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Installing
Use this documentation to install the HCL Domino® server and subsequently deploy the HCL Notes®client.
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.
Planning the deployment of the new release
Depending on the size of your organization and the number of Domino servers involved, an organization upgrade schedule may range from a few hours to a few weeks or months.
Deployment sequence for enterprise businesses
An enterprise business is generally defined as one having more than 10,000 users and more than 50 servers. It can take many weeks or even months to upgrade all servers in an enterprise environment.
Controlling the replication of the updated Domino directory
It’s a best practice to replicate the upgraded Domino directory from the Domino administration server for the domain out to other servers.
Enterprise deployment sequence: upgrade the administration server first
Here is a deployment sequence in which you upgrade the administration server for the Domino domain first.

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.
- Downloading, distributing, and installing software using AutoUpdate
  AutoUpdate notifies you of the latest HCL Domino and Domino product family available on the Domino server, and allows you to download the software. You can also use it to distribute, and optionally, install, software to groups or selected Domino servers.
- Installing and upgrading Notes® clients
- 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.
  - Security considerations prior to upgrading
    It’s important to review your security practices before upgrading, especially if you are upgrading from an old version.
  - Preparing your environment for the upgrade
    Time spent doing a thorough evaluation of your environment prior to upgrading is time well spent. Capturing baselines of your existing server infrastructure allows you to compare how the upgraded environment is performing.
  - Planning the deployment of the new release
    Depending on the size of your organization and the number of Domino servers involved, an organization upgrade schedule may range from a few hours to a few weeks or months.
    - Deployment best practices
      Here are deployment best practices, many of which are particularly important in enterprise environments that have many thousands of users.
    - Creating a Domino server test Environment
      If you do not have a test environment, it is highly recommended that you create one.
    - Testing application upgrades
      In general, application upgrades occur seamlessly without issue. To test Domino application upgrades, follow these best practices.
    - Piloting the upgrade in the production environment with a small set of users
      Pilot the upgrade in the production environment, considering the following as you do:
    - Deployment sequence for small and medium businesses
      Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are generally defined as ones having 10,000 users or less and 50 Domino servers or less.
    - Deployment sequence for enterprise businesses
      An enterprise business is generally defined as one having more than 10,000 users and more than 50 servers. It can take many weeks or even months to upgrade all servers in an enterprise environment.
      - Mitigating the time required to rebuild Domino directory views
        Two critical views, ($USERS) and ($SERVERACCESS), are used when a Notes client or a Domino server attempts to authenticate with a Domino server. When you upgrade the design of the Domino directory from the latest pubnames.ntf template, these views are rebuilt from scratch when first opened after the upgrade.
      - Controlling the replication of the updated Domino directory
        It’s a best practice to replicate the upgraded Domino directory from the Domino administration server for the domain out to other servers.
        Enterprise deployment sequence: upgrade the administration server first
        Here is a deployment sequence in which you upgrade the administration server for the Domino domain first.
        Enterprise deployment sequence: upgrade the administration server last
        Here is a deployment sequence in which you upgrade the administration server for the Domino domain last.
  - Upgrading a Domino server
    Before upgrading a Domino server, review the upgrade considerations and choose the upgrade option to use.
  - Upgrading post-V11 AD Password Sync to V12.0.2 or later
    Upgrade Domino AD Password Sync installations that use Domino 12.0 or 12.0.1 to Domino 12.0.2 or later in order to use the new "AD Password Sync" server install type available in 12.0.2 and later.
  - Planning the deployment of a new version of Notes
    Understand the things to consider and actions to take before installing a new version of HCL Notes.

Enterprise deployment sequence: upgrade the administration server first

Here is a deployment sequence in which you upgrade the administration server for the Domino domain first.

About this task

This is provided as an example for you to consider and adapt for your environment. For example, although the steps suggest ordering upgrades by server function, in some environments you may want to factor in geographic location.

Note: In addition to these steps, keep in mind the information in Mitigating the time required to rebuild Domino directory views.

Procedure

Remove all instances of the Domino directory template (pubnames.ntf) from your domain(s).
Upgrade the Domino Administrator clients that you use to administer Domino.
Prohibit Domino directory design elements from replicating. From the Domino directory on the administration server:
1. Select File -> Replication -> Options for this Application.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Receive these elements from other replicas section, disable Design elements.
4. Replicate the directory to other servers.
  
  Note: After you upgrade each Domino server in the following steps, enable the Design elements setting again for the Domino directory replica on the server so that it can receive design changes again.
Upgrade the Domino administration server of the Domino domain, including upgrading the Domino directory design.
Upgrade Domino hub servers.
Upgrade Domino Resource and Reservations (R&R) servers.
Upgrade Domino mail servers.
Upgrade Domino SMTP servers.
Upgrade Domino application and web servers.
Upgrade third-party and companion product servers.
If you use Notes, upgrade the general population to the new Notes version.
Replace the design of mail files with mail<ver>.ntf for the new version.
Upgrade the On-Disk Structure (ODS) of Domino applications to the latest ODS format.

What to do next

Note: Steps 11 - 13 are important for taking advantage of the new features in the release. Depending on the size of your Notes client base, communication needed, training required, etc. these steps are often carried out weeks after the server upgrades. This approach allows time for production testing before rolling out to hundreds or thousands of users.