Custom OCS Edge Server Snap-In

One of the more obnoxious pieces of OCS is the fact that there isn’t a dedicated MMC snap-in for the Edge Servers, but instead you have to open the entire Computer Management console. The method below will let you create a simple MMC that only opens the OCS Edge server parts.

  1. I know this seems like a long-winded way to open Computer Management, but we need the full MMC window to save the custom snap-in, so go to Start | Run, type in mmc and press OK.
  2. Go to File | Add/Remove Snap-In and press Add.
  3. Choose Computer Management and press Add, Finish, Close and OK.
  4. Expand Computer Management | Services and Applications, right-click on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and choose New window from here.
  5. Now you should have a window with the root as your OCS controls. Click on File | Options.
  6. Click the Change Icon button and then browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\RTCMMCR2.dll and press OK.
  7. You should now have a few options for icons. My preference is the first one that matches up with the icon for internal servers. 
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  8. You can also rename the console to something friendlier, like Office Communications Server 2007. I’d also suggesting change the console mode to User mode – full access to keep the console from opening in author mode each time.
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  9. Click on File | Save As… and save your custom MMC somewhere safe, say, C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents.
  10. Personally, I find it dumb to have a shortcut in Administrative Tools that doesn’t work, so I like to replace the one OCS installs. Right-click on the existing OCS 2007 shortcut in Programs | Administrative Tools and choose Properties.
  11. Change the target for the shortcut to wherever you saved your custom MMC. Mine was at C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\OCS Edge.msc.
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  12. You should be all set now. Opening the Office Communications Server 2007 shortcut will now open a usable snap-in.

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