Teach Yourself New Tricks

Evidently it is still possible, in this age of instant knowledge, to teach yourself something new.

Remember when you first got into IT or MIS or whatever programming language you started on and the power you felt when you got some OS to run or "hello world" showed up on screen or you got a line of text to blink? What happened to you? Do you still get that excited?

Encouraging the next generation to follow us means we need to remember the good old days and the excitement we felt. Personally I don't get that same feeling from Websphere but if you do good for you.

I used to say give me a day with any system and I will figure out enough to make it work for me. In time I could fill in the details and more knowledge. Now that I am older, evidently it takes me a few more days than it used to in my prime. To be fair systems are much more complex than they used to be. I know more now and it makes it harder to "just learn on the fly" when you can think of some many permutations of what you are trying to do.

So it was with great happiness I left the client site tonight completing part of a project doing something I haven't done before and it was really cool, again. For the first time in a long time, I got to feel like I did in the early days. It's a minor thing, perhaps to some, and even looking at it for face value it's a minor accomplishment but it's just great to every once in a while do something new and renew the enjoyment of why I chose to hang out with the technology world and not the accounting profession.

So go ahead teach, yourself something new and stay forever young.

The Admins XPages

Tim wondered on Greg's blog post why we, that is Admins, do not extol the virtues of XPages in order to promote the long term viability of Domino infrastructures.

It is an interesting question. One which I do not have a good answer. Maybe because in many cases infrastructures get tweaked based on what we find in the wild. We don't build an infrastructure and then ask the developers to build an app for it, we build the infrastructure usually for or after an app is in place or required and tweak it at that point.

Many times we Admins are reactive, trouble hits and we spring into action. When life is calm we plan the future and tweak this or that along the way. Many times tweaking happens at the point of upgrades, migrations, changes in hardware in addition to new installations.

The job of an Admin does not always involve having a seat at the table when platforms and infrastructure decisions are made. We love having it but it's not always that way unfortunately.

If we always were part of that discussion, no doubt more companies would be expanding their usage. This is not to say Developers are in a better position but if a company has Domino Developers, good for them and hopefully they are doing their best to step up and push more apps to be built.The days of just coding for Notes clients must end of course because, well, the Notes client doesn't run on a phone.

But Lotus Notes Traveler with XPages support could change many things in the world. Mobile apps are the problem, mail is a given but how do you get to your apps? As Ed expounded, the Domino 8.5.3 Upgrade Pack 1 brings XPages magic to some core templates and provides more options for the developers to push out apps. I am not a developer and trust our friends that are will expound further on this topic in ways I  could never do it justice.

Admins? Get those new templates out there and start pushing your mobile mantra. You can help the push of XPages but you first have to install 853UP1. While you are doing, start tweaking, get your ODS upgraded, make sure DAOS is properly configured, check that swap space, change your web cache or tweak your memory settings for the larger RAM in the server.

And if you have something good for other Admins, post it so everyone gets the benefit as well.

What's New in LotusLive as of Today

This is from a PDF we received from IBM. Some nice additions and changes. If you are looking at LotusLive let me know, happy to help you with it.
One thing which is of interest:


Mail file transfer over FTP
Companies that user a hybrid environment and that transfer mail files to the service can use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client to perform the transfer. This method is supported for mail file batches that are equal to or less than 1234 GB.


What's new in LotusLive

The latest update of LotusLive™ contains many new features and upgrades.
Searchable help system
The new help system is navigable and searchable. It contains help for Profiles, Contacts, Communities, Activities, Files, iNotes, Events, and Administration. For additional information, go to the Product Documentation on the LotusLive wiki.

What's new in LotusLive Engage and LotusLive Connections
Many features have been implemented that enhance productivity and give users
additional capabilities.
Communities

1. A community business owner can change the business owner of the community to another person.
2. Files uploaded into the community, and files shared with the community can be made available to community members.
3. Community owners can stop sharing files and folders that were originally shared to the community by its members.
4. Community Folders within Files navigation are now displayed in Folders shared with Me.

For more details about Communities, see Communities Help in LotusLive.

Activities

1. As you create or edit an activity entry, your work is automatically saved every 5 minutes, unless the administrator changes the interval.
2. The activity business owner can change the business owner of the activity to another person
3. You can add a link to a file or folder in the Files application from an activity entry to share it with the activity members.

For more details about Activities, see Activities Help in LotusLive.

Files
The LotusLive Files application has been replaced by the IBM Connections Files application to better leverage the functionality across product offerings.

Functional and user interface changes include the following:
– You can pin frequently used files and folders to make them easier to find.
– You can subscribe to Feeds to receive update notification for files, folders, and views in your feedreader.
– You can share a file with a user who is not yet a member of LotusLive; the guest must accept the invitation to join LotusLive before they can access the shared file. When you include a non-LotusLive user email in your share list you are prompted to specify the person's name. The person receives an email to join LotusLive; upon doing so they can access the shared file.
– You can add tags when uploading files and folders and can search and filter on tags to retrieve files and folders.

Some features of the old interface have been removed or have been changed. The changes include the following items:
– Bookmarks are preserved as an attached text file.
– Readers will see all other readers on a shared tab for all files, regardless of when the files were created. If you do not want the readers of files created prior to this release to be visible, you must remove those readers prior to using this release.
– Users will no longer be able to upload a file and have it be accessible by anyone inside or outside of the company without authentication for all worldwide public users.
– The size limit for comments is reduced from 10 MB to 50K. This limits the amount of comments you can type.
– The character limit for tags is reduced from 256 to 100 characters. This limits the amount of Tag text that you can type.
– Recent Collaborators is no longer included on the Files dashboard and is available through the LotusLive Files interface.
– Recent Files is no longer included on the Files dashboard. However, it is available through the LotusLive Files interface.
– All files uploaded to LotusLive Files take the name of the file name being uploaded.

For more details about Files, see Files Help in LotusLive or watch the Getting
Started using Files in LotusLive video at http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/
dw/lotus/LotusLive/train2/Files/Files1.htm.

Instant Messaging

1. Added support for Sametime® Connect client 8.5.1
2. Dropped support for Sametime Connect client 7.5.1
3. Sametime Connect client for BlackBerry is available if activated for your account.
4. A browser-based Sametime Chat client is available if activated for your account.
5. Users who are logged into Sametime using the browser-based client will see presence awareness information for other users when viewing their LotusLive business card.

People

1. Usability improvements to My Profiles makes it easier to edit your profile.
2. "Company" has been changed to "Organization" throughout the People interface.
3. Personal Profiles no longer displays Folders shared with me.
4. Organization Profile no longer displays a Files widget. Public files, which was the content of this widget, are no longer supported.

For more details about People, see the People category in the LotusLive wiki.

Charts

1. The Charts service/feature is being removed from LotusLive Engage and LotusLive Connections.
2. The Creating Data Set feature is being removed from the navigation of LotusLive Files.

Meetings for Mobile

1. A mobile Meetings client is now available for BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, and iPad devices, enabling subscribers to join a LotusLive Meeting, view presentations, list participants, and chat with participants.
2. Visit Apple iTunes for the LotusLive Meetings Mobile app for Apple iPad or iPhone. Or go to the Android Market and download the LotusLive Meetings app.
3. LotusLive Meetings for Blackberry users is available from http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/58679?lang=en.

Integrated Applications
A new integrated application is available: Trilog ProjExec Live . ProjExec Live
enables project managers to create, plan, execute and track projects using a professional Gantt editor that synchronizes with Microsoft Project. Invite other LotusLive users as project members and collaborate securely using a multi-project activity stream called the Project Wall. ProjExec Live is an intuitive, mobile-friendly solution to effectively manage and deliver projects of any size. More information is
available in the wiki page for ProjExec.

Note: Integrated Applications are available only if your company administrator has enabled them.

What's new in LotusLive iNotes

1. Additional browser support and automatic configuration for IMAP, CardDAV, and CalDAV has been added.
2. Internet Explorer Version 9 and Firefox Version 5 are now supported.
3. The LotusLive iNotes Consumer profile is now available. This allows you to set up IMAP, CardDAV, and CalDAV in one operation on your iPhone.

For more details about LotusLive iNotes®, see LotusLive iNotes Help in LotusLive

What's new in LotusLive Notes®
The following features and documentation improvements are new in the current
release of IBM® LotusLive Notes™.

Free 60-day self-service trial
You can sign up for a free self-service trial of LotusLive Notes. This self-service trial includes a 60-day subscription to LotusLive Notes and LotusLive Engage. To sign up, simply go to the LotusLive website, and then click Try LotusLive. Complete the information shown on the form and click Submit. You receive an
email that includes your trial account logon information. For details about the self-service trial, see Frequently Asked Questions about the LotusLive Notes Self-service Trial.

BlackBerry smartphone management improvements
Administrators now manage user’s BlackBerry® smartphones through an improved interface in LotusLive Notes Administration. Most options available through the previous MDM interface are still available. One exception is the ability to add and delete BlackBerry smartphone accounts; these tasks are no longer available because they are no longer required. To manage a user’s smartphone, administrators perform the following steps from the LotusLive Notes Administration window:
1. Click Users.
2. Select Show: BlackBerry only.
3. Select a user name and click Manage BlackBerry Smartphone.
Users now manage their BlackBerry smartphones through an improved interface in LotusLive. Options available through the previous MDM interface are still available, except the ability to reset a device password.

To enforce a stricter device password policy, only administrators can now reset device passwords. To manage their smartphones, users perform the following steps from the LotusLive dashboard:
1. Click Apps > Downloads and Setup.
2. Click View LotusLive Notes options.
3. Under Got a mobile device? click Manage your BlackBerry smartphone.

Administrators can now provision users with BlackBerry smartphone subscriptions and LotusLive Notes subscriptions at the same time. Also, the smartphone management interfaces and the documentation are now translated.To read about this feature, see the topics Administering BlackBerry smartphones
and users and Using your BlackBerry smartphone with LotusLive Notes.

Integrated instant messaging for LotusLive Notes web
Administrators can use the instant messaging settings in LotusLive Notes Administration to enable an instant messaging community within LotusLive Notes web clients. The integrated community can be the LotusLive instant messaging community or an on-premises IBM Sametime community. Lotus Notes® clients that
previously connected to the LotusLive instant messaging community, continue to do so in the current release.

To connect to a community that the administrator has enabled, LotusLive Notes web users perform these steps:
1. From the LotusLive Notes web Inbox, click More > Preferences.
2. Under Instant messaginge, select Enable instant messaging.
To read about this feature, see the topic Configuring instant messaging.

Trash folder management
By default, when a LotusLive Notes user deletes a message, the message is moved to the Trash folder where it remains for 14 days, and then is permanently deleted. Administrators can change this value by configuring mail settings and entering a number 14 - 90. Additionally, you can specify whether users can select and delete a single message, or delete all messages from the Trash folder by emptying the trash. For information on how to enable trash folder management, see the topic Configuring mail settings. For LotusLive Notes users, the topics Managing the Trash folder in the Lotus Notes client and Managing the Trash folder in the Lotus Notes web client provide an explanation of how administrative settings impact Trash folder management.

To read about this feature, see the topic Configuring mail settings.

Adding external names to a group
In a service-only environment, administrators can add an external name to a group. An external name is one that is not included in the directory list. To read about this feature, see the topic Managing groups.

Email filters
Administrators can create filters to allow or block Internet email sent from specific domains or addresses. For example, they can create filters to allow users to receive email from people whose messages would otherwise be blocked because of the content they contain. Or they can use filters to block email that is not normally
blocked but that their users do not want to receive. Filters are applied to all email that is addressed to an Internet domain for which LotusLive manages inbound routing.
To read about this feature, see the topic Creating filters to apply to inbound

Internet mail.
Revoking a LotusLive Notes user account
When you delete a LotusLive Notes user account, you remove the LotusLive Notes subscription from the user. If you delete a new account within seven days of creating it, the data is removed from the LotusLive Notes servers. However, if you delete a user account that is older than seven days, the data remains available on LotusLive Notes servers for up to 30 days. If you want to delete a LotusLive Notes user account and remove the data from the LotusLive Notes servers before the 30-day period ends, you can revoke a LotusLive Notes user account.
For information on this feature, see the topic Deleting and Revoking a LotusLive Notes user account.

Mail file transfer over FTP
Companies that user a hybrid environment and that transfer mail files to the service can use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client to perform the transfer. This method is supported for mail file batches that are equal to or less than 1234 GB.
To read about this feature, see the topic Uploading mail files to an FTP server.

Documentation improvements
In addition to documentation on new features, the "Administering LotusLive Notes" documentation includes the following improvements:
New and updated topics in product documentation

Information resources for LotusLive Notes :
New topic -- lists additional resources available to help you keep up-to-date on technical content, known issues, and product news.

Frequently asked questions about administering LotusLive Notes
New topic -- provides answers to questions frequently asked about the tasks that company administrators perform in a LotusLive Notes environment.

Using policies to configure message disclaimers
New topic -- describes how to use explicit policies in a hybrid environment to enable message disclaimers.

Forming a distinguished name
New topic -- describes how to form a distinguished name. Used when adding new users or change LotusLive Notes user names in a service-only. Information was previously included in renaming topics.

Suspending a LotusLive Notes account
New topic -- includes results when a user account is deleted. Information on suspending a user was previously included in a general user management topic.

Removing a LotusLive Notes subscription from a user account
New topic -- describes how to remove a subscription, and how the user account is affected.

Additional administration tasks
New topic -- includes links to general LotusLive administration tasks that are included in the Administering LotusLive product documentation.

Managing user accounts
Updated topic -- provides additional details about account management tasks such as renaming or deleting user accounts.

Changing a Lotus Notes user name in a service-only environment
Updated topic -- added advisory text that includes a list of recommendations to ensure a successful user rename.

Changing a Lotus Notes user name in a hybrid environment
Updated topic -- added advisory text that includes a list of recommendations to ensure
a successful user rename. Also reorganized topic to make it clearer which steps are performed on-premises, and which are performed using LotusLive Notes Administration.

Adding a new user in a service-only environment
Updated topic -- added information about new Administrator Assistant role. Also added clarification that the language specified in the Basics section needs to match mail template language.

What's new in LotusLive Engage and LotusLive Connections
Administration Improvements and updates have been made to the administrator interface and administrative functionality. Performance upgrades are also included in this release.

Updates and new features

1. Custom Apps are now called Internal Apps.
2. OAuth 2.0 is now supported. OAuth 2.0 introduces new features, including the ability to customize how long an application has access to LotusLive.
3. A new role called AppDeveloper is available for users that need to integrate their organization's internal applications, but don't need access to other Administrator areas.
4. Usability improvements added to User Accounts make it easier to find the context menu and account status for each user.
5. Administrators can now request enablement of journalling to capture various LotusLive application events.
6. Administrators can now request enablement of federated identity management, with SAML protocol, to control how federated users log in to and access LotusLive.
7. Administrators can now request enablement of LotusLive integration server capabilities, allowing designated subscribers to upload user provisioning information from their organization's on-premises systems, such as IBM Lotus® Domino® directory or LDAP, to LotusLive. The LotusLive integration server also enables designated subscribers to upload user and group content from their organization's enterprise directory to their LotusLive iNotes corporate contacts directory.
8. When uploading user provisioning change files using LotusLive integration server, if no language is specified, the company contact language is used. Previously the default language used was English. An administrator specifies the company contact language in LotusLive on their My Account Settings page using the Localization and Language options.
9. The Administrator Download Report is now shared by column. This change affects the Shared by column of the report to display the File Owner.

For more details about administering LotusLive, see LotusLive Administration Help in LotusLive.

And in closing:

This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.

SnTT- One way to troubleshoot SSO problems in WAS

This was a Mashup Center server and a Connections SSO integration on Websphere.
Prior to upgrading Connections from 2.5 to 3.0 it worked fine. But some place in the upgrade this, and some other internal items, broke. I was asked to lend a hand at troubleshooting it.

I first asked the Wizard of WAS, Dave Hay if there was anything I should know about Mashup Center as I have never used it. His help in discussing ways to troubleshoot this is greatly appreciated.

For the newbie and even someone who scratches their head at the Websphere Admin Console, sorry the Integrated Solutions Console, it is a bit confusing but once you get  the hang of bits of it you will be fine.

I am not going to go over how to set up the SSO but how to enable the trace and logs to help you get tot he bottom of the problem.




This could be used for any one needing SSO troubleshooting for WAS in general.

1. Login to the WebSphere Admin Console
2. Go to Troubleshooting -> Logs and Trace,
3. Select the WebSphere server in question,
4. Then click on Diagnostic Trace,
5. And then choose Change Log Detail Levels,
6. You will see a *[All Components] with a twistie (+ sign)
7. Click on the expanded twistie and scroll down until you find .com.ibm.ws.*
8. Click on this one's twistie and find  .com.ibm.ws.security.*
9. Now click on the whole reference to  .com.ibm.ws.security.*
10. And you can select the level of traces, in this case I selected the All messages and traces since we did not know what area exactly was failing.
11. This will change the text in the box above the list to: *=all for the selected item.
12. Click Apply, Save, OK
13. Restart WAS

To revert it back, change the *=all to *=info and then
Click Apply, Save, OK
Restart WAS

So what will you get and where is it found?

1. Login to the WebSphere Admin Console
2. Go to Troubleshooting -> Logs and Trace,
3. Runtime Messages and expand it
4. Open Runtime Error
5. You should now see towards the bottom a list, if any, of the errors and with code and references to help you troubleshoot your problem.

In our case we had an incorrect ou that appeared twice breaking everything. But we also had some other tinkering.

Good luck