Synchronizing Address Book against a home server

I have a Bubba Two home server setup with Debian Etch, and a Mac Mini.
I want to synchronize Address Book’s contacts against this home server. What is the protocol or method of doing this? I want to synchronize the Address Book on two Macs through this server (and thus have three copies/backups too).
PS: Don’t mention MobileMe. I know what the service does, but I want to use my own hardware.

I have no idea what a Bubba Two or a Debian Etch are, but I created a unix bash script that uses the rsync -vvSauWEe ssh --delete --progress --stats command, and also made a launchd plist file to control when the script fires (you could use cron to automate the launch time, too -- it's deprecated but it still works).
I am running this across the internet at large to sync Address Book and iCal between distant machines. If you plan to operate similarly, then note the -e ssh switch. You will need to set up ssh on all affected machines to use passwordless public/private key authentication. If you search the Unix forum here using the search term ssh-keygen I suspect you will find plenty of info on how to do that, if you don't know about that already. And, of course, if you are running across the internet at large, don't forget about port forwarding in your router.
man launchd.plist and man rsync are some of the better man pages that I have seen. The rsync man page gives pretty good down-to-earth examples of how to use it, in my opinion.

Similar Messages

Address Book and MailStreet Exchange Server not synchronizing

I was reading the discussion in this thread (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1008103&tstart=3147) but it has been archived and I can't reply there. So here's a new topic.
I'm having the same problem, only I'm trying to connect to a hosted Exchange 2007 server through mailstreet.com. I also successfully connected and synchronized to a hosted Exchange 2003 server through mail2web.com, so it appears that the poster who says that Address Book only works with Exchange 2000 was mistaken.
I found little reference to this issue online except for one article at Snerdware (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1008103&tstart=3147), which mentions in the fourth and fifth paragraphs from the bottom that this person had the exact same issue with the MailStreet setup.
I have a hard time believing that it is specifically the MailStreet service that is at fault, since Address Book connects to the same ports that are opened for Outlook Web Access and the WebDAV services that Entourage connects via (and Entourage successfully connects to the MailStreet server using the Exchange WebDAV protocol).
Is it a setting thing? I've tried every permutation of the MailStreet Exchange server's address (including prepending it with http://, https://, suffixing it with /exchange, /exchange/username, /exchange/domain\username, using my login with just my username and with domain\username, etc. I cannot get it to work.
MailStreet customer service said that unfortunately they do not support synchronzing with the OS X Address Book. However, the agent who emailed me back did say that he has heard of it working sometimes with the same settings I was attempting to use, so that both encourages and discourages me.
Any ideas how to make this work?
Also, I have the install disc for 10.5 but have not yet upgraded. Maybe the Leopard Address Book app has additional Exchange functionality...?

I found another thread that more closely describes the problem I'm having:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1045312&tstart=3705
I've identified the same Translator crash mentioned in that thread. Each time I try to manually sync Address Book with the Exchange server, I see the Translator crash pop up in the console.
This is now happening on two Exchange servers. I have not gone back and tested to see if the Mail2Web one works--that will likely be my next step. But what on earth could be configured incorrectly to cause Translator to crash?
Interestingly, if I change the Outlook Web Access server setting from https://server.domainname.com/exchange/domain\username to https://server.domainname.com/exchange, I get an error popping up that "iSync couldn't connect to Exchange / Could not reach the server specified." With it in the former setting (which is how Address Book defaulted the Outlook Web Access server setting after I entered the username and password), it fails silently but Translator crashes in the background.
Interestingly, too, with the former option, I see either no TCP traffic with tcpdump or one short line of gibberish with my IP address talking to the Exchange server's address. With the latter option (without the domain and username appended to the end), I see a good bit more TCP traffic--more like 20 rows in a standard-sized Terminal window, so it is talking to something.
Message was edited by: Chris Luth

Address book Sync with Lion Server

Hello,
I have set up a Mac Mini with Lion Server and have OD users (no local user on the server). When I login "locally" (using the OD user account), I have my full environment, everything seems to work ok. Also the sync from my iPhone seems to work (only some calendar errors, sync doesn't come up with address book errors). But, as I now have noted, there is not really a sync of the address book. I have an old version of my address book on the server.
How do I properly set up that:
- my iPhone syncs with my OD user's address book only
whereas
- central address book is kept on the OD server as well (without any sync)?
Or did I get something wrong regarding the concept of running an address book on the Lion server ... maybe it's not possible to sync the iPhone to an OD user's address book?
Best regards,
Olaf.

Have you tried rebuilding the accounts in SystemPrefs>Mail, Contacts and Calendars?
Are the machines bound to the directory?
Try setting it up in a fresh account on the broken Mac.
Try setting it up on a different Mac.
Hope this helps,
Brian

Address Book template and Exchange server

We're in the process of upgrading about 250 Macs from OS 9 to Mac OS X 10.4.3 at my work. We're now binding our Mac workstations to the Active Directory and having folks log in against the network. One byproduct of this is that the Apple Address Book now can search/display folks in the Exchange Server's Global Address Book. However, the template that the Address Book uses to display each person's information is pretty limited. We get the full name, LAN ID, a business group, a location/building, a "work" phone number (which is an internal number) and the internal e-mail address. The Global Address Book contains significantly more information than this, including a true local phone number. In Outlook, this field is defined as a "Business 2" phone number. Editing the default Address Book template does not seem to allow any of this additional information to be displayed. Is there somewhere else that we could edit a file so some of these options are mapped correctly to the Apple Address Book?
-Doug

The template preference should work for you. If you hit the green + button you can add fields with all kinds of different default names. If those field names don't match your needs you just select the field name (the bold typeface one) and scroll down in the resulting box and use the "custom" field to add any title you wish. It should change the name of that field to the name you wish to use and that will match the named fields you all area already used to using. You can do this with any field so you should be able to match any fields you wish.
I hope I understand your question correctly. If not...sorry.

How to use webmail address book on Mac Mini Server with Lion Server.

I have a Mac Mini Server with Lion Server installed; the webmail is setup and working but I can not get the address book to work.
I have followed an instruction from this website on how to activate the address book icon in webmail but can not add any addresses. Is there something that needs to be activatied before it will work?

No, I didn't solve the problem. The monitor still goes to sleep with WIndows but not with my Mac Mini. About 8 months ago I basically wore out the power switch on my monitor so I bought a wireless power switch to shut it off at the outlet. The VX2835wm monitor itself is now starting to fail as well-- a couple of times it's gone through a weird sequence of flashing screen colors on power up and ended up in an overscan mode (that took me for ever to figure out how to fix). I have decided to replace my VX2835wm with a Dell u2412m once it fails for good partly because I really want to keep the 16:10 resolution (very hard to find these days) and partly because I want to see if a different make of monitor will go to sleep properly based upon my Mac Mini power down settings.

Sync address book with carddav on server

We want a read-only company wide address book which some users can write like the 'delegate' option in iCal. 'Share your contacts easily'. We don't want to go the suggested open directory/LDAP route as almost all of the few thousand contacts are external contacts.
The solution mentioned elsewhere is to have a dedicated user that everyone adds to their address book. The dedicated user imports a clean copy of the contacts (with groups) which ends up in the account 'on my mac'. A lion server account for this user is added to the accounts tab of the address book preferences. These two don't seem to synchronise unfortunately (unlike iCloud accounts).
When selecting all contacts and draging this to the server account, I lose all groups and get duplicates of all contacts. The latter can be cleaned by trashing the imported contacts in the account 'on my mac'. Still, I don't have the groups in the carddav lion server account.
How do I proceed? Do I overlook something obvious?

Drag and drop from the .abbu file containing the clean address book export onto any account shows that no cards could be imported. The contacts can only be imported via the 'import' menu item (doh).
Subsequently, the 'obvious' way to preserve groups is not to select the addresses and drag and drop them into the Address Book Lion Server account, but instead to drag and drop each group separately into the Lion Server account. Beware of any contacts not in any group though, they have to be added separately. Still this is a workaround for the 'share my contacts'.

Share calendar/address book on mini mac server?

how to install the share function for users on the server`?

All is not lost...
This post covers most of what you are looking for:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19673631#19673631
However one very important caveat... I would not call the OS X shared Calendar solution a real shared calendar as it has no real multi-user functionality. It is very basic, some might call it butt ugly — that's if I am reading its level of functionality correctly.
Meaning... when you set this up you have to make an extra 'shared' account for the address book (I would make an account with as little rights as possible!) and this account is filled into each client's (OS X, iOS) Address Book application. So if the real user is 'Fred' you don't use Fred's account details when you create the connection to the server Address Book. Make a fake user, e.g. 'CADD' on the server and fill that fake user name & password into the client Address Book app. As I said... ugh.

Problems Synchronizing Address Book

Ever since I downloaded the 5.0 bundle 1656, I have been unable to synchronize my address book. I use MS Outlook on Windows 7 Professional. I can synch my calendar, tasks and memo pad but not the address book. Does anyone have a solution, please?

ffhays wrote:
I have the same problem, but have never had any real help from anyone on this matter. You can configure the settings, but once you leave the configure screen, the settings return to just configuring to calendar, memo, and tasks. I use the Storm 9550. I also bought the newest version of Outlook and that did not solve. It displays no error messages when you sync. In the configure screen, it just indicates that the Address Book is not installed.
What do you mean by Advanced Logging?
Thanks.
Hello,
KB23978 BlackBerry Desktop Software displays address book or calendar as not installed within Organizer
KB01451 How to turn on advanced synchronization logging if a wired synchronization fails
Good luck!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
Join our BBM Channels
BSCF General Channel
PIN: C0001B7B4 Display/Scan Bar Code
Knowledge Base Updates
PIN: C0005A9AA Display/Scan Bar Code

Synchronizing Address Book with Outlook Contacts

Help please! My 8120 Pearl will not synch with changes to my Outlook Contacts. It seems to pick up a copy of my Contacts from a few months back each time I synch. Even if I clear my device address book from the device manager (backup and restore) and then re-synch it still doesn't pick up my up-to-date Contacts. Any advice please (for a not-very-savvy user)? Thanks.

I have had a similar problem. I can't find "contacts cleaner" in versiontracker. Is this an iphone app?

Address Book and iCal Server backups

I'm working to implement a company-wide Address Book, iCal, and iChat server via Lion Server where I work, and I've gotten most of the setup figured out (I think), and am approaching the point where I can roll it out to a few users for further testing. However, before I'm allowed to move forward any further w/ it I have to have two means of backing up in place and ready to be rolled out at the same time as the server—so I'm planning on using Time Machine as one so it does the entirety of the server and its data/settings, but they also want me to do one of the Address Book Server and iCal Server databases individually, like back up the folder the data is, so we can, if ever necessary, import the backup databases to another computer, so we at least have the content, if not the full server functionality. And, for obvious reasons, it can't be backed up locally.
So I'm looking for a means of doing this and would love any input anyone has. Ease of use/setup is pretty important as this is my first time setting Server up and I've no programming knowledge. I'm fairly sure I'll be able to find (or write my own, though that's unlikely) or modify and AppleScript that simply copies/duplicates a Finder item, and I know I can have iCal automatically run a script (so I'd just have it run every night at midnight or something), but I have yet to figure out how to get the script to copy the folder to a specified location on a different server (or, for that matter, if it's even possible, though I'm sure it is...right?). But that's not what I'm trying to ask here...though I certainly wouldn't mind if someone had thoughts on it and wanted to share them ! I just really would like to know which folders to back up, since it's not simply making an archive of the local Address Book.app database.
And, since I'm already here writing a post, I'll ask one other question that's been nagging at me: in Server Admin.app, with the server (not the services) selected in the sidebar on the left, the Access pane selected in the primary Server Admin window, and Services selected, and trying to dictate which users/groups can access which services, the user can click the "+" in the lower-left corner of the window where added users would appear, and another window pops up next to the Server Admin window that shows a list of the users (and groups if you click the appropriate button). My question is, why does it show me _krb_anonymous, _krb_changepw, and a total of 81 other items? I understand more or less what they are (in a very general sense), but why are they shown as users? More importantly, do they have to be listed there? Technically I'm probably the only one that's going to be the administrator, and I'll know not to add them or modify them, but I don't want anything related to those items appearing in a directory search in Address Book when I get it set up (as they are showing up now; for instance, one user I created is Sandy, and I have it set to include directory contacts in searches, so on a client machine that is correctly communicating w/ the server (add a user, it appears in a minute on another client machine, and vice versa) if I go to search for that name as soon as I type "s" Sandy, the actual user shows up, but so do five or six other things, all of which are items from the aforementioned list in Server Admin (pretty much anything that has an "s" in it, which of course makes sense)—and that's what I don't want, I don't want the users to search for someone, see something like _krb_anonymous pop up, then think something is screwed up and call me and demand I come fix their computer!).
Any thoughts, suggestions, and such are more than welcome and much appreciated!
Thank you to all...

See the following:
Folders You Can Move to Your new Mac
From the Home folder copy the contents of Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites.
In your /Home/Library/ folder:
/Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
/Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Preferences/ (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/Calendars (copy the whole folder)
If you want cookies:
/Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
/Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data
Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft
For FireFox:
/Home/Library/Applications Support/FireFox
/Home/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.firefox.plist
Credit goes Macjack for this information.

Mimic Snow Leopard's Address Book Server

Is there a way to mimic the functionality of Snow Leopard's upcoming Address Book Server? We recently acquired an Xserve and before the rumors of 10.6 even started up, one of our desired features from Leopard Server was a sort of synchronizing Address Book "server" for our users. Is there any way we could achieve this now? I'm okay with doing some manual set up on each user's (less than 20) computer, and/or a third-party server on the Xserve that could somehow act as the Address Book server.
LDAP and OD are new to us, and we currently aren't using OD to authenticate our users. The desired effect of this is not that our address books for each employee is the same, but that we can sync our address information of all of our clients and such. With the LDAP section of the Address Book.app preferences and the availability of OS X Server, is there anything we can do to achieve Address Book Server functionality today?

There's this:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/27004/address-book-server
I have no experience with it, so I can't make a recommendation.

Lion Server: How do I import into the central address book?

Hello
I could successfully import addresses into the local address book of my Mac Mini (using the import function of the address book application).
However, I want the addresses to be in the central, shared address book of the Lion Server. I can't find a way to import there.
Does anyone have an idea?
Thanks! Martin

Never mind, I figured it out: Open the local addresses, select all, drag/drop to the desktop. Then open the server address book and drag/drop from the desktop.

Display server based address-book birthday entries in iCal

Hello
Does anybody has a solution for the following situation to solve:
iCal on the user machine is only able to display birthday entries out of the local address-book not out of a address-book stored on a server (Mac OS-X).
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks for attention and respond
Thomas

Hi, I would need that, too.
It's working on the iPhone, but not on MacOS with iCal... anyone from apple could help, please?
Thanks!
morphium

Address Book can't synchronize with Exchange server using a domain prefix

I'm having problems attempting to use Address Book's built in "Synchronize with Exchange" feature. The issue seems to be that my company uses domains with their exchange server, so I login with a username like "domain/user" rather than just "user"
iSync finds my server if I just use the "user" login, but the server won't accept the login and I get a failed login error.
When I use the same server with my "domain/user" login I get this error:
"iSync couldn't connect to Exchange. Could not reach the server specified."
It seems that the "domain/" is fooling Address Book into altering the server URL to an invalid address. When I return to the preferences I see that it has changed the URL to http://www.server.com/exchange/domain/user
I've found a bunch of people on the web with this problem, but no solutions. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm having the exact same problem... worked fine until I did a clean install Last week.
anyone figured out a fix or workaround ?

Sync Sun Messaging Server Address Book with Mac OS X Address Book

Hello,
I am wondering whether there is a way to synchronise my address books inside Sun Message Server and on my Mac?
Does anybody know how do to this? I tried an VCF export of all my contacts from my Mac address book and imported it with the Web mailer interface Sun Java System Communications Express.
The import was done without any errors but all emails and phone data is gone so finally I got several empty contacts.
Is this a known problem? Is there a workaround or a fix available?
Does anybody know a better way for synchronization in both directions and without duplicating all records on a second import?
Thanks in advance and best regards
Thorsten

thoreimers wrote:
I am wondering whether there is a way to synchronise my address books inside Sun Message Server and on my Mac?
Does anybody know how do to this? I tried an VCF export of all my contacts from my Mac address book and imported it with the Web mailer interface Sun Java System Communications Express.
The import was done without any errors but all emails and phone data is gone so finally I got several empty contacts.
Is this a known problem? Is there a workaround or a fix available?Communications Express only supports VCARD 2.1 which may be causing the problem. Have you tried importing into Convergence which supports VCARD 2.1 and 3.0?
You can try the demo site here:
http://commsuite.demo.sun.com:7080/iwc
username: field5
password: cosmo
Are you able to provide an example of a single exported contact that doesn't work (import into CE)?
Does anybody know a better way for synchronization in both directions and without duplicating all records on a second import?If you can find a syncml client that is able to sync records with the Mac Address Book then you may be able to use the Mobile Communications software to sync contact information:
http://wikis.sun.com/display/CommSuite/Sun+Java+Mobile+Communications+Documentation
Regards,
Shane.

Synchronizing Address Book against a home server

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for