The ICS on Linux Round Table Session Notes

Bill Malchisky  May 15 2017

Great session last Monday. We filled the table with overflow and discussed many good topics raised by the attendees. Below are the notes and some of the URLs cited during the event. Please feel free to comment and keep the discussion going.

IBM Notes
FP7 is the last update for the Linux client;, no further feature packs will be offered for the Linux client
Support will be best effort from here and will continued to be support up to 9.0.1 FP7 on thee then current set of operating systems. If you upgrade your Linux OS to a newer release and Notes is malfunctioning, IBM Support will request that you try the client on the FP7 set of supported operating systems before you continue the support conversation
Mac client was discussed at length
** IBM is looking at the correct time to drop-in a FP parity with the Windows client
** This is a high priority item
*** They suspect FP 10 will be the earliest time-frame for consideration, as FP9 is locked-down already, but this is not a commitment, for clarity
** Until then, Mac users can enjoy the x64 client, but use as is until a FP is offered
We also discussed an auto-updater for Notes
** A high priority item within the set of features to provide
** Availability Q1 '18, possible, but not definite yet
** Touch client once and that is it
** Controlled in Policy settings document
FP9 will mostly contain Java, Eclipse, and compile time updates


Domino
IBM will support existing Linux flavors on Domino 9.0.1 with all succeeding feature packs
Going forward, a theoretical (in naming not release probability) Domino 9.5 and Domino 10 would be only RHEL
FP8 dropped i386 flavors
Sametime was an issue as the STCS needs an i386 build with an older Domino version for now, which should not be an issue if STCS is the only server application on that box
New offerings ---  e.g. Verse on Premises and INSMO --- are RHEL and Windows only
**Know this OS platform policy is not an ICS decision, but a software group directive; every brand is impacted
Cloud based offering under consideration with Domino playing the PaaS role through Bluemix
** Buy time to use and test as needed, billed at an hourly rate


Support
A question around offering D9.0.1 with the latest FP pre-installed offered a brief discussion
** Silent installers and scripts are available to assist
** Smart upgrade needs help
** Decision - "No," on joint installer as there are too many assumptions that would need to be made and applying a fix pack with a script takes a small amount of time when scripted

We received a request for working with (supporting) unsupported Linux
** To assist, the group mostly agreed on CentOS support would be appreciated
** And we requested that IBM provide support for CentOS in production with a "Best effort support" option if full support proved too expensive for IBM
** Barry offered that a Domino on Docker offering may resolve some of the support issues...

Speaking of Docker
Connections Pink
Looking at the IBM applications insights survey (link below) to provide input on their application strategy
** If you do have questions on docker, then please take the survey
Also, looking at Domino for PaaS on Bluemix through Docker
** Benefits aren't as great due to the ease of install, but it would allow for keeping things current and consistent

Miscellaneous Questions
Issues or concerns when moving from Windows to Linux on Domino
** Filename spaces and case
** ExtMgr add-in converts all requests to lower case
** Try Domino4Wine for your admin and DDE needs on a Linux or Mac client
** You can also run a simple script to case convert all files to lower case
** Hardcoded fully explicit paths (c:\...) rather than Data directory relative paths and filenames can be an issue
** Direct reference of OS specific files (e.g. DLLs) can also be an issue

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Presenter Links for Additional Information

Daniel's Links
Start Stop Script
Ask for his installation scripts, case convert ExtMgr add-in, or Domino Consolidation session deck  

Barry's Links
IBM performance data - Windows v Linux
IBM application insights survey

Bill's Links
Linux Skype Chat
Domino4Wine
Domino Admin on Linux tips, then select these two decks
1. BLUG 2013: The Ultimate IBM and Lotus on Linux Workshop for Windows Admins
2. Linux School: Advanced Administration for IBM Software

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