How to replace public folders (aka global calendar and addressbook)

[sengo]

I'm trying to setup a global addressbook and calendar for the whole organization. Everything is done through Outlook 2007 because we are testing Zimbra and we would like to avoid forcing people to use the web ui (sic..).

I create a distribution list called "Everyone" with every user of the organization in it (any better way to do this?).

As admin I create a calendar called "Public calendar"
I share it giving to "everyone" administrator rights
I send the calendar through email to everyone

All people get the email and can add the shared calendar (is there another way to add a shared calendar rather than mail notification?)

Now if as a user I create an event in the public calendar it DOES NOT show up to the other users (and it is not a private event). It doesn't even show up in the webui.
If i try to invite people to my event and they accept, the event is stored in their own private calendar, not in the public one.

So the big question is: I'm doing it wrong? What's the right way to get a globally shared calendar?

For the addressbook: I didn't find a way in Outlook to create an additional addressbook to share, so I used the web access and the new addressbook appeared in Outlook with no problems.

I shared the item granting everyone administrator privileges.
Now, as there is no "send as email" option for addressbook, I didn't find a way to add it in the other users profile.

I used the resend option within the webui to send the email but in outlook the was no button to add it, it was just a plain text mail.

I joined the shared addressbook with the webui with the other accounts but there was no way to get it visible in Outlook.

At least the contacts added within web access did properly show in all the accounts.

Finally sharing single folders or whole mailboxes between accounts worked just fine.

In the end: don't bash me too much, I'm probably doing a lot of stuff wrong but a decent integration with Outlook is a must have to be a Exchange alternative. If I have to tell people to logon to the web ui, even for the most insignificant task, I would stay with other products with no Outlook integration at all.

Thanks in advance

Cristian

P.S. Is there a way to use the resources defined in the admin console (such as room, items and so on) in Outlook?

[ewilen]

Once something is shared to you, you can mount it in Outlook using File>Open other user's mailbox. I suggest you try this method and see if it helps. Note that it accesses everything that particular user has shared with you. Also note that accessing a shared item in Outlook is independent of mounting it in the Web UI.

Outlook does let you create multiple address books, but I don't recall the command.

For resources to be used as resources in Outlook, you must define their type at the time you invite them, within the Scheduling Assistant. I can't give more detail at the moment (don't have Outlook in front of me).

[sengo]

Ok, the method you suggested seems to work fine. There is a little delay between the creation of an item by a user and the appearance in the other's Outlook but no problem.

I still didn't find a way to use the resources defined in the admin console though.

And I still don't get the point of this:
If i try to invite people to my event and they accept, the event is stored in their own private calendar, not in the public one.

Thanks

[ewilen]

Originally Posted by sengo

I still didn't find a way to use the resources defined in the admin console though.

This is explained in the documentation for the Zimbra Connector. Take a look there.

If i try to invite people to my event and they accept, the event is stored in their own private calendar, not in the public one.

You're thinking in the wrong paradigm for this. You do not want multiple users storing the same event into a public calendar. In general you only want to use a public calendar of this sort to show "events" and "deadlines". Things that people are invited to and will attend belong on their own personal calendar. Then if someone needs to see if the person is available, they use Free/Busy (Scheduling Assistant in Outlook). If somebody needs to see a your whole calendar, you share it with them (usually read-only). Also if you are the event organizer and you need to know if someone will be at the event, you look at the attendance tracking for that event.

[sengo]

Originally Posted by ewilen

This is explained in the documentation for the Zimbra Connector. Take a look there.

I will

You're thinking in the wrong paradigm for this. You do not want multiple users storing the same event into a public calendar. In general you only want to use a public calendar of this sort to show "events" and "deadlines". Things that people are invited to and will attend belong on their own personal calendar. Then if someone needs to see if the person is available, they use Free/Busy (Scheduling Assistant in Outlook). If somebody needs to see a your whole calendar, you share it with them (usually read-only). Also if you are the event organizer and you need to know if someone will be at the event, you look at the attendance tracking for that event.

[/quote]

Well this makes sense. what I don't understant it why should I use the "open another user's folder feature" instead of the mail notification to get a working shared calendar.

[ewilen]

If I'm not mistaken there are two kinds "mail notifications". One is generated by the web GUI when you create a share there. Although it's received by Outlook, Outlook doesn't know what to do with it. The web GUI does.

The other kind is generated by Outlook itself, or at least is when you have Exchange as the back end. These links are about the Outlook/Exchange method; I don't know if they work with Zimbra:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ou...111491033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ou...2671033.aspx#3

[sengo]

Originally Posted by ewilen

If I'm not mistaken there are two kinds "mail notifications". One is generated by the web GUI when you create a share there. Although it's received by Outlook, Outlook doesn't know what to do with it. The web GUI does.

As far as I have seen email notification sent from the gui are just plain text for Outlook, but when the user opens the mail the shared calendar is added anyway, and it works.

The other kind is generated by Outlook itself, or at least is when you have Exchange as the back end. These links are about the Outlook/Exchange method; I don't know if they work with Zimbra:

The email notification sent from Outlook have a "Accept" button that, when pressed, adds the shared calendar. Too bad it does not work: every user can only see his own appointments.
You have to switch to folder view and select "add other folder".
Too bad this method only works if you share items with default name: you can share "Calendar" and attach it as another user, but it won't work with "My Public Calendar": you would be able able to mount the mailbox but the calendar just woldn't show up

And btw I didn't find any reference to th resources in the connector documentation here Zimbra Connector for Outlook Administrator Guide

[lfasci]

you can use zmmailbox for share and mount the shared folder

zmmailbox -z -m account-a mfg /Contacts account account-b rwidxa
zmmailbox -z -m account-b cm /Contacts_account-a account-a /Contacts

[ewilen]

To avoid confusing the original poster: the second CLI command above is equivalent to mounting the shared folder in the Zimbra Web Client. It won't make it show up in Outlook.

Sengo, sorry for steering you wrong. There may be more than one document for ZCO, or I might be forgetting. But the answer is here:

Bug 17383 - resources not identified as resources / locations

In the scheduling tab, to the left of the attendee,drop down the icon and select resource. Its display name will then be populated in the location field.

[sengo]

Thank you ewilen. Where can I find a "cheatsheet" with all the zm* commands?