Updates are uploaded to Device Update Service in the following manner:

1. The administrator downloads updates in .cab files from the Microsoft Help and Support Web site, and then uploads the .cab files to the Device Update Service by using the Device Update Service Management Console.
   
   
2. The Management Console retrieves all unified communications (UC) device-specific updates from the .cab file. It writes the data to the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) data store and writes the update files to the Device Updates folder.
   
   
3. Device Update Service Management Console publishes the updates on the Pending Updatestab.
   
   
4. When the administrator performs any operations on the updates in the list, the Management Console writes any changes to the WMI store.
   
   

Device Update Service supports two UC devices: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Communicator Phone Edition and RoundTable. RoundTable must be manually configured to connect to the Device Update Service, as described in “Appendix D: Configuring RoundTable to use Device Update Service” in the Office Communications Server operations content. In the default configuration, Communicator Phone Edition connects to Device Update Service in the following manner:

1. The first time a user starts Communicator Phone Edition and signs in, the device gets in-band provisioning information from the server or Enterprise pool hosting the device user account. The information contains the internal and external URL of the server running Device Update Service.
   
   

   Note:

   In previous releases of Office Communications Server, Communicator Phone Edition devices operating outside the firewall connected to the update service by using anonymous access. In this release, to enhance security, these devices by default must use NTLM authentication. This means that a user must be logged on to the device with a valid user account in order for an external device to connect to Device Update Service and receive updates. For details about deployment requirements for external device access, see Device Update Servicein the Planning and Architecture documentation.

   If the device is turned on, but no user signs on and no user has ever previously signed on to the device, the device sends a Domain Name System (DNS) lookup request to ucupdates-r2. <DNS domain name that was provided by DHCP>and obtains the internal and external URL of the server running Device Update Service.
   
   
2. Thereafter, when the device is turned on, when the user signs in, and every 24 hours by default, Communicator Phone Edition checks for updates by sending an HTTP request over port 443 to the Web Components Server hosting Device Update Service. The request includes the current version that Communicator Phone Edition is running.
   
   
3. If a user has not signed on to the device, and the device is outside the organization’s firewall, Device Update Service denies the request.
   
   
4. Otherwise, Device Update Service returns a response containing one of the following:
   
   
   • If no approved updates exist for the current version of the firmware, the response contains downloads=0. For test devices, updates must be pending rather than approved for this to occur.
     
     
   • If an approved update exists for the current version, the response contains an internal and external URL for Device Update Service. For test devices, updates must be pending rather than approved for this to occur.
     
     
5. In the latter case, Communicator Phone Edition sends an HTTPS update request over port 443 to Device Update Service. If the device is outside the organization’s firewall, this request must include a user name and password for a valid user account, which means a user must be logged on to the device.
   
   
6. The update image is downloaded to the device.
   
   
7. The device waits for five minutes of idle activity, and then restarts to complete the update.
   
   

Tip:
The System Informationscreen on the device displays the current version and the date of the last update.