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2018 Spring Release ►

IBM Lotus Connector

Installation and Configuration

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Mindbreeze GmbH, A-4020 Linz, 2018.

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Infrastructure preparationsPermanent link for this heading


The IBM Domino server must run a service that provides the DIIOP file for external applications.

IBM Documentation: https://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/dominowiki.nsf/dx/DIIOP_Usage_and_Troubleshooting_Guide

InstallationPermanent link for this heading

Before installing the IBM Lotus Connector ensure that the Mindbreeze Server is already installed and this connector is also included in the Mindbreeze license.

If the license does not allow you to use the IBM Lotus Crawler, the following warning will be logged in the Microsoft Application Event Log:

The Mindbreeze IBM Lotus Connector is available as a ZIP file. This file has to be registered with Enterprise Search Server via the mesextension.exe tool as follows:

mesextension --interface=plugin --type=archive --file=IBMLotusConnector<version>.zip  install

Note: Updating the Connector can be performed using the same mesextension call, Mindbreeze will automatically perform the update tasks required.

In order to uninstall the IBM Lotus-Connector please remove any Lotus Notes Crawler and execute the following command:

mesextension --interface=plugin --type=archive --file=IBMLotusConnector<version>.zip uninstall

Configuration of MindbreezePermanent link for this heading

At the installation select the „Advanced“ option.

Click on the Indices-Tab and then on the „Add new index“ symbol, to create a new index.

Configuration of IndexPermanent link for this heading

Add an adequate index path, e.g. „C:\Index“. If necessary, adjust the Display Name of the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise – Index Service and the related Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise – Filter Service.

Configuration of IBM Lotus Data SourcePermanent link for this heading

Add a new custom data source with the “Add new custom source” symbol in the lower right corner.

For connecting to Lotus Domino Server and crawling the databases provide the following information:

  • Lotus Domino Server: DNS or IP address.
  • Lotus Domino Port: TCP port.
  • Privileged Logon Account: User account for crawling.

After configuring the Lotus Domino Server connection, the next step is to specify the databases to be crawled. This can be done by:

  1. Searching databases through address books, or
  2. Providing database names directly

Both databases and address books through which databases are found can be configured.

For configuring databases and address books check Advanced Setting on top-right corner of the Indices tab.

Configuration of Address BooksPermanent link for this heading

Click on Add Composite Property on the bottom right to add a new address book.

For configuring an address book, provide the following information:

  • File: A valid .nsf file (for example, names.nsf).
  • Server Key: Mailserver item key (for example, MailServer).
  • Name of the column containing the name of the server on which the actual database files are located (reference)
  • Server Item: Mailfile item key (such as MailFile).
  • Crawl Mailbox of Users (map users via address book): If certain users' mailboxes are to be included in the address book.
  • If this option is active, the principals (users/groups) from the first address book are transferred in the configuration
  • To do this, the column/field ShortName has to be in the address book:

  • The CN properties are removed from the principal so that group/user name is left
  • Example: jane.doe@testlab.com jane.doe
  • The principal of the address book must be the same as the user/group currently logged on (SAML, Kerberos, etc.), in order for the ACLs to work

Configuration of DatabasesPermanent link for this heading

Click on Add Composite Property on the bottom right to add a new database and configure it as follows.

  • File: Database file name (e.g. mail/johndoe.nsf).
  • Server: DNS or IP address of Lotus Domino Server

By clicking the Save-button on the top right the settings will be persisted.

Databases and MetadataPermanent link for this heading

By default, only a few metadata are taken from the user-specific databases. The mapping file, which is part of the connector, must be modified to accept all the desired metadata:

  • Download Lotus Connector from the update site (https://www.mindbreeze.com/inspire-updates.html)
  • Unpack the file \Mindbreeze IBM Lotus Connector.zip\IBM Lotus Connector\Plugin and then save the Zip folder located there locally.
  • Open this folder with 7-Zip and edit the forms.xml file

There are two ways to edit the forms.xml file:

Automatically Generating the Mapping FilePermanent link for this heading

Use the tool (forms_tool.zip) from the directory:  IBM Lotus as follows:

java -jar ibm-domino-dbinfo.jar <servername[:port]> <username> <password> <database.nsf> [form regex] [field regex]

  • If Regex is empty, all forms and their metadata are taken, otherwise only those forms that match the forms regex and those fields/metadata that match the field regex are taken.
  • The alias can be viewed in IBM Domino/Lotus as shown in the screenshot below.

    Then copy the output into the forms.xml file.

    Manually Creating the Mapping FilePermanent link for this heading

    Open the forms.xml file and add your own mapping.

    Example:

      <Form lotusName="content" categoryclass="blog">

                      <Title>$TITLE</Title>

                      <Metadatum lotusName="technorati" name="breadcrumbs"/>

                      <Metadatum lotusName="$UpdatedBy" name="updatedby">

                                                   <PostProcessing type="CNExtract" />

       <!--CNExtract ==> CN properties are removed, so that e.g. username remains</!--CNExtract>-->

                                   </Metadatum>

                    <Metadatum lotusName="OriginalModTime" name="mes:date">

                                   <PostProcessing type="ParseDateTime" format="dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm:ss z" locale="en"/>

       <!--So that Mindbreeze can interpret the date-->

                    </Metadatum>

                    <Metadatum lotusName="safesubject" name="content" fulltext="true" />

                    </Form>

    ...

    This configuration means that all objects with the name content are crawled, stored in the database blog and their metadata is mapped as in the example.

    Example:

    <Metadatum lotusName="technorati" name="breadcrumbs"/>

    The lotus metadatum technorati is mapped to the metadata breadcrumbs in Mindbreeze.

    To find out the lotusName of the form, you can use the IBM Domino Administrator:

    With default settings, Lotus documents index only those attachments embedded in rich text fields.

    If the "Index Not Embedded Attachments" option is enabled, all attachments are extracted and indexed.

    Document Selection PatternsPermanent link for this heading

    It is possible to narrow sources to be crawled. In the following example, only mailboxes of users whose names begin with john are crawled.

    Configuring User MappingPermanent link for this heading

    By selecting Map Users via Address Book the ShortName property of the special address book “names.nsf” will be used to transform the identity (the ShortName) of the user to a IBM Lotus account (the FullName).

    If you want to provide your own user account to username mapping, enter a file in the “Map Users via File” field.

    The file is constructed like a Java-Properties file.

    <sso username (SAML,Kerberos,..)> = <Lotus username/FullName aus names.nsf>

    Example:

    Lotus username==Im names.nsf im Feld/Spalte “FullName“

    Configuration IBM Lotus Principal Resolution CachePermanent link for this heading

    The IBM Lotus Principal Resolution Cache has the following settings:

    • „IBM Lotus Domino Server Host“: IBM Lotus Domino FQDN of IP address
    • „IBM Lotus Domino Server Port“: TCP Port with which one you can reach the DIIOP-file
    • „IBM Lotus Domino Login Credential“: username/password credential with read access to the configurated domain catalog and directory databases.
    • „Directory Database“: The Directory Database (typically names.nsf where users and groups are saved)
    • „Domain Catalog Database“: The IBM Lotus Domain Catalog Datenbase (Default: catalog.nsf)
      Includes the database, ACLs and roles for all available databases in the domain.
    • „Database For Role Resolving“: A list of databases its locally defined roles are taken into account.

    Troubleshooting and RecoveryPermanent link for this heading

    If no data can be found, there are different possible reasons:

    • The crawler cannot connect to the Lotus Domino Server or the authentication collapses.
      • Log-File log-ibmlotuscrawler_*.txt gives information about possible problems. Typically the log file resides in this directory:
        C:\Windows\TEMP\ log-ibmlotuscrawler_*.txt.
        On Linux you can find the filein  /var/opt/mindbreeze/log/log-ibmlotuscrawler_*.txt.
      • Tracing can be activated in the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise Configuration. You can find more details regarding the configuration of the log level in the Whitepaper for Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise.
    • Problems during Filtering/Indexing of data.
      • Warnings and errors can be found in the Applications event log (eventvwr.exe) on Windows systems or in the syslog on Linux systems.

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