This article is to help administrators better troubleshoot and understand how policies flow in a Lotus Notes and Domino environment.

The following attachments are to be used with the actions below. The flowcharts are created to help find the points of failure and what to do when running into a specific policy related problem.

What type of policy is being used?	Flowchart
Activities Archiving Desktop Productivity Tools Registration Roaming Setup	(See attached file: CPolicy FlowChart1.png)
Lotus Traveler Mail	(See attached file: CPolicyFlowChart2.png)

The following action steps map to the actions in the flowcharts above.


ACTION 1 - Force the user’s policy to be updated

1) Have the user log out of the client (or CTRL+F5)

2) Make an inconsequential change to the user's Person document on the admin server of the domain (ie. add a space, remove it, save)

3) Either wait for the modified Person document (use document properties to confirm timestamp) to replicate to the user's home mail server (home = mail server in Person document) or force the replication manually.

4) Have the user start the client (or log back in). You will see the message "Notes configuration settings have been refreshed." in the status bar.

5) Have the user open their mail file on their home mail server (home=mail server in Location document).

6) You will see the message "Notes configuration settings have been refreshed." in the status bar again.

7) In the client, open the user's local names.nsf (NAB)

8) While pressing CTRL+SHIFT, select the menu action View -> Go To. Then select $Policies view.

9) Select Desktop policy for user (assuming one has been assigned). It will appear in the view as "PolicyDesktop Effective Policy for: "

10) Right click on the document, select Document Properties -> Fields Tab -> $Revisions field, scroll to the bottom of the list and you should see a recent time.

ACTION 2 - Gather the policy debug

1) Turn on the console logging (either debug_outfile= or console_log_enabled=1)

2) For client debug, set debug_policy=1 in client's Notes.ini, for the server do something similar or do "set config debug_policy=1" on server console

3) Gather Debug file and contact support with the outfile

ACTION 3 - Gather client dynconfig debug

1) Turn on console logging (either debug_outfile= or console_log_enabled=1)

2) Set Debug_Dynconfig=1 in the client's Notes.ini

3) Gather debug file and then contact support with the outfile

ACTION 4 - Gather server dynconfig debug

1) Turn on console logging (either debug_outfile= or console_log_enabled=1)

2) Set Debug_Dynconfig=1 in server's notes.ini or do "set config debug_dynconfig=1" on server console

3) Gather debug file and then contact support with the outfile

ACTION 5 - Collect the Server’s address book Names.nsf

1) Gather the server's Names.nsf and then contact support. Make sure that the file is unencrypted. Only policy and settings documents are needed, other document can be excluded to reduce file size and maintain your privacy.

ACTION 7 - Run a Policy Synopsis

1) Open the Domino Administrator

2) Go to the People & Groups panel, then select the People view.

3) Right click on the desired person and select Policy Synopsis

4) Select the Detailed radio button and choose the desired Policy type (choose all if you are not sure), press OK

5) When the Policy Synopsis DB open, choose most recent document. Note: you might need to refresh the view to see the most current one, it does not auto-update

6) Look for the setting in question. Note: seeing setting under the AlwaysSetItems does not count.

ACTION 8 - Use NotesPeek to look at the calendar profile

1) Open the mail file for the user in question.

2) Open the Profiles twistie and look for a profile called "Calendar Profile".

3) The policy has made it down if you see policy fields listed there.

4) Use Designer to find the field name that corresponds to the field text that you are interested in and look for that field name here.

NotesPeek 1.53 tool for viewing Notes databases on Notes 6.x and higher


ACTION 9 - Use NotesPeek to look at the iNotes profile

1) Similar to what is done for ACTION 8, instead we are looking at the 'inotesprofile'.

New features in IBM Lotus iNotes 8.5: Administration policies and lite mode

iNotes Policies - Discusses iNotesprofile documents and location via NotesPeek


ACTION 10 - Examine $FL_* in NAB

1) Right click on setting document in NAB and navigate to document/fields.

2) If the ‘How to Apply’ is Don't set, look for the field to be listed in the $FL_1 field.

3) If the ‘How to Apply’ is Set Whenever Modified or Set and Prevent Changes, look for the field to be listed in the $FL_2 field.

2) If the ‘How to Apply’ is Set Initial, look for the field to be listed in the $FL_3 field.

ACTION 11 - Force AdminP policy update

1) On server console, execute for mail policy -> "tell adminp process mail" (short for tell adminp process mailpolicy")

For traveler policy -> "tell adminp process traveler"

ACTION 12 - Examine Settings document

1) Launch Domino Designer and open the Domino Directory

2) Select and open the form that matches the settings document; for example, Policy Settings\Mail Settings.

3) Navigate to the part of the form that contains the field you are interested in and note the field name; for example, Lotus iNotes Tab -> Basics -> Notes Display Language = $DWADisplayLanguage

4) Open Domino Directory and select the desired settings document.

5) Right click on setting document in NAB and navigate to document/fields.

6) Locate field name/value in properties box; for example, $DWADisplayLanguage

**These steps will be replaced by a database that houses all settings in the near future**

ACTION 13 – Is it a Java setting?

We can assume it is not a Java setting unless it is related to an applet or Eclipse only setting. Also, if the setting existed before the standard client was introduced; it is clearly not a Java setting.

1) Use the first 3 steps in Action 12 to locate field name.

2) Contact support for further assistance in troubleshooting.

How to send information to Technical Support

If the steps above do not solve your issue and you plan to contact IBM Technical Support for assistance, place any collected files into a zip file and open a PMR with IBM Technical Support. If using the ESR Tool, then attach the zip file to the PMR upon opening it. If you open the PMR by calling 1-800-IBM-SERV, then take note of the Exact PMR Number provided. Once you have your PMR number, go to the following website http://www.ecurep.ibm.com/app/upload and fill in the fields as seen in the screen shot below with your information and click "Continue". On the next screen, browse to the zip file containing the files that you just created and submit it. The Software Engineer that will be troubleshooting your issue will be notified of the files uploaded to your PMR and will begin reviewing this information.