Introducing LyncAddContacts!

The Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit Tools featured a nifty tool called LCSAddContacts.  This WSF script allows you to add contacts to LCS or OCS (but not Lync Server) using WMI.  I was hoping to see a version of this tool for Lync Server, but no such luck -- So I wrote one myself.

I'm surprised to find that there is no PowerShell cmdlet that allows you to add contact groups or contacts, and since there are no WMI classes for Lync Server anymore, I needed a way to do this -- so I wrote a tool myself.  I leverage the DBIMPEXP utility from the Lync Server DVD to import and export contacts. 

The purpose of LyncAddContacts is to add the same contact groups and contacts to multiple users programmatically.  For example, you may want to import a contact group called "Company Contacts"  that contains contacts for everyone in the company.  Here's how it works:

1. Create a template (source) user in Lync with the contact groups and contacts that you want to export.
2. Run the LyncAddContacts tool to export the source user's contacts
3. Run the LyncAddContacts tool again in import mode and target the user or OU that you want to import the contacts to.

Prerequisites:

• The tool must be run on the Lync server from which you will export/import the data.
• You must be a member of the CSAdministrator security group to run this tool.  This group has rights to export and import contact groups and contacts to all users.
• You must copy the DBIMPEXP.EXE tool from the \Support folder on the Lync Server 2010 installation media to the same folder where the LyncAddContacts tool will be run.
• You must have read, write and execute rights to the folder where the LyncAddContacts tool will be run.

Note: This tool must be run under the CScript host due to the amount of output generated.  You will see a syntax pop-up window if the tool runs under WScript.

Usage:

LyncAddContacts uses the following syntax:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /backup filename.xml [FE SQL server host name[\Instance]]
CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs SIPAddress [FE SQL server host name[\Instance]]
CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /import SIPAddress | distinguished name of OU [FE SQL server host name[\Instance]]

The following examples demonstrate how to use the tool.

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Use the /backup switch to backup all user data to the specified filename.  The following example backs up user data on a Lync Standard Edition server:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /backup backup.xml

where backup.xml is the backup filename.

The following example performs the same backup on a Lync Enterprise Edition server:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /backup backup.xml sql.domain.com

where backup.xml is the backup filename and sql.domain.com is the SQL server used by the front-end pool.

Once the backup has been performed, you can begin the export/import process.

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First, you must export the source user's contact groups and contacts.  The following example exports this information from a user named "Source" on a Lync Standard Edition server:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs source@domain.com

where source@domain.com is the SIP address of the user you want to export.

The following example performs the same export on a Lync Enterprise Edition server:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs source@domain.com sql.domain.com

where source@domain.com is the SIP address of the user you want to export and sql.domain.com is the SQL server used by the front-end pool.

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Second, you import the contact groups and contacts to either a single target user or a target Organizational Unit in your domain.  The following example imports the data to a user named "Target" on a Lync Standard Edition server:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /import target@domain.com

where target@domain.com is the SIP address of the user you want to import the contact info to.  For Lync Server Enterprise Edition you must add the SQL server used by the front-end pool, as shown above.

The following example imports the same contact groups and contacts to all the SIP enabled users in the Users container in Active Directory:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /import CN=Users,DC=domain,DC=com

Again, for Lync Server Enterprise Edition you must add the SQL server used by the front-end pool. 
In this example, were also specifying the SQL instance LyncServer:

CScript LyncAddContacts.vbs /import "OU=Lync Users,DC=domain,DC=com" sql.domain.com\LyncServer

A nice benefit of this tool is that contacts will not get a notification that so-and-so has added them to their contact list.  This is really useful in preventing unnecessary pop-ups from the Lync client.

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Download LyncAddContacts.  View the source code here.

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