Missing Directory Services Option

One of the features on a Cisco CME system is a real-time directory search function on the phone. The search pattern can be directly entered on the phone keypad, and matching results are displayed. Directory services can be accessed by pressing the directories button on the phone and selecting the appropriate options.

Consider, for example, that when the Directories button is pressed on one of the phones connected to the CS_router, you see the options for missed calls, received calls, and placed calls, but no options for directory services. This section describes how to pinpoint and fix this problem.

Chapter 16 covers downloading a file named SEPxxxxyyyyzzzz.cnf.xml to the phone. This file contains information needed for phone registration. The URL for directory access is one of the pieces of information contained in this file. This file is stored on the router system memory and can be viewed by issuing the command show telephony-services tftp-bindings. The output of this command for the CS_router is shown in Example 17-17.

Example 17-17. Output of show telephony-service tftp-bindings

CS_router#show telephony-service tftp-bindings tftp-server system:/its/SEPDEFAULT.cnf tftp-server system:/its/SEPDEFAULT.cnf alias SEPDefault.cnf tftp-server system:/its/XMLDefault.cnf.xml alias XMLDefault.cnf.xml tftp-server system:/its/ATADefault.cnf.xml tftp-server system:/its/united_states/7960-tones.xml alias United_States/7960-tones.xml tftp-server system:/its/united_states/7960-font.xml alias English_United_States/7960-font.xml tftp-server system:/its/united_states/7960-dictionary.xml alias English_United_States/7960-dictionary.xml tftp-server system:/its/united_states/7960-kate.xml alias English_United_States/7960-kate.xml tftp-server system:/its/united_states/SCCP-dictionary.xml alias English_United_States/SCCP-dictionary.xml tftp-server system:/its/XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml alias SEP0007EB46299E.cnf.xml tftp-server system:/its/XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml alias SEP0003E37376FB.cnf.xml

In Example 17-17, you can see that a filename is associated with the MAC address of each phone on the system. The individual files are aliases of the original XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml file, which is the XML file created for the Cisco 7960 IP Phones. You can see this file's contents by issuing the command more followed by the filename with the path. In the example, the more system:/its/XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml command should return the file's contents. The output of this command for the SEPxxxxyyyyzzzz.cnf.xml file is shown in Example 17-18.

Example 17-18. Contents of the XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml File

CS_router#more system:/its/XMLDefault7960.cnf.xml 2000 10.10.10.1 {7960 Dec 05 2002 03:25:07} P00303020214 English_United_States en United_States 0 http://10.10.10.1/CCMCIP/authenticate.asp http://10.10.10.1/localdirectory

Example 17-18 shows that the file contains the directory URL information. You can visually verify that the phone has this information from the file by pressing the settings button and selecting Network Configuration. This displays a long list of network parameters for the phone. Using the rocker button on the phone, scroll down to an entry called directories URL. The entry on the phone matches the entry in the file.

The phone has all the necessary information required to query directory services, yet you cannot see the directory service option. The reason is that the URL for directory services is pointing to a file on the HTTP server of the Cisco CME router. The HTTP server function on Cisco routers is not enabled by default, so the phone cannot access the URL even though it is aware of it. Enable the HTTP server by entering the commands ip http server and ip http path flash on the Cisco CME router, and then press the directories key on the phone again. You can see a few more options than before, including the directory services entry.