GETTING CONNECTED
Roaming user privileges allow Notes users to access their customized settings and personal information from any computer in their organization that has Lotus Notes 6 installed. Data for these users, known as roaming users, replicates between the user's computer(s) and a roaming user server or roaming replica server. (The roaming user server is usually, but not always, the user's home server. Roaming replica servers are servers that contain replicas of the user's roaming databases.)
When a roaming user starts Notes on any computer, Notes automatically retrieves the latest versions of the user's Personal Address Book, bookmarks, and journal from the roaming user server. Any changes the user makes in these files replicate to the roaming user server and from there to other computers. This allows the roaming user to have a consistent experience in Notes on any computer.
In order to grant you roaming user privileges, your Domino administrator uses a tool to modify settings in your Person document in the Domino Directory, and create a Roaming Profile for you.
For more information on what data in the databases replicates through the roaming user server, see Information that replicates through the roaming user server.
Note You can use your roaming user privileges to work on computers that have the multi-user version of Notes installed.
For more information on the multi-user version of Notes, see Sharing a computer with other users.
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If this is the first release of Notes you have ever used, check with your administrator to see whether you already have roaming user privileges. If your administrator gave you the privileges at the same time as registering you as a Notes user, you can just start working in Notes on any computer and your data will replicate automatically.
If your administrator has not yet granted you roaming user privileges, make sure you have them before you start working on other computers. If you have already used this release of Notes on more than one computer, follow the procedure below.
Caution Before you ask for the privileges, make sure that your full name (for example, Jane Q Public/Acme/Sales if your organization uses full names) is specified as Manager in the access control list of your Personal Address Book, Bookmarks, and Personal Journal databases. These databases must also have the default file names of names.nsf, bookmark.nsf, and journal.nsf (if you want your Personal Journal to roam). If you don't want your Personal Journal to roam, see Keeping your Personal Journal local.
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Becoming a roaming user after using more than one release of Notes
To become a roaming user, ask your Domino administrator to grant you roaming user privileges.
If you already use Notes on more than one computer, you probably have your most current bookmarks, contacts, and other personal settings on one computer you consider your main working machine. After your administrator grants you roaming privileges, follow the steps below:
1. Start Notes on your main computer and connect to your home server by opening a database on it, for example, your mail.
2. You'll see a message asking whether you want to use the computer you're using as the starting point for roaming. Click Yes.
3. Exit Notes. By default for roaming users, Notes replicates on shutdown. Your working data is now replicated to the roaming server.
4. Start the next computer you use.
5. (Optional) If there are contacts, bookmarks, or other information you need in the names.nsf, bookmark.nsf, or journal.nsf files on this computer, use your operating system to make a backup copy of the file(s). Later, you can rename, add, and open the backup file(s) and copy and paste the information into your databases. If necessary, ask your administrator for assistance with locating the files in your operating system.
6. Start Notes and connect to your home server. You'll see a message asking whether you want to roam to this computer. Click Yes.
Managing your roaming user information
When you become a roaming user, Notes enables your replication schedule, sets it to replicate when you start or exit (shut down) Notes, and includes your Personal Address Book, Bookmarks, and Personal Journal in the schedule. There is only one replication schedule, so this means that replication will now also occur on startup and shutdown for other databases that don't replicate through the roaming user server.
Tip You may want to set the Personal Address Book, Bookmarks, and Personal Journal as high priority so that they replicate more frequently than other databases in the schedule.
For more information on the replication schedule, see Scheduling replication.
Notes creates entries in the Replicator page for the current location for your Personal Address Book, Bookmarks, and Personal Journal.
Keeping your Personal Journal local
If you have private information in your Personal Journal database and would rather not allow it to replicate through the roaming user server, you can keep it local by changing its file name as described below. You must make this change to the journal on any computer to which you plan to roam before you become a roaming user. Any Personal Journal database that's specified in the Welcome page or that has the file name journal.nsf will roam.
1. Go to the Welcome page and click the "Personal Journal" icon.
2. In the Notification dialog box, select "I do not yet have a personal journal," and close the dialog box.
3. Open your Personal Journal database (journal.nsf).
4. Choose File - Database - New Copy.
5. In the "File name" field, enter a name other than journal.nsf (for example, journal_local.nsf).
6. Add the new journal to your bookmarks so you can find it again.
7. Open the original journal (journal.nsf).
8. Choose File - Database - Delete and select Yes.
9. Exit and restart Notes.
Note If your Personal Journal database already has a file name other than journal.nsf, you don't need to copy it, but you do need to make sure it's not specified in the Welcome page.
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