Skip to main content

HCL and Domino and the Rest API - 1 Installation

I've been meaning to write this post for at least a year but these days I'm always too busy for blogging. Last year, we embarked on a project in which we wanted to regularly exchange data between Domino and a SQL server database on Azure. 


We looked at several third party options before realizing that HCL Domino had what we needed built-in and out of the box - even better, HCL also had a "codeless" solution (Foundry) available to us to do the whole transfer. 

This post will most likely be the first part of a series that covers the REST API and a bit of Foundry. I'm no expert on either but there's not a lot of information out there so anything is better than nothing. 

Prepping the Environment

Before embarking on our API journey, we upgraded our servers to Domino 12.0.2. It's something of a sore point with me that people think that it's fine to leave Domino on much older versions, for example, release 9. It isn't. Old versions of any software have security holes and Domino is no exception. Unless you're happy working on Windows 95 and Word 97 and you don't have any internet services, you should always be on the latest. 

Just consider how you will explain your "cost cutting" to your board of directors when your systems have been hacked. Don't take the risk, stay up to date. 

Installing the REST API

You can find HCL's REST API Documentation here. It took me a little while to figure out how to install it. Essentially, you need to add Java to your file path and use a command line installer to get the REST API running. It was quite a while ago but our command line was something like this.

C:\Users\adminauspay>d: 

D:\>cd D:\Install\07 REST API 1.0.3 

D:\Install\07 REST API 1.0.3>java -jar restapiInstall.jar -d="D:\Lotus\Domino\data" -i="D:\Lotus\Domino\notes.ini" -p="D:\Lotus\Domino" -r="D:\Lotus\Domino\restapi" -a 


At the time, we were installing REST API 1.0.3 but we quickly upgraded to 1.0.4.

Once the command line has run and things are set up correctly you can get to the REST API using a command line similar to this.

https://ourserver.ourdomain.com:8880/

If https isn't working for you, try http. Essentially, you' re looking for a screen similar to the following:



Port 8880

One of the first things you need to be thinking about at this point is -- "What do I do about Port 8880?"
You can change this port if you want but it's worth remembering that any hacker with a port scanner will still be able to find it. The answer to the security questions will depend on your server setup.
  • If your server only has publicly accessible materials on it, You might consider allowing the port to stay as is but you should at the very least have some very responsive firewalling around it. 

  • If your server has a mix of public and private information on it, then you should consider replicating the public material to a new server that will become your Public REST API server (assuming you're making those APIs public) and then setting up replication for the data on that server to be available on whatever other servers you need it on.  Those other servers should be behind firewalls.

  • If your API service is entirely for internal use, then you might want to consider firewalling that port so that it's only available to certain endpoints. This could force users to have a VPN or if it's talking to an application, such as a HCL Foundry server or other service, you could have the port locked to a single set of IP Addresses. 
If in doubt, call in some network experts.

In my next post, I'll cover some basic API calls and testing.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Change Your Notification Options for New Lotus Notes Mail in version 8.x

Don't worry, I'm not patronizing you (my readers), I just decided to re-document this for one of our internal users and thought you might want to be able to use it in your own user documentation. WHAT IS THIS DOCUMENT ABOUT? Some people who don't get a lot of mail, like to be notified when such an event occurs. Notification can be; via a sound via a pop-up box via the system tray (where the computer clock is) The pop up box looks like this; Other people, who like myself, get too much mail would rather not be notified. The aim of this document is to tell you how (and where) to turn these options on and off. CHANGING YOUR SETTINGS To change your settings from the Notes 8.x client; On the Menu, click File , then Preferences... On the left hand side , click on the little plus sign to the left of Mail to expand the options. Click on the option marked Sending and Receiving . In the middle section, under receiving, you can control your notifications. If you untick the box mark...
12 comments
Read more

How to Create a Bootable DVD Using Nero Burning ROM 9

I often need to create bootable CDs and DVDs but it's weird because I frequently end up buring myself a new coaster instead. It's not that the process is difficult, just that nero has a few too many options and I forget which ones to choose and end up picking the wrong one. I figured that the best way to avoid this mistake in future would be to write the steps down. Procedure Insert CD or DVD into your DVD Burner. Start Nero Burning ROM 9 Choose DVD-ROM (Boot) or CD-ROM (Boot) depending on what you're creating You'll be prompted for a disk image source. Choose a Nero Source - you'll usually find them somewhere like this... C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero9\Nero Burning Rom\DOSBootImage.ima Leave the Boot Locale as English - unless you really need a different keyboard layout Tick the box marked [X] Enable Expert Settings Choose Hard Drive Emulation and leave any other settings as they are. Click the button marked New Add any files you want but don't try to add operati...
11 comments
Read more

How to Create an Auto-Response Mail Message in Lotus Notes 8.5.3+

Why would you do this? Suppose that you have an externally accessible generic email address for your company; support@mycompany.com or info@mycompany.com. You might expose this to the web and allow people to send messages to you. Setting up an auto-response email will tell the senders that their message reached its destination and that it will be dealt with accordingly.  It's also good practice to include links to FAQs or other useful information. Why 8.5.3 The techniques we'll be using here work in older versions of Notes but some of the options seem to have moved around in 8.5.3.  I figured it was a good time to show you where they've moved to. The Procedure Start Domino Designer and open the Mail file to be modified.  A really quick way to do this is to right-click on the application tab and choose "Open in Designer". In the Left hand panel of designer, expand Code and then double-click Agents.  A new window should appear. Click the action ...
22 comments
Read more