Softsphere - Development for administrators

Development for Administrators

Bill Buchan - HADSL

1Monday, 8 October 2007

Bill BuchanDirector, HADSL. We develop administration tools.Dual PCLP in v3, v4, v5, v6, and now v7

(Exam Junkie)Experience in large corporate environments

100,000 + usersExperience in migrating applications

36,000 separate apps in the last five years!

Introduction:1

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This session leads you through best practices for dealing with applications in your environmentAvoid common pitfallsMake your environment more securePrevent developers destroying your environmentBasic coding techniques in

@formulaLotusScript

Introduction:2

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Administrators are from Mars – Developers are from Venus.....

A good developer has some administration skills, and a good administrator has some development skillsThis is why PCLP requires you to take one exam “from the other side”...

This should give you a good kick start on that journey

Introduction: 3

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Development, Test & Production EnvironmentsDeploying ApplicationsSigning AgentsQuick @Formula Language AgentsEssential LotusScriptQuick LotusScript AgentsSummary

Agenda

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You should have:A developers “sandbox”A User Testing DomainA Production System

Why ?Proper change controlAllows developers to simulate system changes

Without destroying your production system!Allows you to test version upgrades

Development, Test & Production: 1

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VMWare is your friend:Workstation < $200Server: Free

Can create multiple partitions, and set breakpointsCan move partitions around between machinesEasy to back up and roll backhttp://www.vmware.com


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http://www.vmware.com/

http://www.vmware.com/

Who has access?

Who deploys Templates ?Administration Team

How do I enforce this?Special Admin-only “Signing ID”


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Isnt this a lot of work?Yes – its more work than normalEncourages less changes and more testing from DevelopersGives you a proper change control mechanism

Prevents:Unauthorised changeDevelopers having Manager access to environment


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Use different certifiers for these domainsAnd have different user ID'sUse multiple notes directories to run multiple clients

DONT use location documents!DONT allow these environments to connect to each other

Its a security weakness


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Agenda

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Process:Developers create/change applications

Create release notesSends template from Dev environment to Administrator

Administrator deploys to Test, asks users to test applicationIF passed testing, deploys application to production

Else start again

Deploying Applications: 1

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Change/Release NotesCreated by DevelopersLists changesOutlines deployment requirements

Dependencies on other databases, PlatformClient version issuesAny “restricted” agentsAny logging and monitoring requirements


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What to watch for:Hardcoded server name, application name or replica ID

Use “profile” documents and document how Administration team sets up application

Scheduled agents What level of access is required

“Trusted Servers” requirementDoes this application access other servers?


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Keep all versions and release notes in a databaseA simple discussion database is a good startEnsures that templates are backed up

Better:Create a version control database

Best:Use a version control and deployment system

such as Ciao! & BuildManager from Teamstudio


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When deployingAlways use “Design, Replace”Always use the “Signing ID”Remember to set any scheduled agentsAccess Control:

Should never contain namesShould always contain groupsGroup name and/or description should point to application


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Agenda

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All scheduled agents should be signed during deployment. Remember: Developers only have “User” rights in production. Their ID may not have access to required databases

This means that you should use a special “Signing” IDSuch as “Template Development/CompanyName”

Signing Agents: 1

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Tighten up securityOnly special ID allowedto run “restricted” agents

Migrating to R6 ?Remember that agents now have a security field which needs to be set

Signing Agents: 2

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Agenda

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What to use @Formula language for:Changes to a number of documents

What NOT to use @Formula language for:User InputComplex validationMulti-document “relational” updatesIf your @formula is more than 15 lines, consider LotusScript

Quick @Formula Agents: 1


Example: Set the CompanyName field to “Acme, Inc.”

Quick @Formula Agents: 2

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Agenda

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LotusScript is better for:Complex transactions, complex business rulesCreating Administration Requests

EG @Formula doesnt “sign” fieldsSome form of UIIts harder to get intoIts easier to Debug

Essential LotusScript: 1

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LotusScript is just like Visual BasicAccessing Notes objects is via the Notes.. Objects

Backend code – document manipulationFrontend code – modifying User Interface documents

Most of your work will beWriting backend agents to modify documentsCall the Notes Administration tools


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Agents can beTriggered by the user from the action barScheduled and ran on workstations and servers

Agents can be passed “selected documents”Agents run as

The user who signed the code on the serverThe current user on the workstation


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Lots of online helpLots of examples in the helpIf you dont understand it – dont do itTest in your development environment!Be careful when changing documents in scheduled

agentsReplication storm!


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Agenda

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A simple agent:Process all selected

documents, and set the company name to “Acme, Inc.”

Quick LotusScript Agents: 1

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Its not as scary as it looks:Everything is an ObjectYou drill down through logical structuresYou can loop

Remember:On-line helpLots and lots of online exampleshttp://www.notes.net


http://www.notes.net/

http://www.notes.net/

Lets ask for some user details, and then register that user.

This is EXAMPLE CODEDont use this in production!


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Lets use AdminP to add a user to a group

Prompt for the new username using the address dialog

Prompt for the group

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Agenda

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Trust no-one!Proper change control saves your careerProgramming isnt hard

(After all, developers do it..)Be cautious

The debugger is your friend

Summary

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Thank you

Worst Practices needs you!Confess your stories….www.TheWorstPractices.com

Bill Buchan http://www.billbuchan.comhadsl http://www.hadsl.com

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http://www.TheWorstPractices.com

http://www.TheWorstPractices.com

Documents

Softsphere - Development for administrators