Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

HCL Domino Domino Forum
1

I have 2000 and 2003 servers running 6.5.4. All clients are Windows XP SP2. All servers have been updated with Microsoft Updates and the TZedit was run on 2000 servers to edit the timezones since this platform is no longer supported. All clients have the two updates for DST KB928388 and KB931836. I have updates forms6.nsf for DWA and it works great. I ran the agents on all mail files and R&R DB and it worked great. I created the view provided by IBM to display icons for processed calendar entries. Everything has worked great.

Problem:

I knew there might be a few existing meetings that would need to be rescheduled. However, my problem exists with “new” meetings. When a user creates a new meeting and saves it. It is displaying one hour earlier in the calendar view, but when you open the meeting it displays correctly.

I believe the display time in the calendar is being pulled from the server time and when you open the entry it is using the local OS time. Based on this assumption, it seems to me that the server is not quite updated to the new DST rules, but I can’t find where it’s out of whack.

In the server’s notes.ini the DSTLAW has been changed to DSTLAW=3,2,1,11,1. The client side notes.ini still shows DSTLAW=4,1,1,10,-1,1. I believe this is okay because only V5 used the DSTLaw and now with 6.5.4 it completely relies on the OS’s timezone.

What am I missing? Why are new meetings displaying one hour earlier in the calendar during the extended DST period of March 12 - April 2?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Wendy

2

Subject: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Hi Wendy,

The DSTLaw setting should be remove

Effects of 2007 Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes on Lotus Notes Calendaring and Scheduling functionality and Resource Reservation functionality

II. Actions to Take:
Adjust or update your operating system to apply the changed DST rules. The sooner this is accomplished, the fewer entries that will need to be updated after the operating system DST patch is in place. Note: If you are running Notes/Domino 6.0 or later, you should not use the Notes/Domino DSTLaw notes.ini parameter to attempt to work around this issue, except as noted for specific operating systems. In Notes/Domino 6.0 or later, the DST rule functionality works in conjunction with the operating system DST rule settings, regardless of the use of the DSTLaw setting in your notes.ini with the exception of IBM iSeries operating systems. For this operating system the DSTLaw parameter must be used to ensure that Notes and Domino work as expected.

and also:

Daylight Saving Time (DST) 2007 information for Lotus Notes and Domino

JYR

3

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

What’s interesting is…

I removed the DSTLaw= from my local notes.ini. When I restarted Notes, it was automatically written back in with the new parameter of DSTLAW=3,2,1,11,1,1.

I’m running 6.5.4 on Windows XP (client) and 6.5.4 on Windows 2000/2003 (Server). I thought this version of Notes/Domino doesn’t use the DSTLaw parameter? If not, why did it get written back in?

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

4

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Hi,

Additional information on the DSTLaw parameter

When a Notes client or Domino server starts, the DSTLaw parameter is typically updated to the operating system’s DST rules within minutes. If the UseNotesTimeZone=1 parameter is left enabled on a Domino server, this can cause an undetermined delay in the updating of the DSTLaw parameter. This is undesirable as it will cause Notes/Domino to use what may be outdated DST rules contained within the DSTLaw parameter, which will cause the software to follow incorrect DST rules for any Date/Time fields created.

It seems to be necessary but it cannot be use to 'by-pass" th DST issue because

, these parameters are not suitable to resolve the DST rule settings in Notes/Domino 6.0 or later, as the later releases work in conjunction with the operating system DST rules regardless of the presence or setting of the notes.ini parameters noted.

Notes 5 is ok with it

Notes 6 will have it set but you must remove the UseNotesTimeZone

JYR

5

Subject: Didn’t work - still need help

This is where I am after your help from yesterday…

The following items had already been performed last Sunday:

  1. All Domino servers have been updated according to Microsoft’s specifications. 2003 Servers just need the updates. 2000 needs TZedit to manually edit the timezones.

  2. I ran the agent on all mail files and R&R DB for process existing calendar entries (and I assume correct the calendar profile for the new DST).

The following items were done yesterday:

  1. I manually removed the DSTLaw parameter from all server notes.ini and restarted them. The parameter came back automatically after restart and was correctly set to DSTLaw=3, 2, 1, 11, 1, 1.

  2. I forced a change on all user notes.ini files by using the Desktop Policy Settings document and manually changed DSTLaw FROM DSTLaw=4,1,1,10,-1,1 TO DSTLaw=3, 2, 1, 11, 1, 1

Same problem still exists:

A new calendar entry was created during the 3 week extended DST period and it still showed up one hour earlier on the calendar. I then manually went into the OS Date/Time and changed timezones>applied>changed back to correct timezone. Created another new calendar entry. It showed up correctly! Yeah! So at this point I’m thinking…the timezone on the client’s machines just need refreshing. Nope. When the machine was restarted…new calendar entries appeared one hour earlier again.

This is the same problem I had originally. I am at a loss. The only thing I can think of is that there is a hard-coded registry setting somewhere that needs to be changed. Is it on the server or the client? don’t know.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Wendy

6

Subject: RE: Didn’t work - still need help

I’m sampling machines on various servers to see if people got the new DSTLaw=3, 2, 1, 11, 1, 1 from the Desktop Policy Settings document. Some people got it and other didn’t. However, it doesn’t seem to matter. People that have the old settings are working fine. They create a new calendar entry during the extended period and it shows up correctly.

I have two timezones that my company uses. MST and EST. After all my testing over the last couple of days I have determined that people in the MST zone are working correctly with all the new DST updates and although people in the EST timezone have all received the exact same updates, they are not working correctly. Even if I have a MST time user create a new meeting in a different timezone (EST) it doesn’t show up correctly in the view. Everything keeps pointing to EST as being the problem.

I have run TZedit on all servers several times to make sure the timezones have been edited correctly. I have “refreshed” the timezones on the server and then selected the correct one again.

I’m at a loss.

Thanks for your help.

Wendy

7

Subject: RE: Didn’t work - still need help

Wendy, I seem to have come across a posting that said the time zone in Calendar Preferences will need to be checked and adjusted (set to local) after the DST 2007 patch is applied to the OS. Also, if you have clients that are in time zone different from the time zone that their home server has, you will have to go into their calendar and make a dummy change to the appointments.

Hope this helps. Good luck !

Steven

8

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Thank you for your help. I have removed the DSTLaw parameter in all server’s notes.ini and will reboot after hours. Does the setting need to also be removed from all of the client’s notes.ini? I’m assuming it is just being ignored by the client since I have all location documents set to “use operating system’s time zone settings” = yes.

Thanks again.

Wendy

9

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

on one of the mail servers where the dates are displaying wrong, issue a “show config DSTLaw” and make sure this appears with the new setting. Even though the notes.ini might diaply something differently it’s possible for the server to show something else. what displays on the console when you issue this command?

10

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Thanks for the help.

I ran this console command before I removed the DSTLaw parameter from the servers notes.ini and after. Both times it displays the correct DST settings of DSTLaw=3, 2, 1, 11, 1, 1 and DST=1

11

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Hi Wendy,

Difficult to say if the “use operating system’s time zone settings” = yes is enough, it think you will have to check

Be sure that the parameter “UseNotesTimeZone=1” (which was undocumented and
optional in releases prior to 6.0) is either removed from the client
notes.ini files or modified so that the parameter is set to 0 (zero).
Failure to remove this parameter can result in undesired behavior
independent of the DST 2007 changes.

Notes/Domino 5.x releases can make use of the notes.ini parameters DSTLaw
and UseNotesTimeZone to assist in resetting the DST rules.

WARNING: As noted above, these parameters are not suitable to resolve the
DST rule settings in Notes/Domino 6.0 or later, as the later releases work
in conjunction with the operating system DST rules regardless of the
presence or setting of the notes.ini parameters noted. Use of these
parameters in Notes/Domino 6.0 or later will cause unpredictable results
and, thus, they should not be used in a workaround attempt, except as noted
for the IBM Series i operating system.

The notes.ini should be edited only when the Notes client is shut down. It
is possible for administrators to set notes.ini parameters and Location
document parameters using a Desktop Policy. For details on setting up
custom fields in a Desktop Policy, refer to “Using a Desktop Policy to set
notes.ini and Location parameters” (#1196837).

              "Using a Desktop Policy to set notes.ini and Location parameters" (#1196837).

Additional information on the DSTLaw parameter

When a Notes client or Domino server starts, the DSTLaw parameter is
typically updated to the operating system’s DST rules within minutes. If
the UseNotesTimeZone=1 parameter is left enabled on a Domino server, this
can cause an undetermined delay in the updating of the DSTLaw parameter.
This is undesirable as it will cause Notes/Domino to use what may be
outdated DST rules contained within the DSTLaw parameter, which will cause
the software to follow incorrect DST rules for any Date/Time fields
created.

Notes client:

If the operating system has been updated to the new DST rule:
Be sure that the “Use the Operating System’s Time Zone settings” option is
set to “Yes” in the user’s Location document (Advanced tab).
Additionally, be sure that the parameter “UseNotesTimeZone=1” (which was
undocumented and optional in releases prior to 6.0) is either removed from
the client’s notes.ini or modified so that the parameter is set to 0
(zero). Failure to remove this parameter can result in undesired behavior
independent of the DST 2007 changes.

12

Subject: RE: Completed all server & client updates for new 2007 DST rules - having problems with new meetings

Thanks for all the help. You have been tremendously helpful.

I had done some sampling on various notes.ini files and nobody has “UseNotesTimeZone=x” at all. This is good. I’m going to try my first test of only removing the DSTLaw from all the server notes.ini files and restart the servers. If that works, then I will not bother removing the DSTLaw parameter from the clients notes.ini.