Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A cookbook
Ed Nordmeyer
Software Engineer
Technical Support Professional: Client Technical Resolution Specialty
IBM Software Group, Lotus
Charlotte, NC
December 2008
Abstract: This white paper addresses the issues most frequently reported by customers
to IBM Technical Support regarding IBM® Lotus® Domino® server deployment. The
goal of this document is to enable Domino Administrators who are relatively new to the
Domino products to help themselves with specific Lotus Domino installation and
upgrade questions. In short, this is a "how to" guide (cookbook) for Lotus Domino install,
setup, and upgrade tasks.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 2
2 Basics of setting up a standalone Domino server.............................................. 2
2.1 Minimum requirements for Lotus Domino................................................... 2
2.2 Detailed installation steps........................................................................... 3
2.3 Detailed setup steps.................................................................................... 7
2.4 Troubleshooting the Domino server install or setup.................................. 17
3 Installing and setting up an additional Domino server in an existing domain... 18
3.1 Troubleshooting the secondary Domino server install or setup................ 23
4 Upgrading a Domino server.............................................................................. 24
4.1 Incremental upgrades............................................................................... 24
4.2 Installing a fix pack.................................................................................... 26
4.3 Installing a hot fix...................................................................................... 29
5 Conclusion........................................................................................................ 32
6 Resources........................................................................................................ 32
7 About the author............................................................................................... 33
1 Introduction
This paper focuses specifically on installing IBM Lotus Domino on the Microsoft®
Windows® server OS; it does not go into depth on subjects such as the differences
between 32-bit and 64-bit OS Domino installs. In such cases, you'll be referred to the
pertinent IBM Support Technotes in the knowledge base.
Also, as this is a guide for deploying the Domino server, it does not cover how to install
and set up programs such as the Notes client, Domino Designer client, or Domino
Administrator client, or how to connect to the server through a Web browser. That
information is covered elsewhere in training materials and other technical content (see
the Resources section of this paper).
To help you quickly find the task you need to perform, the paper is divided into sections
as follows: First server install, Adding Domino servers to an existing domain, and
Incremental upgrades, fix packs, and hot fixes.
The currently supported versions of the Domino server at the time of this writing are
Domino 6.5.X, Domino 7.0.X, and Domino 8.0.X.
Microsoft Windows 2000 is a supported OS for Domino 6.5.X and Domino 7.0.X, and
Windows 2003 SP2 is a supported OS for Domino 6.5.X, Domino 7.0.X, and Domino
8.0.X.
The current versions of Domino server software requirements can be found in the IBM
Support Techdocs titled, “Detailed system requirements - Lotus Domino 7.0.3” and
“Domino 8.0.2 Detailed System Requirements”.
Once you confirm the required hardware minimums are met and that you're installing
Domino on a supported OS, you now must decide what the purpose of your Domino
server install is. It can be licensed as a utility server, messaging server, or an enterprise
server, the definitions of which are in the Administrator Help file:
“When you install each server, you must select one of the following installation options:
• Domino Utility Server -- Installs a Domino server that provides application services only, with
support for Domino clusters. Note that it does NOT include support for messaging services.
• Domino Messaging Server -- Installs a Domino server that provides messaging services. Note
that it does NOT include support for application services or Domino clusters.
• Domino Enterprise Server -- Installs a Domino server that provides both messaging and
application services, with support for Domino clusters. Only the Domino Enterprise Server
supports a service provider (xSP) environment.”
Table 1 is a partial list of part numbers for the Domino Server products. All the items are
downloadable from the Passport Advantage Web site.
IBM Lotus Domino Messaging Server 7.0.2 Windows 2000 and 2003 English C94QBEN 520mb
IBM Lotus Domino Messaging Server 8.0 Windows 2003 English C13NGEN 500mb
IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Server 7.0.2 Windows 2000 and 2003 English C94QBEN 520mb
IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Server 8.0 Windows 2003 English C13NGEN 500mb
IBM Lotus Domino 8.0.2 32 bit Windows 2003 English C1K38EN 472mb
IBM Lotus Domino 8.0.2 64 bit Windows 2003 English C1K39EN 502mb
In our first detailed walk through of the program install below, the screenshots are taken
from an Enterprise Domino 8.0.1 server installed on a Windows 2003 SP2 OS.
The formal detailed instructions for the Domino server installation and setup process
without the screenshots can be found in the Lotus Domino Administrator 7 Help.
Next, determine where the Domino program files (see figure 3) and data files (see figure
4) will be installed. The program files and data can be placed in different directories and
even on different drive letters, but the default is to place the data directory within the
Domino folder.
Figure 3. Choose the install directory
Now, you must determine which version of the Domino server you will install. In our
example, we're installing the Domino Enterprise server setup type (see figure 5).
Figure 5. Choose the setup type
Click Next; you see the Installing Lotus Domino progress screen (see figure 6).
When the install completes, you'll see the final wizard screen (see figure 7)with the
message “The InstallShield Wizard has successfully installed Lotus Domino....”
Figure 7. Success screen
As this is a demonstration of the first server install, select the “Set up the first server or
stand-alone server” radio button before clicking next (see figure 9).
Now, you are asked to choose the name of your server (see figure 10). Simply put, the
Domino server name does not need to match the OS server name, but the name should
help you remember what the server is and what it does.
Note the comment here warning that, once the Domino server name has been chosen, it
is difficult to change at a later date.
Figure 10. Choose your server name
The IBM Support Technote #1086045 titled “Recommended naming conventions for
server names or domain names” has some additional guidance on naming Domino
servers and Domino domain names and includes additional details about what would be
required to change the Domino name itself after the server setup is complete.
The Organization name is commonly your company name and is included in the full
hierarchical name of users and servers registered later (see figure 11).
Figure 11. Choose your Organization name
At this point, after picking the Organization name and a sufficiently complex password
for the cert.id, you can click the Customize button to see some additional choices. The
Advanced Organizational Settings screen displays (see figure 12).
For instance, if your company name is Acme, but there's a branch of Acme on the East
Coast and one on the West Coast, you can chose to create additional Organizational
Units (OU) that help further define the users, servers, and groups. OU's do not need to
be specified at this time, however, and are usually registered after the first Domino
server install is complete. In our example, we click Cancel to proceed to the next screen.
Finally, the Domino domain name is defined by the people, servers, and groups that are
all in the same directory or address book. Type in the Domino domain name and click
Next (see figure 13). (Once the Domino server is set up and running, the Domino
Directory is also sometimes called by its file name, Names.nsf.)
Now, let's create our first Person document for the Domino directory. Since this is the
only person that is in our newly created Names.nsf file, by default it will also be the
Administrative Account for the Domino server. We name our account ADMIN SYSTEM
(see figure 14).
Figure 14. Specifying Admin ID
Now you must decide what Internet services your server will provide: Web browser,
Internet Mail Clients, or Directory services (see figure 15). Because the first server in the
Domain is also the administrative server, it's a good idea to limit it to that purpose, and
to install additional SMTP and mail servers later for Web clients.
Figure 15. Select the Internet services the server will provide
If, however, this will be the only Domino server in your domain and, as such, must be a
Web server, SMTP server, and administration server, then enable all three options. In
our case, only the default “Directory services (LDAP services)” check box is left
enabled.
If you click the Customize button, the Advanced Domino Services screen displays, in
which you can add or remove additional services to your Domino server (see figure 16).
Clicking each one of these entries provides a more detailed description of what they do.
From here, click Cancel to return to the previous screen (recall figure 15 above).
In our server environment and in most customer environments, NetBIOS is not used on
the OS, so you can disable the NetBIOS over TCP/IP option in the “Enabled port
drivers” field (see figure 17) by clicking the Customize button.
Figure 17. Network settings
Now you see the Advanced Network Settings screen (see figure 18); deselect the check
box for the NetBIOS over TCP/IP option.
Note that the “Enabled port drivers” field now lists only TCP/IP (see figure 19).
Figure 19. TCP/IP the only enabled port driver
Click Next; the Secure Domino Server screen displays (see figure 20), in which you can
specify Access Control List settings to limit access for databases created on this server,
as well as create the “LocalDomainAdmins” group as a manager to all databases.
Leave both these options enabled (the default).
The summary screen displays (see figure 21), listing the setting choices we've made so
far (Server name, Server type, etc). Confirm the settings and click the Setup button.
Figure 21. Confirm your setup options
The program finishes creating and registering files, and completes (see figure 22).
Click the Finish button; you should see an icon on your desktop for the newly installed
Domino server. Double-click it to launch Lotus Domino for the first time.
If you receive a dialog box asking whether you want to run the program as a service or
an application, you can pick either; however, in our demonstration, Lotus Domino 8.0.1
picks the service as a default.
Click Next; you should see a Domino console screen similar to that shown in figure 23,
if the Domino server starts successfully.
If your search is not fruitful, one of the best initial troubleshooting steps is to remove any
variables that you can from the environment in which Domino is being installed:
• Are you local or remote? If attempting to install the software remotely, try going to
the server itself, or use a different remote program to access the server in question. If
you're logged on to the OS directly, check the permissions of the account with which
you logged on to the OS, to ensure the account has enough required permission to
install software on the OS.
• Temporarily stop or remove all third-party products and services that may interface
with the Domino server, such as anti-virus products, backup software, and spam
filters, and try to re-run the program.
The first step in this process is to launch the Administration client and register a new
server ID. When registering the new server, be sure the new server.id has a different
name from the old server.id if saving to the network location, to make sure the first
server ID isn't over written.
Because the installation process for a single Domino server install and an additional
Domino server install is the same, we'll skip right to the Domino server setup. The
images here are for a server setup that's run from an Enterprise Domino 8.0.1 server
and installed on a Windows 2003 SP2 OS.
First, double-click the new Domino icon from the desktop to see the Welcome to
Domino Server Setup screen (recall figure 8); click Next.
At this screen (see figure 24), make sure to select the “Set up an additional server” radio
button; click Next.
Select the option for “The server ID file is stored on a floppy disk, CD or network drive”
to point to where the server ID is located on the network (see figure 25). (If the second
Domino server ID is stored in the Server document in the Names.nsf file, feel free to
choose the option “The server ID file is stored in the Domino Directory” instead.)
Click Next.
Figure 25. Specify where server ID is located
Assuming we chose a valid server ID, the name of the second server will appear greyed
out in the Server name field of the “Provide the registered name of this additional
Domino server” screen (see figure 26).
Figure 26. Registered name
On the next screen, keep only the default “Directory services (LDAP services)” option
checked, unless you specifically want to enable Web access or SMTP services (see
figure 27). Click Next.
Since we're setting up a new server in an existing domain, this server setup needs the
primary Domino server information, that is, Other Domino server name and Optional
network address (see figure 29). Note that, even though the network IP address is listed
as optional, it's usually a good idea to provide it, if possible.
In the next screen you must specify the type of Domino Directory for your server (see
figure 30). If you keep the default “Set up as a primary Domino Directory” option, the
server will make a complete Names.nsf local to this server. Unless there's a good
reason to change this, keep the default. Click Next.
The next four screens that display are the same as those for first server setup. Similarly,
if you're prompted the first time you click the Domino server icon from the OS desktop,
decide whether to run it as a service or application.
Domino 8.0.1 picks the service as a default, and you should see the same type of server
console screen when the Domino server starts as you saw for the first server.
● As this server also must be able to reach the primary server across the network,
make sure that TCP/IP is running from the OS, and that you can connect to the other
server on an OS-to-OS level, such as by using the “ping” command.
● Confirm that any firewalls or network routing devices between these servers allow
traffic across port 1352, which is the default port Domino and Notes use.
The steps to perform an upgrade to a new major release of Domino are addressed in a
number of IBM Redpaper and Redbooks publications, the most recent of which are
titled, “Lotus Notes and Domino 7 Enterprise Upgrade Best Practices” and “IBM Lotus
Notes and Domino 8 Deployment Guide.”
To install an incremental upgrade to a Domino server, first shut down the existing
Domino server, and then double-click the executable to launch the installation program.
In the License Agreement screen, select “I accept” after reading the fine print; click Next
(see figure 31).
Figure 31. Accept license agreement
Select where the data files are found from the pull-down menu on the Welcome screen
(see figure 32); click Next.
The installer proceeds with the upgrade, indicating its progress, and finishing with a
success screen.
The most common reason for an incremental upgrade to fail is due to attempting to
install it on to a Domino server on which a fix pack is installed. If you get a failure screen
stating “checksum failure” or “incorrect version,” confirm there are no hot fixes installed
on the Domino server, and then retry the incremental install.
Another possible means to upgrade a Domino server, if the incremental install fails or if
you want to upgrade a number of incremental versions at once (such as to go from 6.5.3
to 6.5.6), is to download the full version install of the Domino program for the upgrade.
This process follows the same steps that are in the Redpaper and Redbooks
publications cited at the beginning of Section 4.
Fix pack upgrades, such as from Domino 6.5.3 to 6.5.3 FP1, also require the Domino
server to be shut down before you double-click the fix pack executable.
A Domino Fix Pack install uses executable screens similar to those for the Incremental
Upgrade process. The first screen you encounter asks you to accept the terms and
conditions and click Next; the second screen asks you to confirm where the Domino files
are found and whether you want to install the fix pack there; the third screen tells you
which DLL's are being replaced and gives you a progress bar for the installation; and the
final screen let you know when the install completes successfully.
Uninstalling a fix pack is just as easy; just double-click the executable and, when
prompted, select the previous version of Lotus Domino to roll back the version of the
software (see figure 33).
Figure 33. Selecting release version to revert to
If at all possible, it is significantly better to upgrade Domino using a fix pack instead of a
hot fix because most of the identified bugs are addressed in fix packs and resolve a
number of issues at the same time.
The installer program for a hot fix is similar to the process for installing a fix pack; that
is, stop the Domino server, double-click the executable, and then click Next as needed.
This demonstration uses a fix pack that was specifically written for Domino 6.5.3 FP1 on
a Windows OS.
The executable screens for installing a Domino hot fix are almost identical to the
screens from the Incremental Upgrade process and the Fix Pack installation process:
The first screen that displays asks you to accept the terms and conditions and click
Next; the second screen asks you to confirm where the Domino files are found and
whether you want to install the fix pack there; the third screen shows you a progress bar
for the installation; and the final screen lets you know when the install completes
successfully.
NOTE: Once you've installed a hot fix, Lotus Domino is unable to upgrade to the next fix
pack until the hot fix is uninstalled. The uninstall process is the same as the install
process: Double-click the hot fix executable, select the previous version of Domino, and
click Next.
5 Conclusion
If you are a relatively new Lotus Domino Administrator, hopefully this white paper has
enabled you to help yourself with specific Domino installation and upgrade questions.
It's not meant to be a comprehensive guide, however, so be sure to consult the
additional resources linked in the section below for more detailed solutions.
6 Resources
Lotus Domino Support:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/support/domino/support.html
“Upgrade Central: Planning your upgrade to Lotus Notes / Domino 7.0.3 (including fix
packs for Domino 7.0.3)”:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=899&uid=swg21283077
Trademarks
• Domino, IBM, Lotus, and Notes are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation
in the United States, other countries, or both.
• Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States, other countries, or both.
• Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.