Setting auto-notifications for latest product info

This opt-in feature makes administrators aware of the latest version available for Domino and Domino companion products.

How it works

HCL publishes latest product information to an HCL server on the internet. An administrator designates a single Domino server in a domain to periodically download the latest product information from this server and maintain product information documents in the Domino Directory database (names.nsf) that are shown in a new view named Product Info. This view is also shown in the Domino Administrator client when the Configuration tab is selected. Additionally, when any version 14 or later Domino server starts, it displays a message indicating whether the server is running the latest version of Domino and, if not, what the latest version is.

Note: The term latest refers to the highest version available, which is not necessarily the version with the most recent release date. For a hypothetical example, version 5.0 would be considered the latest, even if version 4.0.1FP2 was released at a later date than 5.0.

Enabling

  1. Replace the design of the Domino Directory.
  2. From Notes, open the Domino Directory and selectActions > Edit Directory Profile > .
  3. Click the Product Updates tab.
  4. Fill in the required information:
    1. The Status option defaults to Disabled. Change it to Notify Only.
      Note: A third option, Notify and Download, is not yet implemented. It will currently have the same functionality as Notify Only.
    2. Leave Product JSON URL set to its default value.
    3. For Download Server, specify a server in your domain that will be responsible for periodically downloading the latest production information.
      Note: This server must be running Domino 14 or later and must be able to make outbound http connections to the internet.
    4. Save the document.

Verifying correct operation

Shortly after autoupdate loads, it downloads latest product info. Messages similar to the following should appear on the Domino console:
[64CC:0006-AE98] 05/17/2023 04:25:30 PM AutoUpdate: Importing product information from [https://ds-infolib.hcltechsw.com/product.json] to [names.nsf]
[64CC:0006-AE98] 05/17/2023 04:25:31 PM AutoUpdate: Product entries - upd: 0, add: 0, del: 0, cmp: 6, err: 0

Thereafter, once per day it downloads the latest product info and adds, updates, or deletes any product info documents that have changed.

Open the Domino Directory and click the Product Info view. There is one entry for each product, showing the latest version available. You can open the document to see additional details. This information is also available in the Domino Administrator client on the Configuration page.

When a Domino 14 or later server starts up, it prints information about the latest version, for example:

A newer version of Domino is available - 14.0.0FP1. This server is currently running 14.0.0.