If you are upgrading from Notes 8.0.2 to 8.5.2, and had a hotfix installed on your 8.0.2 installation it is possible that the 8.5.2 installer will not install the latest version of rcplauncher.exe, causing the upgraded client to be unable to launch, from the technote:

“If the original Modified date of rcplauncher.exe is changed, a newer one will not be copied to disk when a hotfixed Notes 8.0.2 client is upgraded to 8.5.2. As a result, errors may occur during the upgrade and then afterward the client will not launch.”

The technote covers other causes of the issue:

“Products other than Notes installers, such as a backup and restore program , may copy or move files around on end-user machines. This could result in rcplauncher.exe having a different Created or Modified date stamp.”

There is a transform file available for download in the technote with deployment instructions to avoid this issue.  The technote is worth taking a look if you are upgrading 8.0.2 to 8.5.2.

Clean installs of 8.5.2 are not affected by this issue, upgrades only.

Technote 1472756: Notes 8.5.2 client installers do not always put down latest version of rcplauncher.exe

I tweeted this earlier today, wanted to put it here where it was a litte more permanent.  If you do any work packaging up the Notes client for installation this is a terrific resource.

Ed has a recent post on ICSA Certification for Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5 which reminded me that I had this post in draft waiting to be completed.

Lotus Protector has a feature that allows an individual to manage a personal blocked sender list, this is useful for keeping unwanted mail that is not technically classified as SPAM (subjective SPAM) not only out of their inbox, but completely out of their mail file, and off of their mail server.  In Notes 8.5.1 this process is integrated in to the Notes client allowing an individual to manage their blocked sender list and blocked messages from with in their inbox.

To configure the Notes client to connect to Lotus Protector there is a notes.ini entry $PROTECTOR_LOCATION which can be manually added to the notes.ini or set via a Desktop Policy.  The format is $PROTECTOR_LOCATION=url:port for example $PROTECTOR_LOCATION=protector.the80s.ws:4443, 4443 is the default port for the end user interface to Lotus Protector.

Once the parameter is set and the client restarted there is a new icon, and views added to the mail file. (note: I am not calling anyone out as a spammer, I just collected some non-personal e-mails to use in a demo)

To add a sender to the blocked sender list the end user simple has to select the message (or messages) and click on the Block Sender Icon

This will bring up the dialogue box confirming that the sender(s) will be blocked

The first time you access Protector you will need to provide login credentials which will then be stored in an account document in the personal address book.  Lotus Protector connects to Domino LDAP as well as others, so while you will have to login once, it will use an existing credential.  (IBM if you are listening, single sign on with the Notes Client would be a really nice feature)

There are also new views added to the mail file which allow an individual to manage their blocked sender and blocked messages list from with in Notes

If you are interested in trying Lotus Protector for Mail Security there is a 90 day trial available.  The download is a VMWare image that will work on any of the VMware Server or Deskop Products.

Lotus Protector for Mail Security product homepage
Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5 System Requirements
Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5 Documentation

Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5 90 day Trial Download
Lotus Notes and Domino Wiki: Tutorial:  VMware setup for Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5