10.3 Support for the iCal standard
Prev | Chapter 10 Apple iCal Support | Next

## 10.3 Support for the iCal standard

Kerio MailServer supports publishing of calendars in user email accounts on the server and subscription of calendars stored in the mailbox from the Apple iCal. In addition to subscription to their own calendars, users can also subscribe to calendars shared by other users. This implies that if you share your calendar with your teammate, she can subscribe it and view it. Subscribed calendars cannot be edited by the subscribers, only viewed.

As mentioned earlier in this document, in Apple iCal, subscribed calendars are available only in the read-only mode. Published calendars are available on the server for reading only (this implies that it is not edit published calendars when accessed by Kerio WebMail, for example).

If calendars are published as subfolders of the default Calendar folder (the main calendar), all events will be also shown in the Free/Busy calendar (for details on Free/Busy calendars, see section 9.3 Scheduling of meetings).

### Subscription to calendars

It is possible to subscribe any calendar stored on the WebDAV server in the iCal format. This implies that it is possible to subscribe to calendars stored in Kerio MailServer and/or iCal calendars stored on any other server supporting the WebDAV protocol and the iCalendar format.

To subscribe your own Kerio MailServer's calendar in Apple iCal, follow these guidelines:

1. Log in the Kerio WebMail interface.

   ### Warning

   It is necessary to connect via HTTP (not HTTPS), otherwise, the link will not be displayed correctly.

2. Go to Settings → Integration with Mac OS X.

3. On the Integration with Mac OS X page, in section Apple iCal, click on the Subscribe to my calendar link.

4. This opens Apple iCal where you just confirm the calendar offered for download.

Calendars can be subscribed through the Calendar → Subscribe menu. This option opens a dialog (see figure 10.18 URL calendar definition) where URL address can be specified and detailed authentication and refreshing parameters can be set (the entire calendar is downloaded for each refresh).

The address must follow this pattern:

`http://server_name/ical[path]`

To subscribe the default calendar folder which belongs to your mailbox in Kerio MailServer, enter the URL in the following format:

`http://server_name/ical`

It is also possible to subscribe another user's calendar, if the user shares it for you. For the login URL, use the following pattern:

`http://server_name/ical/user@domain`

or

`http://server_name/ical/domain/user_name`

It is also possible to subscribe another user's calendar, if shared. The following URL format must be used:.

`http://server_name/ical/public`

or

`http://server_name/ical/public/calendar`

When a calendar is being subscribed, it is possible to edit name of the folder. If no name is entered, the `Calendar` folder will be used automatically.

### Warning

It is not possible to subscribe calendars via SSL connection. Therefore, use only the non-secured HTTP version for this purpose. This means that URLs of calendars must NOT start with `https://`.

Figure 10.18. URL calendar definition

When the URL is specified, the application attempts to connect to the server. If authentication is required, the dialog where username and password can be specified is opened (i.e. typically the username and password used for connection to your email account).

Once connected to Kerio MailServer, a dialog where other details can be specified is opened (see figure 10.19 Setting details):

Figure 10.19. Setting details

Title

  Any name used for the calendar in Apple iCal.

Refresh

  The calendar will be refreshed in the interval set. Unless the user has a fast Internet connection, it is not recommended to set the interval too short (calendar is completely reloaded upon each refresh).

Remove alarms

  Alarms will be disabled for the calendar (pop-up reminders). It is recommended to enable this option since the calendar is available for reading only and it is not possible to close or manipulate with alarms. Only the calendar's owner is allowed to manipulate with them.

Remove To Do items

  The calendar will not include To Do items.

### Calendar publishing

Calendars can be published to the following stores:

- to a personal account in Kerio MailServer,

- to an account of another Kerio MailServer user (username and password are required unless the user creates a new calendar folder and shares it),

- to any WebDAV server in the Internet.

When published, the calendars will be available at the server for reading only. This implies that it is not possible to edit, add or remove events.

Calendars can be published through the Calendar → Publish menu. This opens a dialog (see figure 10.20 The Publish Calendar dialog), where URL address can be specified and other publishing parameters can be set. It is also possible to set that the calendar is re-published upon each change (the entire calendar is always published, not just changes).

Figure 10.20. The Publish Calendar dialog

Publish calendar as

  By default, the entry includes the name used by this calendar in Apple iCal. The title can be edited.

Publish on

  In the menu, set the a Private Server option.

Base URL

  URL address of the server where the calendar would be published. The URL address must follow this pattern:

  `http://server_name/ical[path]`

  To publish a calendar in the root folder (of a particular mailbox), enter URL in the following format:

  `http://server_name/ical`

  To publish a calendar in the `calendar` folder (of your mailbox), enter URL in the following format:

  `http://server_name/ical/calendar`

  To publish a calendar to the mailbox of another Kerio MailServer user, enter URL in the following format:

  `http://server_name/ical/user@domain/folder_name`

  It is also possible to publish a public calendar. The following URL format must be used:.

  `http://server_name/ical/public/folder_name`

  Make sure that URL address does not include forbidden characters and symbols. This involves spaces between words. The special `%20` character must be used instead of spaces. Here is an example:

  `http://mail.company.com/ical/private%20calendar`

  The other forbidden characters and symbols can also be replaced by corresponding equivalents. These equivalents are represented by hexadecimal ASCII codes of the particular characters preceded by the `%` symbol.

  Besides forbidden symbols, there are other characters that must be encoded. This includes any national diacritical characters, “?”, “:”, etc. It is also necessary to replace these characters in URL by their hexadecimal alternatives.

  Note: In Kerio MailServer, standard folders (Inbox, Junk E-mail, Sent, Calendar, Tasks) are saved under their English names. Therefore, use the Calendar name to publish an iCal calendar to a default folder:

  `http://mail.company.com/ical/Calendar`

Login, Password

  Name and password used for authentication at the server where the calendar will be published. In this case, specify username and password for the corresponding Kerio MailServer user account.

Publish changes automatically

  This option enables/disables automatic update of the published calendar. The whole calendar is published within each update.

Publish titles and notes

  If it is desirable that events' subjects and bodies are displayed on the server, enable this option.

Publish alarms

  Alarms will be published with the calendar.

  It is recommended not to publish alarms since users who subscribe it can only read it and are not allowed to close them.

Publish To Do items

  This data will not be displayed in Kerio MailServer.

### Sharing of calendars

Calendars published in Kerio MailServer can be shared with other users who can subscribe them for their Apple iCal or view them in Kerio WebMail.

To share an iCal calendar, follow these instructions:

1. Log in the Kerio WebMail interface.

2. Create a special calendar folder (e.g. `Shared_Calendar`). Creating of new folders in Kerio WebMail is addressed in chapter 1.11.5 Shared and public folders.

3. Share the folder with corresponding users.

4. Publish an Apple iCal calendar to the folder just created. The URL for publishing will be as follows:

   `http://server_name/ical/Shared_Calendar`

### Warning

It is always necessary to share the entire folder in which the iCal calendar is published. If only the calendar itself is published, the sharing will be removed upon next update (publishing of a new version). This is caused by the fact that iCal calendars are recorded on the servers in the way that the original version of the calendar is removed first (including possible sharing) and then a new version is saved to the server.

Prev | Up | Next
10.2 CalDAV support | Contents | Chapter 11 Apple Address Book Support