2015 - ISA ESS Enablement Plan in India

Location - India

Training Mode: Class-room training (Lecture, Show-Tell and Hands-on)

Registrations open for India Business Partners and Customers only.

NORTH - GURGAON

Training location: IBM Silokhera Office, Gurgaon

Topic	Duration	Mode	Audience	Dates	Register
IBM Domino Deployment - Basic	1 day	Hands-on	Admin	11-Mar	Register
IBM Portal Deployment and Administration	2 days	Show-Tell	Admin	17-Mar 18-Mar	Register
IBM  Xpages Development - Advanced	2 days	Hands-on	Dev	24-Mar 25-Mar	Register
IBM xDx and Social Business Value Proposition	0.5 day	Show-Tell	Customers	31-Mar	Register
IBM Connections - Business Value Proposition	0.5 day	Show-Tell	Customers	9-Apr	Register
IBM Connections UI Customization and Application Development Workshop	1 day	Show-Tell	Admin	14-Apr	Register
IBM Domino Deployment - Advanced	1 day	Hands-on	Admin	21-Apr	Register
IBM Sametime Deployment	1 day	Show-Tell	Admin	12-May	Register
IBM Connections Cloud (Social Mail) - Business Value Proposition	1 day	Show-Tell	Admin	14-May	Register
IBM Portal Application Development Workshop	1 day	Hands-on	Admin	26-May	Register

WEST - MUMBAI

Training location: IBM BKC Office, Mumbai

Topic	Duration	Mode	Audience	Dates	Register
IBM Connections - Business Value Proposition	0.5 day	Show-Tell	Customers	10-Mar	Register
IBM Domino Deployment - Advanced	1 day	Hands-on	Admin	13-Mar	Register
IBM Connections Cloud - Business Value Proposition	1 day	Show-Tell	Admin	27-Mar	Register
IBM Portal Application Development Workshop	1 day	Hands-on	Admin	7-Apr	Register
IBM  Xpages Development - Basic	1 day	Hands-on	Dev	30-Apr	Register
IBM Connections Deployment and Administration	2 days	Show-Tell	Admin	5-May 6-May	Register
IBM  Xpages Development - Advanced	2 days	Hands-on	Dev	19-May 20-May	Register
IBM Connections UI Customization and Application Development Workshop	1 day	Show-Tell	Admin	9-Jun	Register

Note*: Limited seats only.. Only confirmed participants will be able to attend the sessions.

Add Disclaimer to Mail Signature in IBM SmartCloud Notes (Custom Implementation)

Requirement:

A company disclaimer is required to be added to all the Emails sent across the organization and outside using SmartCloud Notes Client and iNotes.

Challenge:

SmartCloud Notes doesn’t support functionality of Message Disclaimer.

 

Solution:

This solution is a work around and not really a Cloud based integration.

We’ll be using a LotusScript Agent to modify the Mail Signature for Notes Client, iNotes – Plain Text and iNotes – Rich Text and append the Disclaimer for all users.

Assumption:

The Administrator has access to all the MailFiles in SmartCloud Notes via Template Modification.

 

Code:

Option Public
Option Declare

Const DISCLAIMER = |
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Disclaimer :
This e-mail and any attachments thereto are intended for the sole use of the recipient(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential and/or proprietary to the ABC Pvt. Ltd. Any use of the information contained herein (including, but not limited to, total or partial reproduction, communication, or dissemination in any form) by persons other than the intended recipient(s) is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Sub Initialize
    Dim s As New NotesSession
    Dim docP As NotesDocument
    Dim db As NotesDatabase
    Dim dociNotes As NotesDocument
    Set db = s.CurrentDatabase
    Set docP = db.GetProfileDocument("CalendarProfile")
    Set dociNotes = db.Getprofiledocument("iNotesProfile")
    If docP.SignatureInserted Then 'Avoid repeated insert of signature
        'Plain Text Signature
        docP.Signature_1 = docP.Signature_1(0) & Chr(10) & DISCLAIMER
        'HTML iNotes Signature
        dociNotes.HTMLSignature = dociNotes.HTMLSignature(0) & Chr(10) & DISCLAIMER
        'Notes RichText Signature
        Dim rtItem As New NotesRichTextItem(docP, "Signature_Rich")
        Call rtItem.appendtext(DISCLAIMER)
        docP.SignatureInserted = True
        Call docP.Save(True,False)
        Call dociNotes.save(True, False)
    End If
End Sub

Configure Offline Replica for Notes Client

Instructions for Notes Client Configuration

Configure Local Replica:

This step will ensure that all the emails are downloaded and synced on local machine. Thus providing faster and offline access to emails. Once downloaded, emails can be instantly opened without relying on server connectivity.

Open the Mailbox and select any mail:

Goto View menu and ensure that “Advanced Menus” is enabled/checked as shown in image below.

Now, goto File -> Application --> “Make Available Offline..” option. It’ll be enabled only if Offline copy is not already been created.

In the next dialog, click OK.

This will create Local replica of your mailbox on your Notes Client. The process will run in background and may take few minutes to complete based on your mailbox size and network speed. For eg. If mailbox size is 100 MB, then you can calculate the time required to download 100MB file from internet. Once downloaded, only delta will be synchronized with server going forward.

To check the progress, open the Replication and Sync tab:

There should be an entry with user’s name and Mailbox Icon as shown below.

Location Settings:

Open Location Settings from Bottom Right corner of Notes Client:

Edit the Location document for user.

In the Edit Location Dialog, Goto 4^th Tab - “Mail”

Change Mail File Location to “Local”

Set Transfer outgoing mail if value to 1

Now open the Mail Icon from top bar in Notes Client:

The Mail file opened now should show “Local” in Server Name space in Top left section of Mailbox:

Faster Sync:

Goto File menu --> Preferences

Goto Mail --> Sending and Receiving --> Receiving --> “Check for new mail every -- minutes”

Set the value as 5 minutes or as desired.

Enable Schedule Replication:

Open the Replication and Sync Tab:

Select “Enable Scheduled Replication/Sync” option to enable Scheduled replication.

Open the “Set Replication/Sync Schedule..” option.

Enable Normal-priority Sync Schedule options as shown below.

Scheduled Replication is more resource intensive as compared “Check Mail every xx minutes” setting mentioned earlier under “Faster Sync” heading.

Therefore, my recommendations would be not to use value of less than 15 minutes for scheduled replication. For “Check Mail every xx minutes” setting even 5 minutes setting is fine.

This document can be shared with all the End-users to let them configure the Notes Client and let them achieve the best and optimized performance from a fantastic platform !

Customize Domino Login Form to allow only Email Address

Default Domino Login Form allows multiple variants of Username to login:

• Notes Common Name
• Notes Canonical Name
• Notes Abbreviated Name
• Email Address etc.

If administrator wants to restrict usage of email address only, then following customization can be used:

Assuming SSO is configured on Domino Server and Domcfg.nsf is deployed on server, we’ll create a custom login form:

1. Open Domcfg.nsf in Domino Designer.
2. Create a copy of “$$LoginUserForm” Form and rename it. For e.g. “DEMOLoginUserForm”.
3. Open the newly created form and modify the “Username” field as shown below. Change the name of field to “User” in first and last tab of Field Properties.
   
   
4. Goto the “onChange” Event of “User” field and add following code:
   return onSelectEmail()
5. Goto the “JSHeader” section of Form and add following code (Please update the domain name in code appropriately): function onSelectEmail(){
            if(document.getElementById('User').value=="") {
                alert("Please enter username first");
                       document.getElementById('User').focus();
                       return false;
            }
                 document.getElementById('Username').value=document.getElementById('User').value+"@demo.com";
                 return true;
     }
6. Add the Domain name in front of User field as shown in image above.
7. Add following code as “Pass thru HTML” in the next line after User field:
   <input name="Username" id="Username" type="hidden">
8. The form is ready now !
9. Now open Domcfg.nsf in Domino Admin client and set the mapping for this new form:
   
10. That’s all !
    

 

Let me know if you face any issues.. I’ll be happy to assist.

 

 

 

Configuring iNotes in a multiple HomeMail Server scenario with a WebSphere Edge reverse proxy server

This is draft to remember the points.. I'll update the article in few days..

Most important part is to enable Cookies with JunctionRewrite:

JunctionRewrite On UseCookie

Configuration of iNotes Web Redirect Database: Use the MailServer option and configure the Domain name and Proxy Server URL.
The problem with MailServer option in "iNotes Redirect" db is that it only changes the first URL.. The other subsequent HTTP request still try to connect the Proxy server without appending homeserver name, and the error will coming up in normal scenario. Now, with use of Cookie, ReverseProxy server remembers which server was last used.

Therefore, now with this setup the first request will go to Server1.
After authentication, iwaredir.nsf database will redirect the first URL to "http://server.demo.com/server1" OR "http://server.demo.com/server2" based on Homemail server.
At this moment JunctionRewrite will store the server information in Cookie.
All subsequent requests to server without "/server1/" in URL will still be able to reach the correct server because of this cookie.

My server setup: 
Proxy: http://server.demo.com
Domino1: http://server1.demo.com:81
Domino2: http://server2.demo.com:82

Following are the rules that I have used:

map /server1.demo.com/* /server1/*
map /server2.demo.com/* /server2/*

JunctionReplaceURLPrefix http://server1.demo.com/* http://server.demo.com/server1/*
JunctionReplaceURLPrefix http://server2.demo.com/* http://server.demo.com/server2/*

proxy /server1/* http://server1.demo.com:81/*
proxy /server2/* http://server2.demo.com:82/*
proxy /* http://server1.demo.com:81/*

ReversePass http://server1.demo.com:81/* http://server.demo.com/server1/*
ReversePass http://server2.demo.com:82/* http://server.demo.com/server2/*

Please let me know if you want more details on how to setup the Websphere Cache Proxy Server.

Reference:
1. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-Configuring_IWA_Edge_ReverseProxy/index.html?ca=drs
2. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/documentation/apacherproxy4inotes/

Forgot password application for Domino sever

Forgot Password Functionality for Domino

Application can be downloaded from OpenNTF site: http://www.openntf.org/internal/home.nsf/release.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=8E96BEE9D9EC9AEB86257C3F00235928

Facing issues with installation ?? : Try the troubleshooting section at the bottom of this article.

Business Case:
This application implements the “Forgot Password” functionality for Domino. This feature is available today for almost any Web application which try to reset the password by sending notification to registered mail address. However, if you forget your Domino Webmail/Notes Client password, then you need to contact Administrators to reset the password. 
If the Organization has set the policy to change the passwords after every 60/90 days, then the password reset requests are more often. For a large Customer, we observed that around 60% Support requests are meant for Password Reset for Notes Client/Web Mail. 
This tools aims at minimizing such Support Calls by encouraging users to Register for Self Password Reset application. Users need to do one time registration and set their secret questions and answers. Once registered, users can use this application to Reset their Webmail/Notes Client passwords without engaging the Support team. 
Features of application:
- Reset password for both HTTP and Notes client (via ID Vault) in a single step.
- Front end application only consists of XPages design elements with total separation from data.
- No direct access to data via web interface/domino URL
- Secret answers secured with MD5 encryption.
- Forced  authentication for Registering/editing the profile.
- Used single XPage for password reset wizard with efficient use of Dynamic content control. Browser back button send use back to the start of wizard. Therefore, application having full control of flow.
- Lockout of Accounts and preventing unauthorized attempt to reset password. If tried to answer incorrectly more than 5 times. Lock-out is cleared automatically after defined interval via a Scheduled agent. 
Assumptions:
- ID Vault should be configured and installed.
- The Signer ID should have access to run XPages application and Password Reset Authority in ID Vault.
Application Architecture: 

It consists of two NSF files: 
Front-End Application: The XPages frontend and the other one to store use profiles.
The first database contains configuration information to connect to second db. No other data is stored in it. It contains all the XPages design elements and is available for anonymous access use.
Back-End Data Storage Application: The second database contains all the registered user's profile documents. This database has no URL access and is only accessible by the front-end XPages interface. This approach avoids all URL based quirks to access data in NSF file. The user profile stores questions and secret answers as selected by user. The data is stored with MD5 hashing to ensure even administrators can't get access to user's personal information.
Application flow:
Step 1: Register your profile one time to select three questions from a admin defined list of questions. Provide easy to remember answers for the selected questions.
Step 2: If you have forgotten your password, then go to the application and proceed with password reset wizard. 
- It will ask first to verify email address 
- If the use profile is found for the entered email I'd, the application will prompt to provide answers for 3 questions. 
- If the answers match with the stored one in profile, user is allowed to provide new password. 
- The final screen provides confirmation message with results of password change process.
Installation Instructions:
- Download the application from project Download section and unzip on local machine. 
- Copy the two NSF files to your Domino Server’s Data Directory. 
- Sign the two databases with ID which has got rights to change password in ID Vault and can run XPages application on Server. 
- Open the resetpwd.nsf database in Notes Client and Modify the settings in Keywords view.

n DATA_DB_PATH keyword specifies the path of ForgotPasswordData.nsf database. Please ensure a double “\\” to be added to path.
n The other settings specify the Domino Server names where ID Vault is located and where we would like to change the HTTP Password. 
n Few sample questions which can be easily customized in the QuestionList Keyword.
- Open the application resetpwd.nsf via Web Browser and check if it’s displaying the application HomePage. 
- Try to register a user’s profile and then try to reset the password for the same user. 
- The final screen will show status message of password change for HTTP and ID Vault. Fix the permission issues if any with ID Vault.
- Enable the Scheduled agent to Run on Server to UnBlock the profiles. This agent unlocks all such profile which were locked due to multiple failed attempts to reset the password. This is to avoid any person randomly trying to reset the password.
- Change Logos, Banner and Company Name in ccAppLayout Custom Control. 

Let me know if any specific functionality is required to be added to the application.

Troubleshooting:

Pre-requisites:

1. This application require minimum Domino v8.5.3 Upgrade Pack 1 or Domino v9.0. It might not work with prior version of Domino, as advanced features of Extension library have been used.

2. Please ensure Session Authentication is Enabled on Domino Server.

3. Sign both the Databases with Admin Id. Signing with Server ID will not work.

4. Both user and server (on which application is running) should have Password Reset Authority with agent access.


Known errors and resolutions: 

1.  403 forbidden errors: 
User will get  403 forbidden error if a db is not signed correctly or user/server does not have access to run restricted agent. Therefore, ensure that both databases have been signed properly. Also, ensure that user has rights to run XPages applications on server. To allow user id being used for signing the db, add the same to server document under security--> programability restrictions.

2. Password reset authority errors: 
In ID Vault setup please make sure at the end there is @ shows up besides person and server name it comes up when put a tick mark
    In the right box, select an organization or organizational unit of users whose passwords will be reset.
    In the top, left box select the name of a user or server under which the application is authorized to run.
    Click "Add" to give the selected user or server name password reset authority for the organization or organizational unit highlighted on the right.
    If you added a user name, keep the user name highlighted on the right, and select "Self-service password reset authority."
Both user and server (on which application is running) should have Password Reset Authority with agent access.

iNotes Deployment in HA Mode with Multiple Clusters using Apache Reverse Proxy - Part 2

In continuation to my first post: http://xpagesera.blogspot.in/2013/03/inotes-deployment-in-ha-mode-with.html

In the last post, we tried setting up the Apache Reverse Proxy with Multiple Domino Clusters. Last week, we successfully implemented Apache Reverse Proxy in a unique way: 

Cluster size: 7 servers - 6 Mail Servers and 1 Admin Server. This setup ensures that all password changes are immediately available to all Servers. 

User's Mail file is available on either Server 1, 3, 5 OR Server 2, 4, 6. In this configuration 4 servers are in DC and 2 servers in DR. We want all traffic to land on Server 1 - 4 (DC). In case none of the DC Servers are available, then it should redirect request to Server 5, 6 (DR).

Instead of relying on the Domino Cluster Information, we have written Rules in Apache httpd.conf file to determine which Load Balancer Group a particular request should be redirected to. 

First, the formula used for Apache field in iNotes Web Redirect database: 

nodecookievalue:= @Name([CN];@NameLookup([NoUpdate];@UserName;"MailServer"));

clustercookievalue:=@DbLookup("":"";@Subset(@DbName;1):"names.nsf";"($ServersLookup)";nodecookievalue;"clustername");

nodecookie:=@SetHTTPHeader("Set-Cookie";"inotesses="+@LowerCase(nodecookievalue));

@Success

This field will write Cookie values inotesses: Mail Server Name in lowercase. 

Second, Check if below modules are present & loaded in Apache Reverse Proxy

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so

LoadModule proxy_balancer_module modules/mod_proxy_balancer.so

LoadModule proxy_ftp_module modules/mod_proxy_ftp.so

LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so

LoadModule proxy_ajp_module modules/mod_proxy_ajp.so

LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so

Third, in the httpd.conf file, add Rules to redirect user request to only that server where user's mailfile is present.

<VirtualHost *:443>

ServerName webmail.demo.com

ProxyRequests off

SSLEngine On

SSLProxyEngine On

RewriteEngine On

SSLCertificateFile    /etc/apache2/ssl/webmail.crt

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/webmail.key

SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/apache2/ssl/chain.crt

ProxyPreserveHost On

<Proxy balancer://Cluster1/>

# loadfactor is added to ensure equal requests are sent to server01 and server02, while server03 will have lowest priority.

BalancerMember https://server01.demo.com:443/ route=server01 loadfactor=50

BalancerMember https://server03.demo.com:443/ route=server03 loadfactor=50

 BalancerMember https://server05.demo.com:443/ route=server03 loadfactor=1

ProxySet lbmethod=byrequests

</Proxy>

<Proxy balancer://Cluster2/>

BalancerMember https://server02.demo.com:443/ route=server02 loadfactor=50

BalancerMember https://server04.demo.com:443/ route=server04 loadfactor=50

 BalancerMember https://server06.demo.com:443/ route=server03 loadfactor=1

ProxySet lbmethod=byrequests

</Proxy>

ProxyPass / balancer://Cluster1/ stickysession=inotesses nofailover=Off

ProxyPassReverse / https://server01.demo.com/

ProxyPassReverse / https://server03.demo.com/

 

ProxyPass / balancer://Cluster2/ stickysession=inotesses nofailover=Off

ProxyPassReverse / https://server02.demo.com/

ProxyPassReverse / https://server04.demo.com/

 

RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} inotesses=server01 [NC]

RewriteRule ^/((mail|iNotes|icons|domjava)/.*)$ balancer://Cluster1/$1 [P]

 

RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} inotesses=server02 [NC]

RewriteRule ^/((mail|iNotes|icons|domjava)/.*)$ balancer://Cluster2/$1 [P]

 

RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} inotesses=server03 [NC]

RewriteRule ^/((mail|iNotes|icons|domjava)/.*)$ balancer://Cluster1/$1 [P]

 

RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} inotesses=server04 [NC]

RewriteRule ^/((mail|iNotes|icons|domjava)/.*)$ balancer://Cluster2/$1 [P]

</VirtualHost>

 

Now, Stop & start httpd service.