Notes through a firewall

If you are really, really sure you want and need to change the port ... instructions below.  


Changing the Notes Specific TCP/IP Port Number

Problem:
How can an administrator correctly change the Notes TCP/IP Port Number under Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 platforms?

Solution:
(Note the term "Notes is used throughout this document, however, this procedure also applies to the Lotus Domino 4.5x Server Powered by Lotus Notes).

Changing the TCP port address on a Notes server is a two-step process.

1. Modify the services file located on NT in \WINNT\System32\drivers\etc\ (or for Windows 95, the \WIN95\ directory).

2. Add the line PORTNAME_TCPIPAddress= to the NOTES.INI file.


1.1) Editing the Services File: TCP Ports Used by Notes

By default, Notes servers use the TCP port 1352 when listening for Notes Client connections.  This port number was assigned to Lotus Notes by the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA), so it is unlikely to conflict with any other application on the network.  Notes clients, on the other hand, use dynamic port numbers which the TCP/IP network software chooses from a range of numbers that are made available for this purpose.  A client that connects to a Notes server connects to server port 1352.

To use a different port number for servers, configure the TCP/IP service "lotusnotes" in the manner appropriate to the network. This is generally done by adding a line to a file named SERVICES, which is normally located in a directory called \etc\ .

The configuration line should resemble the following:

Lotusnotes portnumber/tcp # LotusNotes \

....where portnumber is the TCP port of your choice.  It is very important to edit this file on every Notes Client and Notes Server that is communicating.

For example: To have the Notes Server use port 5000, you would add the following line to the SERVICES file:

Lotusnotes      5000/tcp      #LotusNotes

Note that the SERVICES file has no extension, much like the IP host file.  Once you open the SERVICES file with a text editor (such as Notepad) you will see how the file is constructed.

2.1) Edit the NOTES.INI File of Each Server or Partitioned Server to Include:
PORTNAME_TcpIpAddress=0,IPaddress:1352
....where PORTNAME is the port name as defined in FILE, TOOLS, USER PREFERENCES, PORTS on the Notes Server's workstation, and IPaddress is the TCP/IP address of a specific partitioned Notes Server.  For example:

If the port name were "TCPIP" and the IP address of the machine were 192.94.222.169 and you wanted it to use port 5000, the line added to the NOTES.INI would be:

TCPIP_TcpIpAddress=0,192.94.222.169:5000

NOTE:  Recall that on a LAN the Portname and the driver used for that portname are not directly correlated.  You could call the port SPX and still use the TCP driver - but for clarity, ease of configuration, and logic, no administrator does this.

Once these two steps are complete, you will need to recycle the Notes Server for the changes to take effect.  To test that you are using a different port, try to replicate a database via the Notes Server console replicate command.  Replicate to a target server that you were previously able to replicate to (before you alter the target server's configuration). You should not be able to replicate.

Supporting Information:

See the Lotus Domino System Administrators Help Guide:
            
*About Notes and TCP/IP

*Setting up Notes and multiple TCP/IP ports