IBM - Making modifications to Notes System Templates

IBM Lotus strongly recommends that careful consideration be given before any modifications are made to any template, especially the Domino Directory.

Link

Knowledge Collection: Lotus Notes and Domino mail rules

A really good technote:

Knowledge Collection: Lotus Notes and Domino mail rules

This Knowledge Collection serves as a source of key documents regarding Lotus Notes® and Domino® mail rules. This includes Block Sender rules, Server mail rules, and Domino Web Access mail rules.

Server mail rules
Notes mail rules
Domino Web Access mail rules
Block Sender rules
Additional mail rule references

How to analyze Notes/Domino NSDs? NSD Analyzer V2.6

How to analyze Notes/Domino NSDs? NSD Analyzer V2.6
a new version of the Lotus Notes Diagnostic Tool (Nsd Analyzer) is available here : Link
From Notes.net : Link

Windows Server 2008 potholes snag Exchange, in-place upgrades

From Network world

Users planning to run Microsoft Exchange on Windows Server 2008 and those contemplating
in-place upgrades of the new server operating system coming out next week may face
installation problems unless they heed specific advice from Microsoft.

The vendor is already warning users that the RTM version of Exchange 2007 cannot be
installed on Windows Server 2008 and that it is impossible to do an in-place upgrade to
Windows Server 2008 on a server running Exchange 2007 SP1.

Microsoft also has said "rolling upgrades" of failover clusters for Exchange are
impossible.

Microsoft has published three migration options, including one long set of steps around
off-loading data, uninstalling and reinstalling numerous Exchange components.

......

Microsoft officials say in-place upgrades are not considered a best practice [for
Microsoft products] and that most large IT shops do thorough testing before deployment.
...

In addition, Hinrichs said Windows Server 2008 installs will likely [hopefully] be done
on new hardware or hardware wiped clean for new installs.
...

Free tool on OpenNtf - Find all design elements signed by an id

A little tool that will help you find all the design elements in your databases located
on a specific server?

OpenNtf
You can add exclusions for databases or folders that you don't want to scan (Mail\,
Help\, Admin4,nsf, etc)

You can then sort the results by Server, By signer, By design element, etc.

It's very useful when an Admin no longer works for your company but many designe elements
(agents , scripts libraires,e tc) were signed with his ID.

Topic discussed here on Notes.net

Lotus R8 Desktop Policy Settings

Unexpected Desktop Policy settings pushed to clients after upgrade to Domino 8
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&uid=swg21299046

After upgrading to Lotus Domino 8, all mail messages are sent as encrypted and Notes
users receive 'scan for unread' message when loading the client
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&uid=swg21298715

Where Have All The Emails Gone?

Where Have All The Emails Gone?


The worrisome implications of the Mexican theft of White House BlackBerry devices
http://www.dominopower.com/issues/issue200804/00002163001.html


An elephant never forgets? George W. Bush's lost e-mails
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/bush-lost-e-mails.ars

Court Expands White House Missing E-Mail Order
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Storage/Court-Expands-White-House-Missing-EMail-Order/?kc=EWKNLNAVFEA1

Troubleshoot policy documents

http://jyriver.blogspot.com/2007/06/les-politiques-lotus.html

From the abstract:

This document is part of a collection of documents designed to help administrators better
understand how to create, configure and troubleshoot Lotus® Domino® policies. The topic
of this document, which includes an accompanying video, is troubleshooting policy
settings documents.

http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf/plinks/GELD-7E769P

Internet password

New Internet password is not immediately usable
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&uid=swg21245252

Newly created Web user unable to log in for five minutes or longer
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&uid=swg21165390


SHOW NLCACHE RESET
Have you ever noticed then we you go to a Domino based website and sign up for an account
you typically have to wait a few minutes for your account to become
active?..............While this might not seem to present itself as a problem,
organizations with large directories would see a significant performance hit on their
boxes each and every time the cache was reset and reloaded with current information....

http://www.bruceelgort.com/blogs/be.nsf/plinks/BELT-7BJ2MT

Performance basics for IBM Lotus Notes developers

A must read document about performance... it's THE reference
Performance basics for IBM Lotus Notes developers
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/documentation/d-ls-notesperformance/

What methods are available to determine if additional mailboxes are needed on a Lotus Domino® server?

What methods are available to determine if additional mailboxes are needed on a Lotus Domino® server?
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21148438

DocLink support with Domino - Password manager for BB

It sounds (unofficially) like BES 4.1.6 is in the pipeline and for Domino folks Doclink
support, Sametime 8 and Connections Client are the current highlights.
http://www.notesberry.org/notesberry/blog.nsf/d6plinks/JHOK-7EPEBL


Free password keeper application from BlackBerry
http://www.blackberrycool.com/2008/05/15/007236/

Propagating stationary across and entire organization

From a post Notes.net and IdeaJam

Some people would like to propagate prebuilt stationary to all mail clients across an entire organization

Here's a little solution that can be done by script

With a form like this one:


You could send a specific stationary to every users of a specific server or choose a list of mail files or mail folders.

Then, you only need to select which stationary you want to send.

Die Hard - Deciphering a server crash

Die Hard - Deciphering a server crash

From the Lotusphere 2008

a great presentation from
Franziska Whitlock Wave Technology
Paul Mooney Blue Wave Technology

NSD Express - Fault Analysis in 5 Minutes Daniel Nashed (Nash!Com)

Lotusphere 2008 - Emergence

SpeedGeeking Session

NSD Express - Fault Analysis in 5 Minutes Daniel Nashed (Nash!Com)

Link

Cluster management

From IdeaJam : Link

There is currently no way, without programming something, to verify that the quota settings of cluster replicas are the same. If we can identify where cluster replicas have differant quota's, either with cluster analysis or an Admin view, then we could correct inconsistancies. Alternatively, if there was a way to designate a primary server and "push" the cluster settings to all cluster replicas, that would be convenient.


There is a lot of manual hacks when you have this kind of problems. (Replication history, Show stat, add cluster replicator task, etc)
From Notes.net : Link

But first, you MUST know that you have a problem.
To reslove this issue, i have made an application to do this for you. The db is fully dynamic, no hard-coded cluster name, you have a configuration document.

From a scan document, you must select the cluster that you want to scan. You can run it in a manual mode or a schedule one (If you have trusted servers)



After the agent is run, you have multiples views that will identify for you the dbs that are not in sync, over quota, replica id differents, etc.




Here's an example of a log document:


In this example, you can see that there is a difference, in the trash folder, between the 2 replicas,

You can then , via a button, clear the replication history and initiate a replication between those replicas.

If the problems was a difference in your quota, you have another option that allows you to modify the quota and warning on every replicas of your mail files.

JYR

Gestion de la messagerie Lotus Notes

Note: Si vous désirez plus de détails, laissez moi un message. Une version d'essais est disponible.

Contexte
L’utilisation de la messagerie et les impératifs légaux concernant les données transitant sur les infrastructures, le volume de données à gérer devient de plus en plus important. Une des avenues envisagées, est l’utilisation de bases d’archives pour les utilisateurs.

L'implantation de l'archivage doit se faire conjointement avec l'implantation des quotas ainsi que la définition de règles claires dans l'utilisation des systèmes de messagerie car peu importe le système de messagerie, il ne faut pas déplacer le problème en donnant encore plus d'espace sur un autre serveur.

Ces règles claires devraient s’accompagner d’audits périodiques des serveurs de messagerie afin de connaître la nature des courriers qui transitent sur les infrastructures. Il faut connaître l'utilisation que les usagers en font, et ce, même si on prend pour acquis que ce qu'ils font est strictement relié au travail. L’utilisation de la messagerie s’en trouve optimisée sachant que les infrastructures ne se trouvent pas engorgées avec des fichiers de nature personnelle.

Ceci permet aussi d’établir le type d’activités engendrées sur les serveurs afin de définir entre autre des quotas appropriés. Car si les quotas sont trop bas et que les utilisateurs n’ont pas une archive de taille suffisante, ils seront portés à détruire les messages afin de gagner de l’espace. Ce faisant, un organisme perd énormément de « mémoire d'entreprise ».

Lorsque la nature des courriers qui transitent est connue, on peut tenter d'établir un taux de croissance de cette utilisation ce qui permet par exemple de prévoir les frais d’acquisition d’un SAN.

Afin d’effectuer les audits périodiques, voici un outil vous permettant de gérer la messagerie Lotus Notes.


Description

Cette base permet d’effectuer un audit des courriels présents dans les bases de courriers Lotus Notes. Ces audits peuvent s’effectuer sur les sujets des messages ou encore sur les fichiers attachés présents dans les messages.

Lorsqu’une recherche par fichiers est effectuée, cela permet de recenser entre autre le nombre, la taille et le type de fichiers attachés présents dans les boîtes de courriers. Il est ensuite possible d’y poser diverses actions.

Les avantages de ce type de traitements sont nombreux :
• Permet de retracer les personnes ayant pu recevoir ou envoyer des fichiers à contenu douteux ou encore contenant des virus.
• Permet de mieux gérer votre bande passante en évitant le transfert de fichiers volumineux occasionnant parfois des pertes de service chez vos autres utilisateurs générant ainsi une perte de productivité.
• Permet aussi de prévoir la croissance de votre besoin d’espace disque.

Dans les environnements faisant appel aux grappes de courriers, l’envoi de fichiers volumineux peut ralentir la synchronisation des grappes car la tâche responsable de ce traitement n’est pas prioritaire.


Fonctionnement de l’application

Les recherches peuvent être effectuées de 3 façons:

Ad hoc
L'administrateur roule le script à partir de son poste de travail.


Planification étendue
La base est déployée sur tous les serveurs.

Planification centralisée
Si l’environnement analysé ne comprend que des serveurs Lotus Domino de version 6.X et plus, il est possible d’accéder aux bases situées sur un autre serveur à partir d’un point centralisé. (Onglet serveur, section Serveurs accrédités)


Cette application est utilisée conjointement avec une base de Gestion d’erreurs permettant de recueillir entre autre toutes les erreurs d’accès aux bases de courriers.


Les recherches sont effectuées au moyen d’un document de pilotage. Ce document spécifie les paramètres de l’analyse désirée.

La personne responsable doit d’abord sélectionner le nom des serveurs à analyser au moyen de cases à cocher lui permettant de sélectionner un ou des serveurs.



Cette liste de noms de serveurs est dynamique.

Elle est bâtie selon une table de pilotage présente dans l’application.






La personne responsable doit sélectionner le type de recherches


Par liste de fichiers,
L’analyse peut se faire sur des fichiers précis sur le ou les serveurs sélectionnés




Par liste de répertoires,
L’analyse peut se faire sur des répertoires précis sur le ou les serveurs sélectionnés



Par Utilisateurs des serveurs spécifiés,
L’analyse est effectuée sur toutes les bases de courriers actives, définies au carnet d’adresses public, sur le ou les serveurs sélectionnés





Par la suite, la personne responsable doit déterminer les critères suivants:



Mode
Il faut déterminer le mode de recherches désiré.

Deux modes sont possibles :

Mode correction :
Effectuera les actions demandées.

Mode Rapport :
Ne posera aucune action même si par exemple, vous spécifiez qu’il faut détruire le message



Type de traitement

Trois de traitements sont disponibles.

Analyse des fichiers TOUS
Ce type de traitement analysera tous les courriers pour détecter la présence d’un fichier attaché quel qu’il soit.

Analyse du sujet :
Ce type de traitement effectuera une correspondance entre un critère de recherches précis et le champ Sujet de tous les courriers électroniques.

Analyse d'un nom de fichier :
Ce type de traitement effectuera une correspondance entre un critère de recherches précis et tous les noms de fichiers contenus dans les courriers électroniques


Note : Pour les recherches par fichiers, il est possible de spécifier la taille minimale des fichiers à analyser. Cette valeur est en kilo-octets.
Tous les fichiers plus grands que ce nombre seront considérés


Nom de la pièce \ Chaîne de recherche du sujet
À utiliser conjointement avec le type de traitement « Analyse du sujet » ou « Analyse d’un nom de fichier ».



Actions à poser

Supprimer le message :
Le message sera supprimé de la boîte de courriers

Supprimer le fichier :
Dans le cas d’une recherche par type de fichiers, seul le fichier correspondant au critère voulu sera supprimé.


Section : Désirez-vous envoyer une communication aux utilisateurs?

Pour tous les traitements effectués selon le tableau de bord, il est possible de notifier les utilisateurs pour lequel un traitement a été effectué.

Cette notification est réalisée au moyen d’un module alimenté à partir de modèles pré-établis via une table de pilotage.

Au niveau du tableau de bord, vous devez choisir le modèle de courriers à utiliser :




Le modèle est rempli sous cette forme




Lors de l’envoi du rapport aux utilisateurs, ces derniers reçoivent le message que vous aurez défini. À cette notification est aussi greffé un rapport décrivant les fichiers sujets trouvés ainsi que l’état de ce message (Ex : Message ou fichier supprimé)

Rapports

Dans toutes les recherches effectuées, un document est généré pour tous les courriers électroniques correspondant aux critères de recherches. Par la suite, il est possible de naviguer au travers des différentes vues de la base pour y visionner les résultats entre autre les recherches par sujet, par fichiers et les actions posées.





Si vous désirez plus de détails, laissez moi un message

Tool to search log.nsf (Lotus) database

On OpenNtf

Link

This database will help you to search log.nsf for a specific error message or string for a given period of time and display the result in one document. It is designed to help support person to view specific error occurrences on a given server without opening multiple log documents.


This database is based mainly on this one:

Link

Except the UI, you can now search for mail routing events and replication events

This database is much faster than the tool form the admin console

Making Sure Users Replicate

Related to this post:
Tool to find Old documents pushed back by replication

link

From breakingpar

Making Sure Users Replicate

With a distributed application like Notes, one of the problems is that someone can have a local replica and not replicate for a while. This can cause problems like previously deleted documents reappearing, or replication conflicts. This tip describes one way of reminding users to replicate at least somewhat frequently. If the user hasn't replicated in a week or more, they are reminded to replicate so they'll have the latest information.

The problem becomes "how do you know how long it's been since this user has replicated"? I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but the way I use is to keep a profile document on the server with today's date. A scheduled agent, set up for 12:15 AM every day, updates the profile document. So, whenever the user replicates, they'll have a profile document with the date they last replicated. That profile document is never updated on the local replica - only on the server version. It makes it pretty easy to know the last date they replicated by looking at the profile and comparing it to today's date.

So, let's start by taking a look at the agent. It's a scheduled agent, set to run on the server (just choose 1 server if you're in an environment where your applications are on multiple servers for load balancing purposes), and set to run at 12:15 AM every day. Here's the code:

Sub Initialize
Dim session As New NotesSession
Dim db As NotesDatabase
Dim profile As NotesDocument
Set db = session.CurrentDatabase
Set profile = db.GetProfileDocument("CurrentDate")
Call profile.ReplaceItemValue("CurrentDate", Today)
Call profile.Save(True, False, True)
End Sub

The name of the profile is CurrentDate and the field on the profile with today's date is also called CurrentDate.

When the database is opened, I check that profile document and compare it to today's date. This tells me how long it has been since the user has replicated. If it's been a long time (more than 60 days) since the user replicated, they are told to replicate immediately. There are even some applications that prevent user access if it's been more than 60 days since they replicated. But that's beyond the scope of this tip. If it's been a little while (more than 7 days) then I give a different warning message suggesting the user replicates. Here's the database PostOpen code:

Sub Postopen(Source As Notesuidatabase)
Dim session As New NotesSession
Dim db As NotesDatabase
Dim profile As NotesDocument
Dim msg As String
Dim eval As Variant
Set db = session.CurrentDatabase
If db.Server = "" Then
msg = ""
Set profile = db.GetProfileDocument("CurrentDate")
If Not profile.HasItem("CurrentDate") Then
msg = "You have not replicated with the server in a while. Please replicate"
msg = msg & " to ensure you have all the latest design and document"
msg = msg & " information."
Else
eval = Evaluate({@Integer((@Now - CurrentDate) / 86400)}, profile)
If eval(0) > 60 Then
msg = "You have not replicated with the server in at least a couple of months."
msg = msg & " You should replicate IMMEDIATELY to ensure you have all"
msg = msg & " the latest design and document information."
Elseif eval(0) > 7 Then
msg = "You have not replicated with the server in at least a week. You should"
msg = msg & " replicate to ensure you have all the latest design and"
msg = msg & " document information."
End If
End If
If msg <> "" Then
Msgbox msg, 48, "Please Replicate"
End If
End If
End Sub

The code first checks to see if the user is on a local replica. If they're already on the server, then I don't need to check the profile. So I only check if the server is blank which indicates they are on a local replica. Next, I get a handle to the profile document. Note that with profile documents, if the profile document doesn't exist, it will be created. So that's why I check for the field being present - if the field is missing then the profile document did not previously exist in the user's local replica. So I want to give a warning message to replicate just to make sure they have the server's profile document for future reference.

If the field does exist, that field holds the date their version was last updated. So I compare it to today's date and see how many days it's been (dividing by 86,400 or the number of seconds in one day). If that has been more than 60 days, then I'm going to give the user the "immediately" message. If it's been more than 7 days I give a slightly less stern message.

If one of the checks resulted in the variable msg being updated, then that prompt is given to the user.

So that's how I implement a check to make sure that users keep up with their local replicas. I will point out if it's been more than 60 days since the user last replicated, there are different ways to make sure the user doesn't use the application - which forces them to replicate. One way is to have some PostOpen code in every view that closes the view immediately if it's been more than 60 days since they replicated. Another way is to hide action buttons if it's been too long since they replicated. You can also prevent the opening of documents if it's been too long since they replicated - this is done through the form QueryOpen event.

Tool to find Old documents pushed back by replication

Just a quick one from OpenNtf

Link
Tool to find Old documents pushed back by replication

A big problem encountered by many users:

Link
Description

Tool to find Old documents or deleted documents pushed back to server by replication

This db allows you to find the Added to file date of all person documents in your NAB.

The search is done against the Mail Users views.

In your search , you have to specify which mail servers (From your mail users view) to look at.

Find Old documents or deleted documents pushed back to server by replication

Deleted documents are reappearing after replication
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=swg21098733

It's possible to find them by script with the AddedToThisFile API.

Q&As about replication purge intervals and cutoff dates
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=swg21110117

How to track down where replication changes originate
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=swg21225071

You can reuse this code to search other dbs, or other types of document sin the NAB (server documents, holiday documents, etc)


JYR