Coexistence Manager for Notes 3.8.4 - User Guide

Notes user retrieves F/B data for an Outlook user

A query-and-reply in the opposite direction, Notes-to-Exchange, is basically the same, although the details vary somewhat because Domino’s interface to external systems is different from Exchange’s.

Again, the process described here is for a disparate namespace or subdomains scenario, but the F/B Connector also supports a shared/single namespace. And again, the step numbers in this simplified process narrative correspond to the circled numbers in the illustration below.

In this scenario, Joe (a Lotus Notes user) wants to book a meeting with Sally, an Outlook user, whose address is sally@e‑sitraka.com:

NOTE: CMN Domino FBC Service and the Autodiscover and EWS web services are not used at all for F/B queries and replies in this direction (for a Domino query and an Exchange reply).

FBC installation and configuration

CMN’s Free/Busy Connector (FBC) supports F/B coexistence for an on-premises Exchange, or for a hybrid or non-hybrid Office 365 (“O365”) scenario. For a hybrid O365 (O365 synced to an on-premises Exchange), CMN’s FBC is configured between Notes/Domino and the local on-premises Exchange, and synchronization of the local Exchange to O365 is configured apart from CMN (described in Microsoft documentation).

CMN also supports F/B coexistence for either a single (shared) namespace environment (equivalent domain names) or separate (multiple) namespaces. In a single-namespace environment, equivalent domains are mapped to the primary domain in the Exchange server or Domino server.

The configuration procedures for different combinations of these factors are lengthy and complex, and therefore are documented in a separate FBC Scenarios Guide that accompanies the other documentation in the CMN product kit. See the FBC Scenarios Guide for procedures and application notes for installing and configuring CMN’s Free/Busy Connector in all of these Exchange-side scenarios:

CMN’s F/B Connector also supports several variations to the primary scenarios listed above. Accommodations for these variations are included in the configuration instructions in the FBC Scenarios Guide, and we summarize them briefly here:

F/B Connector Performance Counters

Quest CMN generates sets of performance counters for its Free/Busy Connector that feed live data to Windows' System Monitor feature. If you are unfamiliar with Windows' System Monitor feature, or how to add Quest CMN counters to the System Monitor view, see your Microsoft documentation and/or visit the System Monitor online Help for more information.

The Quest CMN Free/Busy Connector includes these performance counters:

F/B Connector Management Console

The CMN Management Console contains four screens for configuring the Free/Busy Connector. The Management Console saves F/B Connector configuration data in several data files. The Free/Busy Connector configuration files, unlike the config files for the DC and Mail Connector, are fixed at their default filenames and locations, and should not be opened or edited except through CMN’s Management Console.

The Free/Busy Connector actually consists of two separate processes: one for the query-reply path in each direction. The Management Console therefore groups the Free/Busy configuration screens into two subgroups:

Chapter 1 of the User Guide explains the basic operating concepts for the CMN Management Console. The topics below provide field notes for the Management Console screens that pertain to the Free/Busy Connector.