While upgrading a customer environment from Notes/Domino 11.0.x to 14.0.x, we encountered a challenge with clearing obsolete proxy settings from users’ location documents. These settings had been distributed long ago but were no longer needed and caused conflicts, particularly with DOMI.
Despite modifying the policy to clear the values, we noticed no changes were applied on user endpoints, regardless of our efforts. Setting an empty space as a workaround pushed this value to the test clients, leading to additional issues.
Currently, the policy mechanism does not support clearing or resetting values (including notes.ini entries)—it only allows changes. The only viable solution was to run an agent to clear the fields, as outlined in https://support.hcl-software.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0100129
This approach is far from ideal:
- Running an agent adds complexity and requires additional effort.
- Managing notes.ini through third-party tools is not always feasible in every environment.
We strongly recommend that HCL implement a built-in method to clear values properly through policies, including resetting fields in location documents and notes.ini entries. While tools like the Marvel Client offer this functionality, they require additional licensing and incur extra costs. Basic functionality like clearing values should be manageable directly within the base product without relying on external tools.
We believe this enhancement would significantly improve the usability and efficiency of the Notes/Domino environment for administrators.
