HCL Domino v12 Beta 3 Has Arrived
What a blast! In our webinar hosted this week, we announced Beta 3 is now available for download on Flexnet for all Domino customers. Watch the replay here. This will be the last beta drop before the v12 release so don’t miss your chance to participate and help us shape the future of Domino! In this third iteration, we are unleashing another set of great features. See the full list here or read highlights below.
We’ve also included a Q&A received during our webinar and a special shoutout to all our customers and partners who covered our beta in blogs and tweets below!
Notes Client Highlights
New 64bit Notes Basic Client
For the first time ever, we are releasing a 64-bit Notes Basic client for beta testing. Many of our customers have been voting for this and we’re pleased to deliver. (See this idea from Cormac.)
Our main intent for this release is to engage customers, business partners, and third-party vendors to try out 64-bit Windows Basic version and test existing extension integrations. Our plan is to provide several iterations of this 64-bit client in beta and once we feel that we have addressed most of the known and reported issues, we will release the Standard 64-bit client.
More Improvements for the Workspace
In Beta 2, we introduced a new Notes client user interface for the workspace. Thanks to all your feedback, we have addressed several improvement requests such as reducing excessive spacing between icons and adding the ability to change the font color of workspace database icon (which is also policy controlled). Now you can also partially or completely collapse the workspace navigator and easily identify multiple replicas with the added a visual indicator. Read more here:
Apple M1 Support
Good news for customers planning to use Apple’s new M1 hardware with HCL Notes. Beta 3 now also supports those type of CPUs.
Domino Server
Password Synchronization
A new secure method to synchronize password changes from Active Directory to Domino allows customers to reduce the number of passwords that users have to remember. Password changes from Active Directory are instantly being applied to the Domino IDVault.
Domino Backup
An integrated backup solution that allows you to manage backup and restore processes from within a Domino application. It provides a simple backup client for Domino. (See this idea from Sean.)
Entitlement Tracker
This new entitlement tracker will help to take an inventory of your environment to identify the entitlements needed under the new CCB/CCX license model.
For more details about the license model please refer to the following articles on CCB Licensing and CCX Licensing or review documentation here.
Other Enhancements
- OnDiskStructure (ODS) changed to 55
- Domino OSGI Tasklet Service (DOTS) is back
- HCL Verse 2.0.1 is included with the Domino v12.0 install kit as a .zip file.
Questions and Answers
We received more than 300 questions in our Q&A earlier this week. We’ve answered some of your key questions below. However, if you have an unanswered question about the beta, please submit them in the beta forum.
Q: How do I join the beta program?
A: If you are a current customer, then you already have access to the beta. More details here.
Q: Does the new Domino Backup allow for backing up NSF and NTF files?
A: Yes.
Q: Does it need a new volume to be mounted in Docker?
A: You need a volume because you want your backup to be preserved, you can use the same volume as for your data directory or a different one.
Q: Do unread marks get lost when restoring?
A: No, for a full restore the unread marks will be recovered. When merging individual documents back into the original database, merged documents will have a new UNID and so unread marks will be different.
Q: Is the backup system compatible with IBM Spectrum Protect?
A: It is possible to integrate with a variety of backup vendors, however for Spectrum Protect there is no need to change as there is an existing backup agent for Domino.
Q: Will Verse support updating photos in the Domino Directory instead of Connections?
A: Yes, Verse will release a new version in April, so in just a few days, which will support this.
Q: Will Nomad Web be available with v12 beta or do we need to get access to another beta program?
A: Nomad Web runs its own beta program. If you want to participate, register here.
Q: Is it possible to sync passwords back to AD?
A: No, a Domino server does not have a copy of the Notes UserID password.
Q: Is there a chance we’ll see Sametime Community, or Traveler also on Docker?
A: Yes, Traveler on Docker is part of this beta. Sametime to be provided later.
Q: Can I have page 25 of the handouts? I am a guitarist and server names are EPIC.
A: You can find the slides here – Domino v12 Beta 3. Rock On!
Q: Can I use any TOTP application?
A: Yes, any TOTP application of your choice will work.
Q: Who can I talk to for some sparring of upgrading a customer from R7.03 to 11.0.1FP2 or version 12?
A: Please reach out to Luis Guirigay, luis.guirigay@hcl.com.
Q: Where can I provide feedback on a feature or report a problem?
A: Please use our Domino v12 beta forum.
Q: When is Domino v12 be released?
A: v12 is scheduled to be released prior to launch but mark your calendars for the live announcement event on June 7th 2021.
Customer Feedback So Far
We’re so excited to hear your experiences with the beta so far! Please keep them coming and don’t forget to tag us on Twitter, @HCLDigital, for a retweet.
Special thanks go to Haruyuki Nakano for deploying Beta 3 and testing the new Domino Backup solution just a few minutes after the webcast.
Ales Lichtenberg also tested the new Backup solution backup in his test environment to and he seems to like it!
Marc-Oliver Schaake saying (translated): Thomas Hampel is showing features we have been waiting for since 1989.
Please read and share Rainer Brandl’s blog about Beta3 containing “a great surprise”.
Milan Matejic nicely summarizing what he likes the most in this iteration of the Beta.
Oliver Busse being has been actively blogging about v12 testing the Domino 12 backup feature and highlighting UI changes here and here.
Great note from our Nordic Collaboration User group about our Connections Plugin.
Past Beta Blogs
