HCL Domino 14.5, Fix your iNotes Redirector for Verse

By now, if you have updated your Domino server and relied on iNotes, you have found that it no longer works.

HCL was clear about this, and there is no workaround, so if you want iNotes and not Verse, better keep a server on 14.0 and point everyone there.

For the rest of us that move forward with the times, we will have seen that logging into the iNotes URL gets you to a pop-up which looks like this:

It states that iNotes is no longer available, and you need to open HCL Verse. If you click on the link, it directs you straight to Verse.

The URL for verse is something like https://companyname.com/verse, and you change your bookmark, but that doesn't work exactly. When you hit that URL, you will get the framework of Verse but this message:

So, you try the manual way, https;//companyname.com/mail/brooks.nsf, and that lets you in, via the 1st pop-up as above..

The next morning, you open your browser, and the /verse URL is not working with the same error about recent contacts.

What is going on here?

iNotes required the iNotes redirector. Well, there is no new redirector, but it did get renamed to Verse redirector(same template name), but it does include some options you probably hadn't considered, and this is how you resolve the problem.

If you haven't changed any settings in a while, now is a great time to update them. The redirector has been updated periodically along the way.

These are the ones to change or review:

Server Settings Button:

Do you wish to force SSL for the entire session? Yes

UI Setup Button:

Your company logo should be there, so your users know it is a legitimate site.

Enable Personal Options: Set to No, they were really about iNotes anyway.

Enable HCL Verse: Yes, you need this now.

Enable SAML options: If you use SAML, enable this option, which displays a secondary option for the Default Mail Application. Select Verse.

When you have finished all your changes, click Save & Exit and then test to ensure everything works properly.

And no more weird error messages about recent contacts.

This tech doc can help those who want more details: https://help.hcl-software.com/verse_onprem/2.0.0/admin/vop_configuring_server.html

Update June 30: I found that I now see this error the next morning.

Googler search shows up this Technote: https://support.hcl-software.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0089441

Which leads to this: https://help.hcl-software.com/verse_onprem/3.1/admin/vop_configuring_server.html

Step 19 is what you want.

Which leads to this: https://help.hcl-software.com/domino/12.0.0/admin/secu_creating_the_credential_store_application_on_a_single_domino_server_t.html

In my case, I already had a credstore created, and this new key would not get added to that credstore.

I went back to the original technote, vop_configuring_server, and added a new entry in my domcfg for DWA, but that now redirects me to a different domain on my server, which has TOTP.

Also verified that the 'inotes/verse' tab in the configuration document met the proper configuration as per the document.

As it turns out, my secondary domain was set for SAML instead of single server in my Internet Site document, Domino Web Engine tab. Probably because I was testing something. Changing that back to single server now allows me to log in correctly with https://companyname.com/verse. With my erse redirectpr in place and everything now correct.

Got IBM Mail yet?

In case you were wondering, I have not gone into hiding, contrary to the trolls.

Want to just run this by you as I know someone out there has been scratching their head asking what is IBM talking about with all this talk of mail, mail, mail.

Mail in this case is of course, email.

You remember email, the thing everyone said was dead, like the mainframe?

Email, that scapegoat of corporate executives who live in fear people will realize their company is close to bankruptcy or some other financial catastrophe and so they announce a new email direction.

IBM spent quite a bit of resources, and will continue to do so, to keep pushing the envelope of email.

But no one calls it email anymore except us old dinosaurs that carry Blackberries.(Disclosure: I never owned one or carried one except for one client for 6 months) Seriously, it is now just mail.

But not just any mail, no, you have at least 4 variations of mail now from IBM.

Mail Next
The most obvious one, yet least viewed publicly, is "Mail Next". Simply put, this is a browser based mail product that runs on Domino. Think of it as a far ahead view of Webmail/iNotes/Domino Web Access for the next generation. Lots of analysts that get paid to write about it have, go read their posts if you want to know the future. This post is for the admins and executives that need to know where we all stand today and the near future. ETA of client, probably when R10 or IBM Notes Rnext comes out in 2015 sometime. IBM does not like to name products prior to launch.

IBM Notes
This leads us to IBM Notes which continues to bring in licensing revenue of an estimated $1.2 BILLION a year. As already stated, look for the next release in 2015 probably and as inroads have been made to expand the client repertoire to browser based Notes workspaces among other advances. Still based on Domino. No word if this will be rebranded as IBM Connections Notes or something else.

IBM Connections Mail
What is this IBM Connections Mail we heard about? Yes, IBM has re-branded their product lines again. If sports teams can change their jerseys and logos and colors every year, companies can change the names of products. IBM Connections is the new brand where the IBM Notes products will reside under. However, this IBM Connections Mail has been around for about 2 years now and it is a way to surface your email and calendar into IBM Connections. It is based on Domino and also runs for Exchange. It is expected that this integration will get stronger and span more aspects over time.

IBM SmartCloud Notes
IBM® SmartCloud™ Notes® is a full-featured email, calendar, contact management and instant messaging service in the IBM cloud. And it runs on Domino. For those of you that do not want or need an infrastructure in your office of servers, this should help you and while itis not free, it is pretty inexpensive.

So you see mail, or email, is useful and sexy again for those dinosaurs that need it and aside from one man, we all still need it.

iNotes Redirector in Domino 9 Cool Detail

There is a new version on the server. Time to replace the design and upgrade it.

You can find the file by name, iwaredir.ntf, which is called IBM iNotes Redirect.

I had to enable the show in advanced template list for the template for it to come up. 

The first thing I got when replacing the template was this awesome language window!

Very cool, this did not come up when I replaced any other templates yet, so I will presume it is special to this db, but not unique I am sure as the only time. You can set the default here or in the properties box for the db afterwards. 

I wonder if it reads your OS version and defines the language as my tests it only showed up in English. Or does it read the OS language default? I changed browser language and defaults and it didn't pick it up.
Anyone know?

Usual click, ok, let it do it's thing.

Test it all out and go on your way.

Fud Buster Friday #21 - No One uses iNotes/Webmail/DWA

In a recent encounter on Twitter I was discussing with an individual who harbored the false perception that no one uses iNotes or Domino Web Access or Webmail or whatever you want to call the browser based access to one's Domino mail.

Should have asked him if he meant no one uses OWA, the Outlook Web Access.

Many college campuses use Webmail, as do numerous hospitals, logistics companies, manufacturing plants and regular everyday users.

Why? Because they can do so with little effort on the administrator's side, especially in R8 where there is only one template now for web and non-web usage.

Compared to Microsoft where one usually has separate servers specially setup to run OWA, Lotus Domino servers can handle the dual connections of web and Notes client access. Admittedly some earlier servers, say over 5 years ago, limited the #'s on a machine, today I have a client with over 2,000 people(we expect scaling to 2,500-3,000) on one mail server and it houses multiple clients, templates and access form the web, phones and notes clients.

Oh and it runs on Linux and did this as an R7 and now even better as an R8 server.

If you have a Microsoft Exchange server which can do all of this and does...let's hear about it.

Chrome + Lotus Webmail (iNotes), Works Fine

FatGuppy on Twitter and some other people have been ranting the Lotus Notes Client for webmail, sometimes referred to as iNotes or Domino Web Access, doesn't work.

This is far from the truth.

In accessing my server via the Google "front end client" browser, Chrome, all is well. Now we have an R8.0.1 server and an 8.0.2 server in cluster.

If you are checking it out on an older version of Lotus Domino, say R6, it would not be a surprise to me if you had some issues.

Why? Because you are running software which is at least 3-5 years old.

Google, not Lotus, built Chrome with cutting(bleeding) edge software and respective versions of various code(beta java code for one) and it would not be likely that an old server would recognize any of it.

Having said that, when was the last time you updated your server's java code? Or patched all the Microsoft holes/security items? Or for any other operating system you might run?

Many are so quick to condemn but really I did not have to do anything to get it to run aside form enter a URL.

Thought about making thus a FudBuster #5 but decided it wasn't at that level ...yet.

Anyone with other testing or input please advise.