Introduction
IBM® Notes Browser Plug-in (NBP) ® 9.0.1 will allows you to convert an existing Notes single user install to a multi-user install for both Notes basic and Notes standard configuration deployments
Issues addressed with this feature
1. Upgrade from Notes single user basic/ standard client install to NBP leads to creation of new data directory and which needs user to do reconfiguration .User data like Bookmarks, contacts are lost.
2. Earlier customers cannot use the same data directory after upgrade. This causes the Notes Browser Plug-in to behave like a new user is running it because it does not reuse the existing single user Notes data directory
Benefit of this feature
1. Working with same user directory after upgrade. User data like bookmarks , contacts are not lost.
2. If you have an existing version of Notes Client, during the installation of the NotesPluginMax and NotesPluginMin packages, if the existing version is a single-user installation, it will be migrated to a multi-user installation.
Description
MUMA (Multiuser Migration Assistant)
By design the NBP Installer does not allow the end user to specify the data directory during the installation unlike the Notes Standard or Notes Basic installers. It prevents this change to remain consistent with both browser specifications and to conform to Windows requirements that user specific content remain in a user accessible location. The NBP Installer forces a multiuser install
For clean installs where no Notes products are currently installed this is invisible to the end user. Users generally don't need to nor care to know where their actual data directory is. However for upgrades where a previous version of Notes was installed in a single user configuration this leads to the issue where the previous version of the product is uninstalled as expected but the existing user data directory is not used. This causes the Notes Browser Plug-in to behave like a new user is running it because it does not reuse the existing single user Notes data directory. This behavior is significantly different from user expectations because the regular Notes installer will reuse this data directory
There already exists a utility MUMA (Multiuser Migration Assistant) that accomplishes this task. The Notes multi-user migration assistant (MUMA) tool runs a supplied Visual Basic script (MUMigrationAssistant.vbs), which in turns is driven by a customized configuration file (MUMigrationAssistant.ini). The configuration file enables you to customize the migration for your unique deployment environment. The tool files are supplied in the Utility folder of the Notes install kit. Integrating the MUMA functionality within the Notes Browser Plugin installation process would accomplish the goal of allowing a Notes single user installation to be reused as a Notes Browser Plug-in installation.
When Samantha upgrades to the Notes Browser Plugin from Notes Client Single user installation with the Notes Browser Plugin installation, the NBP installer (Multi user installation) will be migrating data directory automatically to a user data directory
Setup
In case the user has an already installed 8.5.3/9.0 Notes Client either single user or Multi User, we can refer table below for Impact of Upgrade : -
Current Notes Client Users | Impact of upgrade with
Notes Browser Plugin 901 installer (Install type) | Upgrade
Notes Standard 901 Installer | Install ( upgrade ) with
All Client 901 installer |
8.5.x Client Multi User Install | NBP ( Multi User )
Final product is MU standalone NBP. | Same as 9.0
Multi User Install with NBP ( Multi User )
Final product is Notes+ NBP | Same as 9.0
Not supported/ Not recommended |
Notes Client Single User Install | NBP ( Multi User ) with Data migration with MUMA
Final product is MU standalone NBP. | Same as 9.0
Single User Install with NBP ( no migration to MU )
Final product is Notes+ NBP | Same as 9.0
Not supported/ Not recommended |
All User Install with Designer / Admin | Not supported/ Not recommended | Same as 9.0
Not supported/ Not recommended | Same as 9.0
All Client Installation with NBP ( no migration to MU )
Final product is All client build+ NBP |
Note: For a fresh install MUMA will not impact the User, it comes in picture only for upgrade.
Conclusion
This article explained the new feature introduced in IBM Notes 9.0.1 for allowing MUMA
About Authors
Anshul Gautam and Sunaina Aina are working with IBM- India Software Labs as Staff Software Engg. They are into Automation and Manual testing for Notes Browser Plugin. You can reach them at : ansgauta@in.ibm.com and sunaaina@in.ibm.com respectively.