Sidelog – a Notes sidebar plugin for Domino admins

This entry was posted in Review Software Tips and tagged Domino Plugin Widget on by

In a bid to see what additional functionality can be added to the Notes client sidebar – I was interested to read about a widget called Sidelog which gives access to the latest console messages on a domino server.

You can grab the app from here http://www.jeffgilfelt.com/SideLog/ and Jeff’s instructions are

Installation

SideLog requires Lotus Notes 8.x running in its standard Eclipse configuration. There are several plug-in installation methods available depending upon the version of your Notes client and how it is managed and configured by your administrator. Refer to the specific IBM documentation for more information.

Via ‘My Widgets’:

  1. Select the menu option File > Preferences > Widgets. Make sure ‘Show Widget Toolbar and the My Widgets Sidebar panel’ is checked
  2. Drag the following link to your My Widgets sidebar panel to commence the installation process: extension.xml << — note you need to be on the  http://www.jeffgilfelt.com/SideLog/ for that to work !!
  3. Agree to the terms in the license agreement, click Next then Finish to begin installation
  4. When installation is complete you will be prompted to restart your Notes client
  5. After the restart, SideLog will appear in your Lotus Notes sidebar

Via Update Site:

If you have never installed plug-ins before, your Notes client may be configured by default to prevent the installation of Eclipse plug-ins. Locate and open the following file:

Windows: {notes install dir}frameworkrcpplugin_customization.ini
Linux: /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/framework/rcp/plugin_customization.ini
Mac OS X: /Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/rcp/plugin_customization.ini

Add the line com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true if it is not already present, then restart the client.

  1. Select File – Application – Install
  2. Select ‘Search for new features to install’ and click Next
  3. Click ‘Add Remote Location…’ and enter the following:
    • Name: SideLog Update Site
    • URL: http://www.jeffgilfelt.com/eclipseplugins/
  4. Click OK, then Finish to connect to the Update Site
  5. Expand the site tree, and select Notes 8.x Plug-ins > SideLog for IBM Lotus Notes 8 …, then click Next
  6. Agree to the terms in the license agreement, click Next then Finish to begin installation
  7. When installation is complete you will be prompted to restart your Notes client
  8. After the restart, SideLog will appear in your Lotus Notes sidebar

Once restarted you will need to  select the server in question that you wish to monitor – obviously you will need appropriate rights to do that as a notes user. So far I have found it quite useful as it allows me to check users access this server as I am about to decommision it.

Happy Monitoring !!