IBM just released lotus notes 8.5.3, available from IBM Passport Advantage website.
This is the new features of lotus notes 8.5.3
Lotus Notes 8.5.3 delivers significant enhancements to support social businesses and help users get their work done fast, for example:
- Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.3 includes entitlement to the IBM Connections files and profiles components adding significant capabilities to help clients become a social business
- Enhanced new mail notification which optionally provides a pop up preview (containing both sender and subject) of new mail messages as they arrive.
- Improved sorting on email subject content that ignores the “Re:” and “Fw:” prefix, from reply & forward respectively, providing a more accurate sorting of your data.
- A new option to search by sender or subject available when you right click an email.
- Optionally leave countered meetings on your calendar. Allow countered meetings to show up in a unique color, with the time the meeting was originally scheduled for as well as maintaining the ability to act on the original calendar invite and with hover text indicating the new proposed time.
- Optionally notify existing invitees when adding or removing attendees from an existing meeting, informing them of the change and updating the invitee list on their calendar invitation, as well as other options which negate the need for a user to process any meeting updates for anything other than a change in time, eg. a reschedule.
- Significant improvements to recent contacts, allowing end users more control over who gets added to recent contacts and improved data integrity.
- Geographic and time zone information is be displayed in the business card.
- Apple Mac usability improvements for e-mail gestures include the ability to drag one or grouped files to the Lotus Notes icon on your dock, and a new mail message will be created with those files attached.
- Embedded IBM Sametime is upgraded to V8.5.1 with an incremental installer to IBM Sametime 8.5.2, and embedded IBM Lotus Symphony is upgraded to V3.0.
- Additional platform support includes RHEL 6.0 Desktop, Citrix XenApp 6.0, and enhanced 64-bit toleration for Microsoft Windows.
- Added ability to remove signature file from a thread
What is interesting is that is now lotus notes can sort the subject easily, without problem.
Prior this version, user have difficulties to sort emails based on their subject, because the “Re: ” and the “Fw: ” are treated differently. Outlook users do not have this kind of problem, but now lotus notes client too 
. Better late than never.
Hope that IBM much more open mind to user inputs than before.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Steps to upgrade Domino 32-bit to Domino 64-bit in windows platform
Just did the upgrade both Windows server 2003 32-bit and domino 8.5.2 32-bit to 64-bit version.
After all it run well, then I found this technote.
Duh, I hope I found that technote much more earlier, before I upgrade my windows and domino into 64-bit version, that will make it a lot easier.
Please take a special attention on point seven (or six), “7. Before restarting the Domino server, run the offline maintenance on the following system databases from command prompt.”
If you have a large domino databases, and you have only limited down time, than copy entire domino data directory may be is not an option. In my experience, copy 1,2 TB of domino data will take more than a day. And after we start the new server, it give a lot of error messages and the fixup process run almost on all databases.
So we did it with another way, we create a additional server, create replica of all databases to the new server, and after that we only need to switch server id. It take a longer time to replicate (almost a week), but the down time is minimum, less than a hour.
So, which way is your choice, either copy the data all create replicas.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Do The IBM Hardware Support reduce in quality?
We just received a brand new xSeries 3620 M3 less than a month ago, and after configured and installed the operating system, we noticed that one of the hard disk light (from five hard disks) is not working. It mean not blinking at all.
Because this is a brand new server, and our first though this is only a hardware problem, on Friday we called the IBM support and hope that they can change the hard disk.
After we received the ticket ID, one of IBM support person called us and I explained the problem to him. After discussed, he want me to run the diagnostic tools the check the entire system. I though “What?”, but I followed him anyway, download the diagnostic tools, run it and send the result to his email address.
On Monday, we still do not received any news or any update, and on Tuesday I called the IBM support again and ask about my ticket status. Then I’ve got another call from another IBM support person, mentioned that the first IBM support person is not available so he will take over while he away.
Again, I explained the problem and re submitted the IBM diagnostic tools result to him, and he promised to update me about the status.
About one or two hours, I received his email, mentioned that the result that I just send to him is not complete because my server is not have a IPMI driver. So he gave me the link to download the IPMI driver and ask me to installed the driver. After that, I re run the diagnostic tools, and again re submit the result.
On Wenesday, there no update from them.
On Thursday, the IBM support person called me again and updated the status. And he said that the firmware in my server is not up to date, and require me to update the firmware. I though “What?”.
The problem is simple, the light activity in one the hard disk is not working (while in another four hard disks is working well), thats all. I really sure this only a small problem, maybe only something wrong with the bracket. Why update the firmwares?
On the phone, He mentioned that I need to update several firmwares, I said to him, just give me the list in the email, and I will look into it
When I received the email, I’m shocked.
He mentioned that I need to upgrade not only one, or two but four firmwares..
- Integrated Management Module
- IBM System x uEFI update for 3620 M3/3630 M3
- ServeRAID M1015 SAS/SATA Controller Firmware
- IBM FW HDD SAS-1.09 Windows 32-64
And not forget, he also add a little warning at the end of his email
“Please backup your data before updating the firmwares”
Great.
I consulted with IBM BP, and hope that somehow they can do something about it.
I used to recommend IBM xSeries to many people, and one of the reason because they have a very good support, but now, I have doubts, BIG doubts.
Update:
On monday, wrote them email mention that I will not do the firmware upgrade and they responded that they will their support to us to upgrade the firmware.
On Tuesday, one support come and a good thing is that he also bring a new hard disk. He upgraded all the firmware and it took more than one hour, but the light still not blinking. Then he replaced the hard disk with the new one, but the light still not blinking. Then he tried to plug the old hard disk into another slot, and the light now blinking. By that, the support engineer said that the problem is in the backplane of the server. And he will come back again tomorrow with a new backplane.
On Wenesday, he came again with a new backplane. After he switch the backplane with a new one, now the light is blinking fine.
So, the problem was in the backplane, not in the firmware or the hard disk. The diagnostic tools from IBM unable to detect the malfunction in the backplane. And it took more that a week for IBM to identify and fix the problems, that a big disappointing for me.
But the good thing is, that now the server working fine without any problems.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Secret of Lotus Notes Migration Tools
Time to do my homework.
There are plenty of users here, well around 500 users that want to migrate their emails and contacts from MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express to the new and more powerful Lotus Notes client .
First, I confuse, how can I do that? I got help from the IT team, but how? How can I migrate user mail file from MS Outlook/Express?
Lotus Notes is shipped with migration tools so you can migrate your MS Outlook/express emails to lotus notes.
But after I read this wonderful article, I realize that the migration tools nothing more that create a new IMAP account in MS Outlook/Express that point to IMAP server in Lotus Domino server. After that you can simply copy the emails from your MS Outlook/Express account to the Lotus notes IMAP folder. As simply is that.
That will save a lot of works. Thanks.
Now, I don’t have to install the migration tools after I knew they little secret .
Popularity: 1% [?]
Another one, converted to Lotus Notes
A friend of mine called last night, he used to work with me in the same company, asked where he can buy Lotus Notes software.
I’m very surprise, because he uses Exchange with Outlook.
I remember that when he left the company, and move out to a company that used MS Exchange and Outlook, said to me softly – “Well, Outlook not so bad, everyone else using it.”
I said to him, “Yes, outlook is not so bad, many companies using it, so it must be a good software”.
Now, almost a year now, and he called me, asked me where he can buy Lotus Notes software.
He told me that he had more problem with MS Exchange and Outlook more than he expected.
He gave up, and ask for migration the mail server, the choices is OpenSourceOpenSource solutions and Lotus Notes.
So, I gave him my contact person in my IBM Business partner and waiting for the good news.
Another one, hopely, converted to Lotus Notes.
Popularity: 1% [?]