What is the Domino language pack?

A Domino Language pack is the translated version of the standard English version of the Domino templates. It includes the translated versions of standard Domino system templates, such as the Discussion and Mail templates, as well as certain binary files required by the server.

While the operating system provides the local language functions for the keyboard, the Domino language pack translates the templates to the local language.

You can customize the language pack installation by choosing which language packs and templates to add, which ones to replace, and which ones to remove from the Domino server (from the Readme.txt in the language pack installer).

Installation

Before you start installing the language pack installation, make sure that:

• The appropriate non-English version of Microsoft® Windows® is set up on the client box, so users can open attachments that have non-English characters in the file name.
• The non-English Notes Client is set up so users see the menus and dialog boxes in the specific language.
• If the user does not have the non-English version of Microsoft Windows installed, then install the non-English fonts to allow users' workstations to display text encoded in the non-English character set.

Follow these steps to install a language pack:

1. Download the Domino Language Pack from the “Passport Advantage” Web site. The versions of the language pack and the Domino server must match. For example, if Lotus Domino 8.5.1 is installed, you need to download and install a Domino Language Pack 8.5.1.
2. Shut down the Domino Server. The language pack installer cannot install files while the Domino server is running.
3. Run the executable file to un-compress the installation files to a temporary directory.
4. According to the platform you are using, run the launcher file as you would any executable file on the respective platform (see table 1).

Table 1. Launchers and corresponding executables

Launcher	Executable file
Windows GUI Launcher	DomLP85x_W32.EXE DomLP85x_W64.EXE
IBM i remote Launcher for Windows	DomLP85x_iSeries.EXE
IBM i LODRUN command for IBM i CD installation	LODRUN DEV(*OPT) DIR('/OS400')
Linux® on System z GUI Launcher	ZLNXDomLP85x_GUI
Linux on System z Console Launcher	ZLNXDomLP85x_CONSOLE
Linux GUI Launcher	LNXDomLP85x_GUI
Linux Console Launcher	LNXDomLP85x_CONSOLE
AIX Launcher in GUI mode	AIXDomLP85x_GUI
AIX Launcher in Console mode	AIXDomLP85x_CONSOLE
Solaris Launcher in GUI mode	SOLDomLP85x_GUI
Solaris Launcher in Console mode	SOLDomLP85x_CONSOLE

NOTE: For UNIX®-based operating system, you must be logged on as the UNIX root user to install the language pack.

For this article we perform the installation of a language pack 8.5.1 on a Domino 8.5.1 FP1 server running on a Windows 2003 operating system. To add the Brazilian Portuguese language pack, we run the file called “DomLP851_W32.exe”:

1. Choose the language in which the user interface will be displayed while running the installation wizard (see figure 1). This option is independent of the languages you will install. For example, you can run the install wizard in French to install the Brazilian Portuguese language pack on the server. Click OK.

Figure 1. Language for install wizard


2. On the Welcome screen click the Next button (see figure 2).

Figure 2. Welcome screen


3. Accept the terms in the license agreement (see figure 3).

Figure 3. License Agreement screen


4. On the next screen, enter the directory where the Domino server is installed (see figure 4). If Domino is not installed, specify the directory where it will be installed along with the language pack. Click Next.

Figure 4. Specify Domino server program directory


5. On the next screen (see figure 5), if a Domino installation is found in the directory you selected, you have the option to upgrade the server to the appropriate Domino version. If a Domino installation not found in the directory specified in the previous step, you have the option of installing the Domino server along with the language pack.

If you want to upgrade or install the Domino server choose “Yes”. If you only want to install the language pack choose “No”. For the purpose of this article we will only install the language pack, so we choose No. Click Next.

Figure 5. Install English Domino server option


6. In the following screen, the option should be chosen for you (see figure 6). If you are running a 32-bit launcher, the option “Install language pack for 32-bit Domino server” will be selected. If you want to change this setting, you must launch the language pack installer using the 64-bit launcher (DomLP85x_W64). Click Next

Figure 6. Language pack selected


7. The installer will automatically detect the Domino Program and Data directories in which Domino is installed (see figure 7). The language packs must reside in the same directory as your Domino system templates.

Figure 7. Domino program and data directories selected


Note that, if the installer detects a partitioned server, it will display all the Data directories that it detects, and then you can choose which Data directory you with to Add, Replace, or Remove the language pack. If you wish to Add, Replace, or Remove in more than one Data directory, you will need to run the Language Pack installer again for each Data directory. After making the choice, click Next.

NOTE: If the Domino server is running, at this time you will see the following error:

Shut down the Domino Server to continue the Language Pack installation.

8. In the next screen (see figure 8) you choose the option to Add, Replace or Remove the language pack. Make your choice based on the information in table 2, and then click Next.

Figure 8. Choose type of installation



Table 2. Descriptions of install options

Install option	Description
Add	Installs a Domino server with multiple languages by adding selected language components. Language Pack Installer adds language components to multilingual-compatible templates by merging translated forms, views, and other design elements with your existing English language templates. Language Pack Installer also installs resource and help files. For the other components, existing Domino server files are used.
Replace	Overwrites existing Domino server templates and resource files with selected language files. For example, to only use German without multilingual support on the Domino server, complete these steps: 1. Install the English Domino server. 2. Run the Language Pack Installer, and then choose "Replace Language Pack." 3. Select German, and then install. Files are translated to German and then installed on the Domino server, replacing the English files. For example, the mail template on the Domino server is a German mail template after the German language pack installation. NOTE: You must choose this option if you want the Domino Directory (Names.nsf) in a language other than English. The Add option will NOT change the language of the Domino Directory.
Remove	Uninstalls specified language components from the Domino server by removing the translated forms, views, and other design elements from the templates. Note that you can remove added Language Packs only. You cannot remove a language pack installed with the Replace option.

At this point, the installer checks if you are running on the correct version of Domino, if you have sufficient disk space, etc. (see the “Troubleshooting installation errors” section below). During this verification, the installer generates a log file called Lplog.txt. If the installer encounters any errors, it reports them to this file.

This file is located in Domino program directory, if you run the GUI version of the installer; and in the default temp directory on Windows (C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp), if you exit the installer before it detects the Domino program directory or the installer crashes.

9. If the installer passes all the checks, it will show you a confirmation summary like that shown in figure 9. Click Next.

Figure 9. Confirmation summary


10. On the next screen (see figure 10), you have the following options, depending on the installation option you chose on the previews screen:

• Add a language pack. Displays all the available language packs that you can select. You may select one or more language packs so the Installer will install all the templates and files to the server accordingly. You also have the option to choose which templates you want to install by clicking the “Select files” button. With this option you have the choice, for instance, to install only the Mail85.ntf for the specific language, instead of all the templates.

• Replace a language pack. Displays all available language packs, and you need to pick one of them. This option overwrites the Domino server files with the selected language pack files. For multilingual support you must choose the Add option.

• Remove a language pack. Displays all detected language packs installed on the server, and you can pick the ones you wish to remove. It will remove only the translated forms, views, and other design elements of the specified language.

Figure 10. Select your language pack


11. Finally, you receive the confirmation screen (see figure 11). Make sure your selections are correct and click Next to start the installation.

Figure 11. Confirmation screen

Troubleshooting installation problems

Here is a list of the possible error messages you may see in the Lplog.txt file:

Insufficient disk space
The Language Pack Installer lists the necessary amount of disk space as well as the amount of disk space it detects on the server in the LPlog.txt file. If you need disk space in the temporary location in which the Language Pack Installer copies templates, then complete these steps:

1. Close the Language Pack Installer.
2. Free the necessary disk space.
3. Run the Language Pack Installer again.

If you are replacing a language pack, free the disk space without closing the Language Pack Installer. When you return to the installation wizard, click Back, and then continue the installation.

Note that this disk space check applies to language pack installations only.

Incorrect Domino version
If you have an incorrect version of Domino installed, the Language Pack Installer cannot complete the installation. You must upgrade the Domino server to the supported version, and then re-run the Language Pack Installer.

No language information found in templates
This error occurs when you choose to add or remove a language pack, but the Language Pack Installer does not detect a default language pack. Each template has a default language pack that cannot be removed or changed. If no default language pack is detected, the template version might be incorrect. To resolve the problem, click Back and then choose the Replace installation option to replace the language packs.

Language information not consistent in templates
This error occurs when different templates contain different default language packs; for example, when the Mail template contains a default German language pack, and the Discussion template contains a default French language pack. All templates must contain the same language packs because the Language Pack Installer performs the same operation on all system templates.

Language information not consistent in templates on all partitions
This error occurs when you have multiple data directories with different language packs installed on each directory. For example, if you replace language packs on selected partitions, and you then attempt to add language packs to all partitions, this error occurs.

When you have a partitioned Domino server, the Language Pack Installer performs the same operation on all selected Data directories and, in order to do this, the language information on all selected Data directories must be the same.

If different directories contain different language packs, return to the screen in which you selected the Data directories, select only those directories that contain the same language packs, and then continue the installation. You can run the Language Pack Installer again if necessary.

Silent install

A silent install is an automated install that enables you to run an install program without being prompted to enter information during the installation process.

The silent install feature applies to all installations that use Java^TM Virtual Machine (JVM) on all platforms. If you attempt to run a silent install from a GUI or a console, the installation stops, and a message displays stating the installation process cannot complete.

Each time you run the Language Pack Installer software, the file LPSilent.ini is created. If LPSilent.ini already exists due to a previous installation, the existing file is overwritten with a new file. You then use the new LPSilent.ini, which resides in the Domino Program directory, to run the silent install.

Running a silent install using JVM

To run any silent install using a JVM, you enter a command similar to the commands shown in the Examples section below, but be aware of these requirements for adding or replacing languages for JVM:

• To run a silent install using a JVM when adding more than one language, specify the Suite file followed by all language .jar files corresponding to the languages you want to install.

• To run a silent install using a JVM when replacing a language, specify the Suite file followed by the language JAR file.

When entering the JVM command, enter the command on one line. The examples below are shown on multiple lines due to margin constraints in this article. Specify the entire path of the INI file, because the INI file may have been renamed or stored in a directory other than the default directory.

Examples of silent installs on JVM

To add French and German on UNIX:

java -cp DomLP851_Suite.jar:DomLP851_fr.jar:DomLP851_de.jar run -silent -G licenseAccepted=true -W cmd.silent="/opt/ibm/lotus/LPSilent.ini"

To add French and German on Windows:

java -cp DomLP851_Suite.jar;DomLP851_fr.jar;DomLP851_de.jar run –silent -G licenseAccepted=true -W cmd.silent="C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino

\LPSilent.ini"

NOTE: If an error occurs during the silent install, a message displays on screen and is also stored in the LPLog.txt file. The install immediately terminates.

Example of LPSilent.ini

The Language Pack installer kit includes an example of LPSilent.ini in the root directory. Edit the file to fit your environment by referencing Section 4.4, “Modifying LPSilent.ini.”

The Domino native architecture: 32-bit
Full path to program directory: C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino
Number of partition: 1
Full path to data directory: C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data
Installation mode: REPLACE
Language replace to: French
(Target platform is Microsoft Windows.)

Modifying LPSilent.ini

In general, you should try to avoid modifying LPSilent.ini; however, if you've run Language Pack Installer on one server, and you want to repeat the process on another server, you can open the LPSilent.ini file and then modify it.

All language versions of the language pack include the sample file LPSilent.ini. It's possible to modify LPSilent.ini to perform the silent installation; however, you can avoid modifying LPSilent.ini, install language pack on one server with same configuration as the server on which you want to run a silent installation.

You can modify the LPSilent.ini settings listed below.

CORE_PATH - the full path to the program directory.

Windows example:

CORE_PATH=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino

Linux example:

CORE_PATH=/opt/ibm/lotus/notes/latest/linux

DOMINO_ARCH - the Domino native architecture, either Domino 32-bit or 64-bit.
TOTAL_DATAPATHS - the number of data directories listed.
DATA_PATH - an entry for every data path you require.
TOTAL_LANGUAGES - the number of languages for installation.
LANGUAGES - an entry for every language.

You can modify the following INI settings on UNIX only:

CORE_DISPLAY_PATH - the relative program directory path.

UNIX example:

CORE_DISPLAY_PATH=/opt/ibm/lotus

Example with three data paths:

TOTAL_DATAPATHS=3
DATA_PATH_00=/local/notesdata1
DATA_PATH_01=/local/notesdata2
DATA_PATH_02=/local/notesdata3

Example with two languages:

TOTAL_LANGUAGES=2
LANGUAGES_00=fr
LANGUAGES_01=de

The following settings apply to the one-time install (install Domino as well) feature:

DOMINO_INSTALL – TRUE/FALSE

To use one-time install in silent mode, set the DOMINO_INSTALL parameter to TRUE, and then specify the following parameters:

DOMINO_TYPE – UTILITY/MESSAGING/ENTERPRISE: Specify the Domino server type for your requirements.

DATA_PATH_xx_LP – TRUE/FALSE: Set DATA_PATH_xx_LP to TRUE to install language packs to this data path.

DOMINO_INSTALLER - Full path to directory: Specify the full path for the directory containing the Domino server installer.

To install the Domino server on UNIX, the installer needs the owner user and group settings for each data directory path. Set the following parameters for each data directory:

DATA_PATH_xx_USER - Owner user name of the data directory.
DATA_PATH_xx_GROUP - Owner group name of the data directory.

On UNIX, you can enable/disable the Domino xSP service by specifying the following setting:

DOMINO_ASP – TRUE/FALSE - Enable/disable Domino xSP service feature.

Other LPSilent.ini examples

Example 1:

OS: Microsoft Windows
Domino Architecture: Domino 32-bit
Use one-time install feature: No
Language Pack installation type: Add
Domino program directory: C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino
Install language: German, French and Japanese
Data directory paths: C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data
C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data1
C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data2
C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data3

LPSilent.ini example:

[Notes]
OS400_SILENT=FALSE
INSTALL_TYPE=ADD
CORE_PATH=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino
DOMINO_ARCH=32
TOTAL_DATAPATHS=4
DATA_PATH_00=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data
DATA_PATH_01=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data1
DATA_PATH_02=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data2
DATA_PATH_03=C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Domino\data3
TOTAL_LANGUAGES=3
LANGUAGES_00=de
LANGUAGES_01=fr
LANGUAGES_02=ja
***

Example 2:

OS: IBM AIX
Use one-time install feature: Yes
Domino Architecture: Domino 64-bit
Domino installation type: Enterprise server
Domino program directory: /opt/ibm/lotus
Domino core program file directory: /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/latest/ibmpow
Domino Data directory (user/group): /local/notesdata (notes/notes)
/local/notesdata1 (notes1/notes)
Enable xSP services: No
Domino Server installer location: /temp/installer
Language Pack installation type: Replace
Data directory to install Language Pack: /local/notesdata
Install language: Simplified Chinese

LPSilent.ini example:

[Notes]
OS400_SILENT=FALSE
DOMINO_INSTALL=TRUE
DOMINO_TYPE=ENTERPRISE
CORE_PATH=/opt/ibm/lotus/notes/latest/ibmpow
CORE_DISPLAY_PATH=/opt/ibm/lotus
DOMINO_ARCH=64
TOTAL_DATAPATHS=2
DATA_PATH_00=/local/notesdata
DATA_PATH_00_USER=notes
DATA_PATH_00_GROUP=notes
DATA_PATH_00_LP=TRUE
DATA_PATH_01=/local/notesdata1
DATA_PATH_01_USER=notes1
DATA_PATH_01_GROUP=notes
DATA_PATH_01_LP=FALSE
DOMINO_ASP=FALSE
DOMINO_INSTALLER=/temp/installer
INSTALL_TYPE=REPLACE
TOTAL_LANGUAGES=1
LANGUAGES_00=zh-CN
***

Upgrading the server

Upgrade all installed languages in the server at the same time of the Domino upgrade. There is no need to remove the language pack from the server before doing an upgrade, but all languages installed must be in the same version.

For example, if you upgrade the English version to 8.5.1, also upgrade all other languages to that version. If the other languages are not upgraded to the same version, they will be automatically removed from the server.

For clustered environments, upgrade the language pack on all servers in the cluster at the same time, if the servers replicate the templates.

NOTE: This information applies only to major releases; there is no need to re-install language packs after installing a fixpack or a hotfix.

Converting the database design to a specific language

After installing the language pack on the Domino server, the databases will not be automatically translated into the specific language. There are two ways to convert the databases to a specific language after the language pack is installed.

The first option is the server task called “convert”. This is the only way to automatically convert all databases to a specific language. The second option is the “replace design” task. This option will convert the design of a single database. Note that the server task “design” will do a refresh design, instead of a replace, and will not properly convert the database to a specific language.

The convert tool

The administrator can run the following command in the console, to automate the replace of the database’s design to a specific language:

Load convert –g"language" *

where the "language" value can be one of the following: Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Byelorussian, Catalan, Chinese, ChineseSimplified, ChineseTraditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, HebrewNew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Marathi, Moldavian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, PortugueseBrazilian, PortugueseIberian, Rumanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Example 1. Convert one mail file to the French language:

Load convert –g”French” mail/user1.nsf * mail85.ntf

Example 2. Convert all databases in the mail directory to the German language:

Load convert –g”German” mail/ * mail85.ntf

Replace design option

A user or the administrator can use the Replace Design option to change the template of a specific database to another language by following the steps below:

1. Open the database on the Notes client or Domino Administrator, and select File > Application > Replace Design, from the main menu.
2. On the next screen choose the server where the template language is and also select the template. At this point it does not matter the language yet. For example, if you want to change the mail template to French, you need to choose the Mail85.ntf template. Then click the Replace button.
3. The next screen lists all the available languages (that is, the language packs that you have installed as an Add in the server). In the example shown in figure 12 we installed the Brazilian Portuguese and Italian language packs as an Add, so we have the following languages available to replace the design: Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and English.

Choose the desired language(s) to install them as the design of the database. Click OK. Note that If you select more than one language, you must select the default language by clicking the Set as Default Language button.

Figure 12. Select Template Languages window



4. You should receive a warning like the following:

“Replacing a database design changes the database’s view (except private ones), and all other design elements (for example, forms, agents, XPages, fields, and roles) to match those in the template. Do you wish to proceed?”

Choose “Yes” to replace the design.

The Multilingual Options in the Database properties

If you have installed more than one language in the design of the database (see the previous section), you need to open the Design tab of the Database Properties and check the option “Multilingual database,” as shown in figure 13.

By enabling this option, you have the choice to quickly change the language anytime you need by changing the “Default language” and “Default region” to the desired language and region, respectively. After changing the default language, close and open the database again; the language should be changed.

Figure 13. Enabling the Multilingual database option


Note that, if you choose a language that is not installed in the database design, the database will have no views or design (see figure 14).

Figure 14. Example database with no views or design



If you installed one of the double-byte character language packs like Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, make sure to add the OS language pack for East Asian languages in the client machines.

In Windows you can do that by opening the Control Panel and selecting Regional and Language Options > Languages tab > Install files for East Asian languages. Note that these steps are different for other operating systems.

Choosing the database’s language when registering a new user

As an administrator, you also have the option to select in which language you want to create the mail database for a new user during the user’s registration. To do this, in the Register Person -- New Entry window, select the Advanced checkbox, select Other, and choose the desired language from the drop-down list in the“Preferred language” field (see figure 15).

If you choose a preferred language that has not been installed as an additional language pack, the default language will be used.

Figure 15. Register Person -- New Entry window

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Question: I have a mail database with the design set to Italian. When I open it in Lotus Notes, everything displays correctly in Italian, but when I open it in iNotes, it displays parts in Italian and parts in English. Why does that happen?

Answer: If you see that the items on the left-hand side are correctly displayed in Italian, but the buttons on the top right-hand side of the browser appear in another language (English), check your browser language preferences. It should also be set to the language on which the design is based; otherwise, it will show in a different language.

For more details refer to IBM Support Technote # 1407261, “iNotes 8.5 mail file shows buttons in two languages.”

Question: How do I know whether a language pack is installed?

Answer: To determine whether a language pack is installed on the server, do one of the following:

• Open a mail database and do a “replace design” (see above). If you choose the Mail8x.ntf template, for example, and if a language pack is installed, in the next screen you should see the list of available languages.

• Open the Mail8x.ntf template with the Domino Designer. On the left-hand side, select Forms to open all the forms in the template, and then check how many “memo” forms, for example, are available (see figure16).

Many other forms should also contain a correspondent in the language installed. When a language pack is installed, you should see multiple “memo” forms in that view; one for each language.

Figure 16. Mail8x.ntf template

• If the language pack was installed as a replace, you can follow the same step above to check, but it will only show one “memo” form in the specific language.

Conclusion

In this document, we covered the two methods of installation (GUI and silent) for a language pack on a Domino 8.x server. We also covered the language pack usage and the methods of applying the language-specific content to the database. You should now have a good understanding of how to install, use, and troubleshoot the Domino language pack.

Resources

Lotus Notes and Domino developerWorks product page:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/notesdomino/

Notes/Domino 8 Forum:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd8forum.nsf?OpenDatabase

Lotus Domino Product Documentation:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/dominowiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Product%20Documentation

About the author

Dennis Andrade started at IBM as a Software Engineer in June 2006 working on the LATAM team, and is certified in Domino Administrator 6, 7, and 8. He earned his BSc. in Computer Science in 2006 from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and completed his Masters in Business Administration degree in 2010 at Texas State University.

Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Lourdes Pelcastre for her contribution in reviewing this document.