SnTT - Changing Some, But Not All, User's Mail Templates

You know how to convert one person, you know how to convert a folder or a directory...But do you know how to convert just some people's templates in your company?

Well, here is my story, how I changed 250 out of 450 people's templates.

Feel free to do this another way, but this worked and worked well, once I figured out the syntax and other item details missing from the official documentation.

My hope is you, and future me will be able to benefit from this in the future.

This is the original R12 Detail:

Upgrade all mail databases listed in a text file

You can create a text file listing databases you want to upgrade and use it with the mail conversion utility to upgrade only those databases. For example, you can create the text file MAILLIST.TXT to list all the mail databases you want to upgrade and save it in the directory C:\TEMP. This example finds all databases listed in MAILLIST.TXT, determines whether the databases use a design template name that matches Mail*, and replaces the designs of the matching databases with mail9.ntf), the Notes® 9.0.1 Social Edition mail template. load convert -f c:\temp\maillist.txt mail*.ntf mail9.ntf

First things to note that is ambiguous or wrong in the above documentation:

1) NOTE:C:\temp is a directory on the server, not your admin client workstation.

2) Instead of mail*.ntf you need to put the name of the template, not the file name(as shown, I think that is a typo copied from a different option on the page and not edited correctly)

3) There are many options for the conversion tool so check the documentation page for specifics you may need.

Now for the fun, how do you do this!

No, wait, before we run the magic convert command, we need to create the .txt file and fill it out properly.

You probably need an export of your Directory people so you can sort out who you need and the right details.

Open your Admin client and go to the Files Tab and find your Mail folder.

Select ALL (Ctrl-A)

Open a spreadsheet and paste it all in there.

Now we really don't need all of the data, right now, but I needed it for my second act.

I need to create IDs for people in the ID Vault as some people are solely web users and TOTP only works if you have an ID in the ID Vault. More from me about TOTP at Collabsphere.

Back to your data, I suggest copying columns A and B for the moment into a new tab of your spreadsheet, so as not to mess with the data in case you need it again.

Now you can remove the people you don't need to fix so the list is just people you need to convert their templates.

Next, add a column in front of the filename column which was column B.

In the first cell of the new column put in the mail folder name, commonly would look like this: mail\

Copy that the length of your list.

Now in Column D at the first cell, use the =CONCATENATE(B1,C1)

 and you will now have a visual entry similar to this:

mail\abbott.nsf

mail\costello.nsf

mail\groot.nsf

Copy the D1 cell the length of your list.

Now select all the concatenated cells and copy them.

Open notepad or a text editor and paste them in there.

Save the file and give it a simple name, like templates.txt and save it to your server.

Now you are ready for the magic!

NOTE: TEST with 2 names and see if they run, if not, you have a typo in the command or a syntax one in the .txt file, or an incorrect directory name problem. Domino is pretty good here to tell you why it failed.

You need to stop the router to prevent any inbound mail issues/corruption.

Server console Type: Tell Router Quit

Next, at the Server Console type (make sure you use the old template name NOT filename followed by the .ntf name for the one you require): 

load convert -f -u e:\up\mailtest.txt stdr10mail mailX.ntf

-u will update the folders the user has created.

-f reads the names to update from the text file.

The server should start processing everyone.

Cool, right? 

UPDATE: Upgrade all previous users' mail designs listed in maillist.txt to Notes mail design if there is no mail template specified. Use: load convert -u -f maillist.txt * mailX.ntf

We also ran a program document to run updall -R overnight (DBMT should fix this but if it only runs on weekends, then you need a program document or just run it at the server console) just in case some people had inbox issues like only seeing new mails, not all of their other emails in their inbox, they may have been replicating at the time.

That's it, a little trial and error on my part to help all of you out there and let you go home earlier than I did the last few days.

What Does It Mean To Be An HCL Ambassador

I get asked this often, as do the other 101 Ambassadors, what is an HCL Ambassador?

Every year around this time, a new class is announced for the upcoming year, as it was yesterday and I am blessed to be included in this list.

The inductees are reviewed based on the past year's efforts.

Given 2020, being an Ambassador was no easy feat, for the review committee nor the nominated individuals.

I have been an ambassador since the first year HCL took over the Lotus catalog from IBM in 2019. Before 2019, I was an IBM Champion for many years, which is a similar designation.

I have posted every year after finding out I was selected, while I try to figure out what I did, or did not, do to deserve it.

In keeping with my CI (Competitive Intelligence) activities lately, I want to try to break it down, so people understand it better.

What we are NOT:

• HCL Employees - Although, to be honest, some people have been hired by HCL after being an Ambassador and retire their status.

• Financially Backed by HCL - Everything we do is on our dime. Although HCL may still sponsor some events of their choosing, there is no "pay to play" here.

• Post Planned Content - Yes, we have information and may retweet things or post them on our blogs, but we are under no obligation.

• US Centric - In fact, there is a higher percentage of Ambassadors from outside the US. I am one of those outside the US.

• "Wait and See" type people.

What we ARE:

• Worldwide - Ambassadors come from all kinds of places. We do not always influence our own country as much as the rest worldwide. In my case, this is especially true, but I am working on it.

• Customers and Business Partners - Who better to spread the word than the people who use the products every day and sell them?

• Presentation Happy - Even in a year like 2020 with few in-person events, conferences went on, and Ambassadors spoke at many events and gave their time to various webinars and other efforts to help everyone through a tough year.

• Prolific - Ambassadors like Ales Lichtenberg or Milan Matejic seem to post things as soon as they are announced. Others post never-ending streams of information on social media sites, and still, more do podcasts, videos, Zero to Hero guides, and so much more. And in multiple languages.

• Fountains of Support - We all participate in the many HCL forums, Skype chats, Slack channels, Facebook groups, Twitter discussions, GitHub, StackOverflow, and anywhere questions pop up, one of us, if not a few of us, will try to help you. Please use HCL support too, you do pay for it.

• Realistic - We know it is not easy out there, we have all been in your shoes, and while we also bitch and moan about the same things you do, we balance it with what we can do to make things better where possible. This last point is, I believe, what tips you to becoming an Ambassador.

• Beta Freaks - While I don't have as much free time to play with everything the moment they come out, I still stay up on what is going on because you need that little ounce of extra juice sometimes for clients. Other Ambassadors are rabid Beta people, installing things as soon as they are available.

• Go the extra mile - Find ways to do more, for more people, or more products in some way, shape, or form.

We share a lot of Lotus/IBM/HCL product history together because we all came into this space from different places with sometimes diametrically opposite backgrounds and knowledge. 

We know this can be intimidating to some of you when we first meet, but really we are no different than you are. We just started on our journey sooner and with a goal in mind. 

The goal was to help other people, the true spirit of collaboration, in any way we could, and I think over time, we have done this quite well.

How do we top what we did last year?

How do I keep doing it every year?

Honestly, I don't know. Some years were not my best, but sometimes 1-2 things you do outweigh all you did not do at the time.

2020 was my year of daily #HCLAmbassadorTips across Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. 

I set a high bar for myself, time to think about what to do for 2021.

What will you do in 2021 so your name is on this list next December?

Congratulations to my fellow Ambassadors. I hope to see some of you sometime in 2021.

Skills Sunday: Traveler problems since 11.06 iOS Came Out? Help is here

Note: Edited October 6th with more details, see the end of the post.

Hello everyone, I know I don't blog so much about technical items, I have moved away from much of it towards product marketing and specifically CI, Competitive Intelligence.

But I have a few clients still that I help and this came up this week and as people posted in FB and other places about it, figured I should help the greater community.

If you have iPhone users already on Traveler, this is not needed for you....yet. These people are all fine, for now, and even using 11.06 because until it is a fresh uninstall and install, it relies on the "older" authentication method.

If you have a person who got a new phone in the last week, or maybe was a new onboard, then you were probably hit by the Traveler is not working problem.

I do not believe it matters which version of Domino or Traveler you run on the server-side. Of course, you should be on the latest version of Traveler, 11.01 Fix Pack 1 which happens to also run on Domino 10.x, not just R11.

The real problem is on Sept  29/30 release 11.05 was removed from the Apple App Store and was replaced by 11.06. 

No big deal, right, apps get updated all the time.

BUT

Not so fast.

HCL slipped in something which only was posted 2 days before the update. Take a look at this technote which in its own words, was posted 6(!?) days ago.

https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0082562&sys_kb_id=792782151be7d8d0beab64e6ec4bcbff

Starting with HCL Verse iOS 11.0.6, support was added for Certificate Based Authentication. There is currently only one mode supported: the server (or access gateway) requires the client device to provide a certificate only. Requiring a certificate and userid/password is not supported. Additionally, this version of the client does not alternatively support basic authentication in the event the certificate-based authentication fails.

Ok, like any other admin I figured I would follow the paper trail of tech notes which would tell me what to do to fix this. 

NOTE: NOTHING in the above technote is helpful, aside from the paragraph quoted.

Now I go searching on this Certificate Based Authentication and 11.06 I find this great session from my friend Milan Matejic (go follow him on Twitter, @Milan_Matejic90) which he gave at the last Engage conference before the whole pandemic started. His slides are here, and a video too and he provides a great example and way to create and merge this certificate.

https://milanmatejic.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/engageug-implementing-certificate-based-authentication-for-hcl-traveler-access/

BUT this is overkill, at least it was for my client. 

So try the override option below first, then if not working, go back to Milan's.

The other thing you may find is this Admin Documentation: 

https://help.hcltechsw.com/traveler/11.0.0/Android_CBA.html

This includes a freshly added Note, with the article at the end of it, the first technote up above! So circular guidance, please HCL Documentation team fix this:

Note: Starting with HCL Verse 11.0.6 for iOS, limited support was added for Certificate Based Authentcation. For more information, see this article.

What you really want, is the technote below, that HCL support sent me after I was trying to figure out what was going on, this worked for my client very easily.

How to OVERRIDE form-based login for the /traveler URL: 

 https://help.hcltechsw.com/traveler/11.0.0/httpauthentication.html

Along the way, we figured out the client also changed their notes redirector and renamed the SSL kyr file so the steps we followed caused more oddities, but I fixed those and now can log in fine. So check everything along the way.

The question is which is the right way to go? Should we follow Milan's session or do this override? I am still digging into it but feel free to comment and let me know what you think, and if this helped you, let me know too.

Oct 6 Update: After discussions with HCL, they will be updating the documentation to be clearer about the changes and what is required. 

You can continue to log in with just name/password, if you follow the overriding guide(the one that worked for me). 

What they were trying to say is IF you needed or wanted the client certification (which is different from an SSL certificate and also NOT your notes id file) then you would have to follow the other links and possibly use Milan's session as your guide and that down the road it may be preferable.

Remember this is ONLY a client-side change, nothing changed in how the server works as the server is flexible, which is why we love Domino.

Why I Love Domino Lightning Talk

A few people asked so I am posting my talk as i had written it up on my 24 hour plane trip to Think.
I also did a 2 minute reminder for admins, developers, devops whatever that you can save/protect not just your job but your hardware or software by keeping management aware of what these things do to make or save you money. Your executives have no idea, nor care, until they can truly understand and visualize the correlation.

Lightning Talk Speech:

Imagine you are a startup, an entrepreneur, just starting out on your journey in business. What will you need on your journey?

Most people would say you need a company name, which then provides you with a Domain name which in turn leads you to an email address, right?

And now you are business right? Because an email address and a domain are a line in the sand showing you are committed to an outcome. Or at least a start.

But, not so fast.

You need to start booking meetings in a calendar, you need to start saving emails, phone numbers, sales, and other CRM related bits of information….and a spreadsheet is NOT THE WAY to run a business!

And of course you need something to sell, or you need a platform to build an application on, one that will work across desktops, devices and operating systems that you can sell maybe as a SaaS offering.

You also need a website, a blog, 613 social media accounts and how to manage them or interact with them.

Damn that is a long laundry list, isn’t it? And we haven’t even gotten to HR, finance, taxes, vacation days, company holidays, monthly reporting, let alone quarterly or annual reports.

And you want a platform you can share with your vendors, contractors, employees and make it easy to collaborate without having to login to too many places.

And of course security is paramount.

Maybe in the cloud, maybe on premises. Maybe hybrid?

And what if I told you there is only one solution that can do ALL of this for you, today and for the future?

Would you buy it?

Would you want it?

Would you use it?

Would you sell it?

That my friends, is the beauty of a Notes and Domino environment. You never have to leave it to login somewhere else, to synch this or that, to “add on” security. You can do almost everything from one little self- contained NOSQL solution + Adobe Acrobat and an Office suite. Hey, no one can do everything.

No other solution exists that can do all of it at once. No, it is not perfect, some parts do work better than others, it is not a panacea.

I know what you are thinking, if it is so awesome, why do people not use it? Well, that is a different talk. Talk to me afterwards or at lunch.

You know, I have rarely heard Exchange admins saying they love their Exchange server, how about you?

In contrast, many Domino admins say they love it and mean it wholeheartedly.

A majority of the Fortune 100 companies run Domino for apps that run their businesses. Think about that for a second. REPEAT IT!

In 2009 IBM said more than half were using it. I tried to find newer data but nothing definitive with % from 10-45% so suffice it to say, it is out there and people use it, even if users have no idea about it, just like Mac people run Linux. You all know your macs run Linux, right?

What happened really, was I was introduced to Notes R2 and fell in love with it immediately. Why? Because I could not understand why if I worked for a company, and this was a Wall Street bank, why information had to be so hard to get, find or use. Weren’t we all one big happy company?

And here comes this yellow like the sun, breathe of fresh air that says, hey, share information, don’t horde it. 1+1 can equal 3! I volunteered to be on the team managing the Notes server, as the server was called back then, and rolled Notes out to everyone. And it was awesome!

I still love it and am frustrated when using other products that can’t share information easily or need my data in multiple depositories. These apps aren’t sharing, they are hardware buying apps or in Microsoft’s case software buying.

You know Oauth? Please, we have had IDs and certificates in place from day 1 over 30 years ago. What a completely different internet it would be if we had produced a Federated Directory to handle millions of people’s IDs.

For over 25 years, I just turned 50, 7 days ago, my client of choice for personal use and business has been a Notes client.

We should be so lucky it will be around another 25 years. You and I should be so lucky to still be around in 25 years.

My friends, some are admins, developers, even general users, found something in Notes and Domino that works for them. Write some simple apps! Start with some out of the box basic templates then go to OPenntf.org and get some awesome ones!

Then make some changes to them, customize them, and before you know it that little app is running your business.

And what makes it soooo amazing is those applications live on, not just for a year or 2 but decades.

Sure, you DB2 people say the same thing, but no one, no one, interacts with your database, just your data in it.

With Domino, we get to create the UI, the UX, the world our users live in! Granular security down to the field level and multiple levels of administrators or owners and you have a very flexible, yet secure, environment.

Domino lives because of this security in many industries!

We don’t care what hardware you run it on! We don’t care what OS you want to run, we do it(some PM is going to kill me for that one)! We cluster it all, Windows and iSeries, Zseries, AIX, Domino doesn’t care, mix and match to your heart’s content.

We don’t care what language you need the UI in, we do it! Because that is how you get people to share and care about your product, you customize it for them or better yet, let them customize it for themselves.

I got my wish, I worked for Lotus because I loved the products so much and someone believed in me just as much.

Because it is not an easy fight out there and we needed a Lotus Evangelist then, and now more than ever.

Microsoft loves their silos, to them it is about the worker working, Sharing…to a Point and not open sharing.

Domino shares forever, which is the point.

Once you as the user start playing with it, you find you are only limited by your imagination, and coding ability, to really enhance your business.

My personal favorite part is how Domino monitors itself…and other parts of your world. You can tune your notifications to so many different things you can get overwhelmed at first but as you experience your environment you start knowing what is “normal”.

If you have interactions with other environments you can monitor your connections between Domino and them in most cases so if your Cloud server is down, you get notified. How awesome is that!

Your cloud vendor doesn’t bother to tell you, but Domino can!

Still not convinced?

How about this one….Spotify makes a big deal about taking your music offline with you now.

How cute.

Notes and Domino have been taking ALL of our applications offline from day 1. On a plane, train or hot air balloon, you can get your work done, without an internet connection.

Oh, and mail just happens to be THE MOST elaborate application that Domino runs.

Us Yellow Bleeders as we call ourselves, are rabid fans of Domino, just as you may be about your own Champion area. Everyone finds what they need and loves, some of us just found it earlier in life than others.

IBM THINK is Next Week, Here is How to Find Me

I fly in from Israel, via Boston, Sunday and spending it with my cousin's new baby.

I will see some of you early Monday morning at the Champion breakfast.

For those in the Champion sessions I will be giving a Lightning talk along with a few other Champions from across IBM.
Why I, and you, (should) Love Domino
9 AM - 10AM
Moscone South Level 3, Room 301

Wednesday morning I am presenting my customer Case Study, in an open format to encourage people to ask questions rather than talk about the good, and bad, things we did. Slides will only be used if you don't ask questions.
Session 4572A - Why This Global law Firm Does Not Miss Deadlines
8:30AM - 9:10AM
Hilton Union Square - Yosemite A

Also Wednesday I am part of a Champion round table discussion
The Cloud and Competitive/Evangelism Activity
3:30PM - 4:10PM
Moscone South Lobby
IBM Champion Area

Aside from these defined events I will be roaming around and the best way to find me is via Twitter (@Lotusevangelist), what's app/call me (ask me for the number), Facebook Messenger, or if you are in one of my workspaces, Slack.

I am leaving Wednesday night due to other plans in Boca Raton, Florida and I hope to see you all before I leave. If you want to catch me in Florida let me know..

Collaborate on a Boat! Come to Engage in Rotterdam With Me

The best way to start your summer vacation is to attend Theo's #1 European Lotus/ICS event. (Click on the picture to go to the website)

As the sign says, I will be speaking at Engage and I hope to see you there.

About my session:

ADM09 - "Pointing Fingers? DDM to the RescueWednesday, May 23 | 09:00 - 10:00 | B. Guadaloupe
Cloud Hybrid? Mixed domains? Gmail, Microsoft and Notes coexisting? Domino DDM (Domino Domain Monitoring) to the rescue. Ok, maybe not rescue, but at least you will know who is down and what service is downBEFORE your users. Old School gets a new lease on life, or for those who never use it, this is your chance to learn about it.

Look forward to seeing you there as well as numerous IBM Champions like myself that are presenting and attending.

Serverless Presenting at IBM Think

Greetings one and all to my first blog post of 2018.

I gathered you here today to admit that I was rewarded by my creative writing efforts with an acceptance email to come speak at the ultimate IBM event of the year, IBM Think.

In 2018 IBM has decided there should only be one event to "rule them all" and dropped all of the division events including many of my dear readers favorite Lotusphere IBM Connect.

Las Vegas, where the event will be held at the Mandalay Bay on March 18-22 will be like going to an all day concert where you will listen to everyone, but really just want to hear a few artists.

Naturally my ICS side hopes/expects there to be enough to keep me and the faithful happy.
With an estimated 100 tracks (just kidding, but if a normal event has 5-10, this could have 30+?)I also look forward to learning and seeing more about other areas of IBM's world that most likely you, and I, never knew existed. Examples? How about:

• The AI Bar where it knows your mood when you walk in and provides the appropriate drink.
• The IoT Plane Seat that automatically reduces the movement of your chair if you have unruly adults behind you.
• Collaborative lunch plans when your email/chat/IM/text/messenger/Facebook/Twitter feed senses you should eat and go with people ready at the same time. (choice of foods is still left to you)
• Teenager Security, keeping you alert to when your teenager....
• Beer chilled data center servers, because once you move non essential stuff to The Cloud, you need to get some ROI from that space and every company should have their own microbrewery.

Yes, in addition will be the Websphere, DB2, Tivoli, MAAS360, Trusteer, Smarter Planet, I P and Z series hardware, Kenexa, Redbooks and lots of things you never knew IBM sold.

Okay, what am I presenting on you ask? Here you go:

I'm a Lego Man living in a Duplo World
"Try it you'll like it", works for food, alcohol and TV shows, but doesn't work very well for software, does it? You know what works in software? Headless, adminless, serverless, payless parts and pieces. We live in a Lego world and piece by piece you need to build your world with as little as possible that is interchangeable as well. Finding the right piece that fits just the way you need it to do so, is all that matters.

I know what you are thinking, wtf is he talking about? 

Honestly when I revisited my submission notes, I am not sure either, my notes scribbled at 3am were impractically illegible.

How do you try IBM Cloud when you are not a developer? It's like going to the Whisky bar and being unable to make a choice because you never drink scotch, whisky, bourbon or rye.

Can one just "use an email service" without a server and license? 
Should you? 
Would you? 

How do you manage all these parts and pieces? Do you use a different piece for security or trust the one inside the IBM(or AWS, Azure, etc.) Cloud?
How do you monitor them since any one part can fail and kill your solution?

All of this and more, well what will fit in my time slot.

If you have any ideas or thoughts on this, questions, or maybe your company provides some of the tools I discussed, let me know about them.

See you all in Vegas! For more information go to IBM Think.

Thursday Tips - Sametime Installations Gone Awry?

I recently inherited a failed Sametime Complete 9.0 Installation that was stuck on the proxy server.

This would be the 3rd time in the last 2 years I have had the same exact circumstance.

Thank you all for bringing these to me. The commonality in each case was a reliance on the Zero to Hero 900+ slide deck. While it is a great guide to follow, especially if internally you need screen shot by screen shot directions, it lacks a few things that are kind of important.

It makes it very clear everything is on one server, if anyone read the slides, this is not very feasible for the average installation.Why is this an issue? Websphere needs to be installed on each machine but is not mentioned anywhere. SSO is not mentioned. Creating the services, and dependencies for those services is only partially mentioned.Naming everything sametime.org.com is not going to work either.

There are many more items to consider and think about, in short, if you don't know enough about what is missing, don't start down this path.

So for those getting stuck along the way, and have yet to call me for help, here are some pieces of information which may help you along the way. None of this is new but sometimes you just need a bunch of help all in one place.

I will presume you know enough to download any updates from IBM's Fix Central, how to install Websphere and the Installation manager and all the other components. If not, call me.

In no particular order:
SSO import, export of the LTPA token to/from Websphere and the Community Server details can be found here.

Keep in mind the token name must be syntax correct and the same name used throughout the process.
You may want some more details from this post:

When you need to create the Domino SSO Configuration, use this guide.

You can have multiple Domino SSO Configuration documents, just name them differently.

We needed to do this in 2 of the 3 cases because we used the same Domino domain for Community servers and :LDAP servers. This is one case where creating a new OU inside your domain may help you, check with your trusted advisor.

Need to create a Windows Service, and Dependencies so on startup it loads all the WAS and server items properly? You need the sc.exe command tool .

The syntax is not fun, and be very careful with the CAPS letters and lower case ones as any diffrences will not let this work, see this for a massive example.

Here is an example of how I did a few. You start at the bin directory (I used a D Drive) and then enter the text starting with "sc config " after the ">" remember long names and spaces in between words need the quotation marks:

Proxy Server itself and has a dependency of starting AFTER the local nodeagent:

D:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\con-stproSTPPNProfile1\bin>

sc config "IBMWAS

85Service - STProxyServer" depend= "IBMWAS85Service - con-stproSTPPNProfile1_nod
eagent"

 For the Sametime System Console (SSC) the Nodeagent has to start AFTER the Deployment Manager

sc config "IBMWAS
85Service - STConsoleServer_NA" depend= "IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5 - STConsoleServer_DM"

If you need to remember the order of starting and stopping the Websphere Sametime Servers read this note.

Lastly, document that installation using my excel spreadsheet which you can get from this post of mine.

2016 IBM Champions for ICS

For the 4th year in a row I have been named an IBM Champion. It was extremely unexpected and I thoroughly believed my 1,000th blog post would be a farewell post. For the record this is post #997 of this blog.

It seems the judges have other ideas and intended to keep me going for another year. This is not something you win by being voted on by your friends or ballot stuffing on Facebook, it is a process in which, I hear, over 25 IBMers have votes. 300,000+ people in  company and 25 or so vote on us!

Ecstatically pleased some of my friends who are Champions were renewed including some one I nominated was accepted this year.

Some great friends are also now included, as are many of the people who organize some of the world wide user group conferences. I don't want to single any of them out because honestly, I feel bad I did not think to nominate some of them. Thank God other people were not so forgetful.

There are probably dozens of Champions, past and present, I would love to be with at every event, listening to their wisdom, sharing stories over drinks or just helping with problems they get stuck on and I hope many feel the same way about me.

My recent trips to Social Connections 9 and SUTOL brought me to meetup in person many Champions (and some we didn't know yet would be announced today) and friends I so rarely get to hang out with that it is like a family reunion when we do get to hang out. I got to know some people a little better than prior years. It helps to have an open mind and be respectful of each other to appreciate them even more because maybe at one time I, or they, were not in a good place or state of mind and life is too short to not be happy for everyone.

We work hard, some of us travel non stop, some of us work with multiple clients and projects, some of us are dedicated to one client or employer, some of us are not able to get to too many events or even one, some of us even find time for our families too. Some have hobbies, some do not, some brew their own beer, the rest of us just drink it, some prefer the cold, others the heat, some are artists, some play musical instruments, some run, some bike, some hike, some are administrators, some are developers, some are business partners, some are IBM Customers, and some are in sales or marketing for their organizations.

Our aim is for a better and more collaborative world for all of our current and future customers.

Sadly, this is also the end of my three years as an IBM Champion for Websphere and I appreciate all the WAS Champions I met over the years, some of whom I wish I could see more often.

Here's to the Class of 2016!

May we all enjoy the fruits of our labors and share a drink some time this coming year.
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/ibmchampion/entry/Announcing_the_IBM_Champion_Class_of_2016_for_IBM_Social_Business?lang=en

I Love Admins that want to learn here is my SUTOL Session

Having a great time in Prague, last time I was here was either the I AM tour or an LCTY in 2000/2001.

Martin and the SUTOL team did a great job with the event. It was really nice to get to see people I either never met in person or have not seen in a long time. And some of us had been at #soccnx 9 last week in Stuttgart.

It was great to speak to and meet so many admins that really know what they are doing and what to learn and know more. These Admins make it easier to present topics from new viewpoints and appreciate the time we all spend in the trenches.

As it turns out, the night before SUTOL while we are at the local bar we discussed some things around DDM and we agreed things changed, but could not at the time find good details about what and when. Luckily, when we collaborate we find conclusions.

Thanks to Ben Menesi for not only pointing out Domino DDM changed types, but having a screen that shows the changes which I added to my presentation.

I also found a reference to what happened, it changed in 8.0 and this link had this to say:

To view an event message that was generated by a pre-IBM^® Lotus^® Domino^® 7 event generator, open the Monitoring Configuration database (EVENTS4.NSF), and then open the view Advanced -- Message by Text to view how that event message is categorized in DDM. The information on the Basics panel shows the name of the new Event Type and the Old Event Type. In DDM, there are 10 event types and in pre-Domino 7, there are 22 event types. You use the information on the Basics panel to see how the old event types are incorporated into the new event types. For example, this event message has Server as the Event Type and Mail as the Old Event Type

My slides from my session, "DDM, Letting Admins sleep longer and stay at the Pub Later Since 2005" is available on Slideshare. I touch on how to manage non-Domino things and how I get my server and DDM to Tweet me when there are problems, like email is not flowing.

Domino Domain Monitoring, Letting Admins Sleep Later and Stay at Pubs Longer Since 2005 from Keith Brooks

Thank you everyone and hope you enjoyed the session.

SnTT - Where'd Our Address Book Go?

If you are a Domino Administrator you know the answer to this question:
Can your Domino server start without the names.nsf file being found?

Of course not.

Yet, clients always try to prove you wrong.

A support ticket came in and it said the address book had gone AWOL. When i logged in to the network and check on the server, it was up and running. Scratching my head, I spoke to the customer and they ended up sending me a screenshot showing quite clearly how in the Admin client, the names.nsf was not visible from the left column where it usually would appear.

I pointed out that the view in the admin client is based on the Directory assistance and LDAP databases. If those are not running or configured you will not see them, but they are definitely there. (Yes, I had checked the physical files were there too) oddly enough I could not find much in searching online to explain it, so anyone with more in depth knowledge, feel free to comment and I will update this post accordingly.

It turns out LDAP had been loaded on the server manually, not via the notes.ini so at some restart they "lost" the files.

Edited notes.ini and loaded LDAP to bring everything back to normal.

The customer was adamant the server was down, yet they could tell, just like I could, that the server was up and running fine. An issue of education, or a case of change is not good which throws them off their game?

While it is our job to support and help the customers, we should also be taking the time to explain to them what is going on, how to resolve it, and why it happened. When we know.

I admit when there are just some things we don't know and the time involved to find out may not be equitable to clients. This was not one of those times, but we all run into the crazy exceptions that happen.

One can never be bored supporting customers, that is for sure.

Social Connections 9 in Stuttgart w/Me

They say 3rd time is the charm, I will once again be speaking at the Social Connections event scheduled for November 5-6 in Stuttgart, Germany.

However, this time I have been blessed to not do a competitive pitch, nor an accountability one, but a Spotlight session you can read more about here on Friday November 6th.

I look forward to seeing many friends and many more customers at the event.

I will be wrestling with and explaining the at times conflicting aspects of technology evangelism, life and work balance and how shutting down for 25 hours a week, or sometimes more, really is helpful.

I know, not my usual session but they wanted something we felt strongly about and well this hits it on so many levels, hope you all come and listen and appreciate it.

No slides will be shown at this session aside from the thanking the sponsors slide and my contact details. You may be asked to turn your phone off during this session, if you are up to the challenge, see you there.

Peek a Boo with O365 and Bits

Collaboration means different things to different people. Business collaboration is about sharing of
information, ideas, details, actions, and presuming everyone does the same in return so you truly reach that 1+1=3 world.

I am spending sometime on a side project with a company that is leveraging O365. On the outside looking in, it seems to be just what one wants for work. Online shared space for files, email, IM, ESN(Enterprise Social Network), team/group space, Office tools, and much more all wrapped up in one price and available only in the Cloud.

The first thing I experienced, and keep in mind I am accustomed to being the admin usually, was my name was spelled incorrectly. In general, not the end of the world, however, in some cases, my logins were correct, but it appears not in AD. When I asked IT to correct it, they told me it would take most of a day to do this because they would now have to go change all the other systems that I have logins for and fix them as well. SSO is not available in O365? And to rename an ID takes hours? As an admin, I am bemused at the discussions.

Normal users probably just shrug it off as IT time and plans.

My login aside, the quirks of O365, as some of my friends call them, are more a skewed view based on other products and our own expectations.

It seems one can not change the colors on screen for Outlook (2010 edition they use here). The choice is limited to 3 colors, none of which are even remotely exciting, Blue, Silver, Black. Cowboys and Raiders colors? What about us Dolphin fans that want orange or green? Or just set to Windows Desktop theme colors? Evidently 2013 is no better about this.

I will post this next bit, as it is important, but want to point out it is not unique to Microsoft. The multiple profiles, pictures, details issue is a major PITA to employees. Why can't the entry in AD cover the basics of the person (name, photo, phone, location, email, etc..) and have that, via LDAP, or AD itself, pushed out to any other system connected to it for user accounts? Instead there is Outlook, SharePoint, Yammer, and whatever the O365 bit itself is called all not sharing ANY details, in the case here, not even my login and password for the domain. Yes, WTF indeed.

Off I went to create profiles, about me docs, upload photos, enter office details because this is posted on the Yammer home page:

When signing up to Yammer can you please add a recognisable photo of yourself, so people can easily identify you in the office. Also add your phone number(s) and where you are located, including which floor you are on.

As it turns out SharePoint is not connected to O365 here, so I understand that...as an IT person. As an employee it would make me wonder why, if I cared enough, which maybe no one does anymore. Thus why adoption of an ESN is not an easy task inside companies and why I try to help it best I can.

Before some friends jump on this, as some have, be careful, IBM in this case does not handle it any better. Sametime vs. Connections profiles/photos vs. Domino data/profile/photos. Same problem, no solution. I understand why, in both companies products this exists. Simply put, if they have no way to know what "solution" you are installing, they have no way to provide the details efficiently. My argument has always been it should reside in the Directory (AD, Domino, whatever) and let everything else pull it from there. Whatever, live with it, do not slam either for this shortcoming.

The login and password thing is more bewildering to me. My Windows Domain login and password do not match my Outlook or Yammer ones but does SharePoint. A hybrid model that works as designed I guess but SSO or SPNEGO or even Oauth, anything/something would be a better solution.

On the plus side, the Yammer mobile client looks good and works well albeit in a multi step process just to message someone. I wait for the "Skype will rule it all" day coming soon, but for now, tick the box, they did mobile. You need to flip back and forth to the option menu to read group messages or the "stream" and to message someone takes 4 steps but it is a simple UI and easy to respond to posts in the stream or groups.

Yammer desktop, in short, does not exist. This is a frustrating thing for someone like myself so used to just sending IMs easily for the last 17+ years from a list in my tray. While one gets notified when there is a message, if you want to send someone a message you have to login (or keep a browser window open) just to then get to your list and try to message the person. I say try because I have not found a way for the web client to sort people by online status or even by alphabetical order. The Skype transition/integration can not come fast enough in my opinion.

Yammer Desktop Notifier is mostly a waste of time since it does NOTHING. To be fair, it has 3 options, (Inbox, Notifications, My feed) that when clicked take you to a browser and the messages. And if something is waiting for you, it has color codes to let you know in the little icon in your tray. But lookup people? Send an IM? No and No. In a corporate desktop world, this is frustrating. In a mobile, non desktop world, this is fine presumably, I have not loaded it yet on my iPad so I have no direct knowledge at this time.

The discussion around dropping SharePoint in favor of Jira is a conversation which I have not gotten into previously but would seem to be a major question/issue for companies that are using SharePoint or any ESN as a project management workflow tool. I may write more on this in a future blog after some further research.

Overall I can't say anything has blown me away that I must have it, aside from Skype. Perhaps Microsoft and other companies providing Enterprise solutions now find themselves in an unusual situation, big ugly/heavy clients that we use 10% of the benefits have passed their sale dates. When you really have better apps on your phone than your office, we are no longer on the "when will we get updates" discussion, but on the "why can't we use this app" or just doing it anyway. This is not a new opinion, we have been discussing it for years, but as I saw first hand, when IT people and executives are no longer willing to adjust to employees needs, then we in IT have failed and it matters little which vendor you chose.

The Cube Interview from IBM Impact

One of the interviews I did at IBM Impact was with Paul and John from The Cube.

Paul and I did a Google hangout last year after Sugarcon around CRM, link here.



I am #5 on the list found here: http://siliconangle.tv/ibmimpact-lasvegas-2014/

My Video (below) and some highlights from our discussion can be read here:
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2014/04/28/thinkrite-innovating-the-analytics-of-personnel-productivity-ibmimpact/

This time we hit on many topics, the Opening keynote, collaboration, HR, etch a sketch, analytics, messaging, conference calls, meeting analytics and Unified Comunications.

The Silicon Angle team has some great software to slice and dice video around topics, people or whatever.

Thank you to the IBM Impact team for fitting me in among all the IBM executives links below.

Showtime:

Monday, April 28, 10:00 am Pacific through
Tuesday, April 29, 5:00 pm Pacific

Guests*:

Monday, April 28, All times Pacific
10:00a Scott Francis, Founder & CTO, BP3 Global, Inc. , @sfrancisatx
10:30a Doug Balog, GM, Power Systems, IBM , @DouglasBalog1
1:00p James Taylor, CEO & Principal Consultant, Decision Management Solutions , @jamet123
2:30p Maribel Lopez, Founder & Principal Analyst, Lopez Research , @MaribelLopez
3:00p Judith Hurwitz, President & CEO, Hurwitz & Associates , @jhurwitz
3:30p Bob Picciano, SVP, Information & Analytics Group, IBM
5:30p Gal Shachor, Distinguished Engineer, Chief Architect, IBM Worklight
6:10p Steve Mills, SVP & Group Executive, IBM Software Systems

Tuesday, April 29, All times Pacific
10:00a Meg Swanson, Director BlueMix Marketing, IBM
10:30a Vijay Dheap, Global Product Manager, Big Data Security Intelligence & Mobile Security, IBM , @dheap
12:00n Ndu Emuchay, Distinguished Engineer, IBM
1:00p Matthew Webster, Senior Software Engineer, CICS Technical Planning & Strategy
2:30p Stephanie Trunzo, Chief Creative Officer, PointSource , @sltrunzo
4:00p Vishal Rajpal, General Manger, BPM, Cloud, Mobile, Perficient, Inc , @vishalrajpal
4:30p Inhi Cho Suh, Vice President, Big Data, Integration and Governance, IBM , @Inhicho