Ed Brill's post this morning - Notes myth v reality discussed in two good blog entries reminded me that I had recently been made aware that some individuals use Wikipedia's article regarding Lotus Notes as their primary basis for evaluating the product. Seriously. These are non technology types - and yeah what are they going to do when they need to find out about technology? They are going to search on the words "Lotus Notes" and look for the Wikipedia article. And because it's on Wikipedia "it must be true."
Well, take a few minutes and read through it. In my opinion, having worked with the product since (only 1996), I'd say there are A LOT of inaccuracies. As Ed pointed out - Wikipedia looks down a bit on vendors updating their own entries. So come on now...let's take ownership of what we know to be the truth about the product. Many of you certainly have the resources to make sure this is truly reflective of what we know to be an awesome product. Ed also has offered to help confirm the dates/facts and such! So Yellowverse why don't we get organized...perhaps we could work together and have it updated before 8.5.1 is released? ;-)
If you're thinking about making the switch to Google Apps and you are reading about the migration tool that makes "Going Google fast and easy", pause a moment and shield your eyes from the glitter and glam. Sure, the video promises an easy migration. After all this is a migration tool based on a Lotus Notes application that you run on your own Domino server. What could be better? FAST and EASY. Not!
I've used several migration tools, and this one does not rank up there with fast and easy. And in the course of testing it over five days, Google has already released another version (without notifying the users). The database does include the design elements, but it does seem to be missing some script elements, and requires MS XMLHTTP (so may require proxy access thru your firewall). And will in fact overwrite the user password on the Google side with some configurations.
So again, proceed slowly if you're thinking about the move to Google. It may be the cloud, but it's not Lotus Notes/Domino.
Rev your engines, mark your calendars, bookmark the URL! LotusKnows wants you join in the creative process beginning on August 19 at 8AM EST. Login to a special IdeaJam site and submit your ideas and thoughts for the upcoming LotusKnows marketing campaign. Note - if you're already registered at Ideajam.net your existing IdeaJam id will work as your login! The site will be available until Friday August 21 at 8AM EST.
The planners of Lotusphere just called you. They are in desperate need of assistance. How can they improve what is one of the premier IT conferences? Hmmm....as I sit in my cube dreaming of Lotusphere 2010 and wondering whether I'll be there or not...here are my "suggestions":
We hope by now that you have downloaded Tivoli Directory Integrator and taken a look at it for yourself.We’ve had a few questions relating to how to install patches as TDI does use its own unique process for updates.So we’re going to run through the steps for making sure that TDI is patched and good to go!
First things first… For example purposes, we’re going to demonstrate a Windows installation of a fixpack.TDI uses an installation software package called GMI for applying fixpacks.If you’re using TDI on a different operating system, review the fixpack release notes for specific instructions.You may want to confirm the version of TDI you’re running.Start the TDI Config Editor, then go to Help – About Tivoli Directory Integrator.This will display the following screen.As you can see we’re working with Version 6.1.1 Build ididev_070207b.
Okay, now on to the update installer process.Itboils
down to just a few steps – downloading the fixpack from IBM FixCentral,
extracting the files to a drive where you have TDI installed, and then
running the installer.Like the TDI product
installer, GMI also uses Java and Flex, and will display a series of
screens during the course of the install.
You’ll need to go to IBM FixCentral ,
and download the appropriate fixpack for your version and operating
system of TDI. You will need an IBM login to download the fixpacks. If
you don't have one it's really easy to create one. [Duffbert – I had never downloaded fixes from FixCentral so this was new to me!] [Marie – sigh.Developers – do they ever patch their software?!]
Fixpacks are usually shipped as zip files.Save
the zip file to a designated location on the workstation or server
where TDI is installed and extract the folders and files – remember
where you save these!If you don’t extract the folders and files, the GMI installer will not be able to find the fixpack in a later step.
To start the fixpack installation using GMI, first locate the gmi.cmd file.For a Windows installation, the default location isC:\Program Files\IBM\Common\ci\gmi\bin
The GMI installer is included as part of the TDI base installation.
In our example, we go to Start, Run, and then Browse to the the location of the gmi.cmd file:
This launches several Java processes:
You may also see the Auto Deployment Engine: Update Installer screen as well:
Welcome to the Update Installer – Select Next to continue:
Select
Next to continue to the installation of the fixpack after choosing
“Install maintenance packages such as fixes, fix packs or refresh
packs.”:
The installer checks to see if there is a valid product to upgrade – in this case it finds TDI 6.1.1!Select Next:
You will be prompted to choose the location of the maintenance files.Select the folder that you extracted from the zip file when you downloaded the fixpack:
The installer will validate the Fixpack package:
Once the installer has confirmed the version and package, it will display the package that is available for installation.Choose the one you’d like to install and then select Next:
We’ll choose install maintenance on this computer only since we aren’t performing a silent install:
The installer will display the confirmation of what is about to be installed.Click Install:
The installer begins processing the files and applying them to TDI:
If the installer was successful you'll see the following screen:
Congratulations! You have successfully
upgraded TDI from 6.1.1.0 to 6.1.1.7.
Now to confirm your version, open the
Configuration Editor, and click Help > About and see that we're now running Build idi611_090609a:
Once you completed this process, you
should have an up-to-date installation of TDI and be ready to work magic!
To respond to several questions about the "limited" entitlement to Tivoli Directory Integrator. We've received further clarification from members of the TDI team (including Eddie Hartman and Andrea Waugh Metzger). "As long as a Domino database or Directory is somewhere in the mix in your [TDI] assembly line, you are licensed for it". You can have other sources linked to that assembly line. For another source - check out Johan Varno's (the TDI architect) site http://sites.google.com/site/dominointegration/ Thanks again to Ed Brill, Eddie Hartman, Andrea Waugh Metzger and Johan Varno!
In this installment of the TDI series, we’ll take you though the installation process.It’s so easy, even a developer can do it. [Duffbert – so that means I can install it!] And for reference, we’re installing this onto a Windows XP 32 bit machine.But given that Java is a prime component of the installation and running of TDI, you should see many of the same screens regardless of your target OS. [Marie – TDI 6.1.1 is not supported on Windows Vista or the Mac OS. See the release notes for specific instructions for installing TDI on the OS of your choice.]
A quick note on the complexity of the installation… Imagine your complexity scale goes from Notes/Domino on the simple end, to something like WebSphere Portal Server, or WAS, on the “abandon hope, all ye who enter” side.With Notes/Domino, you get a wizard that prompts you for some key information, and everything pretty much sets up from there.With just a little bit of knowledge, you can get the install working nearly every time.TDI does have its own method for installing fixpacks – using the GMI installer which is installed with TDI.
Where does TDI fall in this scale?It actually makes the Notes/Domino installation look complex.But is really that easy…
After downloading the software (you did do that already, right?), you go into the tdi_installer folder and launch the install_tdiv611_windows.exe file:
This will start a FLEXNet installer window that will run for a few seconds…
Once this is completed (again, only a few seconds), you’ll get what looks like a more traditional install splash screen for TDI:
Of course, you accept the license because we ALWAYS accept the license:
And then the package starts to check and make sure it can complete the installation process (yes, it really is this easy):
Your first real decision comes when you choose to take custom or typical installation.Go ahead and select Custom, so you can see exactly what’s about to be installed:
Decide where you want to install the software.In this case, we just took the default choice:
Next, you’ll be given the choice of which components to install.Since we selected Custom earlier, all the options are selected by default.We’re going to leave it that way.One of the most important options to keep selected are the examples, as they will help you when we get to the development part of this series.[Marie – if you’re only installing TDI on a workstation to do development work – there is no need to install the AMC and embedded version of Websphere Application Server. ]
Finally,you’ll be asked for a location for your Solutions Directory.This is where TDI will store your agents and assemblylines that you create.In this case, we’re choosing to just use the install directory on our machine to keep things simple. [Marie – I usually put this in the TDI subdirectory under my TDI home directory – administrators versus developers…what can I say?!]
Again, the installer will check to make sure all is still good to proceed:
The rest is all auto-pilot after you click install:
Congratulations!You’ve installed TDI:
Now, before
we close, let’s make sure you can start TDI with no problems…
Somewhere in
your start menus, you should see the following:
Click on the
Start Config Editor option, and you’ll temporarily get what looks like a
command line interface:
Not to
worry… just let this sit for a few seconds, and you’ll be rewarded with the TDI
workspace:
See -- we said it
would be easy… :-)
Go ahead and
get TDI installed on your workstation or server.Our next article will start to explain some
of the terminology you’ll encounter in the TDI world.
[Marie -- if you do run into install issues -- check out this
technote for some troubleshooting tips. Reference 7013120]
[Note - coauthored by Marie Scott and Thomas “Duffbert” Duff]
If you’ve worked with Domino for any length of time, you’ve run into the request to either move data into or out of Notes.It may be getting data from a Human Resource system to populate a phone directory database in Notes.It may be getting catalog orders from a Notes database to feed into an order fulfillment system fed by an Oracle database.And there’s always the need to keep directories synched up in various platforms (Domino directory, LDAP, Active Directory, and so on).What are your options?
You can always enable Domino Enterprise Connection Services, or DECS, to do some of that.There’s Lotus Enterprise Integrator, or LEI, but that’ll cost you extra.Axceler has their Notrix package, which does a very good job of pushing data back and forth between Domino and other systems, but again, it’s a third-party tool that costs money.And of course, talk to any developer and they’ll swear they can code their own solution that won’t cost a cent because they’re already working there.And we all know how those types of systems work out in the long run… they don’t.
There’s an option you likely haven’t considered, however.It’s probably the best free Domino tool you’ve never heard of.And even better, it’s from IBM so you’re staying within the IBM product family.Its name is officially the IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator or TDI for short.This easy-to-install standalone software product allows you to build import/export/transformation workflows between various data sources, as well as schedule them to run at particular times or on certain events.And while the name may have “directory” in it, don’t be misled.This software is meant to move any data from one source to another. [Duffbert – I think they just put “directory” in there so as to not scare away administrators…] [Marie -- I think administrators know the difference and can develop despite what developers think ;-) ]
Over the next few weeks (or however long it takes us), we’re going to post a series of blog entries on TDI, how to set it up, how to program it, and practical examples on how it can be used.By the time we’re done, we hope that you’ll have a valuable new software tool at your disposal, one that will make you the data manipulation guru where you work.
Where Do You Find It?
If you go out to your Passport Advantage account, you can download the software from there.Do a search for “Tivoli directory integrator”, and you’ll find the following:
The nice thing about TDI is that you don’t have to download a number of additional files and packages to get this set up.If you expand out the eAssembly file listed above, you’ll find the particular TDI download for whatever operating system you’re running.
Oh, did we mention that TDI runs on all the different operating systems just like Domino?J
So, while we’re writing the next installment of the TDI series, you can go download the software. It’s well worth the time to do so, and we think you’ll be amazed at some of the new Domino tricks you’ll be able to show off to your customers and clients.
And throughout this series, please feel free to leave comments and questions.We’ll use those to get this series to move in the directions that are most helpful to you.
I started blogging in February after returning from Lotusphere 2009. I had attended the Nerd Girls BOF session and walked away so energized to share my work experiences. I'd been working in the industry for so long in the "background", attending that session was the push I needed to start blogging. Was it easy? No. Was it scary? Yes. But hey ladies -- look at the number of women who are listed as contributors on PlanetLotus.org...where are the rest of you? I don't worry about whether or not my posts get read, and yes it is a thrill, thrill, thrill to have a hot blog post on PlanetLotus. But my object was to "share" and I think I've more than accomplished that goal.
So I want to throw down the challenge to the other talented women who work with Lotus Notes, Domino and related products. If you've got something to say - post it! The community wants to hear about it (and not only the women)! And your posts certainly don't have to be technical. The folks in this community have a wicked sense of humor and they love a good story or joke! Any theme goes! One of the original "Domino Divas" as we call ourselves (a group of four women who met at Lotusphere and have become great friends), Kathy Brown, also started blogging about the same time I did. Check out her blog!
So ladies...get blogging! If you need any assistance with getting started, leave a comment here or find me on twitter at twitter.com/marie_scott. :-)
Here's some more information about the Domino entitlement: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/notesanddomino/additionalswentitlements.html Also check out these links too! TDI + Domino: http://sites.google.com/site/dominointegration/ TDI 7 (free trial download): http://sites.google.com/site/tdi7islive/ (Thanks go to Ed Brill and Eddie Hartman for the additional info!)
Do you use Tivoli Directory Integrator in your environment? If so, in what circumstances? Do you know what TDI can do you for you? Would you like to see more information about TDI? I had posted some resources in an earlier blog post, but had some conversations this week that led me to believe that some folks really don't know about TDI and that it's available to you as part of your Domino license. It's a tool I use in my production environment on a daily basis. :-)
We've started to deploy the 8.5 FP1 for the Notes client. Here are a couple of "gotchas" we ran into:
If the 8.5 FP1 client install fails, a folder called "RCH Backup" is created. This folder is not deleted in the install failure cleanup process. Failure to delete this folder will prevent a clean re-install of the 8.5 FP1.
If you are installing 8.5 FP1 for Notes Standard - confirm that the Notes.ini contains InstallMode=1. If this setting does not exist in the Notes.ini, the current version is assumed to be Notes Basic for the Fix Pack.
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