Setting the Sametime 7.5.1 and 7.5.1.1 Connect client's preferences

How do you set preferences for Sametime Connect 7.5.1 and 7.5.1.1 clients?

There are several ways to set preferences within the Sametime® Connect clients. Which method(s) you choose to implement will depend on your business needs and requirements. The following are listed in the order in which they take precedence.

Method 1: Set preferences using Sametime Policies

Sametime Policies can be used to set and force a subset of available client-side preferences. Policies are accessed using the Sametime administration client (i.e. the "Administer the Server" link). Any preferences set using this method are:

1. Forced upon the end-users such that they cannot modify the setting, AND
2. Take highest precedence over any other method used to set client-side preferences.

For more information on Sametime Policies, see the following document in the Sametime Information Center: Policy Settings Table

Method 2: Set preferences manually using Sametime Connect client

End-users can manually set their client-side preferences from within the Preferences panel of the Sametime Connect client. Any preferences set using this method can be overwritten by Sametime Policies but take higher precedence over Method 3, as described below.

Preferences set manually by an end-user from within the client's Preferences panel are stored in the end-user's profile directory (either within an XML document or a *.pref file).

Method 3: Set preferences using plugin_customization.ini

The plugin_customization.ini configuration file provides the ability to customize the default settings for client-side preferences. This method does not FORCE the settings to stick; it simply sets the default setting.

Administrators can use this to deploy clients to have consistent behavior such that all end-users have a similar experience with the product. The preferences set using this method will be overwritten by Methods 1 and 2.

Note: Preferences set using this method cannot be locked down.



The remainder of this document describes how to utilize Method 3 to set default values for the majority of the available client-side preferences.

Instructions

To make the changes manually to a single client:
1. Backup the [Sametime Client Program Directory]\plugin_customization.ini.

2. Modify the plugin_customization.ini by appending the appropriate flag.
(See below table for examples)

3. Save and close the configuration file.

4. Restart the client.

To utilize plugin_customization.ini for all users, reference technote #1261055 . This technote provides a sample plug-in that demonstrates how an administrator can provision all clients automatically.



To find the available preferences which can be set, check the Information Centers:


http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/sametime/v8r5/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.help.sametime.v851.doc/config/config_client_pref.html