Notes/Domino 8 Forum

Customizing client installations using the tuner

Client installs can be customized to allow you to control the options that are installed and/or available to users. Use transform files to deselect options that you don't want to install by default. You also use transform files to hide the options that you do not want users to change, regardless of whether you choose to install a particular option. Modify the Visible and Initial State settings for each installation option that you want to designate as hidden or not hidden.

After you customize installation of traditional IBM® Lotus® Notes® features using tuner and transform capabilities, you can customize Eclipse feature installation using the install manifest and Eclipse update site contents.

For information about the install manifest and Eclipse update site, see "Customizing Notes installation using the install manifest" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

For information about transform files and what you can customize, see the topics below:

• Creating a transform file
• Using installation options with the transform file
• Examples -- Applying scriptable setup using a transform file during Notes client installation
• Using transform files for end-user installations

Creating a transform file

Creating a transform file requires a third-party tool such as InstallShield Tuner OEM Edition. IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) contains an InstallShield Tuner for IBM® Lotus® Notes®, that you can use with Domino to create a transform file for customizing the installation process to add resources, change defaults, or hide features.

Note The version of InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes that is included with Domino works only with Lotus Domino, not with other products. You can use transform files to set up shared and customized installations. Access this Web site http://www.installshield.com for further information.

How to install the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes

From the Lotus Domino installation CD, in the Apps/InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes directory, run the setup file, SETUP.EXE.

How to create a transform file

Use this procedure to create a transform file with InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes. Users can then apply the transform file when installing clients.

For more information on shared installations, see "Installing the Domino clients in a shared network directory" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

1. Invoke the InstallShield Tuner program and browse to locate the configuration file that has a .itw file name extension. The .itw configuration file is located in the same directory with the Notes installation that you want to configure.

2. Click Create a new transform file.

3. In the Select an MSI file field for the Microsoft® Windows® Installer Package option, select the MSI file (Lotus Notes 8.0.msi).

4. In the New project name and location field for the Microsoft Windows Installer Transform option, enter the custom transform name. Save the file to the same path on which the install kit resides.

5. Click Create.

6. Make any other desired modifications to the default settings provided.

7. Click Save.

For more information on transform files, see "Using installation options with the transform file" and "Using transform files for end-user installations" below.

After creating the transform file, you apply the transform file to the installation process. The installation process then uses the values that you set in the transform file in place of default values.

Using installation options with the transform file
Using a transform file, you can customize traditional aspects of IBM® Lotus® Notes® installation for the users in your enterprise.

Customizing the location of the install directories

Use this procedure to specify a location other than the default location in which to store the installation directories. When specifying directory names, use names that contain eight or fewer characters.

1. From Application Configuration, select Setup Properties.

2. Click Add/Remove Program Settings.

3. Change the PROGDIR property to the location in which you are storing the program files.

4. Change the DATADIR property to the location in which you are storing the data files. This is the new default data directory.

Setting the installation to multi-user by default

In a multi-user installation, the administrator installs the IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) program files to a central location on the local system. Each user has their own data directory located in the system's application data directory for the current user.

Note End-users must have Administrator rights to choose a multi-user installation and must only install the Lotus Notes client. End-users must also have Administrator rights to upgrade an existing multi-user installation.

1. From Application Configuration, select Setup Properties.

2. Change the value in the ApplicationUsers property to AllUsers. By default the installation is now a multi-user installation.

For more information on multi-user installation, see "Multi-user installations" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Adding custom files to a client installation

To add custom files to a client installation, create a transform file.

Note This customization option replaces the COPYFILE.TXT feature that was available in previous releases of Lotus Domino.

1. Copy the custom files to the install directory or place them in a directory within the install directory -- for example, <PathToInstallKit>\AllClient\CopyFiles\custom.mdm.

2. Click Target System Configuration - Files.

3. In the top pane, click Browse and locate the source directory, which is the directory from which you are copying the custom files.

4. In the bottom pane, select the destination directory, for example, ProgramFiles\Lotus\notes\Data\modems.

5. Drag and drop the custom file from the source directory to the destination directory.

Adding third-party Eclipse features and plug-ins to a Notes installation

You can add new and third-party features to the IBM® Lotus® Notes® client installation by editing the install manifest INSTALL.XML, update site directory contents (UPDATESITE.ZIP features and plug-ins subdirectories) and SITE.XML registry.

For information about editing the install manifest, update site directory contents, and site registry, see "Customizing Notes installation using the install manifest" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Applying NOTES.INI settings during Notes client installation

1. Open the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes.

2. From the System Configuration section, click the IniFiles item in the System Configuration section.

3. In the center pane, right click Destination Computer and then choose Show Folder - Program Files Folder.

4. Expand the Program Files Folder directory to access the Lotus\Notes folder

5. Right click the Notes folder and then choose the option, New Inifile.

6. Locate the default notes.ini file, INIFILE1.INI, that was created in the Notes folder. Rename this file with the name NOTES.INI.

7. Locate the default section, NewSection1, that was created for the NOTES.INI file. Rename the default section with the name Notes.

8. Select the Notes section and then modify these values that are located in the right-most pane of the tuner:

• In the column titled Key, locate New Key and modify the name using an appropriate value such as ConfigFile.
• In the column titled Value, locate New Value and modify the name using an appropriate value such as n:\config\setup.txt.
• Verify that the Action value is set to the default value, Add Line.

9. Locate the Additional Tools section, and then click the Direct Editor item in the Additional Tools section.

10. In the center pane, select the Component table, and then scroll down the component list until you locate CST_COMPONENT.

11. Change the value in the Directory_ column from NOTES to the new value VDIR_INI.

12. In the center pane, select the table, IniFile, and then scroll down the component list until you locate CST_INIFILE.

13. Change the value in the DirProperty column from NOTES to the new value VDIR_INI.

14. Make other modifications if necessary.

15. Click Save.

Examples -- Applying scriptable setup using a transform file during Notes client installation
You can apply NOTES.INI settings during a client install by using a transform file. You can use this example when setting up a transform file that applies NOTES.INI settings during IBM® Lotus® Notes® client installations.

Example 1 -- Including instant messaging parameters in a scriptable setup

You can include instant messaging information during a scriptable setup of Notes client. The scriptable setup includes a setting that provides information to the Notes client setup wizard. In this example, add the NOTES.INI setting, CONFIGFILE=, to point to a text (.txt) file that contains the parameters for the Notes client setup wizard.

The SETUP.TXT file can be placed on shared network resource or distributed to individual workstations.

Note If you decide that you want to distribute new or modified NOTES.INI settings using a transform file, use the same method and steps that are explained in this example.

In this example, you need to complete these procedures:

1. Create a SETUP.TXT file.

2. To allow the new SETUP.TXT file to be referenced, open the file, NOTES.INI, and add this setting:

ConfigFile=\\PathToFile\Setup.txt

3. Use the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes to set up a transform file to distribute the new ConfigFile= setting in the NOTES.INI file.

4. After completing Steps 1, 2 and 3 above, proceed to the subtopic "Using transform files for end-user installations" below.

Creating the SETUP.TXT file

Create a SETUP.TXT file using the parameters shown below. Save your file using the filename SETUP.TXT.

• IM.server=ServerName1.domain.com
• IM.port=1533
• IM.ConnectWhen=0
• IM.Protocol=0

For information about the scriptable setup parameters that you can use in a SETUP.TXT file, see "Setting up Notes with a scriptable setup" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

To distribute the CONFIGFILE= parameter to the NOTES.INI file, use the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes application to create a transform file (.MST). The tuner is located in the \Apps directory on the Lotus Notes installation CD.

Setting up the transform file to apply the modified NOTES.INI file

To set up the transform file to distribute the NOTES.INI settings, use the procedure in the topic "Installation options available using the transform file."

For detailed instructions about creating the transform file that will apply NOTES.INI settings, see "Applying NOTES.INI settings during Notes client installation" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Example 2 -- Disabling instant messaging using a scriptable setup

You can disable instant messaging during a scriptable install of the Notes client. To do so, you need to complete these steps

1. Create a file, SETUP.TXT, that contains the following parameters and values:

• IM.Server=fakeservername
• IM.Port=80
• IM.Protocol=1

2. Store the file SETUP.TXT, on a shared network resource or distribute the file to individual workstations

3. Add this setting to NOTES.INI file, ConfigFile=\\PathtoFile\SETUP.TXT, indicating the file is on a shared network drive.

4. To protect against a user clicking the instant messaging buttons in the Notes client, implement a desktop policy that sets the Sametime Server field to empty (no server name entered). In the desktop policy settings document, be sure the Sametime Server field on the Basics tab is empty. This policy will overwrite the fake server name in the SETUP.TXT file; therefore, Notes does not attempt to connect to a Sametime server.

5. To ease distribution of this new setting in the NOTES.INI file, use the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes application to create a transform file. The application is in the directory \apps on the Notes/Domino install CD.

For more information about using the InstallShield Tuner for Lotus Notes application to create transform files, see "Customizing client installations" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Parameter and value	Explanation
IM.Server=fakeservername	If you do not enter a value for the IM.Server, the user will be prompted to do so during the install process. Specifying a "fake" server name prevents the user from being forced to enter a server name or cancel the install.
IM.Port=80	The IM port number. This can be any positive number.
IM.Protocol=1	Defines whether you connect directly to IM server. IM.Protocol=1 connects directory to the IM server.

For more information about the parameters in the table, see "Setting up Notes with a scriptable setup" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Using transform files for end-user installations
After creating a transform file, you can use that file for end-user client installations.

To apply a transform

This section contains two sets of instructions. The first set explains how to apply a transform file for a user interface (UI) installation -- that is, an installation that presents a user interface. The second set explains how to apply a transform file for a silent install -- that is, an installation that does not present a user interface and therefore does not require any user interaction. There is also a section on using a batch file to launch the command.

For installations using the transform file (and for silent installations) using the msiexec commands, the network installation should not be the first installation of IBM® Lotus® Notes® that you perform unless you are certain that all of the client workstations contain the Microsoft® Windows® Installer Service.

Note The command line path is the default installation path or the path for the transform file.

User interface (UI) installation

In this example, the "progdir" parameter and the "datadir" parameter are used to overwrite the default settings designated by the transform file.

1. Change to the install directory that contains both the Lotus Notes 8.0.msi and the transform, *.MST files.

2. Do one of these:

• To install to the default Program and Data directories, enter this command from the command line:

msiexec /i "Lotus Notes 8.0.msi"  TRANSFORMS="custom.mst"

• To overwrite the default Program and Data directories with the ones you specify, enter this command from the command line:

msiexec /i "Lotus Notes 8.0.msi" PROGDIR=C:\Test DATADIR=C:\Test\Data TRANSFORMS="custom.mst"

Applying a transform to a silent installation

3. Change directory to the install directory that contains both the Lotus Notes 8.0.msi and the transform, *.mst, files.

4. Do one of these:

• If you want to install to the default Program and Data directories, enter this command from the command line:

msiexec /i "Lotus Notes 8.0.msi" /qn TRANSFORMS="custom.mst"

• If you want to overwrite the default Program and Data directories with the ones you specify, enter this command from the command line:

msiexec /i "Lotus Notes 8.0.msi" /qn PROGDIR=C:\Test DATADIR=C:\Test\Data TRANSFORMS="custom.mst"

For more information on silent installations, see "Automating client installation" in the Domino 8 Administrator help.

Using a batch file to deploy command line options when applying a transform file

You can also create a batch file that the user launches to start the command. A sample batch file is shown below:

Sample batch file

msiexec /i "Lotus Notes 8.0.msi"  TRANSFORMS="custom.mst"

Using the SETUP.INI file setting to apply one transform file to all client installs

Use a setting in the SETUP.INI file in the install directory to apply one transform file to all installs. Using this method prevents the end user from having to enter a command line parameter or from using a batch file.

Modify the command line in the SETUP.INI to read as follows:

CmdLine+/l*v %TEMP%\notes8.log TRANSFORMS=custom.mst

The transform file is applied when SETUP.EXE is launched.