Using a 3.Party IM Client with Office 365 or Lync?

Of course!

I’ve been using Pidgin for ages…

In Pidgin I’m able to run the following protocols

  • -XMPP (facebook)
  • Office Communicator (for Lync and O365)
  • Skype
  • Skype for Business
  • ICQ
  • ….. and lots more.. see the full list at Pidgin Thirdparty plugins

You should try it, if you like me prefer to keep your conversation history’s together and sorted.

One thing i’ve noticed, for some reason Office 365 (Lync or now Skype for Business) requires me to use a specific user agent(!) so….having problems getting it to work? Maybe you see:

Connection refused with error message
“You are currently not using the recommended version of the client”
“You have been rejected by the server: https://portal.microsoftonline.com/download/lync.aspx”

Cry no more!

Here is a list of user agents and versions you can emulate, and it works great! Just modify your connection profile, under advanced, type one of the following user agent values..

Version / Product User Agent values (as seen in the wild)
Lync 2013 and Office 365 UCCAPI/15.0.4481.1000 OC/15.0.4481.1000 (Microsoft Lync)
UCCAPI/15.0.4420.1017 OC/15.0.4420.1017 (Microsoft Lync)
Lync 2010 and Office 365 UCCAPI/4.0.7577.314 OC/4.0.7577.314 (Microsoft Lync 2010)
UCCAPI/4.0.7577.256 OC/4.0.7577.280 (Microsoft Lync 2010)
Office Communicator 2007 R2 UCCAPI/3.5.6907.206 OC/3.5.6907.206 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2)
UCCAPI/3.5.6907.0 OC/3.5.6907.0 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2)
Office Communicator 2007 UCCP/2.0.6362.111 OC/2.0.6362.111 (Microsoft Office Communicator)
UCCP/2.0.6362.97 OC/2.0.6362.97 (Microsoft Office Communicator)
Office Communicator 2005 LCC/1.3.5371 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 1.0.559.0)
LCC/1.3.5371 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 1.0.559.232)

Join Mac OS X to Active Directory

Simple script to join a Mac to domain

#!/bin/bash

HOST=”ADserver.domain.com”

DOMAIN=”domain.com”

ADUSERNAME=”admin”

ADPASS=”secretpassword”

# Enable SSH

echo “Enabling SSH”

systemsetup -setremotelogin on

launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist

# Add computer to Active Directory

echo “Adding computer to Active Directory”

dsconfigad -preferred $HOST -domain $DOMAIN -u $ADUSERNAME -p $ADPASS

MCT Program Requirements Update – effective September 2015

MCT Program Requirements Update – effective September 2015:

Current MCT Program Renewal Requirements: (/learning page)

  • Possess a current Microsoft Certification or qualification eligible for the MCT program.
  • Meet the minimum instruction quantity of at least 1 class in the previous 365 days as validated by Metrics that Matter (MTM).
  • All Microsoft training (not just MOC) will be recognized as credit toward program renewal as long as it can be measured in Metrics that Matter (MTM)* – NEW
  • Meet the minimum instruction quality of an average instructor score of at least 7 as validated by MTM.*
  • You can check your MTM records by following these steps.
  • If you taught classes but didn’t use MTM you can add the course to MTM.

*The existing exception process will still apply for ITA, Academic, Microsoft Employee (FTEs) MCTs

Changes for MCT Program Entry/Renewal– New: The MCT Program is updating our order management system to be more efficient and to better serve your needs. In doing so, we are making the following changes:

  • MCT Renewal Window Extended to 90 Days
    • The renewal window for MCTs and MCT Alumni has been extended from 30 days to 90 days. MCTs and MCT Alumni can now start to renew their membership 90 days prior to their anniversary date. All MCTs and MCT Alumni will be receiving email renewal reminders 90, 60, 30, and 15 days prior to their anniversary date.
  • Currencies and Payment Types – effective September 2015
    • Currencies to be supported will be US Dollar (USD), British Pound (GBP), Australian Dollar (AUD), Euro (EUR),and Japanese Yen (JPY)
    • Payment methods supported will be Credit Card and PayPal

Resources

For any questions, please refer here.