Local DNS and IOS16

After upgrading to IOS16 on several devices we recognized an issue according to name resolution. Our DHCP-Server offered two types of DNS entries to clients: Some local DNS servers and two Cloudflare ones. This worked like a charm for years. After upgrading our IOS devices we recognized after a while that all local addresses are no longer resolved to addresses. Each time we tried to connect to an office server by name the name could not be resolved.

After some testing with several other devices (macOS, Windows, Linux) we were completely lost: All devices were able to use the DNS system and connect to any server in the office - except the ios ones.

Checking the configuration of our ios devices showed up all necessary DNS servers and the configured fallback to Cloudflare servers. The only difference between the local and the Cloudflare servers is the ability to use DNS over HTTPS. Cloudflare is able, but our local servers are not. To quickly solve this issue we tried to deactivate the Cloudflare servers on our ios-devices - and the DNS system worked as expected.

In the next step, we changed the DNS distribution of our DHCP servers to drop all external DNS servers, which solved the problem immediately.

Enabling DNS over HTTPS on local DNS servers would be a different solution to overcome this issue.

Workaround for HCL Notes crashing on macOs 12.6

HCL published a runnable version number for those like me, who already migrated macOs to version 12.6. At the moment you would be able to run Notes on your mac if you downgrade to version 11.01 FP6. This might lead to some error messages depending on your configuration. But you will be able to run a functional version of HCL Notes.

For all others, it is recommended to stick to macOs 12.5 or lower.

Read the KB article

HCL Notes quit unexpectedly after macOS upgrade to the latest version 12.6 Monterey

After Upgrading to Macos Montery 12.6 HCL Notes crashes during startup. This issue has already been recognized by HCL. An upcoming fix will solve this issue.

Up to now you should NOT update your macOs devices to Monterey 12.6 if you are a HCL Notes customer. Wait until the fix has been releaed.

Read the KB-Article!

Native VPN and HCL Notes on macOS

We recognized a major Notes issue on macOS after upgrading to version 12. Each time we opened up a native VPN connection to our office infrastructure the Notes Client was unable to establish a connection to any Domino sever available. First we thought it might be a DNS issue in macOS which is indeed a bit more complicated than expected. But after some tests, we came to the result that it is a Notes problem.

HCL has published a workaround for this thing that might be helpful. You have to add the line

Network_Resiliency=0

to the Notes Preferences file on macOS. If you just have a few of such clients then it might be easier to do this manually (see more detailed information in Notes.ini on Mac OS). If there are a couple of macOS Clients out there or they are located around the world it might be more convenient to use a Desktop Policy to roll out this parameter.

When your Mac machines are back in one of your office networks again they will pull the policy and it will work after a restart of the Notes Client.

Have fun.

M32 Version Widget for iOS devices

We just released a video to explain how to install Scritpable App TM on your iOS or iPadOS device and configure it to run the M32 Version widget we created for free.

If you are interested in:

https://youtu.be/3KePU20r6bY

Have a nice time! Become or stay healthy!