Lotus Traveler Database Defragmentation for Improved Performance 

Overview

As Lotus Traveler installations become larger and run for extended periods of time, we have seen some instances of the Lotus Traveler internal database growing in size which can affect system performance. As a result, the Lotus Traveler team has added a database defrag command to compact and optimize the database for performance. The defrag feature can only be run at startup using the steps outlined below. As of Lotus Traveler 8.5.2.2 and later releases, the defrag command will run automatically as part of database migration resulting from a server upgrade. It is recommended that customers run the defrag command approximately once a month as part of continued system health. For future releases, the Lotus Traveler development team is investigating ways to reduce the need for database maintenance.

Note: New as of 8.5.2.4 it is now possible to schedule the defrag operation. See 'How to run defrag' steps below for details.

What is the Lotus Traveler internal database?

Lotus Traveler maintains state information about each device in a Derby relational database. This information includes device information, device security and data that allows the Lotus Traveler server to know if a device needs to sync. This database's files are stored on the Lotus Traveler system under the data\traveler\ntsdb directory. You can check the size of the folder and monitor changes as one way to determine how often to run the defrag command.

Important - It is not recommended to delete the ntsdb folder on the system. Deleting the state information will force all users to resync all of their data, and will lose any security information such as devices that have been denied access or wiped and any documents that have been banned from syncing.

How to run defrag (8.5.2.4, 8.5.3.1 and later releases)

1. Add NTS_DEFRAG_INTERVAL_DAYS to the notes.ini parameter. For example, to set interval of 30 days add:
   
   NTS_DEFRAG_INTERVAL_DAYS=30
   
2. Restart the Lotus Traveler server. From that point on if Lotus Traveler server is restarted and it has been 30 days since the last defrag, then the defrag operation will run.
   
3. To force a defrag to run, simply delete the parameter NTS_LAST_DEFRAG from the notes.ini file and restart the server. If NTS_DEFRAG_INTERVAL_DAYS is set and there is no last defrag timestamp, then the server will perform a defrag and reset the timestamp.
   

How to run defrag (8.5.2.2, 8.5.2.3 and 8.5.3.0 releases)

1. Shutdown the Lotus Traveler and the Domino HTTP tasks on the server
   
   tell traveler quit
   tell http quit
   
2. Be sure both the http and traveler process are completely stopped.
   
3. Start Traveler using the defrag parameter
   
   load traveler -defrag
   
4. The defrag command will run as Lotus Traveler Server starts. The server will start normally once the defrag operation completes.
   
   Note: The defrag operation may take more than 30 minutes to complete depending on database size and system capabilities.
   
5. If the Domino HTTP task is not started automatically by Lotus Notes Traveler, then start HTTP manually.
   
   load http

Reference

Product Documentation

Lotus Traveler Maintenance Information

Lotus Traveler APAR Listing