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Installing
Use this documentation to install the HCL Domino® server and subsequently deploy the HCL Notes®client.
Installing and upgrading Notes® clients
Managing client plug-in deployment
While you can customize your client installer to add new or remove supplied features and plug-ins when you install or upgrade your clients, you can also provision (install and automatically update) stand-alone or third party features and plug-ins to your existing Notes® or Lotus® Expeditor run-time using a combination of Domino® policy or Eclipse preferences, a widget resident in a widgets catalog on an HTTP or Domino server, and a Eclipse update site (with signed features and plugin .jar files) optionally resident in a centrally managed NSF-based update site.
Deploying client plug-ins with widgets and the widget catalog
You can use a widget to deploy a new feature and corresponding plug-in to an existing Notes® client using a combination of the widgets catalog, an NSF-based update site in which the feature resides, an XML file attached to the widget that calls the feature's update site, and Domino® policy or Eclipse preferences.
Prepare the Domino® server and Notes® client
Perform these steps to install or upgrade your Domino® server and Notes® client, create the widgets catalog, and specify widgets policy or preference settings for users.

Installing
Use this documentation to install the HCL Domino® server and subsequently deploy the HCL Notes®client.
- Installing and upgrading Domino® servers
  Perform a new or upgrade install of one or many Domino® servers.
- Installing and upgrading Notes® clients
  - Notes® Auto Update
    You don't have to rely on third-party products to automate deployment of new versions and updates of HCL Notes® or HCL Client Application Access (HCAA). Instead, you can enable Auto Update (AUT) servers to deploy updates automatically.
  - Customizing Notes® installation
    As an administrator, you can customize the Notes® install and upgrade process for your users to install just the features that they need. For example, you can customize the install kit using MSI tuner capabilities and you can also customize the install kit to add or remove Eclipse-based features.
  - Specifying custom data directories for multi-user install or upgrade
    You can configure Notes® custom data directories during Notes multi-user install or upgrade on Windows™ or Citrix XenApp.
  - Understanding the Notes® single user to multi-user migration assistant tool
    The single-user to multi-user migration tool converts a Notes® single-user installation to a multi-user installation.
  - Using the Notes® Install Cleanup Utility (NICE) tool
    You can use the supplied Notes® Install Cleanup Executable (NICE) tool to clean up a failed install, failed uninstall, or failed upgrade. You can also use the tool to uninstall an existing version of Notes, and clean up extraneous files, before performing an upgrade installation. The tool is available for Notes on supported Windows™ platforms only, and must be run by an administrator.
  - Automating a customized or default Notes® deployment using silent install
    You can use a silent install to deploy a default or customized Notes® release to users without user intervention. This enables centralized Notes install or upgrade deployment to many users without requiring user intervention.
  - Installing and upgrading Notes® in a single user environment
    You can install Notes® on Microsoft™ Windows™ or Citrix platforms in a single user environment using either the Notes-only or the Notes Allclient installer.
  - Installing and upgrading Notes® multi-user
    Installing Notes® in a multi-user user environment enables multiple users to sequentially log in to the same machine and use the same Notes install directory with their own Notes data directory.
  - Installing a non-English version of Notes®
    Notes® is available for install and upgrade in multiple languages.
  - Adding or removing installed Notes® features within a release
    Optionally add new features, or remove installed features, by rerunning the Notes® installation executable within the same release.
  - Managing client plug-in deployment
    While you can customize your client installer to add new or remove supplied features and plug-ins when you install or upgrade your clients, you can also provision (install and automatically update) stand-alone or third party features and plug-ins to your existing Notes® or Lotus® Expeditor run-time using a combination of Domino® policy or Eclipse preferences, a widget resident in a widgets catalog on an HTTP or Domino server, and a Eclipse update site (with signed features and plugin .jar files) optionally resident in a centrally managed NSF-based update site.
    - Client feature deployment
      There are several ways to deploy Notes® client features and plug-ins to users, including a customized add-on installer, a deployment widget and source widget catalog, and a customized Notes install kit. For all methods, the feature or plug-in to be deployed should be properly signed before deployment.
    - Installing a new feature using the Notes® install kit
    - Deploying client plug-ins with widgets and the widget catalog
      You can use a widget to deploy a new feature and corresponding plug-in to an existing Notes® client using a combination of the widgets catalog, an NSF-based update site in which the feature resides, an XML file attached to the widget that calls the feature's update site, and Domino® policy or Eclipse preferences.
      - Place the updateSite folder centrally
        This topic illustrates how to import an Eclipse update site into an NSF-based update site on a central Domino® server.
      - Prepare the Domino® server and Notes® client
        Perform these steps to install or upgrade your Domino® server and Notes® client, create the widgets catalog, and specify widgets policy or preference settings for users.
      - Create an NSF-based update site and import the Eclipse updateSite content
        The update site can reside on any HTTP or Domino® server that can be reached using HTTP or Notes® NRCP protocols. Importing the update site into the NSF-based update site is the recommended method for deploying features and plug-ins using widgets.
      - Create the widget attachment file to call the feature's update site
        The widget's extension.xml file will contain an install manifest installfeature snippet with a pointer to the update site and specifications on how to install or update the feature. You can simplify the process described here by using the Features and Plugins wizard in Notes®.
      - Preparing for using widgets in the Notes® client
        Perform these steps to start the Notes® client, display the My Widgets sidebar panel, and ensure that the catalog server and catalog name preferences are correct.
      - Create the deployment widget
        You can create the deployment widget directly in the catalog, as described here, or create the widget using a configuration wizard and then publish the widget to the catalog. You can simplify the process described here by using the Features and Plugins wizard in Notes®.
      - Test the deployment widget
        Always test a feature deployment widget before making it available to your users.
      - Communicate deployment to users
        Tell Notes® users how to obtain the widget or inform them they will be automatically provisioned with the widget, and the feature it is designed to deploy, upon their next catalog update.
      - Updating a widget-deployed client feature or plug-in
        When you have a new version of a widget deployed client plug-in, use this procedure to update the update site and the deployment widget's XML attachment in the widgets catalog.
    - Creating a customized add-on installer
      The HCL Expeditor framework enables you to create and use an add-on installer as an alternative method for deploying a third-party feature or plug-in to an existing Notes® installation. For example, rather than deploy a custom feature to users as part of the Notes install kit, or use a widget to deploy a custom feature to an existing Notes runtime, you can create and use an add-on installer.
    - Creating a new feature
      You can learn to create custom or third-party features for use with Notes® using these and other resources.
    - Signing custom or third-party features and plug-ins for install and update
      Eclipse plug-ins can be created and used to extend Notes® client functionality. Features and plug-ins are provisioned with the client software.
    - Creating and using an NSF-based update site
      You can use the Eclipse Update Site template to create an NSF-based update site application and then import some or all of the features from an Eclipse update site into the NSF-based update site.
    - Limiting feature install and update with update sites
      Provisioning settings are available on the Client Upgrade tab in the Domino® Administrator server Configuration Settings document. This capability is specific to the Eclipse Update Manager (EUM).
    - Creating and using a traditional third-party installer
      Using the Lotus® Expeditor platform, you can create a third party installer to add new features after Notes® has been installed.
    - Configuring component update for composite applications
      You can use composite applications to install or update custom or third-party features in Notes®.
    - Enabling user-initiated update with EUM
      To allow users to install or update custom or third-party Eclipse features and plug-ins into an existing Notes® installation, you can enable display of the Eclipse update manager user interface. By default, the Eclipse update manager (EUM) is not displayed. You can enable the EUM using either Domino® Desktop policy or a plugin_customization.ini file setting.
  - Uninstalling Notes®
    While it is not necessary to uninstall Notes® to upgrade to a new release, you should uninstall a Beta release before upgrading.
- Upgrading
  Use this documentation to upgrade the existing Domino® server and subsequently upgrade the Notes® client to a new release. You can also upgrade additional clients such as Domino Administrator and Domino Designer clients and additional features and plug-ins such as the embedded HCL Sametime® client.

Prepare the Domino® server and Notes® client

Perform these steps to install or upgrade your Domino® server and Notes® client, create the widgets catalog, and specify widgets policy or preference settings for users.

About this task

Prepare a Notes® client plug-in deployment environment as follows.

Procedure

Install or upgrade a Domino® server.

This server will house the widget catalog application and NSF-based update site, and optionally be used to configure the user's desktop policy settings with new Widgets policy settings.
In this example, the Domino® server name is WidgetCatalogServer.abx.com.
Install or upgrade a Notes® client.
Create the widgets catalog on the server using the widgets catalog template as described in the topicCreating the widget catalog.
Configure Domino® policy to specify the catalog server name, catalog name, and catalog categories to install using the Widgets tab on the Domino® desktop policy settings document as described in the topic Controlling Widgets and Live Text access with Domino® policy.

Note: Alternatively, establish these settings with either the user's My Widgets preference panel or Eclipse preferences in the plugin_customization.ini file on the client.

For this example, specify values for the first two settings for both your own policy and your users; specify the third setting for users only. Leave all other settings as is. These values are for this example only:
Widget catalog server -- WidgetCatalogServer.abx.com
Widget catalog application name -- toolbox.nsf
Widget catalog categories to install -- widgetsforyou
Note: The widgetsforyou category is for your target Notes® users; you do not need it for your own policy setting as you create and test the widget.
If you have used the Enable provider IDs for widget additionor Restrict provider IDs for installation/execution settings on the Widgets tab in the desktop policy settings document to control which widget types your users can install and use, note that a fifth type, prov.provider.ToolboxProvisioning, has been added which allows a widget to be used to deploy a client plug-in, which you should enable. An equivalent setting in the plugin_customization.ini file is also now available. For more information, see the topic Controlling Widgets and Live Text access with Domino® policy.