OCS Create Pool Wizard Error: Invalid database parameter

Recently I had a project where we were moving the OCS databases to a new clustered SQL 2008 (R1) with SP2 Back-End and ran into a lovely new error I’d never seen before – also not seen before anywhere on Google!

For starters, we followed the steps outlined on Technet. After we had successfully detached and attached all databases and ran the LCSCMD.exe step, we launched the Create Pool wizard and attempted to plug in the info for the new SQL cluster. We got this error back:

An error occurred during the pool backend detection:

Pool backend discovery failed.

Invalid database parameter.

I double-checked the server name, instance, and FQDN and all looked well. We verified the SQL server was accessible via TCP 1433 and no firewall rules were preventing access, so the error didn’t make a lot of sense. Obviously there was some kind of parameter that the wizard GUI was not cool with. I thought maybe this was the SQL allow updates issue, but that solution had no effect on this error. There was definitely some validation check the UI was failing on against our new DB.

Since I couldn’t locate anyone else with this issue I figured my options were to call PSS and extend this process by a few hours, or pull out the ol’ LCSCMD.exe again and try this operation via command line. The Create Pool wizard really is just collecting a bunch of information and then using it to execute the LCSCMD.exe commands in the background so while doing it manually is not fun, it works just as well.

The entire syntax for LCSCMD.exe can be found on Techet, but here is the command we ended up running. Please note, conferencing archiving was not implemented so that paramter is not present.

LCSCMD.exe /Forest /Action:CreatePool /PoolName:MyOCSPool /PoolBE:MySQLServer.ptown.local\OCSInstance /PoolFQDN:MyOCSPool.ptown.local /InternalWebFQDN:MyOCSPool.ptown.local /ExternalWebFQDN:PublicOCSWebComponents.confusedamused.com /RefDomain:ptown.local /ABOutputlocation:\\\\MyFileServer\AddressBook /MeetingContentPath:\\\\MyFileServer\MeetingContent /MeetingMetaPath:\\\\MyFileServer\MeetingMetadata /AppDataLocation:\\\\MyFileServer\AppData /ClientUpdateLocation:\\\\MyFilerServer\ClientUpdates /DBDataPath:"D:\Databases" /DBLogPath:"L:\Logs" /DynDataPath:"D:\Databases" /DynLogPath:"L:\Logs" /ABSDataPath:"D:\Databases" /ABSLogPath:"L:\Logs" /ACDDataPath:"D:\Databases" /ACDLogPath:"L:\Logs"

After running the command manually it succeeded with absolutely no issues. The new cluster has been running for over a week now without any issues so I think this is an problem specific to the UI. I’m not sure exactly what causes it, but our environment was running SQL 2008 with SP2 on top of a 2008 R2 SP1 operating system.

As a sidenote, this process seems to undo any changes made by the OCS2009-DBUpgrade.msi patches. You’ll need to re-run the patch version which lines up with your FE patch levels before the FE services will be able to start.

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Hi there. My name is Tom Pacyk and this is my small home on the web. I love the intersection of design, technology, and communication, which is a combination that led me to a career in sales and marketing roles at places like Zoom and ServiceNow. They're a bit old now, but I also had the opportunity to publish a couple of books along the way.

Portland, Oregon is home for me, my wife Beth, and our three kids, but I'm actually a Midwestern transplant—I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went to school at Purdue and Illinois. When I find some free time I'm probably going to concerts, rooting for the Portland Timbers, or working on my Sunshine Burn Photography project.