Upgrading a server using Option 4

With this option, you install the new version of Domino on new hardware. This option allows you to keep the original Domino server running while you replicate the Domino files to the new hardware and install the new version of Domino on it.

Before you begin

Before continuing, see Options for upgrading a Domino server.

Procedure

  1. Configure the new hardware on a new machine.
  2. Install and set up the new version of Domino on the new machine with a new Domino server name and a new fully-qualified host name. (These names are temporary.) Set up the Domino server in the same Domino domain as the current server.
  3. While the new server is still down, configure it to be busy by specifying the notes.ini setting Server_Availability_Threshold=100. This step helps prevent users from accessing it until you are ready for them to.
  4. Start the new Domino server.
  5. If you use DAOS, configure DAOS with a shared encryption key, a feature introduced in V12. Doing so will allow you to copy DAOS NLO files from the current server to the new server without needing to encrypt them again. To configure shared encryption keys, follow the steps described in Using a shared key to encrypt DAOS objects across servers.
  6. If you use clusters, add the new server to an existing cluster. If not clustered, add the server to a temporary cluster that includes the current server.
  7. Create replicas of database applications from the current server to the new server.
  8. Create a Connection document to enable scheduled replication between the current server and new server.
  9. Validate the replicated database applications.
  10. Complete the following steps to change the identity of the new server to be that of the original server:
    1. Perform a final replication from the original server to the new server.
    2. Shut down both the original server and the new server.
    3. Copy the original server ID file to the new server.
    4. Change the notes.ini on the new server to point to the server ID file copied from the original server.
    5. Do one of the following steps:
      • Change the IP address of the original server to be a different IP address. Then, change the IP address on the new server to be the previous IP address of the original server.

      OR

      • Change the DNS settings on the new server to point to a different IP address. Then, change the DNS settings on the original server to point to the new IP address of the new server.
    6. Start the Domino directory administration server and then open names.nsf on it. Then:
      • Open the Server document of the original server and on the Basics tab, change its name. For example, change the name from Server1/Acme to Server1SAVE/Acme.
      • Open the Server document for the new server, and changes its name to the original name of the original server, for example, Server1/Acme.
      • Change the host name references in the new Server document Server1/Acme to that of the original server shown in Server1SAVE/Acme. These references are found in these tabs: Basics, Ports, Internet Protocols. If you use Internet Site documents, change the host name in them, too.
    7. From the command line of the new server (which is still down), replicate names.nsf from the administration server to the new server. For example, on Windows, run the following command: nreplica.exe adminserver/ACME names.nsf
  11. While the new server is still down:
    1. Set the notes.ini to the desired database ODS level. For example, for the V12 ODS level, use Create_R12_Databases=1. For more information, see Domino on-disk structure (ODS) in the Domino documentation.
    2. Upgrade databases to the specified ODS level by running the command dbmt -compactThreads <n> <datadirectory> where <n> is a value less than or equal to the number of CPUs. For example:
      • Windows: ndbmt.exe -ct 4 d:\notefile\
      • AIX and Linux: dbmt -ct 4 /local/notesdata/
      • IBM i: (See article How to run Fixup, Compact, or other command while the Domino iSeries server is down on the Support site.)
    3. (DAOS, pre-V11 upgrade) Run the following command to create daoscat.nsf and the catalog indexes.
      • Windows: ndaosmgr.exe resync quick
      • AIX and Linux: daosmgr.exe resync quick
      • IBM i: (See article How to run Fixup, Compact, or other command while the Domino iSeries server is down on the Support site.)
  12. Start the new Domino server.
  13. (DAOS, pre-V11 upgrade) Schedule a full resync at some point in the future, for example off-business hours in a maintenance window with the Domino Server down. DAOS object deletions are suspended until the full resync is completed.
    • Windows: ndaosmgr.exe resync force
    • AIX and Linux: daosmgr.exe resync force
    • IBM i: (See article How to run Fixup, Compact, or other command while the Domino iSeries server is down on the Support site.)
  14. Run the Fixup task at some point in the future, for example off-business hours in a maintenance window with the Domino Server down, as described in the Running Fixup section. This step ensures that any updates to the fixup task that have been released in the latest version of the Domino server are applied to your environment.
  15. Monitor the new server for errors.
  16. When you are ready for users to access the new server, remove the notes.ini setting Server_Availability_Threshold=100 that you set previously.
  17. On the original server, set the notes.ini setting Server_Availability_Threshold=100 to mark the server busy so that connections failover to the new server.
  18. Implement the new features on the new Domino server.
  19. After confirming that there are no issues on the new server, make a backup copy of names.nsf and then delete the Server document for the original Domino server.