This document has been prepared to outline the changes required to deploy IBM Connections 3.0.1 Status Updates Plug-in for Lotus Notes via Widgets Catalog and Policies.
This plug-in is supported on Lotus Notes clients, starting with release 8.5.1. The IBM Connections 3.0.1 Status Updates Plug-in supports:
- IBM Lotus Connections 3.0
- IBM Connections 3.0.1
- IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1 FP5
- IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.2 FP1, FP2*, FP3 (FP3 is recommended)
- Microsoft Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit)
- Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit, 64-bit toleration)
- Apple Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5.3, 5.4, 5.6
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, 11
Before you install the plug-in, you must make some configuration changes.
- Open the plugin_customization.ini file for the Notes® client in a text editor. The file is stored in the following directory: <Notes Install>/framework/rcp/plugin_customization.ini.
Change this line:
com.ibm.rcp.security.update/UNSIGNED_PLUGIN_POLICY=PROMPT
to:
com.ibm.rcp.security.update/UNSIGNED_PLUGIN_POLICY=ALLOW
and add this line:
com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true
Note: After making these configuration changes, check to make sure you see the following menu option: Files -> Application -> Install. If you do not see that option, open the com.ibm.notes.branding.prefs file from the following location:
-
-
- Windows™: <NotesData>\workspace\.metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.core.runtime\.settings\
- Mac: <Notes install>\Data\expeditor\applications\.metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.core.runtime\.settings\
- Linux™: /home/<username>/lotus/notes/data/workspace/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.core.runtime/.settings/
If the com.ibm.notes.branding.prefs file does not exist, create it and add the following two lines to it:
-
-
- enable.update.ui=true
- eclipse.preferences.version=1
- If you are installing this plug-in on Lotus Notes 8.5.1 client, you must also set the following parameters in the plugin_customization.ini file before deploying the Status Updates plug-in:
-
- Activities server URL
- Authentication type
- Authentication URL
- For example:
- com.ibm.lconn.client.base/server=http\://<your_LotusConnections_server_URL>/activities
- com.ibm.lconn.client.base/authtype=J2EE-FORM
Note: Note: For SiteMinder, the value for authtype is SM-FORM. For TAM server, the value for authype is TAM-FORM.
-
- com.ibm.lconn.client.base/authserver=https\://<your_LotusConnections_server_URL>\:443/activities/j_security_check
Note: For https a different port may be required. 443 is the default port. The colon must be escaped in the URL string. Verify that your URLs are correct before proceeding.
- Save and close the file.
- For all supported versions, open the following file in a text editor:
<NotesData>\workspace\.metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.core.runtime\.settings\com.ibm.rcp.security.update.prefs
- and add the following line: UNSIGNED_PLUGIN_POLICY=ALLOW
Save and close the file.
Note: If you do not have this file, ignore this step.
(From http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Installing_the_IBM_Connections_Status_Updates_Plugin_for_Lotus_Notes_ic301 )
- Download the latest version of the plugin at the Lotus Greenhouse Website at https://greenhouse.lotus.com/plugins/plugincatalog.nsf/assetDetails.xsp?action=editDocument&documentId=2CF14839E75D41F5852577B6005AA2DE
- Extract the ZIP file.
- In the extracted package folder, there should be another ZIP file called updatesite.zip. Extract updatesite.zip file.
- In the extracted folders, there should be another folder called /features with several JAR files. These files will be used in a next step.
Deploy a new Eclipse Update Site Database on your Domino Web server, using the Eclipse Update Site template. It is strongly recommended that users may access this server without having to authenticate, so, please make sure to set the database ACL entries Default and Anonymous to Reader.
Open the Eclipse Update Site DB. Click on the "Import features" action in the Action bar.
On the Import Features prompt, click on the "Browse…" button and select the /features folder extracted in the step described above. After that, click OK.
Wait until the completion of the Import process. You should see the message: "Import successfully completed!" when finished.
Click on the "By Provider" navigator entry. In that view, you should now see the following entries: "Business Cards" and "Status Updates". Take note of the version fields of those documents, as they will be used to deploy this plugin in a future steps.
Open the Update Site DB on your browser. On that page, you should see a link to a file called site.xml (e.g.: http://server.domain.com/updatesite.nsf/site.xml ) Take note of this URL as it will be used in a future step.
Open your text editor and create the following file called extension.xml. Replace the text in blue http://server.domain.com/updatesite.nsf/site.xml per the URL path to your site.xml file, as described on the step above. Replace the text in blue 3.0.1.20110713-1533 per the version field contents, as described on the step above.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<webcontextConfiguration version="1.1">
<palleteItem id="com.ibm.lconn.statusupdates.feature" imageUrl="" providerId="com.ibm.rcp.toolbox.prov.provider.ToolboxProvisioning" title="StatusUpdate" url="http://server.domain.com/updatesite.nsf/site.xml">
<preferences></preferences>
<data>
<installManifest>
<![CDATA[
<install>
<installfeature description="com.ibm.lconn.statusupdates.feature" id="com.ibm.lconn.statusupdates.feature" name="com.ibm.lconn.statusupdates.feature">
<requirements>
<feature download-size="10" id="com.ibm.lconn.statusupdates.feature" match="perfect" size="10" version="3.0.1.20110713-1533" />
</requirements>
</installfeature>
</install>]]>
</installManifest>
</data>
</palleteItem>
<palleteItem id="com.ibm.lconn.client.bizcard.feature" imageUrl="" providerId="com.ibm.rcp.toolbox.prov.provider.ToolboxProvisioning" title="StatusUpdate" url=" http://server.domain.com/updatesite.nsf/site.xml ">
<preferences></preferences>
<data>
<installManifest>
<![CDATA[
<install>
<installfeature description="com.ibm.lconn.client.bizcard.feature" id="com.ibm.lconn.client.bizcard.feature" name="com.ibm.lconn.client.bizcard.feature">
<requirements>
<feature download-size="10" id="com.ibm.lconn.client.bizcard.feature" match="perfect" size="10" version="3.0.1.20110713-1533" />
</requirements>
</installfeature>
</install>]]>
</installManifest>
</data>
</palleteItem>
</webcontextConfiguration>
To test your installation, drag and drop your extension.xml file into your My Widgets area of Lotus Notes.
An installation should start displaying a prompt box.
If everything is running fine, you should see a progress bar downloading the file, as in the prompt below. If that does not occur, please verify your pre-install instructions, server connection, and the created XML file.
Another possible problem could be HTTP server authentication (depending on your environment policies, the update site database may require a valid username and password). If that happens, open your local Address Book, click on the Advanced navigator entry, and in the Accounts navigator entry, find your Update site server account.
Set your username and password for your Update site server. Repeat the installation process above.
If your installation is running fine, after the installation of the first feature, your should also see the installation of the second feature.
When the installation finishes, you should see the two features required for this plugin listed on your My Widgets sidebar.
Restart Notes.
When you open Notes again, you should see the Status Updates plug-in properly installed.
Open your Widget Toolbox database and click in the Add Widget Action in the Action Bar of the By Category view, which is accessible clicking in the By Category navigator entry. If your already have the Connections Widget created, just edit this document.
In the Widget document, upload your previously tested extension.xml file to your new widget using the Attach button (if the document already exists, delete the previous version first). It is recommended that you may keep a copy of the plug-in downloaded from Lotus Greenhouse at the details field for back-up purposes.
On your corporate Address Book (names.nsf), create (or edit) a Policy to add the Widget from your Corporate Widget Toolbox to the users.
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