On Prem Skype Federation to Office 365

[Dan Genel]

We are using Office 365, but are trying to setup federation with partners who have on prem installations.   

Does anyone with an OnPrem installation have a checklist of steps to take to enable a new organziation using Skype Online?  

Every time we do it it seems to be a trial and error process for them and since we don't have an onprem setup there is little that we can do to help.

Thanks in advance.

[#2]

Do they have the edge setup correctly and working?

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn933903.aspx

They can test with https://www.eventzero.com/Tools/FederationTester/

[#3]

I believe they do - as we've always gotten it to work without major re-work on their side (this is my experience with setting it up with several different external organizations).

It just seems like getting us added to the list of federated partners always take trial and error - so I was looking for the set of steps one would typically take.

We've used the eventzero tool and a couple of times it's returned success for both sides, but we still weren't able to connect.

Thanks

[#4]

External DNS Records correct?

Do the Lync/Skype here https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com pass for both sides?

[#5]

Thanks for the reply - I'm not actively trying to get a federation working, but the steps an organization with an on-prem Skype implementation would take to add a new O365 federated partner.

They seem to have their configuration correct and they've been able to federate with other clients in the past, but they don't have a checklist of steps to take so they always seem to forget a step and we have to troubleshoot.

[#6]

See the Let’s Federate! section on https://www.petri.com/setup-lync-federation

It's for Lync, but steps are pretty much the same for SfBS I believe.

[#7]

An issue I see a lot is when the on premises installation on the partner side is using an allow list for federated domains that includes the fqdn of your access edge server. That will stop working when you move to Office 365. Removing the the edge server fqdn from the allow list entry should fix that.

[#8]

In Skype for Business admin center (office365 portal) make sure federation is open see: http://imgur.com/wzzKB6P
Ask the customer if they have added the Skype for Business Online provider to SIP Federated Providers in the Skype for Business Control panel
see: http://imgur.com/D3RLy1U
for details: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj205126.aspx

[#9]

Hi Dan.

It is not really an easy question to answer, as it depends on what setting your partner has.

Open federation with DNS SRV routing and hosting partner federation:

It works out of the box.

Open federation with DNS SRV routing and no hosting partner federation:

Your partner must add #SFBO as a hosting provider.

New-CsHostingProvider -Identity SkypeforBusinessOnline -ProxyFqdn "sipfed.online.lync.com" -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification -Enabled $True -EnabledSharedAddressSpace $False -HostsOCSUsers $False -IsLocal $False

Closed federation with DNS SRV routing and hosting partner federation:

Your domain must be added to the federated allow-list:

New-CsAllowedDomain -Identity "fabrikam.com"

Closed federation without DNS SRV routing and hosting partner federation:

New-CsAllowedDomain -Identity "fabrikam.com" -ProxyFqdn "proxyserver.fabrikam.com"

I think you get the idea from here.

/Kenneth ML