Release Notes for iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1

Updated November 17, 2000

These release notes contain important information available at the time of the version 5.0p1 release of iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0. New features and enhancements, installation notes, known problems, and other late breaking issues are addressed here. Read this document before you begin using iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1.

These release notes can be found at the iPlanet documentation web site: http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/calendar.html. Check the web site prior to installing and setting up your software and then periodically thereafter to view the most up-to-date release notes and manuals.

These release notes contain the following sections:


What's New in iPlanet Calendar Server

For complete information, refer to the iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0 documentation at http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals.

iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 includes the following features:

  • Horizontal Scalability
  • Calendar Express 5.0p1
  • Free-Busy Search and Group Views
  • Group Scheduling
  • Resource Scheduling
  • On-Behalf-of-Owner Scheduling

    • Horizontal Scalability

    Supports hundreds of thousands of users through a scalable networked server-to-server, client-server architecture. Supports Horizontal scalability to allow de coupling of iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 to many front-end servers with back-end servers.

    Calendar Express 5.0p1

    Calendar Express 5.0p1 allows users to publish their calendars on the web and provide a URL to their calendar. Users can export their calendar data in iCalendar or XML formats. Calendar Express 5.0p1 allows text based searches for events and tasks. In Calendar Express 5.0p1, integration with the Event Notification Server 5.0 (ENS 5.0) will extend this capability to wireless devices. Calendar Express 5.0p1 is accessible from wireless phones via a WAP gateway. It will also be supported on wireless devices including group scheduling via wireless phones. Calendar Express 5.0p1  will allow calendar printing from the day, week, month, and year views.

    Free-Busy Search and Group Views

    The server supports a free-busy search feature on multiple calendars. Calendar Express 5.0p1 also offers side-by-side group comparison views for a set of calendars to help with group scheduling.

    Group Scheduling

    iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 is designed to perform Group Scheduling. In particular, Calendar Express 5.0p1 allows a user to create an event to which other Attendees are invited. The Attendees can accept or decline invitations. Attendees are typically people on the same calendar server, but this is not an absolute requirement. When iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 detects that an Attendee is not on the calendar server, it can send the scheduling message (a request, reply, and so forth) via email as an IMIP message. This allows Calendar Express 5.0p1 users to schedule with Outlook users. Users can:
  • invite others to events
  • accept and decline events
  • put invitations directly into a calendar, or send them via email
  • view free/busy information for attendees of an event
  • compare a group schedule (view attendees' schedules side-by-side)

    •  

    Resource Scheduling

    Conference rooms, overhead projectors and other resources can be managed and scheduled using Calendar Express 5.0p1. Each resource is associated with its own calendar. In iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1, a calendar can also be configured to enable or disable the double-book option. By default, a calendar associated with a resource has this option disabled, and a person's calendar has the double-booking enabled by default.

    On-Behalf-of-Owner Scheduling

    The Access Control model implemented in iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 allows the owner of a calendar to specify another user as an owner that can act of behalf of them. For example, an executive can designate an administrative assistant as an owner, enabling the assistant to have complete access to all of the executive's calendars or any set of chosen multiple calendars. The administrative assistant can create group meetings on behalf of the executive and can accept or decline meetings on behalf of the executive. The executive can then decide not to give access to a personal calendar.

    Installation Notes

    This section contains important information you should know before installing the product. For complete installation related information and instructions, refer to the iPlanet Calendar Server Installation Guide.

    Hardware Requirements

    The minimum hardware requirements for iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 are:
  • Approximately 500MB of disk space for a standard installation. For production systems, you should plan at least 1GB to support the product binaries.
  • 128 MB of RAM. For production systems, you should have between 256MB to 1GB of RAM for best performance.
  • RAID storage for fast access (optional).

    • Supported Platforms

    iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 supports the following operating systems at the appropriate version and patch levels:
  • Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 8 (SPARC) require patches from the table below and can be obtained from your service provider or downloaded from the Web.
    •  
    The number in parenthesis in the Solaris Version column is the output from the command 'uname -r' on that version of Solaris.  The two digit number following the dash in each Patch Id is the revision of hat patch.  The table lists the minimum patch revisions required by this release of the JDK and JRE; later revisions are acceptable.

    It is recommended that Libthread patch be applied last. In addition to the patches listed here, you may also want to install the latest patch cluster for your version of Solaris, which includes additional recommended and security patches.  Solaris patch clusters are available for download on the Web; follow the appropriate links starting at http://sunsolve.sun.com.
    Solaris Version PatchID Note Description
    2.6   (5.6) 105490-07 required  Linker Patch
    2.6   (5.6) 105568-16 required  Libthread Patch
    2.6   (5.6) 105210-27 required  LibC Patch
    2.6   (5.6) 106040-13 required  X Input & Output Method Patch
    2.6   (5.6) 105633-36 required    (1) OpenWindows 3.6: Xsun Patch
    2.6   (5.6) 106409-01 required    (2) Fixes the Chinese TrueType fonts
    2.6   (5.6) 108091-03 required    (3) SunOS 5.6: ssJDK1.2.1_03 fails with fatal error in ISO8859-01 Locales 
    2.6   (5.6) 105181-19 recommended  Kernel Update (socket close/hang)
    2.6   (5.6) 105669-10 recommended  CDE 1.2: libDTSvc Patch (dtmail)
    2.6   (5.6) 105284-31 recommended  Motif 1.2.7: Runtime library patch
    For Solaris 8 Please install the latest "Recommended & Security Clusters" patch downloaded from http://sunsolve.sun.com (dated Oct 19, 2000 or later in the patch readme file). The Oct 19, 2000 cluster patch contains the following individual patch ID's.
    Solaris Version Patch ID Note Description
    8  (5.8)  109137-01 required SunOS 5.8: /usr/sadm/install/bin/pkginstall patch
    8  (5.8)  109320-01  required SunOS 5.8: LP patch
    8  (5.8)  108974-03 required SunOS 5.8: sd and uata driver patch
    8  (5.8)  108977-01 required SunOS 5.8: libsmedia patch
    8  (5.8)  108968-02 required SunOS 5.8: vol/vold/rmmount patch
    8  (5.8)  108975-03 required SunOS 5.8: /usr/bin/rmformat and /usr/sbin/format patch
    8  (5.8)  108528-02  required SunOS 5.8: kernel update patch
    8  (5.8)  108875-07 required SunOS 5.8: c2audit patch
    8  (5.8)  108652-18 required X11 6.4.1 Xsun patch
    8  (5.8)  109951-01 required SunOS 5.8: jserver buffer overflow
    8  (5.8)  109783-01 required SunOS 5.8: /usr/lib/nfs/nfsd patch
    8  (5.8)  108879-02 required Solstice AdminSuite 3.0.1: Auditing, 'compat' in nsswitch.conf
    8  (5.8)  108985-02 required SunOS 5.8: /usr/sbin/in.rshd patch

    A list of recommended patches can be found at http://access1.sun.com/patch.recommended/rec.html.
     

  • Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5

    • Note:  On slower processor (200mhz or less) NT machines, the "start-cal" command might time-out. If this is the case then the iCS
    services need to be started manually through Control Panel: Services

    On all NT installations the following error message shows up in the console however, it can be ignored:
     "cs.instsupp.CalServerSupport::createProductAutoStartFile: PLATFORM NOT SUPPORTED !!"
     

  • HP/UX 11.0 (after Solaris release)
  • AIX 4.3.3 (45 days after Solaris release)

    • Software Requirements

    For Calendar Server 5.0p1, the following Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer versions are recommended:
    Table 1    Supported versions of Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer
     
    Windows
    Macintosh
    UNIX
    Netscape Communicator 
    4.7x
    4.7x
    4.x
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 
    5.0 & 5.5
    5.0
    not supported 
     

    Data Migration

    From iCS 2.x to 5.0p1 -
    A Migration tool is also available to sites with previously installed iCS 2.x. This tool provides data migration for calendar databases as well as for LDAP user preferences. Before using this tool, users should use csuser reset <userid> to clean up previous migration data on LDAP userprefs (if applicable). For users who did a previous iCS 2.x database migration, they should perform the migration again due to the changes in ACL. The complete instructions are provided in iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0 Installation Guide.

    From NCS and SCS to 5.x -
    Migration tools for the Netscape Calendar Server and the Sun Calendar Server  to iCS 5.x are not yet available in this release.

    If you are running NS Directory Server 4.12 or greater, and haven't put in any schemas, the installation program updates these schemas for you.

    Known Problems and Limitations

    What's Fixed in this Release

    Known Limitations and Considerations

    iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 includes the following known limitations and considerations:

    Administration

    If the user's default calendar is disabled using cscal, that user may still be able to login. The proper way to disable a user is to disable their login. This can be done with csuser, or by adding the calendar attribute icsAllowedServiceAccess with value http to that user's directory entry. If a user is able to login with a disabled default calendar, their default view will display a blank Current Calendar and they will not be able to view or change their default calendar.

    If a user is not assigned a calendar attribute icsCalendar, they can still login and a calendar that matches their username will be automatically created and assigned as their default calendar. This can be a problem if the existing calendar was not intended to be used as that user's default calendar. For example, if you create a calendar called holidays and you have a user with a username of holidays, you should assign this user a different default calendar other than holidays. This can be done with csuser or by adding the calendar attribute icsCalendar to that user's directory entry. Other calendar attributes, such as icsSubscribed and icsSet are also assigned to users.

    If these user calendar attributes are removed, without also removing the user's default calendar, the next time the user logs in, their default view will display a blank Current Calendar. To correct this problem, remove the user's default calendar with cscal or add the calendar attributes icsCalendar and icsSubscribed to the user's directory entry using csattribute.

    NOTE: It is very important to keep the external user directory in sync with the internal calendar database. If you are using non-iCS tools to manage your external user directory, be aware that changes to user's calendar attributes must be managed in sync with the calendars in the calendar database.

    Calendar Express 5.0p1

  • The User Interface (UI) is new and is not Java Script based. It is driven by an engine within the server that produces HTML based on external layout specifications (.xml, .xslt files) and sends it to the browser. The old JavaScript UI will work (in a future release), but it is not the default.
  • There is no address book. When inviting people to meetings, you can enter calendar ids, user names, group names, and email addresses. Note that there is a Magnifying Glass image on the Event Composer that will bring up the file cal/bin/html/en/lookup.html. You can update this file to point to your local directory application.
  • Press the Reload button to see the new invitations in your schedule or to see the replies that are made to your meeting invitations.
  • Enabling the iCS 2.x User Interface (Note: This feature is not supported for French and german in 5.0p1, but will be supported in 5.0p2)

    • To enable the iCS 2.x User Interface, you need to perform the following steps.
        1. Go to the following directory:

          2.  

           
           
           

          <installed directory>/cal/uicust/en
           

        2. In a UNIX system, become the icsuser.
        3. Rename default.html to default_original.html.
        4. Rename default-oldlogin.html to default.html.
        5. Go to the following directory:

          6.  

           
           
           

          <installed directory>/cal/uicust
           

        6. Edit the uicust.pl file and verify that the value $PERL will find and run the correct version of perl 5.004 or later.
        7. Execute the following:

          8. perl5.004 uicust.pl

      Database Wire Protocol (DWP)

      There are some issues with DWP functionality in the 5.0p1 release.  Several key fixes are made and will be included in the 5.0p2 release.

      Potential Problems and Solutions

        The following section details the known potential problems and solutions for the Calendar Server 5.0p1 release.

        See also, Known Limitations and Considerations, and the following section, Corrections to the Documentation, for other issues that might affect product capability or use.

        UNIX only: Incorrect error message about insufficient disk space (368819)

        During the installation, the following message can come up:

          Checking disk space.

          WARNING: /export/iPlanet/CalendarServer partition has insufficient space to install the items selected. 62.1

          <Amount shown>MB additional space would be needed to install selected items.

          WARNING: Insufficient disk partition space to install the items selected.

          The installation is checking the /opt directory for disk space and not the partition chosen by the user.

        The workaround is to verify that there is enough disk space on the chosen partition. Installation should complete successfully.

        Solaris only: When messenger attempts to display the attachment generated by iCS5.0p1 it generates error: Cannot find NLS Data Directory (412288)

        This is a problem native to the Navigator mail client on Solaris

        Currently, there is no workaround.

        Link to "Edit Properties" does not work if user does not have permissions (512953)

        If you do not have permission to modify properties of a calendar, the "Edit Properties" link in the Calendars tab does not bring up a dialog.

        There is currently no workaround. This action is not allowed if you do not have permissions.

        Alarm monitoring for cshttpd is not functioning (515223)

        The cshttpd alarm monitoring is not functioning.

        There is currently no workaround for this problem. You can emulate similar functionality by creating a Perl or Shell script that follows this logic:

        1. Use csping to hit the server.
        2. If you receive an OK response, sleep an amount of minutes and return to Step 1.
        3. If you do not receive an OK response, send an email to the System Administrator's pager.
        Internationalization Issues:

        It's not possible to enable the 2.x interface for French and German in the 5.0p1 release. (521265)

        There is no workaround.  This option will be available in the 5.0p2 release.

        Email event requests / cancellations do not support extended characters in the event name, description and location fields in the body of the email message received (521264)

        In addition, for the French and German release, the headings in the email message received appear in english.

        There is no workaround.

        It is not possible to create a group name containing extended characters (518572).

        There is no workaround.

        It is not possible to create a Calendar Name containing extended characters (519293).

        There is no workaround.
         

        UI displays in Germany on Solaris 2.6 zh platform (520060).

        When a user who has a preferred language attribute other than "en", "fr" or "de" (English, French, or German, respectively) tries to access iCS 5.0p1 the UI will default to the German (de) locale rather than English.  This is because the server will default to the first locale directory it finds in alphabetical order. This will be fixed in the 5.0p2 release.

        Workaround:  In order for iCS 5.0p1 to default to English for a locale other than English, French or German rename the <server install dir>/cal/bin/data/de directory to old_de or else remove it altogether.


      Corrections to the Documentation

         
        There are some errors in the Programmer's Reference section describing the WCAP commands. The following commands do not exist in WCAP 2.0 (therefore, iCS 5.0 will not recognize these WCAP commands) and should have been removed from the Programmer Reference.
         
        1. admin_logout.wcap
        2. admin_set_calendar.wcap
        3. get_session.wcap
        4. refresh.wcap
        5. shutdown.wcap

    How to Report Problems

    If you have problems with iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1, contact iPlanet customer support using one of the following mechanisms:
  • iPlanet online support web site at http://www.iplanet.com/support/online/

    • From this location, the CaseTracker and CaseView tools are available for logging problems.
  • The telephone dispatch number associated with your maintenance contract
    • So that we can best assist you in resolving problems, please have the following information available when you contact support:
  • Description of the problem, including the situation where the problem occurs and its impact on your operation
  • Machine type, operating system version, and product version, including any patches and other software that might be affecting the problem
  • Detailed steps on the methods you have used to reproduce the problem
  • Any error logs or core dumps

    • For More Information

    Useful iPlanet information can be found at the following Internet locations:
    Use of iPlanet Calendar Server 5.0p1 is subject to the terms described in the license agreement accompanying it. (See link_to_licensing_info.)

    Copyright © 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Some preexisting portions Copyright © 2000 Netscape Communications Corp. All rights reserved.

    Last Updated November 17, 2000