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Cisco CLCEI 300-820 study materials
Cisco CLCEI 300-820 study resources

Cisco CLCEI 300-820: Hybrid Calendar and Directory Integration (Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory)

Cisco CLCEI 300-820 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Hybrid Calendar and Directory Integration (Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory)

This domain tests the two connectors that face the customer's identity and mail systems: Hybrid Calendar Service against Exchange, and Directory Connector against Active Directory. You must know the service accounts, permissions, protocols, and ordering that make each sync succeed.

Hybrid Calendar Service

  • Connector runs on Expressway-C and reaches Exchange Web Services over TCP 443, using Autodiscover to locate the endpoint.
  • Supported mail is Exchange on-premises (current supported versions, not Exchange 2007) and Microsoft 365 mailboxes.
  • The Exchange service account needs the ApplicationImpersonation management role assigned, because the connector acts on behalf of many users.
  • Enable the service in Control Hub, then the user's calendaring email address must match the mailbox.
  • Result: one-button-to-push meetings and join buttons on Webex devices and Webex App.

Directory Connector

  • Runs on Expressway-C and reads Active Directory over LDAP, 389 or 636 for LDAPS.
  • Use a dedicated read-only service account, a defined base DN, and a user filter; passwords are never stored.
  • Sync maps users and groups into Control Hub; the primary email must match the mail attribute to avoid duplicates.
  • Syncs run periodically and can be triggered manually.

Correct order

Verify the domain, deploy and register Expressway-C, authorize each connector in Control Hub, run the initial sync, then assign licenses.

Worked example

A customer has Microsoft 365 mailboxes but on-premises Active Directory. Calendar uses a connector pointed at the Microsoft 365 EWS endpoint with an impersonation-enabled service account; Directory Connector points at the domain controllers over LDAPS with a read-only account. Reasoning: the two services touch different systems, so the accounts, endpoints, and firewall rules are separate even though both connectors are hosted on the same Expressway-C.

Traps that cost marks

  • Forgetting the ApplicationImpersonation role assignment, so calendars never populate.
  • A proxy or firewall blocking outbound 443 from Expressway-C.
  • UPN and mail attribute disagreeing, producing duplicate users.
  • Assuming the connectors require inbound connections from the cloud.