You receive an "An HTTPS or TCP connection could not be made" error message when you use Windows Messenger to try to connect to an Office Live Communications Server 2003 Home Server or to an Office Live Communications Server 2005 pool (898153)

RESOLUTION

To troubleshoot this issue, follow these steps.

Step 1: Verify the DNS settings on the client computer

Examine the IP address that appears in the Preferred DNS Server box on the client computer that is running Windows Messenger. This IP address must be the IP address of the DNS server that hosts the forward lookup zone of the correct Active Directory directory service domain. The correct Active Directory domain is the domain of which the Live Communications Server 2003 Home Server or the Live Communications Server 2005 pool is a member. To view the DNS information on a Microsoft Windows XP-based client computer, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type ncpa.cpl, and then click OK.
Right-click the local area connection, and then click Properties.
Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then examine the IP address that appears in the Preferred DNS Server box.

Step 2: Verify the service location records for SIP automatic detection in DNS

Locate the forward lookup zone for the Active Directory domain of which the Windows Messenger client is a member. Make sure that the forward lookup zone contains the correct service location (SRV) records for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) automatic detection. For SIP automatic detection to work correctly, one or both of the following service location records must exist in DNS, depending on the protocol or protocols that you use for Live Communications Server.

Record name	Port number	Host offering this service
_sip._tls.`example`.`com`	TCP 5061	`hostname`.`example`.`com`
_sip._tcp.`example`.`com`	TCP 5060	`hostname`.`example`.`com`

The new DNS SRV records for SIP that were added in Live Communications Server 2005 Service Pack 1 (SP1) are as follows:

_sipinternaltls._tcp.<domain.com>
_sipinternal_tcp.<domain.com>

In the previous table, replace the placeholders as follows:

Replace example.com with the name of your Active Directory domain.
Replace hostname.example.com with the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your Live Communications Server 2003 Home Server or with the FQDN of your Live Communications Server 2005 pool.

To determine whether the service location record is available, follow these steps:

On the client computer, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type nslookup, and then press ENTER.
Type set type-srv, and then press ENTER.

Type _sip._tls.example.com, and then press ENTER. If the service location record is available, the following information is displayed:

Server:  <dns server>.example.com
Address:  <IP address of DNS server>
Non-authoritative answer:
_sip._tls.example.com SRV service location:
          priority       = 0
          weight         = 0
          port           = 5061
          svr hostname   = sip.example.com

Type _sip._tcp.example.com, and then press ENTER. If the service location record is available, the following information is displayed:

Server:  <dns server>.example.com
Address:  <IP address of DNS server>
Non-authoritative answer:
_sip._tcp.example.com SRV service location:
          priority       = 0
          weight         = 0
          port           = 5060
          svr hostname   = sip.example.com

To add the service location records, follow these steps:

On the DNS server, click Start, click Run, type dnsmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
Expand your DNS server, expand Forward Lookup Zones, right-click your domain, and then click Other New Records.
In the Select a resource record type list, click Service Location (SRV), and then click Create Record.
In the Service list, type _sip.
Use one of the following procedures:
- If you want to deploy Transport Layer Security (TLS), type _tls in the Protocol list, and then type 5061 in the Port number box.
- If you want to deploy TCP, type _tcp in the Protocol list, and then type 5060 in the Port number box.
In the Host offering this service box, type one of the following:
- For Live Communications Server 2003, type the FQDN of the Live Communications Server 2003 Home Server.
- For Live Communications Server 2005 Standard Edition, type the FQDN of the Live Communications Server 2005 computer.
- For Live Communications Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, type the FQDN of the Live Communications Server 2005 pool.
Click OK, and then click Done.

After you add these service location records, flush the DNS resolver cache on the client computer that is running Windows Messenger. Then, make sure that Windows Messenger is configured to use automatic detection. To do this, follow these steps:

On the client computer that is running Windows Messenger, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
Type ipconfig /flushdns, and then press ENTER.
Type ipconfig /registerdns, and then press ENTER.
Start Windows Messenger.
On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the Accounts tab, and then click Advanced next to the My contacts include users of a SIP Communications Service check box.
Click Automatic configuration, and then click OK two times.

Step 3: Verify that the Windows Messenger client program is not configured to use a single-label domain suffix

Windows Messenger does not currently support the use of a single-label domain suffix. For example, Windows Messenger does not currently support a user name such as user@example. Windows Messenger does not create DNS service location queries for an alias that uses a single-label domain suffix. Therefore, Windows Messenger cannot locate the Live Communications Server computer or pool.

To resolve this issue, use a SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that has a domain suffix such as example.com. In this scenario, you may have to create a new DNS zone for the new DNS name. However, you can configure the service location record in this new DNS zone to point to a host in a domain that has a single-label DNS name. We recommend that you do not use single-label domain names in your organization.

MORE INFORMATION

To obtain more information to help you troubleshoot client connection issues in Live Communications Server, obtain network traces of the traffic that is sent from the Windows Messenger client computer. To do this, use tools such as Microsoft Network Monitor or a third-party network capture program such as Ethereal. Additionally, enable client-side tracing on the computer that is running Windows Messenger. To do this, enable the following two registry settings.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\RTCDLL

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\RTCIMSP

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

When you enable tracing by using these registry settings, trace information is stored in the root folder of the operating system drive. For example, tracing information is stored in C:\. For more information about how to configure tracing in Live Communications Server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

871023 Using the Windows Messenger 5.0 debug log to troubleshoot sign-in failures in Live Communications Server 2003

To enable Communicator logging, use the following registry settings:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\Communicator

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\LCAPI

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\LCIMSP

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\LCMSGSC

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Tracing\lcmedia_rtp

Value name: EnableFileTracing
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

Note the FileDirectory value. By default, the FileDirectory value should be set to %USERPROFILE%\Tracing. After you configure these registry values, stop the Communicator process in Task Manager and then restart it . When you restart Task Manager, the client picks up the new registry values. Then, logging is turned on. See the Live Communications Server Planning & Deployment Guide for more information and for session-specific tracing settings.

The Rtcdll registry setting implements the Real-Time Communications (RTC) Client API. For more information about the RTC Client API, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnrtcclnt/html/usertcclnt.asp?_r=1

The Rtcimsp registry setting represents the Instant Messaging Service Provider. In this case, the Instant Messaging Service Provider is Windows Messenger. By examining the Rtcimsp*.log files, you can see data that is specific to the Windows Messenger client program.

For more information about how to configure and how to deploy Live Communications Server, see the Live Communications Server Deployment Resources. To obtain the Live Communications Server Deployment Resources, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011450741033.aspx

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.