Because of operating system limitations, there is no automated procedure to rename a Lotus® Domino® database. If a Domino server task touches a database, it creates a file lock, and subsequently cannot rename it due to an access violation on the OS. Therefore, it is a manual process to rename a Notes database on the Domino Server.

All that said, what are the proper procedures for renaming a Domino mail database?

Solution

It is a best practice to rename a database during off-hours with the Domino server shut down. Renaming the file with the server down will help prevent any file locks from occurring on the database.

Note: Third-party products such as antivirus and backup software can also create a file lock. If you are unable to rename a database through the operating system, you may need to disable the third-party products or reboot the machine.

Renaming a Domino database with the server down

1. Let the user know you are going to rename their database.
2. Issue quit at the server console to shut down Domino.
3. Rename the database on the file system.
4. Restart Domino.
5. Edit the corresponding user’s Person document and update the 'Mail File' field to the new file name.
6. Make sure the end user's Location document is also updated with the new file name.(Location document -> Mail Tab -> Mail file field).

Renaming a Domino database with the server up

If the server cannot be shut down, it is possible to rename the OS file name with the server up if there are no external third-party software factors to consider. Keep in mind that a server task acting on the database can create a database handle and not allow you to rename the file. To prevent this from occurring:

1. Let the user know you are going to rename their database and instruct them to exit their Lotus Notes® client. (Also, ensure that the database is not open by anyone else.)
2. Shut down the Domino Router by issuing tell router quit at the server console.
3. Issue the command drop database mail\filename.nsf
4. Make sure replication/cluster replication is not occurring.
5. Issue the command dbcache flush
6. Rename the database on the file system.
7. Update the Person document "Mail File" field to the new file name of the mail file.
8. Restart the Router task by issuing "load router" at the server console.
9. Make sure the end user's Location document is also updated with the new file name. (Location document -> Mail Tab -> "Mail file" field)

Additional considerations

- If a renamed database was previously full-text indexed, the full-text index must be recreated.

- Because the replication process looks at the Replica ID rather than the database filename, replication will continue to work after the rename. (No configuration changes are required).

- Database quotas will not be impacted on the renamed database.

- If the database exists on a cluster, rename each clustermate's file with the procedure above as well. (You will not need to update the Person document on the clustermate since replication will update it). This is needed for mail routing failover.

- If the server has specific Program documents, Connection documents, and/or Database links that contain the file name, they may also have to be updated.