We have some staff that use Chrome as their default browser.

In OWA, if they click on a URL to join a Lync meeting, and the Lync 2013 App is installed on their computer, the App does not open.  Instead a Lync Web App opens.

Is this happening because of a shortcoming in Lync or in Chrome?

We'd prefer not to set IE as the default browser and not to install the IE Tab chrome plugin - I guess I'd like to understand a bit more about why the full App isn't called?

Hi Eoin,

The full app should get called, something is hindering the query process.

Can you advise on the revision number of lync 2010 client you are using, and the version of Chrome?

I also assume you are running a 2010 Lync Server environment?

Kind regards
Ben

Chrome should work fine (it does for me) when I click to Join an meeting from OWA.

Check that your file associations are correct comes to mind:

Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program

Look for .ocsmeet and ensure it is set to Lync (desktop)

Hi Eoin, Do you solve the issue with the help of Georg provided? Does the issue also happen when you setting a meeting with Outlook? Please update Lync Server and client, chrome to the latest version. Please also set IE as the default browser temporarily on the issued computers to test if the issue happen in this situation. Best Regards, Eason Huang

Hi all.

Firstly, my apologies for not replying.  I didn't get alerts about replies - my forum email address for those alerts was set to an old email address.  

Our environment is Lync 2013, with Lync Online Office 365 as our server. The Lync client is fully up to date.

I have confirmed that the file type association is exactly as per the screenshot in the post above for oscmeet files.

See the attached psr.exe output showing what happens when I click on a Join Lync meeting link in OWA in Chrome.  You'll see that it wants to install the web app.

On the same computer, when I click the same link in IE, the Lync client opens correctly.

I'm not sure if this is an issue with Chrome or with Lync, but either way it's going to come back to our helpdesk when we start using Lync, and I'd like to have it resolved.  thanks for the advice.

Unable to attach output file from psr.exe - will copy in text description

Recording Session: 02/12/2013 16:03:52 - 16:04:43

Problem Steps: 2, Missed Steps: 0, Other Errors: 0

Operating System: 7601.22436.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr.130828-1532 6.1.1.0.2.4

Problem Step 1: User left click in "Timmy Test - Outlook Web App - Google Chrome"
Program: Google Chrome, 31.0.1650.57, Google Inc., CHROME.EXE, CHROME.EXE
UI Elements: Chrome_RenderWidgetHostHWND, Timmy Test - Outlook Web App, Chrome_WidgetWin_0, Timmy Test - Outlook Web App - Google Chrome, Chrome_WidgetWin_1

Problem Step 2: User left click on "Run this time (push button)" in "Microsoft Lync Web App - Google Chrome"
Program: Google Chrome, 31.0.1650.57, Google Inc., CHROME.EXE, CHROME.EXE
UI Elements: Run this time, Warning, Infobar Container, Microsoft Lync Web App - Google Chrome, Chrome_WidgetWin_1


    

What worked for me (provided by Jason):

"There is a .dll file that will allow you to use Lync seamlessly with Chrome, npMeetingJoinPluginOC.dll.

However, this file only comes with Firefox, though Chrome can use the same add-in. So, just install Firefox and then Lync will work with Chrome no problem.

You can even uninstall Firefox if you like and the add-in should remain on your computer." 

Hope it helps!

I don't believe it!!!

That is funny.  Seems like a very unusual way to get things working. Clever though - I look forward to testing it.

If Chrome needs a plugin, then maybe the root cause of this issue is with Chrome?

I've tried this and unfortunately it's not working in my hands.

Windows 7 Enterprise

Lync 2013 (15.0.4517.1504)

Chrome  32.0.1700.76

Firefox 26.0  (still installed - even though ideally it would be uninstalled)

To reproduce:

(1) Using Chrome, log into OWA

(2) Find meeting invite, click 'Join Lync Meeting'

(3) Observe that the Lync Web App is launched in a Chrome tab instead of the full Lync client launching.

npmeetingjoinpluginOC.dll is found on the C drive. (c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins (incidentally, a similarly named file is in c:\windows\installer\$PatchCache$ from a few months back, Lync.NPmeetingjoinpluginoc.dll.x86

This could certainly be the fault of Chrome, I'm not looking to assign blame, just to find a workaround.  The full Lync app opens as expected when 'Join Lync Meeting' is clicked in either Firefox or in IE.

I have added a description to the most-similar issue on the Chromium page, if this is affecting you please star the issue there.

For clarity, Lync client is completely up to date, the Lync server version is Office 365, so also up to date, and the file association is set as per screenshot above to launch Lync Desktop (it was always like that).

• Edited by Eoin Ryan Wednesday, February 05, 2014 9:54 AM

No further progress on this issue.

This issue may be caused by Chrome and if you are affected by it, please STAR the issue on the Chrome bug tracker.  The more of us that star the issue, the more likely Google are to look into it.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=342315

There is a chance that this issue is caused by Lync using a deprecated model in the plugin.  Honestly, I don't even understand the second half of the previous sentence, but a similar issue in Chrome for Mac was traced to that root cause.  Quoting from a Chromium developer:

#12 stXXXXrgan@chromium.org
Okay, thanks; that's what I needed.

The reason this started with Chrome 22 is that we dropped support for legacy graphics and event models (QuickDraw and Carbon, respectively) that have been deprecated for several years. To remain compatible with Mac Chrome 22+, plugins need to negotiate the new CoreGraphics and Cocoa models. Almost all the popular plugins have updated over the last several years, and I had reached out to the vendors of plugins I was aware to let them know. I hadn't heard of this plugin, so I hadn't contacted them.

The fix here is for them to release an updated version of their plugin. If their plugin doesn't draw or handle events (and it sounds like it doesn't, but is just a bridge to the app) then adding the negotiation to the plugin is a trivial change in their plugin.

I don't see any contact info for them, so what would help is for anyone experiencing this to contact Microsoft Lync technical support or any other contact point you have to let them know that their plugin needs to be updated, and point them to this bug for details. Feel free to provide them my email address in case they want to follow up in any way.

With a view to getting help from the Microsoft Lync team to investigate this, I've opened a call with Office 365 support.  Initially, first line support could not get permission to install Chrome and replicate the bug, and thus wanted to close the call as it potentially related to non-microsoft software.  I've asked for the call to be escalated to a more senior tier that would have permission to install Chrome and hopefully someone somewhere is working on it.

Can I ask that anyone experiencing the same issue please raises a call with Office 365 about this, as a flurry of similar calls at the same time will get someone's attention - as all of us that work on helpdesks know too well!

Thanks to the 12 people that have starred the issue on the Chrome bug tracker in the last week.

UPDATE -

Microsoft Lync support concluded that the root cause of this issue is with Google Chrome (case SRX614021190102209ID)

Microsoft said that  "Browser is unable to associate the Lync Online meeting extension to associate it with Lync client and hence the client is not provoked to launch instead it opens the meeting in the browser".

This issue has now been starred (meaning - this affects me too) by 49 people here on the Chromium bug tracker site.  I've also reported the issue though the Chrome browser, since I'm not sure of the relationship between Chromium and Chrome.

If it's affecting you, please star it there too - or if you know of a better way to draw the attention of Chrome, please do so!

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

On one of the (two) Chromium bug reports, someone has posted a regedit that fixes this problem.  I haven't had time to test it yet, and won't until next week (busy build week here), but I wanted to post it to the thread here in case anyone can explain what it does and comment on its suitability as a permanent fix?

From post 8 on this thread.

Navigate to and change the following keys (as seen on the site):

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ocsmeet]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ocsmeet\OpenWithList]
"MRUList"="a"
"a"="Lync.exe"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ocsmeet\OpenWithProgids]
"ocsmeet_auto_file"=hex:00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ocsmeet\UserChoice]
"Progid"="ocsmeet_auto_file"

Click online meeting from outlook application. Web browser window will open, but meeting will redirect to lync client. 

Anyone able to explain how it works and if it looks like it will work for ever?

I've found a workaround, if you have Firefox then go the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins

Copy npMeetingJoinPluginOC.dll to C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\Plugins
Create the Plugins folder if it doesn't exist. 

Open a conference meeting URL, allow the plugin to run always and your good to go! :)

Edit: obviously don't need to install Firefox on every machine, just get the .dll from a different machine and place it in the folder.

Also with GPO's and .admx for Chrome you can white list "Microsoft Office" plugins, this way user will not get prompted/asked to run the plugin.

And for Ron: thanks for reporting that!

• Edited by Jerx Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:19 AM Extra information

This manual step worked for me. Strange thing was that the folder 

C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\ didn't exists. Chrome.exe resides in the user's app data.
But by creating this folders and restarting chrome it worked as expected.

The workaround with the Firefox dll worked for me also.

I didn't install Firefox though, just "borrowed" the dll from another machine that had Firefox installed.

I already had Firefox installed so the workaround did not help me. On checking with a colleague for whom it did work we found a solution (at least it worked for me).

In chrome inspect chrome://plugins

for colleague he had "Microsoft Lync 2010 Meeting Join Plug-in "

I had the above AND "Microsoft Lync Webapp Plug-in".

I DISABLED the "Microsoft Lync Webapp Plug-in". - still did not work

I then ticked "always allowed" for the "Microsoft Lync 2010 Meeting Join Plug-in" and it worked....

So Chrome has this little popup blocked icon that if you don't see it and allow, it will throw you to the web app. I was pulling out my hair re-installing, moving .dll files around and that was all it took.  

Chrome have now closed the bug report for this issue saying that "Based on the comments above this functionality is based on an NPAPI plugin; NPAPI plugins are no longer supported by default as of version 42."

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=342315

Sounds like Microsoft need to update the Lync plug-ins.  Fingers crossed that will happen with the Skype for Business rollout!