Lotus Domino Administrator 8 Help - Creating and using an NSF-based update site

NOTES CLIENT INSTALLATION AND SMART UPGRADE

Creating and using an NSF-based update site
You can use an NSF-based update site to install and update custom or third-party Eclipse features into an existing IBM® Lotus® Notes® 8 installation.

The UPDATESITE.NTF template is part of the Lotus Notes 8 and IBM® Lotus® Domino™ 8 installation. Use this template to can create an NSF-based update site to act as an Eclipse update site hosted in a Lotus Notes application. The NSF-based update site dynamically provides the SITE.XML, features, and plug-ins.

You can use the UPDATESITE.NTF template as the basis for your own NSF-based update site by creating an update site application, for example UPDATESITE.NSF, as seen in the following menu sequence:

1. Click File - Application - New menu.

2. Click Show advanced Templates and specify the Eclipse Update Site (8) template (UPDATESITE.NTF) as the template.

Note You can name the NSF-based update site any name you choose; however, you must use Eclipse Update Site (8) (UPDATESITE.NTF) as the template.

When you first open the NSF-based update site, for example, UPDATESITE.NSF, there are three main action buttons available. These import actions are not mutually exclusive. For example, an administrator might initially import an entire Eclipse update site and later choose to import specific additional or updated features. In the same manner, the administrator may later choose to import an additional NSF-based update site. Note that once the NSF-based update site contains content, a fourth button is also available, enabling you to specify the NSF-based update site as the location from which to obtain feature updates.

Action Buttons Description

Import Local Update Site Use this action to import the contents of a local Eclipse update site, containing a complete features subdirectory, plugins subdirectory, and SITE.XML file into the active NSF-based update site. You can import one or more Eclipse update sites into a single, consolidated NSF-based update site. For example, if you have three separate Eclipse update sites, you do not need to create three individual NSF-based update sites. While that is an option, organizationally it might be easier to simply consolidate them into a single one.

Import Features Use this action to import individual features into the NSF-based update site instead of importing a complete Eclipse update site. There are two typical scenarios for using this action:

A developer creates new features. Instead of exporting an entire update site, the developer exports only the particular feature he's working on and imports those features into the NSF-based update site. In this scenario case, the NSF-based update site would only contain that particular feature (and whatever plug-ins are associated with that particular feature).
An administrator who previously imported a complete Eclipse update site (using the "Import Local Update Site" action), later receives updated features. The administrator can then import these individual features into his existing, and already populated, NSF-based update site. If the features he imports already exist, the features are either updated in the database (if the feature name and version is the same) or added as a new feature (if the feature name and version is different or doesn't yet exist).

Import Database Use this action to import an existing NSF-based update site into the active NSF-based update site. This is similar to importing Eclipse update sites, except that the contents are imported from an existing NSF-based update site. For example, an administrator may have an existing NSF-based update site (for example, UPDATESITE.NSF). A developer may provide him with another (probably smaller) NSF-based update site (for example, UPDATESITEABX.NSF). The administrator can import the entire NSF-based update site into his active NSF-based update site, effectively merging the content of both into a single NSF-based update site.

Update URL references Note This action is available in NSF-based update sites that contain features and plug-ins.
Use this action to specify that Eclipse features and plug-ins are updated from the active NSF-based update site. Imported features and plug-ins may contain a specified update site URL, from which updates are to be obtained. As an administrator, you can determine that updates come from your NSF-based update site, rather than a source URL that may, for example, be outside your organization's control. You can specify an NSF-based update site as the site from which to obtain updates. Specify the URL of the Domino server hosting the active NSF-based update site. Example syntax is provided in the dialog box.

For information about how to create the NSF-based update site, see the topic Creating and preparing the updatesite.nsf.

For information about using an NSF-based update site with composite applications, see the topic Configuring component update for composite applications.

For additional information about NSF-based update sites, see the composite applications blog at IBM developerWorks, for example, the NSF-based update site posting at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/CompApps?entry=nsf_based_update_sites and the site index at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/CompApps?entry=blog_sitemap.

Enabling and using third-party feature installation and update in Notes

Glossary

Feedback on Help or Product Usability?

Help on Help

All Help Contents

Glossary

Action Buttons	Description
Import Local Update Site	Use this action to import the contents of a local Eclipse update site, containing a complete features subdirectory, plugins subdirectory, and SITE.XML file into the active NSF-based update site. You can import one or more Eclipse update sites into a single, consolidated NSF-based update site. For example, if you have three separate Eclipse update sites, you do not need to create three individual NSF-based update sites. While that is an option, organizationally it might be easier to simply consolidate them into a single one.
Import Features	Use this action to import individual features into the NSF-based update site instead of importing a complete Eclipse update site. There are two typical scenarios for using this action: A developer creates new features. Instead of exporting an entire update site, the developer exports only the particular feature he's working on and imports those features into the NSF-based update site. In this scenario case, the NSF-based update site would only contain that particular feature (and whatever plug-ins are associated with that particular feature). An administrator who previously imported a complete Eclipse update site (using the "Import Local Update Site" action), later receives updated features. The administrator can then import these individual features into his existing, and already populated, NSF-based update site. If the features he imports already exist, the features are either updated in the database (if the feature name and version is the same) or added as a new feature (if the feature name and version is different or doesn't yet exist).
Import Database	Use this action to import an existing NSF-based update site into the active NSF-based update site. This is similar to importing Eclipse update sites, except that the contents are imported from an existing NSF-based update site. For example, an administrator may have an existing NSF-based update site (for example, UPDATESITE.NSF). A developer may provide him with another (probably smaller) NSF-based update site (for example, UPDATESITEABX.NSF). The administrator can import the entire NSF-based update site into his active NSF-based update site, effectively merging the content of both into a single NSF-based update site.
Update URL references	Note This action is available in NSF-based update sites that contain features and plug-ins. Use this action to specify that Eclipse features and plug-ins are updated from the active NSF-based update site. Imported features and plug-ins may contain a specified update site URL, from which updates are to be obtained. As an administrator, you can determine that updates come from your NSF-based update site, rather than a source URL that may, for example, be outside your organization's control. You can specify an NSF-based update site as the site from which to obtain updates. Specify the URL of the Domino server hosting the active NSF-based update site. Example syntax is provided in the dialog box.