Setting up external domain lookups

An HCL Notes® user who wants to open a database on a server outside the local HCL Domino® domain, can do so only if there is a connection document in either their local Contacts, or in the Domino® Directory on their home server that describes how to reach the target server. To enable Notes® users to connect more easily to servers outside of their domain, you can create an External Domain Network Information (EDNI) document in the Domino® Directory.

About this task

The EDNI document works in conjunction with a server task called GETADRS to import address information from another Domino® domain so that Notes® users can connect to servers in the external domain. In the EDNI document, you specify the external Domino® domain containing the servers you want users to connect to and the protocols for which you want connection information. In many cases, TCP/IP is the only protocol for which you may need a document. You also specify a server in your local domain that requests the information (Requesting Server) and a server in the external domain that supplies the information (Information Server).

To gather information, the requesting server runs the GETADRS program, which asks the specified information server for a list of the servers in the external Domino® domain. GETADRS returns the address information it obtains to an AdminP request for processing. When the Administration server processes the request, it places the information in the Domino® Directory as a response document to the original EDNI document.

After AdminP adds the server address information to the local Domino® Directory users attempting to open databases on servers in the external domain can use the information from this document to make the connection without requiring a connection document.

Using EDNI documents, you can reduce the number of connection documents in the Domino® Directory, eliminating those that are not required for replication or routing.

Before creating an EDNI document, determine if the connection information is useful for the domain. For example, if you are using the NetBIOS protocol, which isn't a routable protocol, a direct connection to the external domain may not be possible even if you have the network address of the server in an EDNI document. Also, if an external domain server has multiple TCP/IP ports, the host name or address returned to the EDNI document may not be the address of the appropriate port to use. Because each protocol has its own restraints, you should thoroughly research and test the external domain lookup capability using the network system configuration at your organization before using it.

To share information across domains, the Domino® domain requesting the information must be cross-certified with the external domain.

Because the Requesting Server gathers information from Server documents in an external domain, these documents need to be configured properly to enable successful server name lookups. For example, a document with a fully qualified host name or IP address would enable a successful lookup, but a document with only the server common name may not (unless that common name were a full host name).

The data from an external domain server lookup resolves client requests for a server address only; it does not add additional server names to a client's request for a list of servers.

Set up an External Domain Network Information document as follows.

Procedure

  1. Verify that the local domain is cross-certified with the external domain.
  2. From the Domino® Administrator, click the Configuration tab.
  3. Open the Server folder, and then click External Domain Network Information.
  4. Click Add Ext Domain Net Info.
  5. Complete the following fields and then click Save & Close:
    Table 1. Options and Descriptions for Adding an External Domain

    Field

    Description

    Requesting server

    The name of the local domain server that performs the request for external domain information. This server runs the GETADRS task to obtain information from the information server in the external domain.

    Information server

    The name of the server in the external domain from which the requesting server obtains information.

    Domain to query

    The name of the external domain.

    Protocols to query

    The name of one or more protocols in the external domain to query. Specify only protocols that are used in both domains.
  6. Run the GETADRS program on the Requesting server. You run GETADRS using any of these methods:
    • Run the program manually from the server console by entering:
         		LOAD GETADRS
    • Create a program document to run the program as a scheduled server task. Running GETADRS as a scheduled task ensures that information in the local Domino® Directory remains synchronized with updates from the external domain.
    • Add GETADRS to the ServerTasks or ServerTasksAt lines in the NOTES.INI file of the requesting server; the task runs at server startup, or at the specified time, respectively.

    After GETADRS obtains information from the external domain, for each protocol specified in the EDNI, AdminP creates an External Domain Network Address document as a response document to the original EDNI. Each response document contains the names and addresses of the servers in the queried domain that use that protocol.

    By default, AdminP processes the information returned by GETADRS to create the External Domain Network Address documents at the interval scheduled in the Server document's Interval setting. You can run AdminP manually with a Tell command to force AdminP to process the request immediately.