This article represents Phase 2 of Upgrade Cookbook: Upgrading from Lotus Notes and Domino 6.5.x to 8.0.2
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Introduction
In this phase, you will upgrade the servers to Lotus Domino 8.0.x. Note that version 8.0.2 will be the last scheduled maintenance release in the 8.0.x codestream. For more information, refer to Technote #1389127 - Maintenance update on Lotus Notes and Domino 8.0.x. We strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest fix pack version of 8.0.2.
This page contains the following sections: - Domino server upgrade decisions
- Server upgrade pilot
- Steps to upgrade to 8.0.x
- Things to know after your server upgrade
Domino server upgrade decisionsAs part of the Domino Server upgrade, you have a good opportunity to make some other changes to your Domino infrastructure. There are some choices you need to make at this point, such as if you want to upgrade an existing server or install a new server with a new identity, or install a new server and inherit identities. Here are some things to consider at this point in the process:
Will this be an upgrade or a new installation?
- After defining your server requirements, you should determine if servers should...
- be upgraded in place?
- be replaced with new servers?
- be some combination of these approaches?
- Should new servers inherit existing identities or have new ones?
- What impacts will there be on the client configuration?
There are a range of approaches depending on the answers to these questions...
Upgrade Existing Server - This is an "in place" software upgrade of an existing server
- The server identity remains the same
- No change of underlying hardware or operating system
- Upgrade process and configuration testing needs to be done in test environment first
- If clustered...
- upgrade one server at a time in the cluster
- remember that ACLs and replication settings do not prevent designs from propagating in a cluster | Install New Server (New Identity) - Build a new server independently
- Create a new server identity
- Permits change of underlying hardware and operating system
- Permits testing of the configured state before cut-over
- For mail users, requires some migration of users and client configurations from existing to new server
- Permits monitoring as you ramp up users to verify that you don't overload the 'new' server
- For applications, requires migration of applications to new server and redirection from old server
- If clustered...
- create new servers and new cluster
- migrate users and client configurations to distribute users across the members
- migrate applications to the new cluster | Install New Servers (Inherit Identities) - Build new server independently
- Create a new temporary server identity
- Permits change of underlying hardware and operating system
- Permits testing of the configured state before cut-over
- Create replicas on temporary server and keep in synch with server to be replaced via replication
- At desired time, switch server host, network and Domino server identities
- Change is transparent to clients
- If clustered...
- repeat process for each server
- do not add temporary Domino server into cluster |
Are you moving to a 64-bit operating system?
One major advantage to running Domino on a 64-bit operating system is the access to additional addressable memory space. See the following links for additional information:
Technote #1296452 - FAQ: 64-bit version of Domino
Technote #1328164 - Support for Lotus Domino Servers and companion products on 64-bit Operating Systems
Technote #1305261 - 64-bit Lotus Domino Server 8.0.1 crashes when compact and replication tasks are running on Windows 64-bit OS
Server Upgrade Pilot
If you do not have a test environment already, it is highly recommended that you create one. You will want to incorporate all of the decisions that you have made up to this point and create a test environment that is representative of your current and target platforms, including hardware and software resources. Creating this environment is very important if you want to do any kind of performance or capacity planning.
Server Pilot considerations
- Document EVERYTHING during your pilot upgrade. For example, you should record the detailed operation, detailed commands you type, the hours required to perform the upgrade, and any error messages you encounter.
- Imaging: Because some of the testing should focus on process aspects where a set of steps are to be executed, it saves a lot of time to be able to reset your environment to a known position. For example, VMWare with its snapshot capability can be a useful tool for this purpose. If VMWare is not ideal for your specific platform, implementing a robust backup and restore program is another way to achieve this.
- Determine feedback needed from pilot users and determine success criteria
- Choose pilot groups carefully. Start with immediate IT staff, then add lowest risk user populations. Grow the pilot population over time, adopting new audiences. Target diverse roles: technical, power user, assistants, application users
- Perform the upgrades necessary for the pilot. Start with Administration servers, Hubs and SMTP Gateways with no users. Begin your pilot with only one Domino mail server. Once working properly, continue to add/upgrade more.
- Run a steady state environment for a defined pilot duration
- Review and update procedures after pilot feedback
Steps to upgrade to 8.0.x
For more detail, refer to the IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Deployment Guide redbook.
System Requirements
Platform specific information regarding Lotus Domino commands
UNIX: "Running compact, fixup, and updall on AIX, Linux, and Solaris when a Domino server is down" (#1303727)
IBM i (AS400): "How to run Fixup, Compact, or other command while the Domino iSeries server is down" (#1102349)
Windows: To run Domino server commands while the server is shut down (offline), add the letter "n" to the beginning of the Domino server command (required when Domino is shut down, Windows platforms only).
1. Open a command window (Start -> Run -> type "cmd" -> click Enter).
2. Navigate to the file system folder where the Domino server is installed (same directory where nserver.exe is located).
3. From that path, type the Domino server command in the command window, adding the letter "n" before the name of the Domino server task, as follows:
x:\Lotus\Domino\nfixup names.nsf -f -j -v -l
x:\Lotus\Domino\ncompact names.nsf -c -i
x:\Lotus\Domino\nupdall admin4.nsf -R
x:\Lotus\Domino\nupdall admin4.nsf -X
Refer to the Domino Administrator 8.0 Information Center topic, "Entering commands at the console at the server."
Before Upgrading
1. Normalize your environment. Fix any major issues or crash/hang conditions before you upgrade. Don't assume the upgrade will fix these issues, unless documented.
2. Investigate the compatibility of vender-supplied applications and companion products with Domino 8.0.x.
3. Ensure that your databases are pristine by:
- Running the fixup, updall and compact maintenance tasks. These optional steps are suggested to remove any potential corruption.
- Shutting down the Domino server to ensure that no server or client-invoked calls are modifying server data while these maintenance tasks are running.
a) Run fixup (consistency check) against all databases using the following command: Fixup -f -j -v -l
Note:
-f Exhaustive fixup, all documents are checked.
-j Include transaction-logged databases. Without this option, fixup does not check logged databases.
-v Exclude database views (faster) for all views that will be rebuilt by updall later, no need to check view at this moment.
-l Log all processed databases (optional).
If you are running transaction logging, you must use the -j switch.
b) Run updall against all databases using the following commands:
Updall -R
Updall -X
Note:
-R Completely rebuilds the view indexes.
-X Completely rebuilds the full text index if the index exists.
c) Run compact against all databases using the command, Compact -c -i.
Note:
-c Uses copy-style compaction and recover unused white space.
-i Ignores errors and allows compact to run anyway (only for copy-style).
If you are running transaction logging, be sure to use the -b switch. This is different from the upper case -B switch (-B will change the DBIID of any transactionally logged databases).
Caution: Use the "load compact -c -i" command with care since in some case, the Domino server has crashed on this task. For more information, refer to Technote #1329103, "load compact -c -i" ignores all errors and should be used with caution in Lotus Domino 8.0.2".
For more information on Maintenance Tasks see:
Notes/Domino wiki - Maintenance Tasks
Technote #1299683 - When and what type of maintenance should be run on a Domino server?
4. Consider using Server_Restricted to block users allowing administrators to work. For more information, see Technote #1089278, "What does Server_Restricted NOTES.INI setting provide?"
5. Make backup copies of all files, including transactional logging if enabled.
InfoCenter topic - Backing up the Domino Server
InfoCenter topic - Transaction Logging
Steps for Upgrading
Upgrade as follows:
1. Install the Domino 8 Administrator client in order to administer the Domino 8 server.
Note: The three Notes-based clients are Notes, Domino Administrator, and Domino Designer. Domino Administrator is not the same as the standard Notes client but a superset of that product. For a trial download of these clients, click here.
2. Upgrade the Domino domain administration server (the administration server listed in ACL of names.nsf) and the Domino Directory design to Domino 8.
3. Replicate the Domino Directory to the other servers.
Note: It is recommended to replicate ONLY the 8.x Domino Directory design elements to 6.5x, 7.x, and 8.x servers.
Important! If using Microsoft Windows platform, do no restart the operating system at this time. You could experience a hang when starting Domino.
4. Run the following commands to upgrade the Domino domain administration server's names.nsf and admin4.nsf and complete initial maintenance from a command line.
A. Run the design task
design -f names.nsf
design -f admin4.nsf
Note: To accomplish this on IBM i, RUNDOMCMD is used at the green screen command line. However, DESIGN cannot be issued using RUNDOMCMD on IBM i. The view rebuilds will be detected and rebuilt when the server is first started after the upgrade. COMPACT and UPDALL can be used with RUNDOMCMD and should be completed prior to first server start.
There have been instances in which the Linux system "sticks" when running the design task. If this occurs, refer to the following technotes for more information: for Unix, "Running compact, fixup, and updall on AIX, Linux, and Solaris when a Domino server is down" (#1303727); for IBM i (AS400): "How to run Fixup, Compact, or other command while the Domino iSeries server is down" (#1102349)
The Domino 8.x names.nsf template includes new system views. If the template is not updated, the server can experience system slowdowns. This is documented in SPR# ATHS7DPLHM and in Technote #1304915, "Performance problems after upgrading to Domino 8 from versions 6 or 7."
Note: The -f switch synchronizes a specific database.
Read and follow this excerpt from the Notes/Domino 8.0.x Release Notes.
B. Rebuild system views in the Domino Directory after upgrading:
There are several views in the Domino Directory (names.nsf) that use unicode standard collation and which must be rebuilt immediately after upgrading to Domino 8. The Domino server knows the collation versions and automatically rebuilds the view indexes when the server needs to use them.
When the Domino server starts, it accesses two important views, $Users and $ServerAccess. The server stops and waits for these views to rebuild. If the Domino Directory is a large file, rebuilding the two views requires a substantial amount of time. After upgrading to Domino 8, during the first server restart, the server may stop while waiting for the views to rebuild. During this time, the server console will display initial information regarding the Domino server.
This process was tested using a Domino Directory containing 17,000 users. Rebuilding (reindexing) the views required approximately 40 minutes during the initial server restart after upgrade. This test was performed on the platforms listed below (the time requirements varied slightly by platform):
Microsoft Windows 2003 server
IBM AIX
Linux
i5/OS
If you upgrade to Domino 8 and your Domino Directory contains 10,000 users or more, plan ahead for view updating. You can use the updall task to update the index offline and then place it on the server. On Windows platforms, enter the command, nupdall -r names.nsf.
For more information about using the updall program, refer to the Domino 8 Administrator Help.
Note: There will be an initial significant index rebuild performance hit on ALL databases. Read the following excerpt from the Notes/Domino 8.0.x Release Notes:
Rebuilding the database design collections:
To correct a potential defect, a one-time rebuild of the design collection for each database will occur when either the design task or the index task is run on the database. If view events are being logged (LOG_VIEW_EVENTS=1), messages related to this activity may be observed on the console and in log.nsf. For example:
Informational, rebuild view needed - collection object was deleted (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
Informational, rebuilding view - no container or index (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
Informational, rebuilding view - user specified REBUILD (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
Databases will still be accessible while this rebuild is happening but noticeable resource contention may be seen. It may be advantageous to run the index updater against your databases with the server down, when possible.
5. Start the Domino server.
Note: If you are running any third-party applications that use the 7.x Domino Directory design, do not replicate the design of the Domino Directory to those servers until the Domino 8 design is certified by the third-party vendor.
6. Upgrade the Resource & Reservations database. Refer to Technote #1363903 - How to upgrade the R&R database from a Domino 6 to a 7 or 8 release.
7. Use the same procedure to
- Upgrade the Hub servers
- Upgrade the Mail servers
- Upgrade the SMTP servers
- Upgrade the Web servers
- Upgrade the Application servers
- Any third-party/companion product server (check for Domino 8 readiness)
and then
- Upgrade the general population of Notes Client users to Notes 8.
Note: If you are upgrading your executives to the Notes 8 client, upgrade their assistants to Notes 8 at the same time. This will alleviate any limitations when managing calendars.
DO NOT upgrade the mail file templates before upgrading the user's Notes 8.x client.
- Lastly, replace the design of any databases and mail files with any new Notes 8 design changes.
Note: For mail files, the convert command should be run on the Domino 8 server to upgrade the design of the mail file. Do NOT use the Designer task to upgrade the design of the mail file. For more information on using the convert task, refer to the topic, "Upgrading mail files with the mail conversion utility" in the Notes/Domino 8.0.x Release Notes.
Optional upgrade steps
On-Disk Structure (ODS) information for converting database applications
For databases that you do not want converted to the new Domino 8 format when compact runs on the Domino 8 server, pull a new local replica of the database with an .ns6 extension. Renaming the file extension at the operating system prompt will not prevent the database from being converted.
Refer also to the following documents:
Technote #1086780 - "Databases created with an ODS-specific extension are not upgraded by Compact task"
Technote #1267844 - "On-Disk Structure (ODS) version for Notes/Domino 8 and how is it enabled"
IBM Redbook "Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Deployment Guide" page 60, explains how to upgrade the ODS and benefits. It is listed as "highly recommended" to upgrade the ODS AFTER the Domino system administrator ensures that the Domino server is stable at the new Domino 8 code level.
Note: The ODS level will not be upgraded unless a copy-style compact is run on each server, not just the administration server. The new ODS version is not enabled by default for new or upgraded Domino applications so those databases will not be converted by compact when default settings are used. It is only enabled if the notes.ini file setting, CREATE_R8_DATABASES=1, is added.
Domino Configuration Tuner (DCT)
Domino Configuration Tuner is a free tool that runs on active Domino 7x or higher servers. DCT evaluates server settings according to a growing catalog of best practices. All servers in a single domain can be evaluated together. DCT generates reports that explain the issues DCT uncovers, suggests mitigations, and provides references to supporting publications.
Download document #4019358 - Domino Configuration Tuner (DCT) provides easy-to-use self-service configuration
Notes/Domino wiki - Domino Configuration Tuner (DCT)
Technote #1388699 - Replay and Questions/Answers from Domino Configuration Tuner Open Mic calls
Known Issues
Streaming Cluster Replication
Streaming Cluster Replication (SCR) is a new feature in Lotus Domino 8, which takes advantage of the fully-connected nature of clusters and data streaming to produce a low-overhead cluster replicator. SCR decreases the scheduled replicator overhead for clusters and provides a significant reduction in cluster replicator latency. See these links for more information about SCR capabilities, and also some known issues.
InfoCenter topic - Streaming Cluster Replication
Technote #1273724 - What is Streaming Cluster Replication?
Technote #1304671 - Streaming Cluster Replication does not work as expected.
Technote #1306074 - Insufficient memory crash related to Streaming Cluster Replication
Technote #1326162 - Unable to retrieve mail through IMAP on 8.0.1
Notes/Domino wiki - DEBUG_SCR_DISABLED
Policies
If you edit an existing Desktop Settings document after upgrading the design of your Domino Directory to 8.0.x, various desktop policy settings may be unexpectedly pushed to Notes clients. Usually this issue becomes evident only after users report one or more of the following symptoms:
- unexpected changes to replication schedules
- encryption of saved/sent mail
- scan unread messages is turned on
- using Smart Upgrade, an explicit policy configured for a single user impacts several users
Technote #1299046 - Various desktop policy settings pushed to Notes clients after Domino Directory template (pubnames.ntf) is upgraded to 8.0 or 8.0.1
Disable TCP Nagle Algorithm
The Nagle Algorithm was created to address a problem of network packet size. In some network packets, the overhead could be as large as the data itself. In Notes and Domino, the Nagle Algorithm is enabled by default, but can be disabled.
Technote #1307434 - Domino performance slow after upgrade
Notes/Domino wiki - DEBUG_PD_NAGLE_OFF & EnableNagle: the Nagle algorithm should be disabled
Domino Server Time
After upgrading a Lotus Domino server to release 8, you notice the Domino server's time may run faster or slower than the operating system time
Technote #1327441 - The time on the Domino server moves ahead or behind the Operating System time
Notes.ini parameters
Because Domino 8 is scaled to handle more users concurrently, you may be able to remove or comment out any stabilizing notes.ini file parameters, such as the following:
SERVER_SESSION_TIMEOUT
SERVER_MAXSESSIONS
SERVER_MAXUSERS
Technote #1089879 - Description of "Server_MaxSessions=" and "Server_Session_Timeout=" Parameters
Technote #1293213 - How does the notes.ini file parameter 'server_session_timeout' affect server performance
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| Version 18 |
January 30, 2012 |
8:53:37 AM |
by Terri Puckett  |
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