NOTES CLIENT INSTALLATION AND SMART UPGRADE

Installing the IBM Lotus Notes client on a USB drive
You can install IBM® Lotus® Notes® on a USB 2.0 drive. The Notes on USB feature allows the Notes client to run entirely from a USB drive that can be plugged into any computer without leaving anything behind on the host computer, and without adversely affecting any Notes client installation that exists on the host computer. Lotus Notes client end-users can use the Notes client anywhere, as if they were on their own system, without performing any configuration activities.

Note Installation of Lotus Notes 8 from a USB drive is not supported in Lotus Notes 8. Installation of Lotus Notes 8 basic configuration from a USB drive is supported.

You can use Lotus Notes on USB with roaming users. When a roaming user activates this feature, the roaming user's roaming files are replicated to the USB drive that the roaming user is using.

When you run the setup process (Step 2 in the procedure below), program and data files are installed and an initialization file, AUTORUN.INI, is created. An executable file, AUTORUN.EXE, is also created and stored in the root directory of the install area on the USB drive. Other files are also installed.

When you use the AUTORUN.EXE command (Step 4 in the procedure below) to install the Lotus Notes client onto a computer, a streamlined install process is performed. During the streamlined install process, the USB drive letter is determined, AUTORUN.INI is read, standard Notes registry keys are set and a desktop shortcut is created. During the install process, a temporary directory is also created and the Notes client files are stored in the temporary directory.

Microsoft® Windows® does not natively support autoplay for USB drives; therefore, the autorun process installs and launches the Notes client each time you plug the USB drive into the USB port.

When you remove the USB drive, Lotus Notes is uninstalled and all registry entries and files that were added to the computer are removed. The desktop shortcut, temporary directory and any attachments that you used are also removed. No changes are made to the USB drive.

Prerequisite

Before you begin, obtain the Notes client-only install code and expand the files into a folder on your hard drive, or place the expanded code onto a shared drive for others to access.

Procedure

Complete these steps to install IBM Lotus Notes client on a USB drive:

1. Insert the USB drive into the USB port on your computer.

2. Make note of the drive letter that is assigned to the USB drive because this drive letter assignment is dynamic and will change when you use that USB port in the future.

3. Open a command prompt window and navigate to the folder or directory you created in the prerequisite step.

4. In a command prompt window, enter this command to install Lotus Notes on the USB drive:


5. When the install process completes, run the command AUTORUN.EXE from the root of the USB drive by double-clicking on the filename or by typing the command on the command line.

6. Lotus Notes client is installed and will automatically launch. Complete the Notes setup process as usual.

The AUTORUN.INI file

The AUTORUN.INI file that is created will be similar to this sample file.

[Autorun]

MSI_LOCATION=Z:\Lotus Notes 7.0.2.msi

MSI_COMMANDLINE=/qb PROGDIR="Z:\program files\Lotus\notes\" DATADIR="Z:\program files\Lotus\notes\Data\"

AUTOLAUNCH_NOTES=Yes

AUTORUN_MODE=Yes

TMP_DIR=g:\tmp

The settings in the file AUTORUN.INI are described in the table.
AUTORUN.INI variableDescription
MSI_LOCATION=Specifies the path on the USB drive to the MSI file that is used to perform the install when the USB drive is plugged in. The drive letter is dynamically replaced at run time with the correct drive letter of the USB Drive.
MSI_COMMANDLINE=Specifies the command line that is passed to the program MSIEXEC.EXE that performs the install. The drive letters used in the PROGDIR and DATADIR properties are replaced at run time.
AUTOLAUNCH_NOTES=Specifies that the Lotus Notes client is to open after the USB drive install is complete.

You can set this value to NLNOTES which causes the Notes client to run from the USB drive even if a local version of the Notes client is already running.

To turn off autolaunch, set the value to NO.

AUTORUN_MODE=Specifies that a process is to remain running while the user is logged in. When the user logs out or restarts the system, the process terminates and AUTORUN.EXE needs to be run again. The autorun process causes the Notes install to run automatically when the USB drive is reconnected.

Note Use the autorun startup option that restarts the autorun each time someone logs on.

TEMP_DIR=Specifies the path for the temporary directory in which the Notes client files are stored. This setting enhances security. The drive letter is dynamically replaced. The Notes client also uses the temporary directory for attachments so that attachments are removed with this directory when the USB drive is removed.
See also