How to setup the MOSS 2007 Protocol Handler for Lotus Notes to search multiple Domino Databases. Part 1 of 3

This is the first of three articles to discuss how to implement the protocol handler for Lotus Notes MOSS 2007 to search Lotus Domino databases. A knowledge of the Lotus Notes Client/ IBM Lotus Domino Designer and Lotus Domino Server is needed. The point of this blog is to help you with that piece as much as possible.

Initial requirements

The MOSS 2007 server that will crawl the Notes Databases must be on a 32-bit system, due to the API kit from Lotus, is currently only 32-bit.

The Lotus Notes Client and IBM Lotus Domino Designer version 6.x needs to be installed to create a mapping view and this specific API toolkit, Lotus C++ API Toolkit 2.x& 3.x for Multiplatform English located here https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/download/preconfig.jsp?id=2006-09-14+09%3A05%3A36.572010R&S_TACT=104CBW71&S_CMP=

Download the API toolkit, extract it, copy the lcppn30.dll file from the (extracted location)\notescpp\lib\mswin32 folder to the <SystemDrive> :\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin folder on the index server, where <SystemDrive> is the drive on which Office SharePoint Server 2007 is installed.

Install the Lotus Notes Client 6.x on the MOSS server, however for the next steps it’s recommended to have a separate client machine to work on so that you can validate/test from a workstation while the MOSS server is working and you won’t run into client issues on the server.

Next setup your Lotus Notes Client (ensure you also load IBM Lotus IBM Lotus Domino Designer). The ID file you will need should have a minimum of Designer access to the Lotus Domino Directory, by default named, names.nsf.

Mapping the Windows account to the Domino ACL (Access Control list)

Domino uses ACLS to determine access to a specific database. In order to map the security trimming within MOSS, you will need to create a Notes database that maps the Windows Account to the corresponding Notes ID. This database needs to be created with IBM Lotus Domino Designer.

. You need only one mapping view per Domino domain.

Creating a mapping view in the Domino Directory using the IBM Lotus IBM Lotus Domino Designer.

Launch IBM Lotus Domino Designer.

Click File, point to Database, and then click Open. In the server list, choose a Domino Server, then under Database, select the Domino Directory, normally named by the Domino domain then the word directory, for instance, TailspinToys Directory, by default the Filename will be names.nsf, then Click Open. If unsure, ask the Domino Administrator.

On the menu, select Create, point to Design, and then scroll close to the bottom and click View. This will launch the Create View dialog box, do the following:

Enter the name you want for this view in the View name box. Let’s use Mappings. Note that this name is case sensitive. Select Shared from the View type list. In the Copy style from view section, choose the Copy From button, scroll to the top, choose –Blank-. ,Click OK then Click OK to save the view.

In the left pane of the IBM Lotus Domino Designer tool, you should have a bookmark which lists the directory you are working on. In that pane, you will see a section called views, click the Views section, in the right pane you will see a list of all the views. Double click the Mappings view you created. This will bring up a new tab called mappings and a dialog box, click OK. Now we will create two columns for mapping the accounts together.

By default you will have a single column, right click on it and choose Column Properties. Change the title to Owner , Click the X to close. On the Objects tab, expand the Mappings (View) section, Choose View Selection, in the bottom right pane, change the Run option to Formula. In the pane type, Select Type = “Person”. Click the Green Check mark.

On the Objects tab, expand the Owner (Column) section, In the bottom right pane, set The Column Value Display section to Field and then scroll down select the field called Owner.

Click on the Owner Column to highlight it, then on the menu choose Create, and select Insert a New Column. You can drag/drop the columns in whichever order you prefer. Right click on the new blank column and choose Column Properties. Change the title to WindowsAccount, Click the X to close.

On the Objects tab, expand the WindowsAccount (Column) section, In the bottom right pane, set The Column Value Display section to Field and then scroll down select the field called Comment. This is the field in your Person Document where you will put the Windows Account name in this format, such as Tailspintoys\Administrator. Please note you can create any custom field for this, but it is beyond the scope of this article.

Click File, Save. You are done this section. Launch the Lotus Notes Client, for testing purposes, use the ID file that will be doing the indexing and it’s person document to set this up. Open the Domino Directory and choose the ID file’s Person Document. Click on the Miscellaneous Tab, and Choose Edit Person, type in the Windows Account name in the Comments: section, for example, Tailspintoys\Administrator. Click Save & Close. This should bring you back to the default view of the Domino Directory, in the left pane, near the bottom you should see your custom field, Mappings, click on it and you should see the Owner and WindowsAccount field populated for the Administrator account. The Owner column would look like CN=Tailspintoys Admin/O=TailspinToys, and the WindowsAccount column would look like Tailspintoys\Administrator.

The only pieces left in Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes are to add any additional users you’d like to test with, repeat the instructions above on mapping the Windows Accounts. One key piece is to ensure you have at a minimum of Reader access to the databases you will set up to index later. Pick something simple like a document or discussion database.

Take a deep breath and exhale, the hard part is over. The next article will cover the MOSS setup and configuration, with the final article listing patches, known issues, tips & tricks.

Lou Mandich
Enterprise Technology Strategist
Microsoft Corp