Level: Intermediate Mark Talbot (talbotm@us.ibm.com), Developer, Industry Solutions, IBM
Kulvir Singh Bhogal (kbhogal@us.ibm.com), Consultant, Software Services for WebSphere, IBM
27 Mar 2007 Learn how to set up an IBM Lotus Sametime server sandbox environment for developers -- even if you don't have an IBM Lotus Domino administrator available to do the work.
When you embark on using the IBM Lotus Sametime Community Server Toolkit to enhance application logic on the Lotus Sametime server or when you need an isolated, sandbox environment in which to test your Lotus Sametime bots, you face a project dependency – a compelling need to set up a Lotus Sametime server. For a certified IBM Lotus Domino administrator, doing so may be a trivial task. For those of us not expert in the intricacies of the Lotus Domino server and the Lotus Sametime server, though, setting up a Lotus Sametime server can be a daunting task. Instead of telling your project manager to adjust the Gantt charts for your Lotus Sametime-related projects and to push some of your tasks into the next millennium, take a deep breath and relax; this article is here to help.
This article guides you in setting up a Sametime server sandbox environment for development purposes. For a production environment, we suggest that you study the IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5 Installation Guide (see the Resources section at the end of this article).
Gathering the ingredients
We show you how to build a Lotus Sametime server sandboxenvironment on the Microsoft Windows platform. You need to run either Microsoft Windows 2003 Advanced Edition or Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server Edition (with Service Pack 4). You also need your IBM Lotus Domino server installation CDs and your IBM Lotus Sametime V7.5 installations CDs. We assume that you are installing Lotus Domino server as a stand-alone server that is the only server in its domain.
Installing IBM Lotus Domino V7.0 server
IBM Lotus Sametime V7.5 requires IBM Lotus Domino V7. The Lotus Domino installation process is easy. When you are prompted to choose the setup type that best suits your needs, choose the Enterprise Server option.
Running the Domino server setup program
After installing the Lotus Domino server, you can’t directly delve into the Lotus Sametime server installation. Rather, you need to set up the Lotus Domino server you just installed. The Domino installation program places a Lotus Domino Server shortcut on your desktop. Double-click that shortcut to launch the Domino server setup program.
The setup shortcut asks you if the Domino server you are setting up is the first or a stand-alone server. Alternately, the shortcut provides an option to add an existing Lotus Domino server to a domain. Choose the first option, "Set up the first server or a stand-alone server," because you want the sandbox environment to be stand-alone.
Next, provide a server name and server title. We choose STSANDBOX for our server name and Sametime Sandbox for our server title.
In the "Choose your organization name" screen, provide an organization name. We choose DeveloperWorks as our organization name. You also need to provide an Organization Certifier password. Specify a password with a minimum of five characters, and then click Next.
Next, you need to specify a Lotus Domino domain name. The setup creates a new Lotus Domino domain using this name. The domain is a collection of Lotus Domino servers and users that share the same Lotus Domino directory. Our domain consists of just one Lotus Domino server (the sandbox). We specify STWest as the domain name.
The next screen asks you to specify an administrator ID and password. Be sure to remember this ID and password because you need them to administer the Lotus Sametime server later. We specify a last name of SYSTEM. Check the "Also save a local copy of the ID file" option and save it to your hard drive (we choose the local C:\Program Files\Lotus\notes\data\user.id).
When asked which Internet services you want the Lotus Domino server to provide, choose the Web Browsers option. Doing so allows you to administer the Lotus Sametime server using a Web browser.
In the Domino network settings screen, the server setup detects your network ports and suggests a host name to use for your Lotus Domino server based on the computer’s network name. Verify that this host name can be resolved from another computer, and then click Next.
The Lotus Domino server setup recommends that you configure access control lists of all databases and templates to prohibit anonymous access. Accept the default security settings shown in the "Secure your Domino Server" screen.
At this point, you are prompted to review your setup options shown in figure 1. After doing so, click the Setup button; after the setup is completed, click Finish.
Figure 1. Confirm your choices and click Setup
Starting and stopping the Lotus Domino server
After you complete the setup, start the Lotus Domino server (by clicking the Lotus Domino Server shortcut on your desktop). After the Lotus Domino server launches, type "quit" in the command line to exit; see figure 2. You need to start and quit the Lotus Domino server to make the setup options take effect before you begin the Lotus Sametime server installation.
Figure 2. Starting and quitting the Lotus Domino server
Installing the Lotus Sametime server
Now that you have installed and properly set up a Lotus Domino server, you are ready to install the Lotus Sametime V7.5 server. Launch the installer and accept the license agreement. When asked for the directory to use for collaboration, choose the Domino Directory option.
When the installation screen asks if you want to enable HTTP tunneling, choose not to do so. If you are dealing with a network that blocks TCP communications on ports 8081 and 1533, though, you might consider enabling this option.
At this point, you have specificed the Lotus Sametime V7.5 installation options. Click the Install button and wait for the installation process to complete.
Installing the IBM Lotus Domino Administrator client
To administer the Lotus Domino server, you need to install a Lotus Domino Administrator client. You can download the Lotus Domino Administrator client in trial form. The Lotus Domino Administrator client installation is fairly simple. When the wizard prompts you to choose the features to install, remember to install the Administrator component as shown in figure 3.
Figure 3. Choosing to install the Lotus Domino Administrator option
Performing additional Lotus Domino configuration
At this point, you need to change some Lotus Domino server settings to have the Lotus Sametime server and Lotus Domino server work together properly. Start the Domino server (by clicking the Lotus Domino Server shortcut on your desktop), and then start the Lotus Domino Administrator client by choosing Start - Programs - Lotus Applications - Lotus Domino Administrator.
The first time you launch Lotus Domino Administrator, you are asked to choose a location. Select the Office (Network) option.
Next, the Lotus Notes Client Configuration starts. In the User Information screen, provide the administrator name you specified during the Lotus Domino installation as well as your Lotus Domino server name. Recall that we specified an Administrator name of SYSTEM and a Domino server name of STSANDBOX/DeveloperWorks (note that this name is in the form <server name>/<organization>).
Next, provide the location of your Notes ID file. Use the Browse button to point to the user.id file that you saved during the Domino server installation (we stored this file at: c:\Program Files\Lotus\notes\data\user.id).
After specifying the ID file location and clicking Next, enter the administrator password (not your Organization Certifier password) that you specified during the Lotus Domino installation.
When the Instant Messaging Setup screen appears, deselect the Setup instant messaging option. Note that you don’t have an instant messaging server set up yet (that is the point of this article!).
On the Additional Services screen, click Finish because you don’t need to change anything in the subsequent screens to set up the sandbox.
At this point, you should be told that Lotus Notes setup is complete. If you are asked to log in to instant messaging, click Cancel.You should be on the tab that represents your Domino Domain -- STWest DOMAIN in this case. From there, select the Configuration tab. In the Configuration screen, choose Server - All Server Documents in the left pane; in the right window, choose the Lotus Domino server you installed -- STSANDBOX/DeveloperWorks, in this case. Click the Edit Server button as shown in figure 4.
Figure 4. Editing the server you created earlier
After you click the Edit Server button, the Server Configuration document appears. Here, click the Internet Protocols tab, and then click the HTTP tab; see figure 5. Change the home URL to /stcenter.nsf, which represents the home URL of the Lotus Sametime application. Also on this screen, remove the entries for the DSAPI filter file names and specify the host name of your sandbox (talgate2.austin.ibm.com in this case).
Figure 5. The Server Configuration document
Next, go to the Internet Protocols - Domino Web Engine tab as shown in figure 6. Change the Session authentication to Single Server and keep the Java servlet support entry as Domino Servlet Manager.
Figure 6. The Domino Web Engine tab of the Server Configuration document
After making these changes, click the Save & Close button to save your server configuration changes. Then exit the Lotus Domino Administrator application and restart the Domino server to ensure that the changes take effect.
Enabling Web-based user registration
At this point, the Lotus Sametime server is up and running, but you have no Lotus Sametime users. An administrator can use the Lotus Domino Administrator application to add Lotus Sametime users; however, this can be tedious in a sandbox environment. We prefer that developers on our development team register using a Web interface. To enable this functionality, you need to make some changes to your setup. Use your Web browser to go to http://<yourhostnamegoeshere>. In this case, the URL is http://talgate2.austin.ibm.com. Alternatively, if you use the Web browser application on your sandbox server, you can go to http://localhost. You should see a “Welcome to IBM Lotus Sametime” page. From that page, click the Administer the server link in the left pane as shown in figure 7.
Figure 7. From the Lotus Sametime welcome page, click Administer the server
The next screen prompts for your login information for the Lotus Sametime server. Here, provide your administrator ID in the form of <USERNAME>/<ORGANIZATION>. In this case, we enter SYSTEM/DeveloperWorks and the password we assigned to the SYSTEM user during the Domino installation.
After you log in, you see the Lotus Sametime Administration page as shown in figure 8. Click the Domino Directory - Domino links in the left pane; in the screen that appears, select the "Allow people to register themselves in the Domino Directory" option. After doing so, be sure to click the Update button. Restart the Lotus Domino server at this point to ensure that the change takes effect.
Figure 8. Enabling self-registration
Giving permission to the Lotus Sametime Development/Lotus Notes Companion Products signer
You perform Web-based registration by using a proxy user, namely the Sametime Development/Lotus Notes Companion Products. Accordingly, this proxy user needs to be given access to the Lotus Domino Directory (because it modifies the directory when a new user registers using the Web).
To grant this access, open the Lotus Domino Administrator client once more. Click the Files tab under your domain. Then right-click the names.nsf file and choose Access Control - Manage. See figure 9.
Figure 9. Granting access to a proxy user
The Access Control List to your domain directory now appears. Add the Sametime Development/Lotus Notes Companion Products signer to the Access Control List by clicking the Add button as shown in figure 10 and then entering Sametime Development/Lotus Notes Companion Products in the Add User dialog box that then appears. Click OK.
Figure 10. Updating the Access Control List
Verify that the Sametime Development/Lotus Notes Companion Products signer was added to the ACL correctly, and then click OK.
Register to use IBM Lotus Sametime
At this point, your Lotus Sametime users can add themselves to the Lotus Sametime community powered by your Lotus Sametime sandbox server. This task probably is done by members of your development team. Let’s test the online user registration to make sure it works. Navigate to the Lotus Sametime welcome page (from the machine on which you installed Lotus Sametime, the URL is http://localhost). Click the "Register to use Sametime" link in the left pane.
A registration form now appears. Enter the information for your user and click Save. After you save the information, a confirmation screen appears.
At this point, you can use IBM Lotus Sametime Connect to log into the Lotus Sametime sandbox server you just created using the user you just registered. You need to configure your Lotus Sametime Conect client to access the Lotus Sametime server name of the sandbox (talgate2.austin.ibm.com in this case).
Conclusion
Having your own Lotus Sametime sandbox server for development efforts is a necessity when you do such things as use the Lotus Sametime Community Server Toolkit to enhance application logic on the Lotus Sametime server. As you might imagine, you don’t want to develop server-side logic on the same Lotus Sametime server that is powering your company’s instant messaging services because you may risk bringing your Lotus Sametime server down. This article aims to rescue development teams that don’t have the expertise of a Lotus Domino administrator on hand to set up a Lotus Sametime server. As stated earlier, the setup described in this article is meant only for a development sandbox. We suggest that you study the IBM Lotus Sametime V7.5 Installation Guide for a production-worthy setup.
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About the authors  | | | Mark Talbot works for IBM as a developer for Industry Solutions. You can reach Mark at talbotm@us.ibm.com. |
| | | Kulvir Singh Bhogal works as a consultant for IBM Software Services for WebSphere, devising and implementing J2EE solutions at customer sites across the U.S. You can reach Kulvir at kbhogal@us.ibm.com. |
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