Hello all,I’m doing trial Domino5-6 upgrades, and using the redbook ‘Upgrading to Lotus Notes and Domino 6’ as a reference. Unfortunately, it’s 544 pages, and somewhat cryptic.
On pg 66, for upgrade tasks, it says:
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“ensure that your Lotus Domino Directory is correctly configured to support all design changes across your domain” (Um, Ok…)
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“If needed, add your own customizations” (Such as?)
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"Create your own Master Template and use an explicit name for the template file (for example MydirectoryTemplate.ntf).
(no clue what this means)
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“Bring down your server and install Lotus Domino 6 code” (ah! I understand this one!)
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“Before you restart your server, rename your new Domino Directory template, at the OS level, to Pubnames.ntf…”(this goes on and is confusing)
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“Afer renaming the appropriate template (Pubnames.ntf, Admin4.ntf,etc.) start the Domino server.” (Which are the ‘appropriate templates’ again??)
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- “At the OS level, rename back to their originals all NTF files that you changed earlier.” (related, but equally cryptic)
Sorry everyone, I don’t mean to be a pain, but can I just run setup and be done with it? I have one server - it’s the directory/mail/admin/everything server, and I don’t hack my templates. Everything should be relatively as it was installed. I know I will have to run compact, and some other commands during upgrade, but I really don’t understand what these other steps are talking about.
A little bit of the ‘why’ would really help.
Can anyone shed some light, or do I really need to hire a consultant to upgrade Domino? 
thanks, any feedback is always appreciated.
Dan
Subject: Try this 4 Step process…
Stop Domino Server and install R6From Command Prompt goto executable directory and nfixup -f -j -v
then ncompact -C -D -i
Start the Domino server and answer Y to upgrade the design.
Subject: Domino upgrade - translation required
I found that confusing too. If you never customized any templates (pubnames, admin4, etc.), you can ignore those steps.
After you install the Domino6 server software, there are a few steps you need to do before you start Domino for the first time. This was my procedure, created from the same Redbook:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd6forum.nsf/0/776ccb599787137a85256dad005bd1d5?OpenDocument
The only issue I really had was with the new “Internet Sites” documents. We run 4 web sites on one server, and the http task was having trouble with our existing R5 settings.
Everything works great, and is much better organized with the new “Internet Sites”. I’m referring to this setting on the Server document:
“Load Internet configurations from Server\Internet Sites documents”
Subject: RE: Domino upgrade - translation required
Thanks all - much clearer now.I suspected that some of those statements didn’t really apply to me, but you have to admit statements like “ensure your Lotus Domino Directory is correctly configured” are about as useful as mud. Obviously written by a techie, not a technical writer.
Beau, I had a question about your statement “delete all full text indexes in the data directory” - does this include mail file indexes as well?
Also, I have a database that I’ve made by customizing an R5 address book - for example, to add SIN number, a photo, spouse/kids names, etc. This is used by Admin/HR. I think if I upgrade this to R6 design it will be completely broken. Is it safe to assume that my R6 server will have no problem using an R5 address book? I think it will be fine, but I thought I’d throw it out there. Note that I don’t mean the actual company address book, it’s just a database that’s stored on the server.
thanks folks!
ps. I don’t intend to get a consultant to do the upgrade, I’ll just keep Notes.net in the browser
Subject: RE: Domino upgrade - translation required
Yes, any of the .ft directories you see under the Data directory, or it’s subdirectories. I generally do this anytime I upgrade a Domino server. Domino will rebuild the indexes automatially when it starts up again, and it’s good maintenance for the server. In older days, the .ft files could become corrupt overtime.
Your R5 address book will work just fine on an R6 server. To be sure, you could check the R6 template’s view names that begin with $, and make sure they appear in your R5 database.
Subject: Domino upgrade - translation required
If you didn’t modify your Domino Directory, then you can skip all those parts. If you did, the steps outlined explain how to create a template so you can re-apply your changes to the next release.
Compact will update the ODS of the databases and allow you to use the new features, such as, LZ1 compresssion, etc.
The Release Notes are also a great upgrade guide to reference.
With one server, I don’t know if you require a consultant, but having one you can call if you there are any issues during the installation to help guide you isn’t a bad idea. Perhaps an upgrade training class would also help.
Of course, you could always relay on our good 'ol dependable forum members for help as well. After all, some of us are consulting as our day job. 
Good luck!
Lissette