Cisco Unified MeetingPlace

This document contains frequently asked questions regarding the Cisco MeetingPlace Web.

A. Purging your temporary internet files in the Internet Explorer (IE) folder may clear up these issues.

A. The Cisco MeetingPlace Web is setup with Microsoft IIS to use Web authentication (HTTP authentication). It can also be setup with Microsoft IIS to use Windows Integrated authentication.

According to Microsoft's article, Windows Integrated authentication uses Kerberos version 5 and NTLM authentication. The actual protocol it uses depends on the client's Operating System (OS) platform and whether the client browser supports such protocol.

Many customers use the Integrated Microsoft NT authentication method, but it requires additional work from Cisco MeetingPlace Professional Services to create a custom start page to remove the domain name, and to resolve case and username length issues.

In all cases, the password is encrypted (shown as a hash in the IIS log), but the user ID is not. However, the encryption used with Web authentication is a well known encryption algorithm and can be easily cracked. For true security, it is best to deploy a secure socket layer (SSL).

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web Conferencing can be encrypted by installing a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate and conducting conferencing using HTTPS protocol. The same SSL encryption also applies to the Cisco MeetingPlace Web login interface. All Cisco MeetingPlace Web Conferencing packets are sent over the same channel, either direct (1627), HTTP, or HTTPS. If HTTPS is not used, it is not encrypted.

A. The Who can join meeting control was purposely removed from the Preferences template page because it caused some confusion among users.

In particular, if a scheduler selects Invited users only and then proceeds to invite some guest users as well as profiled users, the scheduler expects those designated guests to be able to attend. In fact, the Cisco MeetingPlace server has no way of knowing which guest is which, and therefore prevents any guest from attending the meeting. Only the invitees with Cisco MeetingPlace profiles can attend the meeting.

The Cisco MeetingPlace Web uses the default template of SchedPrefs_fr.tpl, which does not have the Who can join meeting control. There is another template, SchedPrefs_wcjm_fr.tpl, which has the Who can join meeting control. Customers who would like to continue to offer this feature should rename SchedPrefs_wcjm_fr.tpl to SchedPrefs_fr.tpl, and the Who can join meeting feature may be restored.

A. This is an Internet Explorer (IE) setting that reuses existing Web pages. To disable this feature, follow these steps:

Note: These instructions are for IE 5.0.

1. Launch IE.
2. Click Tools > Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll down and uncheck Reuse windows for launching shortcuts.
5. Restart the browser.

A. There are two possible causes:

• The graphical user IDs (GUIDS) are not placed in the registry.

• The GUIDS are in the registry, but not picked up by the agent and MPX.

Search the registry under \Latitude\MeetingPlaceWebPublisher\General for these three registry keys:

• GUIDSSiteID

• GUIDSSystemID

• GUIDSWebID

If you do not have these keys, you can either run the SQLInstall.exe file only, or re-run the Cisco MeetingPlace Web installation and choose Repair.

If you have these three keys, all you need to do is restart the Cisco MeetingPlace Agent service and the WWW Switched Virtual Circuit (SVC) service. That should fix the problem.

A. The meeting detail page shows "Meeting has not taken place" because the Cisco MeetingPlace Agent has failed to listen for the end of meeting signal from the Cisco MeetingPlace server and update its (Cisco MeetingPlace Web) local records. It continues to show "Meeting has not taken place" because it is using data stored in its memory, which has become out-of-sync with the actual machines on the Cisco MeetingPlace server.

You can test the above by stopping and restarting the Cisco MeetingPlace Agent service. Doing so changes those meetings from showing the "Meeting has not taken place" message to showing the actual start time of the meeting.

The defect has been fixed in Cisco MeetingPlace Web (formerly called WebPublisher) version 4.1.3.x and later.

A. This error message most likely indicates that you have logged in again from another browser.

A. This error message most likely means that your Cisco MeetingPlace Web database is too large. You need to compact the Cisco MeetingPlace Web database, or restart the MeetingPlace Agent to clear the cache.

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web only allows a maximum of 120 sessions. In later versions, this number was increased. This number can also be manually changed through the registry. However, doing so may impact system performance.

A. The Error:[12288] Operation failed. error message appears on the external web server after a meeting ID is entered. A conflict in the meeting ID can cause this issue. You must restart web conferencing services in order to resolve this issue.

Or

If you know that the Video Administration database was rebuilt or wiped out recently, delete all the rows in the Web Conferencing database VideoMeeting table. Do this only if you are sure that the errors are due to the Video Administration database.

A. This means the meeting is setup to only allow Cisco MeetingPlace profile users to join. No guests are allowed.

A. The database used by Cisco MeetingPlace Web has grown too large. The Access database has a limit of 1 Gb, the Microsoft SQL Desktop Edition (MSDE) database (the mini version of Microsoft SQL Server database) has a limit of 2 Gb, and the SQL Server database does not have a limit (for all practical purposes).

A. Upgrading the browser to a newer (or the latest) browser generally corrects this problem. Or you can disable (uncheck) Java console enabled under Tools > Internet Options> Advanced.

A. If you are joining a 0-port meeting from Cisco MeetingPlace Web, the system tries to use Microsoft NetMeeting by default. To prevent Microsoft NetMeeting from launching and to make WebShare your default data conference (DC) client for 0-port meetings, the NumberForBigMtg registry setting must be changed to 0 (in decimal format). Here is how to change this:

1. Run regedit.

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Latitude\MeetingPlace WebConferencing\MPAgent, and change the value (select the Hex button first) of NumberForBigMtg from 1 to 0. You should see the display of the NumberForBigMtg value change to 0x00000000 (0).

A. Check your Windows Media storage location. Assuming you want to store it under folder d:\wma_files, ensure you have these items set up properly:

• You have a folder d:\wma_files.

• You have a subfolder d:\wma_files\mpweb.

• You have a subfolder d:\wma_files\mpweb\meetings.

• In your Windows Media Administrator interface (accessed by going to Administrator Tools > Windows Media), under Unicast Publishing Points, the path should be d:\wma.

Note: You must not have \mpweb\meetings at the end of your path specification. It should only be d:\wma_files.

In your MeetingPlace Web Administration interface, the path for Windows Media files should be d:\wma_files. Again, do not include \mpweb\meetings at the end of path string.

A. Voice recordings and attachments are stored on both servers.

A. The voice and Web recording (synchronized cgp file) is stored ONLY on the Web server that ran the Web conference.

A. Both servers store the audio recording and attachments, but the server where the Web conference actually took place stores the synchronized Web and voice recording.

A. ONLY the internal server saves the audio recording and attachments.

A. The install program automatically configures your default Web site to be the Cisco MeetingPlace Web Conferencing Web site (by creating virtual directories and setting various parameters). If Microsoft IIS is not installed, IIS services are not running, or a default Web site does not exist in IIS, then the installation program generates these error messages.

A. Multiple Cisco MeetingPlace Web Conferencing that shares the same database is only supported with MeetingPlace Web Conferencing 4.2.7 and later.

A. On the Cisco MeetingPlace server side:

In a networked environment, each conference server (as well as each standalone) can safely hold up to 20,000 conference records. Sometimes you can see the number go above that because they are cycled through the Cisco MeetingTime scheduling parameter configuration on the Days until Meeting Statistics Purged parameter.

On the Microsoft NT side:

There is no limit except for the limit on the database side for the Cisco MeetingPlace Web. In the existing MeetingPlace Web, the database is Access, which has a maximum size of 1 GB. This limit includes meetings, profiles, attachments (the accounting of them, not the actual attachment itself). One meeting is one line on a table in the database. One profile is one line in another table on the database.

In the Cisco MeetingPlace Web, there is a Structured Query Language (SQL) database, which for all intents and purposes, has no size limit. If you max out the Access database, all you need to do is compact it and you are all set. You could also convert your Access database over to a SQL database, so that you do not have to worry about that.

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web 4.1.3.42 is shipped with Microsoft Microsoft SQL Desktop Edition (MSDE), a mini SQL database engine. If you do not have the full version of SQL Server, Cisco MeetingPlace Web installs MSDE in order to provide SQL Server database functionality. However, MSDE has a memory leak, which must be fixed by installing Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 7.0. MSDE also has a database size limit of 2 Gb.

A. Most likely, your replication service is configured to not interact with the desktop. Open the Microsoft NT Services control panel, open Properties of the MeetingPlace Replication service and check the Allow service to interact with desktop checkbox. Do the same for the Cisco MeetingPlace Agent service. Stop and restart both services. Now when you click the Update button, Cisco MeetingPlace Web accepts your command.

A. The folders for meetings are created when each one of the meetings was scheduled, but the actual meeting start date may be many months after that. Adding to that the number of days meeting materials are kept on the Microsoft NT server (which can typically range from 60 to 90 days), it is possible, or even normal, for you to see meeting folders that are very old.

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web has no file size limitations. File attachments on Cisco MeetingPlace Web are typically stored in c:\Latitude\mpweb\meetings\meetingfolder (depending on installation locations). The only limitations, imposed by the Microsoft NT server, would be disk space. Possibly but unlikely, the Microsoft NT Administrator might also impose a directory size limitation.

The Cisco MeetingPlace Web Access database size limitation of 1 GB is unrelated since the file attachments are not stored in that database, and they are typically stored in a different directory than (a parent directory of) the meeting attachments.

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web currently does not support Network Address Translation (NAT). If you ping the hostname of a Cisco MeetingPlace server in the MeetingPlace Web network, it returns the MeetingPlace server's IP address as 170.xxx.xxx.xxx, but if you ping or issue the nslookup command from the MeetingPlace server's network, you get an IP address of 172.xxx.xxx.xxx. This means the Cisco MeetingPlace Web gateway uses NAT to communicate with the MeetingPlace server. In this case, attachments cannot be transferred.

A. Voice recordings and attachments are saved on both servers.

A. If the Use Web Server Authentication button is checked, a user trying to access the Cisco MeetingPlace Web is prompted to log in using Microsoft NT authentication (a valid profile on the Microsoft NT domain), in addition to being prompted for his or her MeetingPlace profile. In this case, as long as the user passes Microsoft NT login authentication, Cisco MeetingPlace Web then checks for a MeetingPlace profile and password combination to verify whether the profile exists and whether the correct password for that profile is supplied. It does not, however, check to see whether the password has expired. This is as designed. The user is allowed to use Cisco MeetingPlace Web because he or she has been authenticated on the Microsoft NT domain as a valid user.

A. You must perform the reschedule on each server individually. Although the scheduling action using Cisco MeetingPlace Web happens simultaneously, the reschedule action does not.

A. At present, reports do not differentiate between ports used to block the system during maintenance and normal use. Both categories of meetings are scheduled the exact same way. One way to differentiate would be to uniquely tag meetings scheduled for booking out the system by giving them all the same unique meeting ID, "999999", or "upgrade", for example.

A. The Scheduled # of calling locations field under the Cisco MeetingTime's Review tab is actually the number of ports in use when the meeting is extended. If the meeting is not extended (either it ends at or before its end time), the Scheduled # of calling locations field matches the OrigNumberOfPorts field. However, if the meeting extends beyond its scheduled time, the Scheduled # of calling locations field lists the number of ports in use at the time of the meeting extension. The OrigNumberOfPorts gives the number of ports the meeting was originally scheduled for.

A. You can compare the OrigNumberOfPorts and ActnParticipants fields. The OrigNumberOfPorts field gives you the number of ports the scheduler has reserved for the meeting. The ActnParticipants field gives you the number of ports that were actually used throughout the entire meeting. Keep in mind that this number counts a person calling in, hanging up, and calling back in, as two participants.

A. Cisco MeetingPlace Web version 4.3.0.x supports Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 5.5 (Service Pack 1 or 2), 6.0 with JVM >= 3802. The security level must be set to medium or low. Netscape Navigator 4.79, 6.2, 7.0. Netscape Navigator does not support the meeting room.

Note: Enabling the Java plug-in in Netscape Navigator is not supported.

A. Here is a list of gateway modules that are installed and run as Microsoft NT services:

• MeetingPlace Agent

• MeetingPlace Web Conferencing Service

• MeetingPlace Audio

• MeetingPlace Gateway System Integrity Module (SIM)

• MeetingPlace Conferencing Gateway

• MeetingPlace Conferencing GCC

• MeetingPlace Conferencing MCS

• MeetingPlace Replication Service

• MeetingPlace Conversion Agent

Note: The MeetingPlace Web Conferencing Service is turned on automatically after any reboot or upgrade. It manages and monitors the startup and shutdown of the remaining Web services and also acts as a watchdog to recover from any of these if they crash.

A. Mac users must use Netscape to access Cisco MeetingPlace Web pages. Internet Explorer (IE) on Macs does not work (this is an IE problem, not a Cisco MeetingPlace Web problem).

A. In order to change the hostname/domain name, change the enteries in the DNS server both internally and externally and reboot the server. Ensure that the FQDNs are resolvable by internal as well as external clients. The external DNS enteries must be propagated to the internet server.

A. The language, displayed on the Cisco MeetingPlace Web home page ("Welcome to MeetingPlace"), is based on the language selected in the user's MeetingPlace profile. All other languages appear as buttons (each in its own language) in the upper right corner of the home page.