Free Lotus Domino Sessions in NYC

I'm all about free education.  Check it out.

The After Hours Compensation Conundrum

Being in IT, most of us have accepted the fact that after hours work is a part of the job.  Usually after hours work is divided into two camps: scheduled maintenance or support.

Scheduled maintenance would be, for most of us, a part of the job.  If you’re a systems administrator then you need to perform hardware upgrades, software patches and other late night activities when all the users are home and snug in their beds.  Well, not the accountants.  Odd folk, those accountants…I hear they just sit with their briefcases and wait until morning comes.

iSeries Storage Quotas - Keeping Users Informed

Users and storage quotas.  Groan…

If you’re using the IFS on your iSeries for users to store files then you’ve probably struggled with storage management.  I’ve often compared managing user storage to being a credit card company with a lot of irresponsible customers.  We give a customer a $1000 credit limit (i.e., 100 MB of storage) and they go on a spending spree.  Once they’ve reached their limit they ask for more credit.  Since they have a good history we give them an extra $500 (i.e., bump their storage limit an additional 50 MB).  We may do this a couple of times before we catch on and send them to the collection department to hound them on a regular basis to get below their credit limit.

Teaser for Article on the QIBM_QDB_OPEN Exit Point and a New Section for Published Articles

I'll have an article about the QIBM_QDB_OPEN exit point published in the Tech Tip section of MC Press in the coming weeks.  Keep your eyes out for it.  I talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using this exit point as well as some other alternative solutions.

In the meantime, if you've some spare time, I've created a section on my blog with links to the following articles I've written:

TechTip: Use GO BACKUP to Uncover Holes in Your Backup Strategy   
ERP For Free?
Be Sure Your Spring Cleaning Includes Tidying Up Disk Space
With 6.1, PDF Capability Is "Pretty Darn Fast"!
Let IBM i Monitor Itself . . . at No Additional Cost!
A power-handling CL program for multiple IBM i servers
Tracking data changes on IBM i with triggers
Putting data from IBM i on Amazon S3 using i2S3
Analyze the health of your IBM i server with iScore
V6R1 upgrade planning checklist

Hang on...Domino Web Single Sign on With Kerberos on iSeries? Yes, but there's a catch...

Turns out you need web users to connect to a Windows based Domino server FIRST, as iSeries doesn't (as THEY say) participate with Kerberos directly very well...I'm taking them to task on this as we use Kerberos and EIM in our shop.  I think it's just a matter of connecting the dots.

With that being said, their instructions say that if you make the Windows Domino server being the primary connection point you can essentially redirect them to services on the iSeries based Domino server.  If the solution is seamless and the user doesn't see anything odd (or until direct Kerberos support on iSeries is announced), then in my humble opinion it's worth setting up a Domino server on Windows just for this single purpose.

Domino Web Single Sign on With Kerberos???

Ooooooh baby!

I've been waiting years for this to become available.  I haven't implemented this yet as we're on 8.0.2, however this to me is a major reason (well, one of many) for us to move to 8.5.1 as soon as possible.

I'll have many things to say about this once we start this project.

For now, visit the Domino Wiki for more information:

Lotus Notes 8.0.2 on Windows 7

Successfully installed it this week without any major issues.  Once again, what's "supported" and what "will work" are two very different things.  As long as the user knows the difference and you've got the acknowledgment in writing, you're golden.  :)

Retain Leading Zeros in RPG with Edit Codes

This built in function is probably not new to most, but I found it very helpful recently.

I had to pull a numeric field out of DB2 and convert it to characters while retaining the leading zeros.  I received a little tip on how to do this using the %editc BIF.  Note that shiptime is the DB2 field and chartime is the variable.

The “X” edit code is used to keep leading zeros.  Cute function.

/free
evalr chartime = %editc(shiptime:’X’)
/end-free

Use GO Backup to Uncover Holes in Your Backup Strategy

Check out this article I wrote for MC Press:  Use GO Backup to Uncover Holes in Your Backup Strategy

V6R1 upgrade planning checklist

Given that you'll be up to your neck in lengthy IBM manuals, webcasts and white papers while planning a move to V6R1, I've compiled a handy list of points to consider when preparing for the upgrade. The major caveat with this upgrade is the object conversion, which is similar to the CISC to RISC conversion when moving from the 48 to the 64-bit address space introduced in the PowerPC RISC processor about 15 years ago. This conversion, however, promises to be much easier and faster.

• Review the manual "Install, upgrade, or delete i5/OS and related software" at the V6R1 Information Center. This is your bible, and it couldn't hurt to have a printed copy handy.
• If you're not already on a supported release of i5/OS, bring your server up to V5R3 or V5R4 in order to upgrade to V6R1.
• Review current system software that isn't supported on V6R1. Get the V5R4 software product and its V6R1 suggested replacement, if available.
• Ensure that your current server supports the new operating system. The following models are supported: 60X, 61X, M15, M25, M50, E4A, E8A, EMA, MMA, FHA, 515, 520, 525, 550, 570, 595, 800, 810, 825, 870, and 890.
• Ensure your programs will function in V6R1. You should run the Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) tool to make sure your programs have observability. If they don't, they will not convert and, therefore, not function in the new release. This tool is available by PTF. It's best to run it a couple of months in advance, in case some programs do not make the grade.
• If using third-party applications, check with your ISVs to ensure their currently installed product will be supported after the upgrade. If not, check if your vendor has a V6R1-ready version that you must upgrade to in advance. Even so, run the ANZOBJCVN tool on anything the vendor certifies on V6R1 just in case. In the end, you're responsible for the applications to successfully run on your server post upgrade and you have the tools to prove they will.
• Install mandatory PTFs for upgrading to V6R1.
• Order the most recent cumulative, HIPER, group and application specific PTFs to install as part of the upgrade.
• Review "PSP i5/OS memo to users V6R1." There are plenty of gold nuggets in there, many specific to your current configuration, that I couldn't cover in a quick checklist.
• Review "PSP software installation information for V6R1."
• If you run Lotus Domino and subsequent Quickr, Quickplace, Sametime or related servers, be sure to read "i5/OS V6R1 upgrade roadmap for Lotus Domino and related products." You'll want to ensure that you're on a supported Lotus release. Also, be sure to disable Domino auto-start and run the appropriate product conversion programs before you start your Domino servers. You would not want product conversion to take place as you're bringing your Domino servers up the first time. It's best to get this done out of the way in advance.
• If you have old SPD hardware on V5R3, you must have a plan to move off this hardware before moving to V5R4 or V6R1. SPD support is nonexistent after V5R3.
• Before upgrading, you have the opportunity to permanently apply temporarily applied PTFs. This is a space saver and isn't a bad idea.
• Order your license keys and prepare to install them via the Web. Don't waste your time typing them in.
• Ensure you have some backup media. We've all spent time looking for a couple of before/after tapes a few hours before a big upgrade.
• Make sure you know your SST and DST passwords. Test them.
• Use image catalogs to do the install. It's much faster than loading CDs or DVDs.

This is not an all inclusive list by any means, but it's a start. Do your due diligence, ask questions of people who've done the upgrade, talk to your business partner, read your manuals and get re-acquainted with your server room. All you need then is a deck of cards.

Written for Search400.com
http://search400.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid3_gci1378651_mem1,00.html

Archiving ERP Data in Domino Databases

In the last few years we've retired our ERP and payroll systems and started with a couple of years recent data in the new systems.  What about the old transactions that are 5 or 6 or even 10 years old?  Dump the data to csv files?  That's an option, however they need to be put somewhere secure and need an effective user interface into them..  I'm in the process of moving some old ERP data (specifically purchasing, GL transactions and payroll) into Lotus Domino applications.

This is an end user friendly and secure solution.  For purchasing data, I've created forms for purchase order header and detail records.  I first create the header documents by reading the PO header file on the iSeries via an agent using ODBC, take relevant information and create/save a header document in the Domino application.  I do the same thing for the detail records...create/save a detail document with only the data I need.  Some old systems have so many work fields or "future use" fields that are unneeded to bring forward, so I don't.

I embed a categorized view on the header document so that when the user clicks on a PO in Domino, the header information is shown at the top, while the detail lines in the categorized view are shown on the bottom.  Looks like a PO and acts like a PO.

I then secure the database via the ACL, index the database and I've got a working solution.  Some simple searching capabilities native in the Notes client allows for lookups.  Very simple.

List of Notes.ini settings

Ran across this today looking for some information on full text indexing controls.  Now THIS is useful!

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/documentation/notes-ini/index.html

Nice alternative to using @Today or @Now in Domino view selection or column formulass

Saw this today.  Useful trick.

Personal Security Project

I need to find a way to prevent interactive iSeries users from being able to answer their own system messages.  Ideally messages should be rerouted to a restricted message queue that only administrators have access while the user gets a screen saying the IT department is working on fixing the error.  Amazing that there's no out of the box way to do this.