There are no idle hands in the IT workshop -- at least not since e-mail was invented. This handy nuisance has created tons of problems. For Notes/Domino e-mail administrators, issues are not limited to the Notes platform. In the real world, support for Microsoft Outlook is part of the program in some way, shape or form.
SearchDomino.com expert Michael Lazar has answered many administrator questions on e-mail problems, especially e-mail problems that embrace Outlook and Exchange. A convenient sampling of his advice is offered here.
Question: We have Lotus Domino 6.5 and some of our users load their e-mail into Outlook. I would like to load these e-mails back into the Notes server. I tried to use the program "nupgrade.exe 3" in order to load my PST file in the Notes server, but the program asked me for the "MS Exchange Profile." What can I do in order to bypass this problem?
Answer: The nupgrade.exe 3 option is for systems where you have Outlook set as your default mail client. This is needed even if you are moving to Notes. You make Notes your default client after the upgrade. With your Outlook client setup, you then use the profile where the mail is stored (Outlook profile, by default) and you can then import all of your mail and contacts into a Notes database. This DB is local. If you want the information on the server, you would need to copy it up there.
Question: Can you show me step-by-step how to use Active Directory's Global Catalog within Notes client for mailing with Exchange Server 2003?
Answer: I can't show you step-by-step, as it is very involved. However, there are a few methods for sending mail to Exchange. Some people use the Exchange/Notes connector, but I am not sure if it is working with Exchange 2003. Other folks use Microsoft Identity Integration Server to make it work. You can also set up AD to be an LDAP server and let Domino users query that for name lookups. You would send the mail via SMTP.
Question: I have an unusual issue that Lotus Support hasn't been able to resolve. When several of my users, on different mail servers, e-mail select recipients outside of the company, their attachments are not reaching the recipient as part of the message. Usually, there is a paperclip indicating an attachment, but at the bottom of the document, rather than the file, there are hundreds of line of text. These recipients are using Outlook/Exchange for their mail.
This seems to be a new problem in the last three to four months -- one that I haven't been able to resolve. It seems that it only happens with specific recipients, and it most likely has to do with the conversion of the attachment -- but beyond that, I'm stumped. Do have any ideas?
Answer: That is usually caused by inline rendering of attachment files in a non-MIME compliant messaging system. Exchange should not have this problem but it does happen from time to time. You may want to see if those recipients are set to convert everything to MSFT rich text or something like that. Since it only happens to those people, they really need to find a fix, not you.
Question: How can I export my Outlook e-mails to Lotus Notes?
Answer: You use the nupgrade.exe program that is installed with the Administration client. You must have Outlook configured and pointing to your PST on the local machine to make this work. You launch nupgrade.exe from a command prompt with the /3 switch, and you are off and running.
Question: How can I send an encrypted e-mail to Exchange from Lotus Notes and back again without having to convert it to plain text in the process?
Answer: You can send it in MIME format using S/MIME (x.509) certificates. The only common protocol between the two systems is SMTP, which is why you use S/MIME. Using the Notes connector and Notes encryption is not possible because the Exchange/Outlook users will not have a Notes key.
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