Configuring CalDAV Clients for Calendar Server 7

Topics:

Configuring CalDAV Clients

This section contains the following tasks:

To Configure Apple iCal for Calendar Server

1. Launch iCal.
2. Choose Preferences menu from the Main menu.
3. To add an account, click the accounts tab in Preferences, then click the '+' sign.
4. Type a name for your calendar in the Description field.
5. Type your user name and password.
6. Click the server options and type the principal URI, for example:
   http://example.com:3080/dav/principals/jsmith@example.com/
   In this example, the default URI of / was used during initial configuration.

To Configure Lightning for Calendar Server

These instructions assume that you have already installed at least Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.x on your client machine.

1. Download Lightning 0.9 to your client machine.
   See http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/releases/lightning0.9.html.
2. Download, but do not execute, the appropriate binary for your client platform.
   If the downloaded file is a zip file, unzip it.
3. Create a Thunderbird profile as follows:
   1. In Mozilla Thunderbird, choose Add Ons or Extensions from the Tools menu, depending on the version of Thunderbird.
   2. Click the Install button.
      A file chooser is displayed.
   3. Navigate to the previously downloaded (and perhaps unzipped).XPI file, select it, and click OK.
   4. In the Software Installation dialog box, click Install Now.
   5. Click Restart Thunderbird.
   6. Click the Calendar icon in the lower left corner of the Thunderbird UI.
   7. Choose File-->New-->Calendar.
      If this selection is grayed out, you might need first to open the default calendar in Thunderbird.
   8. Choose On the Network.
   9. Choose CalDAV.
   10. Type the URL of the calendar, for example:
       http://example.com:3080/dav/home/jsmith@example.com/calendar/
       In this example, the default URI of / was used during initial configuration.
   11. Type your name, choose a color scheme, choose to set alarms or not, and select your email address.
   12. Type your user name and password for the CalDAV server.
       A confirmation dialog box informs you that your calendar has been created.
   13. Click Finish.
       The new calendar appears in the listing of calendars on the left side of the Thunderbird UI.
4. Lightning 0.9 has CalDAV scheduling capability but it is turned off by default. Turn on the following configuration preferences for CalDAV scheduling to work by using the Config Editor.
   • calendar.itip.notify
   • calendar.caldav.sched.enabled
     Windows: Tools-->Options-->Advanced-->Config Editor
     UNIX: Edit-->Preferences-->Advanced-->General

To Configure a Demo CalDAV Account on iPhone OS 3.0

The iPhone 3.0 default configuration panel is very simple (server name, user name, password), but it makes the following assumptions that might be valid for a production system but not for a demo server:

• Use of standard ports (443 or 80)
• SSL is the default
• Account URL follows a fixed pattern: http(s)://server name/principals/users/username/

Demo servers usually run on non-standard port numbers and they do not always own the full namespace, leading to account URLs (actually principal URL) that look more like the following:

http://caldav.example.com:3080/dav/principals/username/

Typing this kind of URL can be very tedious and error prone, especially given that the advanced configuration panel offers just a tiny text box.

The following procedure simplifies the configuration process, assuming that you have a mail account configured already.

1. From your usual desktop client, email the principal URL to yourself.
   Check that the URL is valid (by using a regular browser) before sending it.
   The principal URL varies across servers. It is the same that you might have configured if you are using the Apple iCal client (iCal --> Preferences --> Accounts --> your CalDAV account --> Server Settings --> Account URL).
2. Copy the URL from the iPhone Mail App.
   1. From the iPhone Mail App, open the email.
   2. Press and hold on the URL in the message.
      You should be asked whether you want to open or copy the link.
   3. Select copy.
3. Navigate to the CalDAV account creation panel.
   Settings --> Mail, Contacts, Calendars --> Add Account... --> Other --> Add CalDAV Account
4. Type the server information.
   1. Tap on the Server field.
      A Paste button should appear on top of the text field.
   2. Press Paste.
      The full URL is shown. The client accepts a full URL in the server name field.
5. Type the user name and password.
   1. Go to the User Name field. The full principal URL is replaced by the server name only, which is to be expected.
   2. Type your password and tap Next.
      The client indicates "Verifying CalDAV account", then "Account verified".
6. You can now use the Calendar application.

Exporting and Importing Calendars

This section contains the following tasks:

To Export a Calendar

1. Open any Calendar view.
2. Choose File-->Export Calendar.
3. Select the calendar.
4. When prompted to save the file, use the iCalendar format (the default is html).

To Import a Calendar

1. Open any Calendar view.
2. Choose File-->Import Calendar.
3. Select the exported file.