in the LabSources folder and named after how you named your lab deployment.

Please copy the following lines into the ISE. This is all it takes to create the lab environment. Actually only the call to "Start-SfBLabDeployment" is required but the other two lines are making sure that the requirements are tested.

if (-not (Test-SfBLabRequirements))
{
    Set-SfBLabRequirements
}

Start-SfBLabDeployment -LabName SfbTest1 -TopologyFilePath D:\export.tbxml

SfbAutomatedLab will ask for some data that are missing in the topology file. The topology file contains a bunch of IP addresses but no subnet mask. In order to know how many virtual networks are required, SfbAutomatedLab asks for subnet masks until all IP addresses could be mapped to a subnet (first two red marks in the next screenshot). The you will be asked for how many domain controllers you want to have per domain found in the topology (third red mark). You will be also asked if an external virtual network should be created or of an existing one can be used to connect the machines to the outside world.

External Virtual Switch

Some relevant information is highlighted in the next screenshot.

The last questions in the dialog (last red mark) is whether the AutomatedLab script should be invoked right away. If you choose so, the deployment starts. Or you cancel here and have the chance to modify the script, like changing memory, IP addresses, adding additional non-Skype for Business related machines, etc.

This screenshot shows the full dialog: Deplyment Log

The deployment process will take one or two hours until it stops with the following message: Publish the Topology manually

The next and final steps are described in 4. Starting an Automated Deployment (Part 2)

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