IBM WebSphere Portal Unified Task List Portlet - Developer Pack

Saw this in the Catalog today, whilst looking for something completely different ;-)

The developer package includes a jump start example which covers the processing of a sample business process from start to finish in WebSphere Portal. It should be used with the UTL catalog bundle to enable you to quickly create and configure an end to end task processing scenario for use on WebSphere Portal Server with WebSphere Process Server as the back end business process engine.

The Unified Task List Developer Pack provides a start to finish business process sample solution for ®WebSphere Portal Server and WebSphere Process Server. The Developer Package is provided to allow you to get started quickly with the Unified Task List Portlet for WebSphere Portal Server and the Business Process Support builders for WebSphere Portlet Factory which are included with Unified Task List Catalog entry(See link below to download.) Inside the Developer Pack you will find the start to finish sample for managing business process transactions in WebSphere Portal Server using WebSphere Process Server as the business process engine. There are also sample WebSphere Portlet Factory models provided to show how to quickly and easily create human task processing portlets for WebSphere Portal Server using the Business Process Support builders for Portlet Factory included in the Unified Task List catalog bundle. The Unified Task List Developer Pack should be used in conjunction with the Unified Task List Portlet for WebSphere Portal Server v7.0. This download also includes and older version of the Unified Task List Portlet for use with Portal Server versions older then Portal Server 6.1.5. 

Included in the Unified Task List Developer Pack

• Sample Business Process for WebSphere Process Server
• Sample war file which includes the task processing Portlets for the Business Process.
• WebSphere Portlet Factory Archive which includes the sample Portlets source and all their dependencies.
• An older unsupported version of the Unified Task List for use with Portal Server versions older then Portal Server 6.1.5. 

Prerequisite Software:

Unified Task List Portlet for Portal Server:

https://greenhouse.lotus.com/plugins/plugincatalog.nsf/assetDetails.xsp?action=editDocument&documentId=B83A591CD238D9AA85257706006AE752

Wiki Documentation:

UTL Dev Pack: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/dx/Draft_Unified_Task_List_Developer_Pack
UTL: http://wiki1.swg.usma.ibm.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/dx/Unified_Task_List

IBM Redbooks - Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software V8 Programming Guide

The WebSphere Application Server support team posted this to Twitter earlier today.

IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software V8 is the full-function Eclipse 3.6 technology-based development platform for developing Java Platform, Standard Edition Version 6 (Java SE 6) and Java Platform, Enterprise Edition Version 6 (Java EE 6) applications. Beyond this function, Rational Application Developer provides development tools for technologies, such as OSGi, Service Component Architecture (SCA), Web 2.0, and XML. It has a focus on applications to be deployed to IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM WebSphere Portal.

Rational Application Developer provides integrated development tools for all development roles, including web developers, Java developers, business analysts, architects, and enterprise programmers.

This IBM Redbooks publication is a programming guide that highlights the features and tooling included with Rational Application Developer V8.0.1. Many of the chapters provide working examples that demonstrate how to use the tooling to develop applications and achieve the benefits of visual and rapid application development. This publication is an update of Rational Application Developer V7.5 Programming Guide, SG24-7672.


The redbook is here with the PDF downloadable here.

Worth a read if you're looking to use RAD for your RAD :-)

Want to know what goes best with what ? Then check this out ...

A friend had previously mentioned this a few months back, but the factoid had only made my L1 cache, and had been flushed from memory :-(

Today, another IBM colleague, Michael Alexander, also mentioned it on Twitter, so I thought I'd write it down before I forget it :-)

Over at IBM.COM, there's a rather useful little site entitled Software product compatibility reports which produces seports about compatible software combinations.

As an example, want to know about the operating systems that support IBM WebSphere Process Server v7 ? Then check out this sample report.

Reports include: -

Operating systems for a specific product

Usage: Find out all the operating systems on which a product you have in mind runs.
 

Products that use a specific operating system

Usage: Find out all the products that are supported by an operating system you have in mind

 

Matrix between specific product(s) and desired operating systems

Usage: Find out if a set of software products runs on operating systems you have in mind.

Want to know more ? Then go and check it out here.

Firefox 4 - Rearranging the user experience

Thanks to Andrew Frayling, and to this blog - Sudobits - posting for helping me with something about which I did not know.

Me on Twitter @1835 today   Dear Firefox 4, I quite liked having the home icon to the LEFT of the address bar, so why oh why did you have to put it to the RIGHT ? #fail

Andy on Twitter @ 1840 today   @david_hay you can customise the toolbar in FF4 - http://t.co/Kh1ja8k

Me on Twitter @ 1844 today   @SphericalN now *THAT* I like :-) Cheers, Andy, muchos gracias, senor

In other words, Firefox 4 allows one to customize the UI simply right clicking anywhere in the toolbar, and choosing "Customize".

Simple, or what ?

Have you used IBM Connections or LotusLive ? Then this is NOT for you :-)

Again, I got this from the LotusUserGroup.org newsletter ...

IBM Collaboration Solutions Information Development is looking for volunteers who have never used IBM Lotus Connections or IBM LotusLive, or are new/novice users of either product, to participate in a usability evaluation that is focusing on the overall "getting started" experience with our Lotus and WebSphere Portal products.

A usability evaluation lasts 90 minutes and is conducted via phone and web conference, so anyone can participate regardless of location. This usability study will be conducted May 2 - 10.

If you are interested in participating in this usability evaluation, please send an e-mail to lotusdoc@us.ibm.com, provide your name and email address, and we will contact you.

This is a great opportunity to get your thoughts and opinions heard. Your feedback and suggestions will help drive changes and improvements to our technical content and the overall "getting started" experience for our products. Stay tuned for future usability evaluation announcements throughout the year if you cannot participate at this time.

Got a Mobile ? Like Jam ? Then you should attend the Lotus MobileJam ...

Got this from the LotusUserGroup.org news letter ....

Join Lotus Support and Lotus User Experience for the first ever Mobile Jam during the period May 16 - 19!

Lotus Support and Lotus User Experience are hosting a 4-day event May 16 - 19 especially for users of Lotus mobile products.  Mobile Jam will feature a number of activities focused on helping you be more successful with Lotus mobile products.

Jam activities include Open Mic Webcasts; Q & A with product support experts; usability activities; and online screening of mobile product  videos. There will be special "celebrity" guest appearances by Luis  Pineda, Vice President, Worldwide Technical Support, Lotus Software; Jan  Kenney, Lotus Notes Traveler product manager; and Ed Brill, director of Notes/Domino product management.

Watch this space for special announcements, activity updates, and the Mobile Jam schedule.

Questions? Email Amy Smith, Notes and Domino Information Architect, at amy_smith@us.ibm.com.

IBM Exceptional Web Experience Conference 2011 - A week in Orlando in May - What's not to like ?

So, I'm thinking about how I can wangle a trip to Orlando in May, as I sadly missed Lotusphere ( scheduling conflicts rather than anything else ).

I note that the IBM Exceptional Web Conference is on during the week 16-19 May: -

Join us for the 2011 IBM Exceptional Web Experience Americas event! This conference is dedicated to helping organizations be more successful by highlighting proven business solutions and technical strategies designed to keep pace with rapidly evolving Web user demand and expectations.

The conference will be held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

Registration is now open! The conference had record attendance in Chicago in 2010 and we expect the hotel to sell out early. There are also several other large conventions during our same dates and hotel rooms in the greater Orlando area are expected to go quickly.

We look forward to your participating and experiencing the expertise from IBM subject matter experts, IBM Business Partners and other client attendees at this event!

Perhaps this is the opportunity I have been looking for :-)

If I get there, will I see you there ? Ah, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, GO ON :-)

Upgrading the On-Disk Structure of my mail file using Lotus Notes 8.5.3 on Mac OSX

 For various reasons, I wanted to upgrade the On-Disk Structure (ODS) of my mail file, using Notes 8.5.3 on Mac OSX.

 

I've done this in the past, using Ubuntu Linux, as per my external blog here, but hadn't done it on the Mac before.

 

Previously, the ODS of the file was 43 whereas Notes 8.5.X supports  51.

 

The upgrade can be forced, using the Compact tool ( ncompact.exe on Windows, NotesCompact on Mac ), but there is a necessary preceding step.

It's necessary to add the parameter: -

 

NSF_UpdateODS=1

 

to the notes.ini file.

However, on the Mac, this file isn't in the normal place, but instead is here: -

 

~/Library/Preferences//Notes Preferences

so, in my case, it's located here: -

 

/Users/david_hay/Library/Preferences//Notes Preferences

 

The easiest way to edit this, apart from using vi via the Terminal application, is to open Finder, and then use the "magic" key sequence of [Shift] + [CMD] + [G] to bring up the "Go to folder' dialogue, and enter the folder ~/Library/Preferences and then look for Notes Preferences.

Select the file, and then choose Open With -> TextEdit.

 

Having found and edited the file, add: -

NSF_UpdateODS=1

 

to the end of the file, and save it.

 

Before performing the Compact, I needed to quit Notes to ensure that my mail file wasn't locked.

 

It's now necessary to open the Terminal application, and navigate to /Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/Support.

 

Ordinarily, one would execute the NotesCompact application from here, but doing so generates the error: -

dyld: Library not loaded: @executable_path/libnotes.dylib
  Referenced from: /Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/Support/./NotesCompact
  Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT trap

 

The simplest solution is to copy the NotesCompact application to the parent directory: -

 

cp NotesCompact ..

and then execute it from there: -

 

cd ..
./NotesCompact GBHX9675.NSF -C

 

( note that I've specifically included my mail file database and the -C option - if I omit the database name, NotesCompact wil run across all the databases in my data directory ).

 

As an example, here's the output from the command on my machine: -

./NotesCompact GBHX9675.NSF -C[B483:0002-A04B1540] The ID file being used is: /Users/david_hay/Library/Application Support/Lotus Notes Data/gb006734.id
[B483:0002-A04B1540] Enter password (press the Esc key to abort):

[B483:0005-B0150000] 17/04/2011 16:42:10   Informational, database design compression is enabled in database GBHX9675.NSF.
[B483:0005-B0150000] 17/04/2011 16:42:11   Informational, LZ1 is enabled in database GBHX9675.NSF.
[B483:0005-B0150000] 17/04/2011 16:42:11   Compacting GBHX9675.NSF (Dave Hay),  GBHX9675.NSF -C
[B483:0005-B0150000] 17/04/2011 16:42:21   Compacted  GBHX9675.NSF, 0K bytes recovered (0%)
[B483:0002-A04B1540] 17/04/2011 16:42:22   Database compactor process shutdown

 

( Note that I had already run it a few times, so there was nothing to recover ! )

 

As a result, my mail file is now running on the latest ODS level ( 51 ), as evidenced by File -> Application -> Properties, and it's also shrunk in the wash :-) from 109 MB to 86 MB, which is nice.

Yet another in the series called "Now I did not know that" ... this time, Apple Mac OSX keyboard sequence to switch application context :-)

This is IMMENSELY useful for those of us using Lotus Notes with embedded Lotus Sametime.

I use Notes 8.5.3 and Sametime 8.5.2 on my Macbook Pro, and find it intensely annoying when the focus shifts from a Sametime chat window back to the main Notes client or, when I'm mid-way through a memo, the focus shifts back to another Sametime chat ( perhaps in a different Spaces perspective ).

Now, thanks to my pal, Dave Morrison, I've found the solution ......

Concurrently hit the [cmd] and [~] keys to switch focus/context between windows within the same application.

This works with Notes and Sametime ( w00t! ) but also works with my other favourite applications, including Mail, Firefox, Stickies, TextEdit, Terminal, iTunes etc. etc. etc.

Thanks, Dave, YOU ROCK :-)

#LotusKnows that there is now a mobile reference card for IBM Connections 3.0.1

Thanks to Jon Mell for asking, and to Curious Mitch Cohen for finding, this little gem.

Apparently, it was mentioned on Twitter yesterday, but sadly I missed it :-(

Thankfully, Stuart McIntyre and his oh-so-useful Skype chats for Connections/Portal and Quickr saved the day.

This PDF is a quick reference guide to the functions that you can use when you access IBM® Connections from a mobile device.

Book Review - a Work-in-Progress - Getting Started with IBM FileNet P8 Content Manager

This week I'll be starting a new book - Getting Started with IBM FileNet P8 Content Manager by William J Carpenter - from Packt Publishing: -

Overview of Getting Started with IBM FileNet P8 Content Manager

    * Quickly get up to speed on all significant features and the major components of IBM FileNet P8 Content Manager
    * Provides technical details that are valuable both for beginners and experienced Content Management professionals alike, without repeating product reference documentation
    * Gives a big picture description of Enterprise Content Management and related IT areas to set the context for Content Manager
    * Written by an IBM employee, Bill Carpenter, who has extensive experience in Content Manager product development, this book gives practical tips and notes with a step-by-step approach to design real Enterprise Content Management solutions to solve your business needs

Now I don't (yet) have a full knowledge of FileNet P8, so I'm looking forward to this as a useful learning resource.

I'll write more as I get further into the book ...

HTTPS .... Everywhere :-)

I think I picked this up a tip from the most excellent Guardian TechWeekly podcast a few weeks back, but this is a very useful plugin for Firefox, that works with 3.X and 4.X

HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension produced as a collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It encrypts your communications with a number of major websites.

Many sites on the web offer some limited support for encryption over HTTPS, but make it difficult to use. For instance, they may default to unencrypted HTTP, or fill encrypted pages with links that go back to the unencrypted site.

The HTTPS Everywhere extension fixes these problems by rewriting all requests to these sites to HTTPS.

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

IBM Whitepaper - Understanding IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5.1 enterprise architecture and design

Saw this on Ben Williams' blog this morning, and wanted to re-share it.

Summary:  This white paper describes the various architectural possibilities for an IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5.1 environment. It discusses how each component can be implemented in both a managed and unmanaged configuration, including example deployments, as well as caveats and restrictions for each component.

This white paper describes the various architectural possibilities for an IBM Lotus® Sametime® 8.5.1 environment. It discusses how each component can be implemented in both a managed and unmanaged configuration, including example deployments, as well as caveats and restrictions for each component.

In this white paper

• Introduction

• Architecture design considerations

• WAS component architecture

• Sametime Community services

• Sametime Classic Meeting services

• Sametime System Console

• Sametime Proxy server

• Sametime Meeting server

• Sametime Media server

• Assembling the infrastructure

• Conclusion

• Resources

• About the author

The white paper is on developerWorks here, *BUT* please go and check out Ben's blog, as it's chock-full of nuts good stuff.

Why I blog

When I first started this blog, back in the mists of January 2007, part of my rationale was to write things down in a safe place ( well, the Internet is a safe place, right ? ) to allow me to stop trying to remember everything that I have ever learned :-)

I always consider my memory to be similar to a bucket of water, once it's full, it's full, unless I empty something out first.

Well, it's not the best analogy / metaphor / simile in the world, but it works for me :-)

As my blog tagline now says: -

In the words of Dr Cathy Ryan, "If you don't write it down, it never happened". The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. My blog is PERSONAL, and is a repository of the stuff that I learn, play with, enjoy and want to share. If you follow one of my tips, your mileage MAY well vary - Here be dragons :-)

Anyway, having switched back to using my Apple Macbook Pro in the past month or so ( partly because it's less weighty than my Thinkpad W500, which is important when you travel as much as we do ), I was struggling to remember how to take screenshots, without needing to load up the ever useful Grab application.

Well, this morning, I actually remembered (!) to Google for the answer, and found this: -

There are several keyboard combinations that can be used to take screenshots in Mac OS X. The SystemUIServer process handles these commands.

Shortcuts

• Command-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop

• Command-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it as a file on the desktop

• Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it as a file on the desktop

• Command-Control-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it to the clipboard

• Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it to the clipboard

• Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it to the clipboard

In Leopard and later, the following keys can be held down while selecting an area (via Command-Shift-4 or Command-Control-Shift-4):

• Space, to lock the size of the selected region and instead move it when the mouse moves

• Shift, to resize only one edge of the selected region

• Option, to resize the selected region with its center as the anchor point

Thanks to MacRumours:Guides for the tip :-)

(Re)enabling Pinch/Zoom in Mozilla Firefox 4 on the Apple Mac

With thanks to F Flyer for posting this.

Firefox 4 disables two finger pinch/zoom gestures on a Mac. Here is how to make pinch/zoom work again.

To enable pinch/zoom in Firefox:

• Open a new tab.
• Type in about:config and press Enter.
• In the search pane, type pinch and press Enter.
• Enter these values for the pinch.in and pinch.out prefs:

browser.gesture.pinch.in         cmd_fullZoomReduce

browser.gesture.pinch.in.shift   cmd_fullZoomReset

browser.gesture.pinch.out        cmd_fullZoomEnlarge

browser.gesture.pinch.out.shift  cmd_fullZoomReset

Well, it works for me :-)

IBM Connections - Some Useful Snippets from the people who know ... IBM Connections

Whilst browsing the excellent site that is the Connections Blog ( kudos to Sharon and Stuart for this ), I found two little gems ( no, not lettuces ! )

Customizing IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 email digests and notifications 

Summary:  One of the primary new features of IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 is the email digest capability, which provides personalized daily and weekly newsletters that are generated based on the activities and updates in the user's social network. This white paper describes how to customize the daily and weekly digests emails, ranging from changing the look and feel of emails to more complex customizations such as adding your company-specific content to the email digests. In addition, this paper also covers customizing individual notification emails sent by the Lotus Connections services. 

In this white paper

• Introduction

• Configuring and administrating email notifications

• Customizing daily and weekly email digests

• Customizing individual notifications

• Conclusion

• Appendix: Comprehensive overview of all notifications in Lotus Connections 3.0

• Resources

• About the authors

which is very timely, given that we're using email notifications in our two-node Connections 3.0.0 cluster.

IBM Connections YouTube Channel

Some really useful movies have been shared so far, covering topics such as:

• building TDI assembly lines

• using the ATOM API

• using the Admin APIs

• using sub-communities

Must get online and have a PEEK

IBM WebSphere Application Server v8 - Announced

This is of particular interest to one of my customers, as they're waiting for a 64-bit version of IBM HTTP Server (IHS) on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.

We believe that this release will offer a 64-bit web server - currently, IHS is a 32-bit application, even though it may have been installed from a 64-bit bundle: -

Is IBM HTTP Server 32-bit or 64-bit? Will 32-bit IBM HTTP Server run on my 64-bit OS?

IBM HTTP Server is a 64-bit application on HP-UX/ia64 and Solaris/x64. IBM HTTP Server is a 32-bit* application on other platforms, regardless of which WebSphere Application Server Supplement CD it was installed from. Many platforms, including AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and 64-bit Linux, provide support for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, so a 32-bit IBM HTTP Server is able to function properly even though other applications on the system may be 64-bit.

WAS 8 and IHS 8 have now been announced and they are due for electronic GA on June 17.

In the meantime, we have the beta ...

Released - IBM WebSphere Portal 7.0.0.1 Combined Cumulative Fix

On Monday 4 April, IBM released a combined cumulative fix for WebSphere Portal and IBM Web Content Manager ( nee Lotus Web Content Management ).

This is known as V7.0.0.1 Combined WP & WCM CF002 and the fixlist can be viewed here. The fix is also known as PM34759.

So, off we go to Fix Central to download the fix ... this link *should* take you to the right place ........ :-)

Mac Attack - How to use Microsoft Office formats on a non-Microsoft desktop

This week, I have hit two interesting challenges: -

i) How can I create, edit and view architectural diagrams in Microsoft Visio format ?

ii) How can I view project plans in Microsoft Project format ?

Oh, did I forget to mention ? This week, I mainly be using an Apple Mac :-)

Well, one answer would be ... purchase Microsoft Office, although I'm not sure that Visio or Project come in Mac OSX flavours :-)

So, for the Visio diagram issue, we have Omnigraffle and, for the MS Project issue, today I found MOOS Project Viewer 

For the MOOS software, I can see me spending the requisite US$25 but I'm not sure (sadly) that the Hay budget will stretch to the US$199 that Omnigraffle Professional costs :-(

Still, it's great to know that there are alternatives.

PS Even more good news, MOOS runs on Linux as well, which sorts me out nicely for my Ubuntu boxen

#LotusKnows that IBM Connections 3.0.1 improves media sharing, content moderation, and idea sharing

So it's announced - IBM® Connections 3.0.1 adds new capabilities that can help you:

• Create a more compelling community experience through video and photo sharing

• Simplify sharing, commenting, and voting on ideas in community

• Foster higher quality community participation through moderation

IBM Connections 3.0.1 provides companies with the tools needed to help teams accomplish their business objectives whether they are located locally or distributed geographically.

New capabilities

Moderating community content

Community owners are provided with new capabilities for the moderation of a community's content. These capabilities help community owners realize the benefits of active and vibrant community participation, while having the confidence of being able to moderate the content that appears in a community.

Enhancing communities with video and photo sharing

The Media Gallery feature permits the sharing of videos and photos with a community. These capabilities can help attract more visitors to a community by creating a more compelling and satisfying experience for community members.

Generating ideas within a community

The Ideation Blog feature is designed to help simplify the sharing of ideas within a community, voting on the ideas and moving the best ideas forward as projects. These new capabilities can, for example, help gather ideas from customers in a structured manner, and facilitate turning the best ideas into new services and offerings.

Integration with Enterprise Content Management (ECM) repositories

The ECM integration helps users to store, access, and edit documents residing in FileNet® Content Manager and IBM Content Manager from within a Community.

IBM Lotus Connections is being renamed to IBM Connections. IBM Connections consists of social software that is enabled to take advantage of the broad capabilities in IBM's software portfolio. For example, Connections is now packaged with certain IBM Cognos Business Intelligence offerings to support integration between the two products. This naming change better aligns with that effort to create IBM solutions which involve multiple brands designed to address our customers specific business needs.

The full announcement is here, and the code will be available for download starting Thursday 7 April.

IBM Lotus Sametime Proxy Server upgrade for WebSphere Portal 7

This from CollaborationBen, aka Mr Ben Williams Esq.

An IBM'er dropped me an email this afternoon about a portlet which has been released for Portal 7 which integrates with the STProxy. This looks to replace the out dated Sametime Contact List portlet and remove STLinks from Portal.

Now, I haven't had the chance to try it out but I will soon and post more information.

If someone gets the chance to deploy it please let me know how you get on.

You can get it from the Greenhouse

More information has  become available this morning and a Wiki article has been written.

And, from the Greenhouse, we have this: -

IBM® Lotus® Sametime® Proxy Server upgrade for IBM WebSphere® Portal 7 allows you to connect to Lotus Sametime and use its features in IBM WebSphere Portal Version 7.0.0. This update replaces the Java applet-based connections to Lotus Sametime with a web service based solution. It uses a REST service on Lotus Sametime V8.5 or later proxy server. This new update works with Lotus Sametime community server V7.5.1 or later.

Lotus Sametime proxy server upgrade for WebSphere Portal V7 provides a new Contact List portlet. Its general functionality is similar to the previous support provided, but the new portlet has an updated look.

You can place the portlet on a portal page. This portlet behaves like the Lotus Sametime web client. For example, users can:

• See the list of their contacts, including their public and private groups. Expand and collapse their groups.
• Set their status.
• Find other Lotus Sametime users by using the search feature.

After you add the Person Card, users can view the business card of contacts and work with additional functions of Lotus Sametime.

Firefox 4 Beta - 'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'

Spent a few minutes this morning saying "Argh" and "Gah!" in repeated succession whilst I struggled to install Firefox 4 Beta onto my Mac.

I kept seeing a big friendly dialogue box saying: -

'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'

even though I'd shut down almost everything else.

I found a couple of useful posts, via Google, advising me to run this command: -

'sudo killall vpnagentd'

to kill the Cisco VPN client.

Sadly, it automatically relaunches each time you try :-(

I then found Matt Topper's blog which had the secret sauce :-)

So today I decided to switch over to the mainline Firefox 4.0 Beta from the Minefield dailies I've been using.  I started to copy the new Firefox.app directory over the existing one in my Applications folder and immediately was met with a:
'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'
Well shit, whats holding onto that lib.  Turns out that it was my Cisco VPN Anywhere Agent, aka vpnagentd.  So I go ahead and do a:
'sudo killall vpnagentd'
Ugh and of course it restarts automatically before I can copy the files over.  So what now.  Oh yeah, it runs as a daemon so I need to use my old friend launchctl to unload it.  The command for this is:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
w00t! Now the files copy over with no problem.  Now I need to put AnyConnect back into place.  This can be done with:
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
That should do it, Firefox 4 Beta up online and working again.

So, following Matt's suggestion, I used the sudo launchctl command to unload the VPN client, installed the FF4 beta, and then again used sudo launchctl to re-enable VPN.

I'm now up and running with the loveliness that is Firefox 4 AND have a working Cisco VPN client :-)

Life is good ....

IBM (Lotus) Connections 3.0.1 - Unleashed at the Greenhouse now....

Whilst digging around in the Greenhouse ( did you see the way I punned there ? No, well, that's OK, it wasn't that great ! ), I noticed a banner indicating that it's now been upgraded to Lotus Connections 3.0.1.

I also noted that the branding has subtly changed from Lotus Connections to IBM Connections.

As far as I'm aware, 3.0.1 has not yet been announced, but I *believe* the announcement is expected quite soon.

In the meantime, get over to Greenhouse and have a play ...