Creating DNS records for the Autodiscover Service in Lync Server 2013

To make an internal DNS record, you’ll need to log on to a DNS server in your network with a domain account that’s either a member of the Domain Admins group or a member of the DnsAdmins group.

Open the DNS administrative snap-in: Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

In the console tree of the DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for the Active Directory domain where your Lync Server 2013 Director pool and Front End pool are installed. (for example, contoso.local).

Check and see if a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your Director pool 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). If it’s not here, you may not be using a Director pool, and you’ll need to use the FQDN for your Front End pool or even a single server FQDN, if that’s your setup.

Keeping that in mind, check and see if a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your Front End pool for an internal DNS record, a host A (or AAAA) record should exist for the internal Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebpool01.contoso.local). If it doesn’t, you’ll need to make note of the FQDN for the Front End Server or Standard Edition server.

Once you know what host A (or AAAA) records exist, in the console tree of your DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).

Right-click the SIP domain name, and then click New Alias (CNAME).

In Alias name, type lyncdiscoverinternal as the host name for the internal Autodiscover Service URL.

In Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for target host, type or browse to the internal Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebdir01.contoso.local) and then click OK.

You must create a new Autodiscover CNAME record in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that you support in your Lync Server 2013 environment.

To create an external DNS CNAME record, you’re going to need to connect to your public DNS provider, and then follow our steps. We can’t describe exactly where you’re going in your DNS provider’s environment as there may be different ways of managing your external DNS, but we hope these steps help.

Log into your external DNS provider with an account that can create DNS records in that environment.

You should have a SIP domain created for this environment already. Expand the Forward Lookup Zone for this SIP domain, or otherwise select it depending on the external DNS interface being used.

You should already see a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record for your Director pool (such as lyncwebexdir01.contoso.com), so confirm that it’s there. If it’s not, then you may not be using a Director pool. If that’s the case, you’ll need to use the FQDN of your Front End Pool, or if you’re doing this for a single server, for your Front-End server or Standard Edition server.

You’ll also need to confirm that a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your external Web Services Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for your Front End pool (such as lyncwebextpool01.contoso.com), or a FQDN for your single-server FQDN if you have no Front End pool. As noted in the previous step, you’ll need this below if you don’t have a Director pool.

Now, in the appropriate format for your external DNS provider, choose the option for creating a New Alias (CNAME) (this may be a menu option or a link, depending on the format of the DNS provider).

There should be some form of Alias name text box as with the internal DNS, you should enter lyncdiscover as the host name for the external Autodiscover Service URL.

There should also be some form of a Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for target host text box, here’s where you’ll enter the external Web Services FQDN for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebexdir01.contoso.com) and then click OK or take whatever action in the external DNS to accept the creation of this entry. As noted in Step 4, above, if you don’t have a Director pool, you’ll need to use the Front End pool FQDN or the single-server FQDN you have set up, as appropriate.

You’ll need to make a new Autodiscover CNAME record in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that’s supported in your Lync 2013 environment.

To make an internal DNS record, log on to a DNS server in your network with a domain account that’s a member of the Domain Admins group or a member of the DnsAdmins group.

Open the DNS administrative snap-in: Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

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) where your Lync Server 2013 Director pool and Front End pool are installed.

Check and see if a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your Director pool 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). If it’s not here, you may not be using a Director pool, and you’ll need to use the IP address for your Front End pool or even a single server IP address, if that’s your setup.

Keeping that in mind, check and see if a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your Front End pool for an internal DNS record, a host A (or AAAA) record should exist for the internal Web Services FQDN for your Front End pool (for example, lyncwebpool01.contoso.local). If it doesn’t, you’ll need to make note of the IP address for the Front End Server or Standard Edition server.

Once you know what host A (or AAAA) records exist, in the console tree of your DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones for your SIP domain (for example, contoso.com).

Right-click the SIP domain name, and then click New Host (A or AAAA).

In Name, type lyncdiscoverinternal as the host name for the internal Autodiscover Service URL.

In IP Address, 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). As noted in Step 4 above, if you aren’t using a Director, you may need to enter 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.

Click Add Host, and then click OK.

To create an additional A or AAAA record, repeat steps 8 through 10, keeping in mind that you’ll need to create new Autodiscover A or AAAA records in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that’s supported in your Lync Server 2013 environment.

When you are finished creating A (for IPv6, AAAA) records, click Done.

To create an external DNS record, connect to your public DNS provider, and then follow our steps. We can’t describe exactly where you’re going in your DNS provider’s environment as there may be different ways of managing your external DNS, but we hope these steps help.

You’ll need to be logged in as an account that can create DNS records in that environment.

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). 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).

You should already see a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record for your Director pool (such as lyncwebexdir01.contoso.com), so confirm that it’s there and what the IP address is. If it’s not, then you may not be using a Director pool. If that’s the case, you’ll need to use the IP address of your Front End Pool, or if you’re doing this for a single server, for your Front-End server or Standard Edition server. Keep in mind that your servers may also be behind a load-balancer, or using a reverse proxy. Make note of the IP addresses as well for following the steps below.

You’ll also need to confirm that a host A (AAAA for IPv6) record exists for your external Web Services Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for your Front End pool (such as lyncwebextpool01.contoso.com), or an IP address for your single-server Lync installation if you have no Front End pool. As noted in the previous step, you’ll need this below if you don’t have a Director pool.

Now, in the appropriate format for your external DNS provider, choose the option for creating a New Host A or AAAA (this may be a menu option or a link, depending on the format of the DNS provider).

There should be a place to enter a Name, type lyncdiscover as the host name for the external Autodiscover Service URL.

There should also be an IP Address text box, here’s where you’ll enter the IP for your for your Director pool (for example, lyncwebexdir01.contoso.com) or possibly the IP of your pool’s load balancer (or a reverse proxy IP that leads to the same) and then click OK or take whatever action in the external DNS to accept the creation of this entry. As noted in Step 4, above, if you don’t have a Director pool, you’ll need to use the Front End pool IP address or the single-server IP address you have set up, as appropriate.

You’ll need to make a new Autodiscover A or AAAA record in the forward lookup zone of each SIP domain that’s supported in your Lync 2013 environment.