Start/notes.ini Parameters/FailoverSilent

FailoverSilent

Parameter: FailoverSilent
Short description: Suppresses the failover prompts on the Notes client — the actual cluster failover remains active and is transparent to the user.

Profile

Parameter
FailoverSilent
Category
Cluster
Component
Client
Available since
Notes 8.5.2; officially documented for Notes 9.0.x, 10.0.x, 11.0.x and higher (HCL KB0024464)
Supported versions
9.0.1, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 14.0, 14.5, 14.5.1
GUI equivalent
Desktop Settings → Mail → Client Settings → „Enable silent failover when a server goes down“
Possible values
0 = show failover prompt (default) • 1 = suppress failover prompts

Description

FailoverSilent controls the behavior of the Notes client during cluster failover. If the client switches during an active session from a non-responding server to a replica on another cluster member, Notes by default displays a notice dialog („Server is no longer available / switch to replica?“). In large environments, this dialog confuses end users without them being able to react meaningfully to it.
With FailoverSilent=1:
  • all client-side failover dialogs are suppressed,
  • the actual cluster failover remains active — the client switches to the cluster replica in the background,
  • according to HCL Customer Support, this affects „nearly all failover prompts“ (KB0024464),
  • the effect applies not only to mail, but to any database in the cluster.
The parameter is the modern successor setting to the older HidePromptFailoverInc=1. Recommended configuration for entire Domino environments is distribution via a Desktop policy: „Desktop Settings → Mail → Client Settings → Enable silent failover when a server goes down“. When the policy is applied, Notes writes FailoverSilent=1 to the client notes.ini.

Example configuration

Enable silent cluster failover on the Notes client:
FailoverSilent=1
Return to default behavior (show failover prompt):
FailoverSilent=0
Runtime activation via LotusScript button (HCL tip / NotesMail):
Dim session As New NotesSession
Call session.SetEnvironmentVar("FailoverSilent", "1", True)

Notes & pitfalls

  • Operates client-side — must be set on each Notes client that should benefit from silent failover. Server-side activation has no effect.
  • Recommended distribution method is a Desktop policy („Enable silent failover when a server goes down“), so that all Notes clients are controlled consistently.
  • Only takes effect after a Notes client restart; a runtime change to notes.ini alone is not sufficient.
  • Requires that the underlying cluster configuration works correctly (cluster membership, replicated databases, reachable cluster mate). FailoverSilent does not enable failover, it only suppresses the dialogs.
  • Replaces the obsolete HidePromptFailoverInc=1 from earlier Notes versions.
  • Not a diagnostic substitute: If users report „no failover“, first check cluster replication and the reachability of cluster members — FailoverSilent only hides the dialogs.

Sources (HCL Product Documentation)