Lotus Notes vs Outlook : Advantages and Limitations

Lotus Notes and MS Outlook are the two most widely used email applications. However, there are many users, who prefer using MS Outlook as compared to Lotus Notes. As a result, you can find more Outlook users as compared to Lotus Notes. MS Outlook is an email client from Microsoft, which aims at providing an effective and secured mailing platform. In addition, there are several other benefits of using MS Outlook as compared to Lotus Notes. Some of them are mentioned below.

Top Reasons to Migrate From IBM Lotus Notes to Exchange Server

IBM Lotus Notes/Domino and Microsoft Exchange Server are the two widely used email client-server platforms in the world. But from last few years, Lotus Notes users are migrating to Exchange Server very rapidly than ever. So, why is this happening and what are the reasons which causing Lotus Notes being out of context?

Lotus Notes 'file already Exists' Error? Repair Bookmark.nsf File

If you’re an admin/user of IBM Lotus Notes, you had surely faced file already exists error when launching Lotus Notes Client. But have you effectively encountered what is the root cause of this error message and how you can resolve this issue?

Here in the post I am sharing the main causes which prompts file already exists error in Lotus Notes and the solution to fix the problem.

Root causes of 'File Already Exists' Issue

The main cause is corrupt bookmark.nsf file. It is the most significant configuration files in Lotus Notes which frequently start working when you launch Lotus Notes application. But user cannot access the file because it is already corrupt. So Lotus Notes try to create a new bookmark.nsf file so that it can resolve the error itself. But again, the file is previously created in Lotus Notes, that’s why you get file already exists message on your screen.

Solution 

Here I am taking one scenario where a non-roaming user only uses the tiled workspace, and bookmark.nsf file has been deleted on his Lotus Notes client. In this case, Lotus Notes can create itself a new bookmark.nsf file with help of bookmark.ntf. But if the bookmark.nsf is corrupted, the only way to resolve it by rebuilding the new bookmark.nsf file.

So, below are the steps which can be followed to rebuild corrupt bookmark.nsf file-

·         Close Lotus Notes client and start Windows Explorer.

·         Locate the bookmark.nsf file and rename it to bookmark.oldk

Now just start Lotus Notes application and you’re done! The new bookmark.nsf file has been recreated, and now you can do the setting changes for 'homepage' to favorite values.

However, the above the solution resolves the issue for mostly cases but if you couldn’t resolve it by simply rebuilding the bookmark.nsf file, maybe the local perweb.nsf file is corrupt.

So, we’re the doing the same process (for recreating perweb.nsf) as we did above to rebuilt bookmark.nsf file.

Steps to repair Lotus Notes perweb.nsf by recreating it

·         Start Lotus Notes and set browser to Notes or Open Notes. Once you’ve all done, exit Lotus Notes.

·         Open Lotus Notes Data Directory and look for perweb.nsf file.

·         Once you find it, just rename the file and restart the Lotus Notes application.

·         Now open the browser which you had set in first step. By opening a web page, Lotus Notes will automatically recreate perweb.nsf file.

That’s it. By following the above solution you can fix Lotus Notes errors. But firstly, it is recommended to check which root cause is responsible for this error, either bookmark.nsf corruption or perweb.nsf corruption. Then only process the solution.

In the above scenario I’ve taken a non-roaming user, but what to do if that is a roaming user? In this scenario you will have to run few more steps to resolve this error.

Contact helpdesk or administrator and ask them to temporary disable roaming for your Lotus Notes account and all PCs where the application is installed. Once they’re done, you can follow the above procedure to resolve file already exists error.

But don’t forget to enable the roaming again, as it will be needed to recreated bookmark.nsf file.

Hope, the solution will resolve your Lotus Notes error issue.

Out of Office Not Working in IBM Lotus Notes- Fixed

Like other email client platforms, IBM Lotus Notes also brings OOO (Out of Office) features for Lotus Notes users. But sometime, due to certain unspecified causes Lotus Notes Out of Office function doesn’t work anymore. So today in this blog we’re going to outline this common Lotus Notes issue, and try to figure out the root causes and solution to fix Lotus Notes (8.5, 7x or later releases) Out of Office function not working issue.

When you encounter OOO feature is not working as expected even after the feature enabling by the user, you can check OOO information on Domino Server miscellaneous logs as below-

AMgr: Agent 'OutOfOffice|OutOfOffice' in 'Mail\userdb.nsf' does not have proper execution access, cannot be run b. Agent Manager: Error validating execution rights for agent 'OutOfOffice|OutOfOffice' in database 'Mail\userdb.nsf'. Agent signer 'User', effective user 'User2'. Users without rights to sign 'On Behalf' agents can only run agents on their own behalf.

Solution-

To fix the issue, open Lotus Notes Design Client and navigate through-

Lotus Notes Designer client: Look in Code > Agents > OutOfOffice

Check OOO is enabled or disabled. If it is disabled, enabled it and try again.

If it is already enabled, recreated agents by deleting OutOfOffice agent and refresh design of the database.

Now again enable OOO function. This fix works in mostly cases. However, if it doesn’t work for you; try the alternate fix.

Alternate Solution-

IBM provides a diagnostic and troubleshooting tool in case the Lotus Notes/Domino Out Of Office (OOO) does not work properly.

You just need to Download the OOO_Diagnostic_V2.1.zip troubleshooting tool and place it in local Notes\Data directory. Before running the setup, read the ‘about the software’ and guide for how to use this software.

Now you can follow the steps to copy Lotus Notes database to Data directory on Domino Server.

Now type the database name and path, or select the database (relates with Domino) which you want to analyze. For e.g. ‘mail\user.nsf’.

Now you will see the list of numerous tests, select the last test from the list ‘comprehensive test’.

## This tool support Notes/Domino 7x or later releases.

So, the issue also can be rectified by using OOO diagnostic tool. 

Thus, above are two best possible methods to fix Lotus Notes automatic replay issue. Try manual troubleshooting as well as diagnostic tool to resolve Lotus Notes/Domino OutOfOffice (OOO) problem.

How to recover-missing mailbox content while migrating from Lotus Notes to Office 365

There are lots of circumstances where organizations need to migrate from IBM Lotus Notes Server to Microsoft Office 365 dedicated. In doing so, a user may discover that some of the email messages, contacts, calendar items, tasks, or folders are found missing.