Introducing Professor INI

NOTES.INI—The very name conjures up images of long-ago days when system administrators knew their OS commands like a second language, and GUIs were for wimps. Nowadays, many things we used to do through NOTES.INI can be done more safely and easily within Domino and Notes. Even so, there are still a number of uses for NOTES.INI. These include:

• Performance tuning
• Accessing system and application parameters
• Sharing information with agents and other code (for example API programs)

As you may have already discovered, finding complete information for all NOTES.INI variables is not always easy. The Domino and Notes documentation covers most of the more commonly used variables. Additional details can be found in Lotus Support's Lotus Notes Knowledge Base and technical articles published in Iris Today and elsewhere. But experienced users still come across new, undocumented variables now and then. And the existing literature on NOTES.INI may not provide all possible uses for all variables.

This column, "Ask Professor INI," will help bridge this gap in NOTES.INI information. We'll introduce new variables and examine in detail how to make better use of old ones. Each month we'll take a close look at one or two particularly useful variables and discuss ways they might help you. We'll also answer some of the questions that you and other readers submit regarding NOTES.INI variables. Our goal is to make you better informed about how and when to use NOTES.INI—and equally important, when not to use it.

To begin, let's look at a few common, basic questions concerning NOTES.INI in general.

Q. Everyone probably knows this already, but just so we all start on the same page—what exactly is NOTES.INI?
NOTES.INI is the initialization file (hence the ".INI") used by the program to set up a Domino server or Notes client. Each server and client has a NOTES.INI file. This includes partitioned servers running on the same machine; each has its own NOTES.INI. The file contains all the environment and preference settings for the client and server. These are stored within variables, of which several hundred exist. A number of variables are commonly used and are included in virtually all NOTES.INI files. Others are used less frequently and may not appear unless manually added. Some variables apply only to the server, others to the client, and some to both.

Q. I've heard you should never touch your NOTES.INI file. Is this true?
Frankly, that's not bad advice for many users, especially if you're relatively new. Even if you're experienced, you should modify NOTES.INI only when necessary (and ideally, while under the guidance of Lotus Support or a similarly qualified Notes/Domino professional). And you shouldn't edit NOTES.INI if there's another way to accomplish what you're trying to do—for example, by setting a preference within Notes. However, if you're an experienced Domino administrator or Notes user who works only with supported, documented variables and carefully observes all necessary precautions (see below), you can modify NOTES.INI without disrupting the operation of Domino or Notes.

Q. Why should I ever need to modify NOTES.INI? Can't I do everything I need through the Domino/Notes interface itself?
For the most part, this is true. However, there are a number of variables for which no corresponding UI exists. One example is ClockType, which sets 12 or 24-hour time on UNIX servers. Many of these represent newly introduced functionality, for instance PercentAvailSysResources for limiting the maximum percentage of system memory used by Domino.

Q. If I do decide to edit NOTES.INI, what's the safest way to do it?
For servers, the safest way to modify this file is through the NOTES.INI Settings tab in the Server Configuration document in the Domino Directory. This lets you add or change variables in the server's NOTES.INI file without having to open and edit the file itself—which could be dangerous if some or all of the file is accidentally changed or deleted. If you do choose to edit the file directly, be sure to create a backup copy you can restore if something goes wrong.

Q. What are some typical uses of NOTES.INI?
We asked Business Partners how they use NOTES.INI. A few said they don't, and emphasized our point above that NOTES.INI should only be modified when there's a very good reason. Others listed numerous uses for NOTES.INI, including:

• Performance tuning. This is probably the most popular use of NOTES.INI. It certainly has the most documentation devoted to it. Many Domino administrators suspect there's some undiscovered NOTES.INI variable out there that would make their lives so much easier if they only knew about it. Others consider NOTES.INI a somewhat overrated tool for enhancing performance. Reality probably lies somewhere in between. Certainly no amount of NOTES.INI tweaking can compensate for an insufficiently configured, under-powered computer. But many administrators find variables such as NSF_Buffer_Pool_Size and Server_Session_Timeout useful tools for fine-tuning server performance. Other widely used performance variables include the AMgr series designed to control Agent Manager.
• Configuring which server tasks to start up automatically. NOTES.INI offers two variables to do this: ServerTasks (for starting tasks at server startup) and ServerTasksAt (for starting tasks at a specified time). Both can help automate Domino administration, which is especially useful when a single administrator is responsible for multiple servers.
• Storing information to share with agents and other code. Although there are often alternate ways of doing this, NOTES.INI is still used frequently for storing information to be shared by external agents and API programs, and sometimes across multiple databases. NOTES.INI can also store information that instructs an API program how to run—for example, which configuration database to read, what import/export libraries to use, and so on.
• Accessing system and application parameters. NOTES.INI can be mined for system parameters such as mail file path and server identification/location. It can also provide application parameters such as time last accessed and duration of activity in a database.
• Add-in menus. The variable AddInMenus instructs the Install program which add-in menus to read into Notes. For at least one Business Partner, this line is "essential."
• Global information sharing. In earlier releases, NOTES.INI was often used to enforce a standard set of user preferences across an organization. Many administrators now find Profile documents a more convenient way to do this. But some still prefer NOTES.INI, finding it a more "global" tool for this task.
• Controlling servlet actions. This is useful if there are simple access limits on each server. In some instances, using NOTES.INI to control servlets is faster and more reliable than using a configuration database.
• Client vs. user based variables. Often, a single PC may be used by two or more users. NOTES.INI can help keep track of "machine" information as opposed to "user" information—for example, to determine whether an LSX is installed and updated, or whether some other component is configured.

Q. When I look at my NOTES.INI file, I see lots of variables that aren't described in the documentation. Why don't you document them?
There are a number of reasons a variable might not be described in the documentation, including:

• It's unsupported. Some variables are intended for short-term internal use only. These variables may be added to or removed from the product without notice and are not intended for customer use. A number of DEBUG variables fall into this category. We strongly recommend you never work with undocumented variables unless instructed to do so by Lotus Support.
• Customers should not modify it. Many variables are dynamic, used for on-the-fly storage of information. Examples include any variable preceded by a dollar sign ($). These variables should never be changed because doing so could disrupt or even crash Notes.
• The information is unavailable. Even after weeding out unsupported and uneditable ones, there are still some perfectly good variables that should be documented but aren't. This can occur whenever a variable is added late in the product release cycle, after the documentation is complete. Obviously we try to minimize the number of such situations and correct them as quickly as possible, but we probably still have some useful variables missing from the documentation. "Ask Professor INI" will devote special attention to these variables, identifying and describing them as soon as we get the necessary information.

Q. What's the best source for NOTES.INI information?
For Business Partners, the most complete NOTES.INI information can be found in the Admin Best Practices (ABP) discussion database on server LPDP. Here is posted the latest NOTES.INI documentation, along with contributions added by Business Partners. The ABP includes numerous variables that don't appear in the product documentation, with considerably more information on their use.

For customers who don't have access to LPDP, the Domino Administration Help for R5 releases, which are viewable on-line, are the most complete references for NOTES.INI. These include a listing of supported variables, with sections describing how to edit NOTES.INI for performance tuning. In addition, Lotus Support's Lotus Notes Knowledge Base contains numerous Technotes on NOTES.INI variables and how to use them.

Q. Where does "Ask Professor INI" fit in?
This column's primary goal is to supplement the above sources of NOTES.INI information. Our monthly format lets us present the most up-to-date material possible. This will be especially convenient for introducing new variables added to the latest QMRs. We'll feature one or two variables each month, pulling together all available documentation on them into one convenient article. And we'll talk about new ways to use existing variables, presenting information beyond what has already been published. This will include real-world examples of how some variables are used and by whom.

Perhaps most importantly, we'll try to answer any questions you have about NOTES.INI in general or any variable in particular. For this column to be successful, we will rely heavily on your questions. These will allow us to collect and present NOTES.INI information of practical use to you and others within the Notes/Domino community, so all can better understand and use this valuable and important tool.