MAIL

Replicating mail files that use shared mail
By default, when you replicate a primary mail file that uses shared mail to another server, messages in the new replica are added to the mail file as complete documents, even if shared mail is also enabled on the destination server. Similarly, all future messages replicated from the primary mail file to the replica mail file are also added as complete documents. This is necessary, because not only does shared mail prohibit a mail file on one server from accessing messages in an object store on another server, but the security settings prevent shared mail databases from replicating between servers.

Enabling shared mail for replica mail files

By default, after you replicate a mail file to a shared mail server, the new replica does not use shared mail for either existing messages or messages added during future replications. Enabling shared mail for replicas of mail files increases the available space on servers that contain mail files that are populated using replication. If a user's primary mail server is unavailable, the user can retrieve message content by accessing the replica mail file from the shared mail database on the secondary server.

To have the replica use shared mail, you can:

Enabling messages added during replication to be placed in the object store

When shared mail is enabled on a server, mail files hosted on the server automatically use shared mail for new messages received through the IBM® Lotus® Domino™ routing process. However, when the replication process, rather than the Router, adds new mail to a replica mail file, by default, the mail file stores the mail as complete documents.

To enable messages added during replication to be placed in the object store

To enable messages added during replication to be placed in the object store, you must set a mail file to always use shared mail. Enter this command at the console of the server that stores the replica mail files and that uses shared mail:


where USERMAIL.NSF is the name of a replica mail file or a directory that contains replica mail files. For example,
causes Domino to store the content of messages replicated to DMALONE.NSF in one of the configured shared mail databases on the server during future replications.

To split messages that were previously replicated and place the message bodies in a shared mail database, use the Load Object Link command.

For more information on the Load Object Link command, see the topic Linking unshared messages in a mail file to the object store.

To enable existing messages in a replica to be placed in the object store

To have a mail file use shared mail for messages that already existed at the initial replication, link the mail file to the object store on the second server. For more information on linking a mail file to an object store, see the topic Linking unshared messages in a mail file to the object store.

To disable shared mail for replica mail files

Enter this command at the console of the server that stores the replica mail files:


where USERMAIL.NSF is the name of a replica mail file or a directory that contains replica mail files.

Using shared mail with Domino clusters

For a Domino cluster in which some servers have shared mail enabled, you can create replicas of user mail files, and use cluster replication to increase mail reliability. Although you cannot use cluster replication to keep shared mail databases synchronized, you can use cluster replication to replicate information to another mail file replica and then configure that replica to use shared mail on the local server. Each server in the cluster must have shared mail enabled.

Use these steps on each cluster member server that hosts replica mail files. Once activated, Domino clustering (not the Domino Router task) automatically splits any replicated messages into their header and content portions, saving the headers in the individual mail databases and the content portions in the shared mail database on the target server.

You can also use this same procedure for mail file replicas located on servers not in a cluster -- that is, servers kept synchronized by standard Domino replication.

See also