Lync 2013 WAC Issue "Sorry, PowerPoint Web App Ran into a problem opening this presentation."

Issue: When users are trying to share PowerPoints in meetings the PowerPoint's are uploaded fine (mainly PPT) but the user receives an error "Sorry, PowerPoint Web App ran into a problem opening this presentation. To view this presentation please open it in Microsoft PowerPoint."

























































Environment:
(2) WAC servers behind a F5 Load Balancer
TMG Cluster with 4 TMG servers.
(7) Lync 2013 Enterprise Server


Trials:
I have tried a number of things to resolve this issue:
• Bypass TMG by trying internal - Fail
• Bypass F5 using host files and targeting each WAC server to ensure it wasn't an issue with one - Fail
• Tried loading PPT on other environments to ensure it wasn't a corrupt file - Success
• Loaded PPT on the WAC farm in our DR site - Success
• WAC SP1 - Fail
• Rebuilt both WAC servers - Fail


What I have used to troubleshoot this issue:
• Fiddler is the most detailed in helping pin point issues – Fiddler Showed the 200 during the upload but then the 500 during the failed download
• IIS Logs - had shown me pretty much what fiddler showed
• ULS Logs - wasn't finding much other than the 500 error until verbose logging was enabled then showed the following error relating to cache:


DiskCacheReader: TimeoutException [Machine: http://lyncWACServer01:809/diskcache/DiskCache.svc, Exception:System.TimeoutException: The HTTP request to 'http://lyncWACServer01:809/diskcache/DiskCache.svc' has exceeded the allotted timeout of 00:00:02. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout. ---> System.Net.WebException: The request was aborted: The request was canceled.   
DocumentInfoCache.GetDocumentCacheItem: Item found, 0 minutes old
SetCompleted - Completed with unthrown exception Microsoft.Office.Server.Powerpoint.Pipe.Interface.PipeApplicationException: Exception of type 'Microsoft.Office.Server.Powerpoint.Pipe.Interface.PipeApplicationException' was thrown.   


• Event Viewer on WAC server - fund this kind of useless        


Resolution:
In working on this a few commands came in handy:


• Set-OfficeWebAppFarm -openfromurlenabled - This command allows you to generate a PowerPoint right on the server itself. This is very useful in eliminating Lync from the equation as well as any network related issues. To get to this tool you simply browse straight to the server itself (or VIP.









How I did this was simply created a shared folder on the desktop, placed the path to the folder along with the powerpoint file (\\testserver\c$\user\test\PPT\Test.pptx in the first line and used the "Create Link". Then using the Test This Link I was able to see if the PowerPoint would render on the screen.


In my case no such luck, same old error as above. Since I Knew I was failing locally I figured why not turn up some more logging to see if I could find something. The command allowed me to do this:


• "Set-Officewebappsfarm -logverbosity verbose" this turned logging on high in OWAS, this also requires a services restart to complete.


With verbose to high I ran back through the same tests with the same result and not seeing much other than cache issues. Speaking with MSFT PSS we were informed that whenever a PowerPoint fails it's never cleaned from the cache and will no longer display. The only way to clean this is to remove the cache. To do this its back to stopping services on the servers browsing to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeWebApps\Working\d" and removing ALL of the contents from the "d" folder.













































































With the "d" folder clear, restart your services and give another test. In my case I was now able to render the PowerPoint file just fine. With everything back to normal so you can now disable the logging:


• "Set-Officewebappsfarm -logverbosity """

Lync 2013 Front End Services Not Starting. Lync Running on Windows 2012 Server.

This past week I ran into an issue with my lab that I thought was worth a blog post. Out of nowhere my lab host VM froze and required me to hard restart the box. This isn’t the first time I have had this issue due to my hardware being on its last let. It’s a lab what do you expect! Bringing back my VM host and all the guest just like I have done many times before I noticed something different. The front end service on my Standard Lync 2013 server would not start. I was also seeing some consistent event errors each time I tried to restart the service:

To give a bit of background on my lab I am running Lync 2013 Standard on a Windows 2012 Standard box. This solution rides on a Windows 2008 R2 domain with an internal private CA.

Event ID: 32178 Source: LS User Services

 

Event ID: 32174 Source: LS User Services

Event ID: 57006 Source: LS User Store Sync Agent

Steps Spent Troubleshooting:

Starting down my troubleshooting path it lead me to a google page full of resolutions that had me deleting non self-signed certificates from the “Trusted Root Certificate Store” on my computer. I spend a bit of time scratching my head on this one trying to see what I was missing thinking it had to be this issue to resolve my problem. Everything was lining up perfect from an event viewer standpoint. After a few different looks in the store I decided to move on.

Next I moved to more posts stating that I needed to rebuild my fabric for Microsoft Lync. Since I was using a STD server I thought it was kind of odd but what the heck it’s my lab, let’s try it all. Again as with the last possible resolution, I spent some time trying a few of the different commands to see if they would have different outcomes and still no success.

I then thought what about updates! Maybe running the CU would help fix my issue. So, I ran the latest CU updates over again and re-published my databases hoping that if it was a DB issue it would resolve my issue. Once again, no success.

Resolution:

Finally I thought it was time for the next step, rebuild the solution. I really didn’t want to do this since I didn’t want to rebuild my entire lab so I took the next best thing. Reinstalling the databases to see if I could get this resolved. Again, this is my lab and I didn’t have a ton of data but, it is still data so I proceeded with caution. 

To start this I wanted to ensure I wouldn’t lose my information so thanks to Elan Shudnow’s blog - http://www.shudnow.net/2012/10/09/dbimpexp-exe-functionality-integrated-into-lync-2013-preview-management-shell/ and using:

Export-csuserdata

Export-csconfiguration - If my XDS database went bad I had a copy

Export-cslisconfiguration – again I just wanted all my data

I was able to export my data and give some confidence that I could bring my data back online after my reinstall.

Running the following command allowed did a clean install of my databases. Since I thought it was related to my database I was left with no option.

Install-CsDatabase -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn <SQL FQDN> -UseDefaultSqlPaths –Clean

Once the reinstall was done, I reimported my user data to ensure I would have all my info and my front end service started with no issues. Luckily I had some hotel time while I am staffed on a project out of town so I was free and clear to mess with the lap and get this resolved. In the end I fixed the issue with no data loss.

YMMV

Lync 2013 Lab with SIP Trunks on the Cheap - 1

Hi Blog World,

First of all since this is my first blog post I figured I would spend a few minutes introducing myself. My name is Tony Larsen, I have been working in the IT space for over a decade in numerous roles, for most of my past my passion has always aligned me with Microsoft UC. I started in the space back in Live Communications Server 2007. I then started my journey down the road of UC waiting for the day that big business would see the light of the power of MSFT UC. Now in my time I work for Avanade as a Group Manager within the Lync Solutions group. We focus on enterprise rollouts of Enterprise Voice. This is an amazing time since big business has finally latched on and we are going full steam ahead.

So, my first blog I feel is fitting. Since I started working within UC I always found it challenging to find a way to have a functional lab. Other than the bits of Lync the gear is hard to get, having a functional PBX isn’t the easiest especially for someone new to the field. For the next few posts I am going to show how I get my lab up and running connecting to the SIP world and ringing Cisco phones (flashed with a generic SIP firmware), Lync Polycom Phones, and SIP trunks to the real work. What does all this require one might ask?

• Virtual instance of Lync 2013 Standard
• FreePBX – 5.2.11
• SIP trunks from any carrier – Since getting a Lync certified SIP trunk isn’t the cheapest I prefer to use FreePBX to terminate cheaper SIP trunks that I can do a Pay-as-you-go
• Teliax
• Les.Net
• Cisco IP Phone 7960
• Polycom CX500

This solution gives someone the opportunity to lab out the complete power of Lync 2013 with Enterprise Voice. As I get the lab setup and working I will continue to post my findings. Hope to see you all back soon.

Tony