Synthetic Transactions

A feature carried over from Lync Server 2010 is synthetic transactions, which are a set of PowerShell cmdlets used to simulate actions taken by servers or users in the environment. These synthetic transactions allow an administrator to conduct realistic tests against a service. In the case of a Mediation Server, the two most useful synthetic transactions are Test-CSOutboundCall and Test-CSPSTNPeertoPeerCall.

When Test-CSOutboundCall is run, a full outbound call is made to a phone number the administrator provides. This transaction tests the policies, and signaling and media connectivity to the PSTN. After the signaling path has been established, the transaction sends DTMF tones to validate media connectivity. Running this cmdlet requires a user account to authenticate and register to Lync Server 2013, as well as a valid destination phone number. The user credential parameter’s username and password must be collected by an authentication dialog and saved to a variable, as seen in this command:

$Credential = Get-Credential "COMPANYABC andy"

After the credentials have been collected, the cmdlet can be run with the user credential variable previously saved:

Test-CsPstnOutboundCall -TargetFqdn <Front End Pool FQDN> -TargetPstnPhoneNumber "+15551234567" -UserSipAddress "sip:[email protected]" -UserCredential $credential

Here’s a Test-CSPSTNOutboundCall example:

Click here to view code image

TargetFQDN     : Lyncpool1.companyabc.com
Result         : Success
Latency       : 00:00:10.9506726

As seen in the output, the call was successful.

Test-CSPSTNPeertoPeerCall is very similar; however, it establishes a call between two Lync users over the PSTN. This transaction logs in two Lync users, dials through the PSTN gateway, and routes back in to Lync Server to connect to the second user. The call is established, and then terminates on its own after media connectivity has been validated. To run this cmdlet, you must provide two valid user accounts in Lync Server 2013. See the following text for an example.

The user credential parameter’s username and password must be collected by an authentication dialog and saved to a variable, as seen in the following command:

Click here to view code image

$Credential1 = Get-Credential "COMPANYABC andy"
$Credential2 = Get-Credential "COMPANYABCalex"

Test-CsPstnPeerToPeerCall -TargetFqdn <FRONT END POOL FQDN> -SenderSipAddress "sip:[email protected]" -SenderCredential $credential1 -ReceiverSipAddress "sip:[email protected]" -ReceiverCredential $credential2

Here’s a Test-CSPSTNPSTNPeertoPeerCall example:

Click here to view code image

TargetFQDN     : Lyncpool1.companyabc.com
Result         : Success
Latency        : 00:00:10.9506726

As seen in the output, the call was successful.