Deployment Guide for Cisco Spark Hybrid Calendar Service

Requirements for Hybrid Calendar Service

Product	Release
Any Cisco Spark paid offer	Any paid offer
Cisco Expressway—download from https://admin.ciscospark.com at no charge	We recommend the latest release of Expressway for connector host purposes. See here for the version support statement.
Microsoft Exchange	2010 SP3, 2013, 2016
Cisco WebEx—Use for @webex scheduling only; not required for @spark (If purchasing Cisco Spark Advanced Meetings, Cisco WebEx does not need to be purchased, because its capabilities are already included in Cisco Spark Advanced Meetings.)	WBS29.13 and later (WBS31 or later is required for sites that use Cisco Spark-integrated single sign-on.)

Complete the Prerequisites for Hybrid Calendar Service

Procedure

Step 1	Allow time to complete the following: Configure the impersonation account. Read here to understand the role of the impersonation account and for answers to common questions you may get about it.
Step 2	Install or make sure you're running a supported version of Microsoft Exchange, as described in Requirements for Hybrid Calendar Service.
Step 3	Ensure that users are listed in Active Directory and have a discoverable mailbox in the organization's Exchange server.
Step 4	Provide the following port access: Port access for HTTPS or secure web sockets outbound from Expressway to .ciscospark.com, .wbx2.com, and *.webex.com: TCP port 443 (secure) Port access for EWS outbound from Expressway to Exchange: TCP port 443 (secure) or TCP port 80 (nonsecure) Port access for LDAP outbound from Expressway to Active Directory: TCP port 636 (secure) or TCP port 389 (nonsecure) Port access for Microsoft Global Catalog search: TCP port 3269 (for Global Catalog search secured by SSL) or TCP port 3268 (for unsecured Global Catalog search).
Step 5	For @webex functionality, configure or use a Cisco WebEx Meeting Center site with CMR Cloud.
Step 6	To make One Button to Push (OBTP) available for Unified CM-registered endpoints managed by TMS on @spark or @webex meetings: Set up Cisco TMS 15.0 and Cisco TMSXE 5.0 or higher with Microsoft Exchange integration. See here to view the Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms (CMR) Hybrid Configuration Guide (TMS 15.0 - WebEx Meeting Center WBS30) . TMS and XE require no additional configuration to support Hybrid Calendar Service. To make conference rooms schedulable in Microsoft Outlook/Exchange, configure them in XE as if you were using on-premises conferencing. To configure rooms in Exchange, use the Cisco TelePresence Management Suite Extension for Microsoft Exchange Administration Guide available here. Understand the licensing requirements: TMS and XE Licensing is the same as if using on-premises resources. You require enough licenses to cover the number of endpoints that will use OBTP. A TMS license is needed to manage the endpoint and to push the speed dial button on the touchpad at the time of the scheduled conference. A TMS-XE license is needed for the endpoint to be scheduled in Exchange. OBTP works with Hybrid Calendar Service (@spark or @webex) and Productivity Tools plugin for meeting invitations: Hybrid Calendar Service (@spark or @webex) populates the user attribute "TMS:ExternalConferenceData" with the SIP URI for TMS to set the OBTP dial string. Productivity Tools plugin populates the attribute "UCCapabilities" attribute with the SIP URI for TMS to set the OBTP dial string. If you have on-premises conferencing, you can add OBTP with CMR cloud and run both at same time. We support OBTP functionality only; auto connect is not available.

What to Do Next

Complete the Expressway-C Connector Host Prerequisites for Cisco Spark Hybrid Services

Use this checklist to configure a Expressway-C connector host for Cisco Spark Hybrid Services before you register it to the Cisco Collaboration Cloud to run hybrid services.

Before You Begin

Complete the Prerequisites for Hybrid Calendar Service
We recommend that the Expressway-C be dedicated to hosting connectors for Cisco Spark Hybrid Services. You can use the Expressway-C connector host for other purposes, but that can change the supported number of users. See the capacity information below so that you can plan your deployment accordingly.

Procedure

Step 1

Obtain full organization administrator rights before you register your Expressway(s),and when you access Cisco Cloud Collaboration Management to administer your organization services to Cisco Collaboration Cloud.

Step 2

Plan your connector capacity and follow the supported Expressway scalability recommendations:

For Hybrid Calendar Service (Exchange) on a dedicated Expressway-C:
- Calendar Connector supports one cluster with up to two Expressway-C nodes.
- Calendar Connector can under-provision users. If a single node fails, the system has extra capacity for all users to fail over to the working node. If one of the nodes fails in the cluster, the discovery and assignment services move users to the working node in approximately 30 seconds.
- The service catches up on any missed notifications if there is an outage.

Table 1 Dedicated Expressway-C
Function on the Expressway-C	Medium OVA	Notes
Calendar Connector (on-premises Exchange)	15000 users	Dedicated
Calendar Connector (On-premises Exchange)	5000 users	Coresident with call connector
Call Connector	5000 users	Dedicated
Call Connector	5000 users	Coresident with calendar connector

Table 2 Shared Expressway-C
Function on the Expressway-C	Small OVA	Medium OVA	Notes
Calendar Connector (On-Premises Exchange)	500 users	1000 users (normal operation); 2000 users (simplex failure)	Coresident with call connector, and signaling and media
Call Connector	500 users	1000 users (normal operation); 2000 users (simplex failure)	Coresident with calendar connector, and signaling and media
SIP Signaling and Media for Hybrid Services	500 users	1000 users (normal operation); 2000 users (simplex failure)	Coresident with calendar connector and call connector

Step 3

Deploy the Expressway-C connector host in a cluster to account for redundancy.

Cisco Spark Hybrid Services are highly available if Microsoft Exchange, Unified CM, and Cisco Expressways are deployed in a cluster. The same guidelines that apply to Cisco VCS and Expressway apply for the Expressway-C connector host clustering.

Step 4

Follow these requirements for the Expressway-C connector host.

Install the minimum supported Expressway software version. See the "Management Connector Release Notes" in the related links below for more information.
Install the virtual Expressway OVA file according to the Cisco Expressway Virtual Machine Installation Guide (X8.7), after which you can access the user interface by browsing to its IP address. You can find the document in the list of Cisco Expressway Install and Upgrade Guides on cisco.com.
You do not require a release key, or an Expressway series key, to use the virtual Expressway-C for the Cisco Spark Hybrid Services. You may see an alarm about the release key. You can acknowledge to remove it from the interface.
Use the Expressway web interface in a supported browser: Internet Explorer 8 or 9 (not in compatibility mode), Firefox 3 or later, or Chrome.
The interface may work in other browsers, but they are not officially supported. You must enable JavaScript and cookies to use the Expressway web interface.

Step 5

If this is your first time running Expressway, you get a first-time setup wizard to help you configure it for Cisco Spark Hybrid Services. In some versions, if you check the Hybrid Services option in the wizard, you may see a note about the need for a dedicated service. To use the Expressway-C connector host for coresident connectors and SIP signaling and media for hybrid traffic, you may have to bypass the Cisco Spark Hybrid Services option in the configuration wizard.

When the wizard starts, choose Proceed without selecting services. For a coresidence scenario, you may have to uncheck other services first before you can choose this option.
Paste the text from your release key email.
Continue with the configuration wizard.

Step 6

Follow these configuration requirements for the Expressway-C connector host. See the Cisco Expressway Basic Configuration Deployment Guide, in the list of Cisco Expressway Configuration Guides on cisco.com, for details.

Basic IP configuration (System > Network interfaces > IP)
System name (System > Administration)
DNS settings (System > DNS)
NTP settings (System > Time)
New password for admin account (Users > Administrator accounts, click Admin user then Change password link)
New password for root account (Log on to CLI as root and run the passwd command)

Step 7

Follow these master peer configuration steps:

Configure the Expressway as a cluster master peer before you register it, even if you do not currently intend to install an extra peer.
Register for and configure Cisco Spark Hybrid Services on the master peer of the Expressway-C cluster. However, each peer in the cluster independently downloads and install connectors, and independently connect to Cisco Cloud Collaboration Services using the cluster's shared configuration.
Follow the minimum settings required to configure a master peer, but see the Cisco Expressway Cluster Creation and Maintenance Deployment Guide (X8.7) at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/unified-communications/expressway-series/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html for details:
- On System > Clustering > Cluster name, enter the FQDN that resolves in DNS to the FQDNs of the peers
- System > Clustering > Peer 1 IP address should be the IP address of this Expressway
- System > Clustering > Configuration master should be 1.
- System > Clustering > Cluster pre-shared key should be a memorable secret (you'll need to enter it on future peers).

Step 8

If you have not already done so, open required ports on your firewall. All traffic between Expressway-C and the Cisco Collaboration Cloud is HTTPS or secure web sockets. TCP port 443 must be open outbound from the Expressway-C to *.ciscospark.com, *.wbx2.com, and *.webex.com.

Step 9

Obtain the details of your HTTP proxy if your organization uses one to access the internet. The proxy must support either no authentication or basic authentication, because these are the only authentication types supported by the Expressway

We tested and verified Squid 3.1.19 on Ubuntu 12.04.5.
We have not tested auth-based proxies.

Step 10

Review these points about certificate trust. You can choose the type of secure connection when you begin the main setup steps.

Cisco Spark Hybrid Services requires a secure connection between Expressway-C and Cisco Collaboration Cloud.

You can let Cisco Collaboration Cloud manage the root CA certificates for you. However, if you choose to manage them yourself, be aware of certificate authorities and trust chains; you must also be authorized to make changes to the Expressway-C trust list.
Access to the Expressway CA trust list may also be required if you want to secure the connections between Expressway-C and Microsoft Exchange, or between Expressway-C and Microsoft® Active Directory®, when configuring the Calendar Connector.