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Lotus Technote #1212699 for DCC


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The Dynamic Client Configuration (DCC) process is vital to several features of Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino 6.  This document will help Notes/Domino administrators find the information needed to better understand and troubleshoot this process.



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What is Dynamic Client Configuration (DCC)?  
DCC is a Notes client process that synchronizes certain information between Notes clients and Domino servers.  The DCC executable, ndyncfg.exe, is located in the Notes client program directory.  


What does DCC do for me and my users?
It does a lot!  To begin with, DCC populates the Client Information section on the Administration tab of Person documents.  DCC is also required for the proper operation of certain AdminP processes such as "Move Mailfile" as well as new Notes/Domino 6.x features including Policies and Roaming Users.  So, if you encounter issues with any of these processes/features, remember to troubleshoot the DCC.


What triggers DCC to run?
Dynamic Client Configuration runs when the user authenticates with their home server, and either their Person document has been modified, or their assigned Desktop Policy has been modified since the last authentication.  DCC is designed as a push mechanism only from the server to the client.  The DCC updates settings on the user's workstation based on the current settings in the user's Person document and any Desktop Policies that are in place.  For example, if changes are made to a user's Person document, DCC will detect the changes when the user connects to the server, and then push the appropriate changes down to the client.  


How can you confirm that DCC is actually running?
By default, the DCC is installed with every client and runs daily at the first user authentication with the server.  When DCC executes it adds the following lines to an entry in the Miscellaneous Events view of the local LOG.NSF:







How would you know that DCC is not working?
An easy way is to look in the Domino Directory (NAMES.NSF).  There should be Client Information on the Administration tab of each Person document.  If that information is missing, or the information is there but not up to date, you may have some DCC failures.  Also, if your policies, especially your desktop policies seem to skip certain people, that could possibly indicate a DCC failure.  This also applies to roaming users and mailfile moves via AdminP.  For additional information, refer to the technote titled "Known Policy Issues with Dynamic Client Configuration" (#1137728).  If you have intermittent failures, you may need to troubleshoot DCC.


What could prevent DCC from working properly?
One common cause for DCC not working as expected is that it has been disabled.    Although DCC was available in Notes/Domino 5, it was not required for many features.  Therefore, users and/or administrators may have disabled it.  If you find that DCC is not running, here is what you should do:

  • Check the NOTES.INI on the user's workstation.  If the "DisableDynConfigClient=1" entry is present, remove that entry.  
  • Access the properties of the user's current Location document (e.g., select "Edit Current" on the Status bar, and then select File -> Document Properties).  On the Fields tab, look for the "AcceptUpdates" field.  If this value of this field is set to "0" (zero/zed), then you must enable DCC by performing the following steps:
1.  Open the current Location document.  
2.  Select Actions -> Advanced -> Set Update Flag
3.  When the prompt "Allow administrators to keep this location's settings up to date  with those settings on your mail server" appears, click "Yes".
4.  Save and Close.
  • If DCC still does not work after performing the steps mentioned above, you can remove the address book preferences in the user's personal address book (i.e., the client copy of the names.nsf),as follows:
1.  Open the user's personal address book.
2.  Select Actions -> Remove Address Book Preferences.


What do Address Book Preferences have to do with DCC?  
Good question.  When you select the option to "Remove Address Book Preferences", you are actually removing the directory profile document (directoryprofile), which contains something called $DynInfoCache.  With this document deleted, the cache will be completely rebuilt when the user re-authenticates with their home server .  Note that, the user will need to re-set certain items if they have customized the preferences of their personal address book (e.g., the group sort order, the format of contacts, and the address format).


Are there any known issues related to DCC?  
There can be, but as of Notes 6.5.4, most known issues have been fixed.  However, since you may be running earlier versions of Notes 6.x, here are some issues you may encounter:
  • The IBM Lotus Sametime server field (Location document -> Server tab) does not populate properly.  For the details on this known issue as well as the workaround, refer to the technote "Dynamic Client Config Does not Update Sametime Server in Location Doc" (#1156427).  Note: This issue is fixed in Notes version 6.5.4 and in the Cumulative Client Hotfixes for Notes 6.0.4/6.5.2 and 6.5.3.  
  • Two specific issues about DCC not updating Location documents, one that involves Notes clients running on a Macintosh, are discussed in technote "Dynamic Client Configuration Does not Update Location Documents" (#1137646).
  • For descriptions of other common issues with the DCC in previous versions, refer to technote titled "Known Policy Issues with Dynamic Client Configuration" (#1137728).