In order to perform a Lotus Domino server upgrade from R6/R7 to R8, the following processes should be followed.

Before Upgrading

1. Open a command window (Start -> Run -> type "cmd" -> click Enter).
    
2. Navigate to the file system folder where the Domino server is installed (same directory where nserver.exe is located).
    
3. From that path, type the Domino server command in the command window, adding the letter "n" before the name of the Domino server task, as follows:

                 nfixup names.nsf -f -j -v -l 
                 ncompact names.nsf -c -i 
                 nupdall admin4.nsf -R
                 nupdall admin4.nsf -X 

A. Run fixup (consistency check) against all databases using the following command:

Fixup -f -j -v -l 

Note: If you are running transaction logging, you must use the -j switch.

B. Run updall against all databases using the following commands:

    Updall -R
    Updall -X

C. Consider using Server_Restricted to block users allowing administrators to work.

D. Make backup copies of all files, including transactional logging if enabled.

Steps for Upgrading

Upgrade as follows:

1. Install the Domino 8 Administrator client in order to administer the Domino 8 server.
   
   Note: The three Notes-based clients are Notes, Domino Administrator, and Domino Designer. Domino Administrator is not the same as the standard Notes client but a superset of that product.
    
2. Upgrade the Domino domain administration server (the administration server listed in ACL of names.nsf) and the Domino Directory design to Domino 8.
    
3. Replicate the Domino Directory to the other servers.
   
   Note: It is recommended to replicate ONLY the 8.x Domino Directory design elements to 6.5x, 7.x, and 8.x servers.
   Important! If using Microsoft Windows platform, do no restart the operating system at this time. You could experience a hang when starting Domino.
    
4. Run the following commands to upgrade the Domino domain administration server's names.nsf and admin4.nsf and complete initial maintenance from a command line.
   • Run the design task
     
         design -f names.nsf
                   design -f admin4.nsf
    
5. Rebuild system views in the Domino Directory after upgrading
   
   There are several views in the Domino Directory (names.nsf) that use unicode standard collation and which must be rebuilt immediately after upgrading to Domino 8. The Domino server knows the collation versions and automatically rebuilds the view indexes when the server needs to use them.
   
   When the Domino server starts, it accesses two important views, $Users and $ServerAccess. The server stops and waits for these views to rebuild. If the Domino Directory is a large file, rebuilding the two views requires a substantial amount of time. After upgrading to Domino 8, during the first server restart, the server may stop while waiting for the views to rebuild. During this time, the server console will display initial information regarding the Domino server.
    
6. Rebuilding the database design collections:
   
   To correct a potential defect, a one-time rebuild of the design collection for each database will occur when either the design task or the index task is run on the database. If view events are being logged (LOG_VIEW_EVENTS=1), messages related to this activity may be observed on the console and in log.nsf. For example:
   
   Informational, rebuild view needed - collection object was deleted (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
   Informational, rebuilding view - no container or index (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
   Informational, rebuilding view - user specified REBUILD (reading C:\server\e.nsf default design note Title:'')
   
   Databases will still be accessible while this rebuild is happening but noticeable resource contention may be seen.
   It may be advantageous to run the index updater against your databases with the server down, when possible.
    
7. Start the Domino server.
   
   Note: If you are running any third-party applications that use the 7.x Domino Directory design, do not replicate the design of the Domino Directory to those servers until the Domino 8 design is certified by the third-party vendor.
    
8. Upgrade the Resource & Reservations database.
    
9. Use the same procedure to:
   • Upgrade the Hub servers
   • Upgrade the Mail servers
   • Upgrade the SMTP servers
   • Upgrade the Web serversUpgrade the Application servers
   • Any third-party/companion product server (check for Domino 8 readiness)
   
   and then
   
   
   • Upgrade the general population of Notes Client users to Notes 8.

Note: If you are upgrading your executives to the Notes 8 client, upgrade their assistants to Notes 8 at the same time. This will alleviate any limitations when managing calendars.

DO NOT upgrade the mail file templates before upgrading the user's Notes 8.x client. Lastly, replace the design of any databases and mail files with any new Notes 8 design changes.

Note: For mail files, the convert command should be run on the Domino 8 server to upgrade the design of the mail file. Do NOT use the Designer task to upgrade the design of the mail file. For more information on using the convert task, refer to the topic, "Upgrading mail files with the mail conversion utility" in the Notes/Domino 8.0.x Release Notes.