How to install Lotus Connections using Domino LDAP

I previously mentioned the situation with Lotus Connections 1.0 and lack of support for Domino LDAP, well despite that I have been working to install Lotus Connections using a Domino 7.0.2 server as my LDAP source.  It has taken some time, but I now have Activities, Blogs, Communities, and Dogear up and running.  I have installed TDI and created the Profiles database and next up is the attempt to install Profiles.  I did run in to a few problems along the way I opened  a PMR with support, turns out that Communities would not run properly and the problem was Domino LDAP.  I was pleasantly surprised that instead of being told it was not supported, I was offered a fix to test, which worked.  So I am going to attempt to detail my environment and how I set it up here. I had three goals in this installation, first to learn about the installation and architecture of Connections, second to have a system to demo with, as there is a high level of interest within the organization and this is easier to explain with a live demo, and third I wanted the install to be self contained and portable, as I work in different locations, and a good deal of this install was performed on trains or other places when I was disconnected. The hardware configuration is Windows 2003 Enterprise edition, Service Pack 1, 1GB Ram, 1 CPU running on my laptop which is a Lenovo T61, 2.00 GHz Duo Core CPU, 3GB RAM, the VM itself resides on an external USB drive.  I created 3 drives for the VM a 6GB drive for the OS and the DB2 executables, a 10 GB drive for Domino, Websphere, HTTP Server, TDI, and the DB2 Databases, and a 4GB drive for the install files, this drive was set to “persistent” in VMware to exclude it from snapshots. I do not intend this to be a complete how to install connections, rather document what I did to install and get it working with Domino LDAP, the documentation in the Connections Info Center will provide detailed step by step instructions. 1. Install and configure Domino 7.0.2 FP1, configured for LDAP, and also brought up the SMTP listener, and configured mail routing, so I had a mail destination forConnections and when connected to the network I can route e-mails from Activities. 2. Install DB2 – DB2 will go to install into C:Program FilesIBMSQLLIB by default, but later on in the Connections install it will default to look for it in c:IBMSQLLIB so you can save yourself some trouble and just install to c:IBMSQLLIB. ( You can install anywhere you want, the Connections install will let you change the location, this is just the path of least resistance.) 3. Install Websphere Application Server 6.1 – Default install path will be Program FilesIBMWebsphere…….  I eliminated the program files and installed to IBMWebsphere and highly recommend that to keep the paths from becoming too long.  When prompted for the type of install you want Websphere Application Server, and you should configure an Administrative ID and password when given the option (Make sure the ID and Password do not exist in your LDAP). 4. Install Update Installer for Websphere 5. Install the following required Fixpacks

• 6.1.0-WS-WAS-WinX32-FP0000003.pak
• 6.1.0.3-WS-WAS-IFPK37124.pak
• 6.1.0.3-WS-WAS-IFPK34390.pak
• PK38815.pak

6. Now is where it gets interesting, and I did not know this part till later on, there are at least 2 SPR regarding Domino LDAP SONL6WLKT4, and CKRR73WQ92 I can not find technotes on either one yet.  I opened a PMR and support provided me with an additional Websphere fixpack which I was cautioned that the fix is only being tested.  Without this Fixpack I was able to get Activities, Blogs, and Dogear working, but Communities would not allow a user to login, the fixpack fixed Communities, but because it fixed something in the authentication I had to drop and recreate my Activities database to get that working again.  Since this is a sandbox install for me no big deal – but be warned. 7. Launch websphere, and configure Federated repositories, since Domino LDAP is not supported, there are no instructions for this step in the Connections install guide, so I used the instructions in the Sametime Gateway install (both products run on  Websphere 6.1) If you did not enable Administrative Security during the WAS install do this step first, if you enabled already you can skip this.  You want Administrative and Application security to be enabled, do not enable Java 2 Security at this point (the Communities install will enable it later on).  Next follow these steps to configure your LDAP source. 8. Create the databases for Activities, Blogs, Communities and Dogear.  Do not create the Profiles DB, that is a different process which requires TDI  to be installed first. 9. Install and configure the IBM HTTP Server, make sure to install the WAS Plugins as part of the install, if you want to map the features and not require the port number in the URL. 10.  Install the Connections features, they are installed one at a time, there are different ways to do this, I installed all the features in one WAS profile.   So after all this I have a working configuration of Activities, Blogs, Communities and Dogear.  If you can do this in a VM Environment I suggest you do, and use Snapshots along the way, they are life savers when  you blow something up along the way and you can simply revert to a working snapshot.  One other note on snapshots, I took all my snapshots with the VM Powered down, the advantage of this is that Snapshots taken when powered down can be used to create a clone, so I can take the machine at any snapshot, clone and pick up the install from that point if I want to try something else, saving me hours of installation and configuration. Next steps for me are the TDI and Profiles install, this is the part that is supposed to be the real issue with Domino LDAP so will see how far I get, and what other fixes support is willing to cough up at this time. One other piece of news, in Connections 1.0.1 due out later this month, I have heard they will be releasing a pilot install kit which one installer will wrap the DB2, WAS, and Connections installs, this install will only work with Tivoli Directory Server an is designed for pilots or demos, but you can add your own users into the LDAP.  While an installer like this might have saved me a lot of time, I definitely learned quite a bit doing it piece by piece, this will help me when our pilot hardware arrives and I install this in a more production like environment.   Domino LDAP support is still on track for 1.0.2 in October. Questions, comments, reactions welcome, will report back on my adventures with TDI and Profiles. Lotus Connections Resources Connections Info Center Websphere 6.1 Info Center DB2 v9 Info Center Lotus Connections Test Infrastructure Documents Lotus Connections Support Page Lotus Connections Forum