Connecting to through a proxy sidebar

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Connecting through a proxy (sidebar)

If you have an indirect connection to the Internet - that is, if your IBM Lotus Notes client is behind a firewall and/or proxy server - you can still use Lotus Notes to connect to the developerWorks Lotus IBM Lotus Domino servers. This sidebar is intended for administrators. It describes how to set up a proxy, and then describes how users can specify proxy settings in a Location document. We also look at some additional troubleshooting tips for connecting via Lotus Notes.

NOTE: Because each environment differs, the steps described in this sidebar may be incomplete or may not apply. Refer to the Lotus Domino help for your server version for more information.

How to set up a firewall/proxy for Notes communication

To connect through a firewall, you must allow the destination IP port 1352 through the firewall. No additional proxy configuration is required. (Users do not need to specify any proxy settings on their Lotus Notes client to connect through a firewall; it's purely an administrative task.)

To connect through a proxy server, set up one of the following proxy technologies: Domino passthru, an HTTP proxy for Notes RPC communication, or a SOCKS proxy for Notes RPC communication. (The HTTP proxy server must support the Connect method.) In addition, you must allow port 1352 to pass through the proxy. The proxy should not require authentication because the Notes RPC does not support connections through an authenticated proxy. Finally, you should let your users know the correct proxy settings to use, so that they can enter them in their Location document.

Specifying proxy settings in a Location document

To connect through a proxy server, users should first get the appropriate proxy settings. Then, they only need to specify the proxy settings in their Location document. The rest of the steps for connecting to the site remain the same.

To specify the proxy settings in your Location document, users can do one of the following:

• To use Domino passthru, enter the name of the appropriate Lotus Domino server in the Passthru server field (on the Servers tab).
• To use an HTTP proxy for Notes RPC communication, go to the Basics tab and click the hat icon next to the Proxy configuration field. The Proxy Server Configuration dialog box opens (see figure 1). In the HTTP Tunnel field, enter the proxy server's name and the port number (usually 8080). For example, proxy.acme.com:8080 or 222.333.44.555:8080. (You want to enter this information into the HTTP Tunnel field, so that you can use Lotus Notes services such as replication. The HTTP proxy field is for strict HTTP connections, such as connecting to Web sites with the Personal Web Navigator.)
  
  Figure 1. Proxy Server Configuration
  
  
  
• To use a SOCKS proxy for Notes RPC communication, go to the Basics tab and click the hat icon next to the the Proxy configuration field. In the SOCKS field, enter the host name or IP address of the SOCKS proxy and the port number (usually 1080), for example, proxy.company.com:1080 or 222.33.44.555:1080.

NOTE: If you specify either a HTTP Tunnel or SOCKS proxy, you should also use the "No proxy for these hosts or domains" field to specify any Lotus Domino servers that you want to access without going through the proxy. For example, you may want to access the servers on your internal network without using the proxy. You can enter a wildcard (*) character with your internal domain name, for example, *.acme.com. (If you leave the field blank, you cannot access your internal servers if the proxy server ever goes down. In addition, the additional traffic through the proxy server could affect performance and overall connectivity to the internal network.)