Add ActiveSync support to Horde for allowing Horde to sync with mobile devices using the mobile device's support for Microsoft Exchange/ActiveSync. Use Z-Push library (http://z-push.sourceforge.net) for handling ActiveSync protocol communication.
Michael Rubinsky
Jan Schneider
Integrate the Z-Push library into Horde. Provide the ability for Horde to provide over the air synchronization of email, contacts, and calendar data to devices such as the iPhone/iPod Touch, Android and any other system supporting ActiveSync. This implementation supports Microsoft ActiveSync protocol versions up to 2.5 - the version implemented by Microsoft Exchange 2003.
The ActiveSync code has been merged into git master, but is not active by default. You should be aware that this code is still very experimental. While it mostly works for me in my tests, on my test devices, there are likely still many bugs. It may work, it might not, or it might make your iPod grow legs and run for higher ground. You have been warned.
To activate the server, you need to enable it in Horde's configuration. You will see an ActiveSync tab.
You will also need to configure your webserver to redirect the URL Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync to your horde/rpc.php file. How you do this depends on your webserver and it's configuration. For Apache, something like:
Alias /Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync /var/www/html/horde/rpc.php
or for lighttpd:
alias.url = ("/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync" => "/var/www/html/horde/rpc.php");
Contacts and Calendar syncing is mostly working.
This code has been tested to some degree on the following devices:Device | Version(s) | Provisioning | Notes |
Android SDK Emulator | 2.0.1 and 2.1 | Does NOT support provisioning and will NOT work with it set to Force or Allow. | Contacts only as the emulator does not have a native calendar application |
Motorola Droid | 2.0.1 and 2.1 | No (See above) | Contacts and Calendar data (Droid's Corporate Calendar has a buggy client implementation) |
Motorola Milestone | 2.1 | See important note below | ?? |
TouchDown For Droid | Version 5.1.0028 | Yes | Contacts and Calendar (You can create recurring events, but cannot edit them. Also, recurring events with exceptions are not supported at all. See Touchdown website for details). |
iPod Touch | 3.1.3 | Yes | Contacts and Calendar |
IMPORTANT NOTE There have been reports that some devices running Android 2.1 DO have support for provisioning, however there have been reports of major issues with regards to the unlock password screen. Evidently, once a password is set it looks like it's impossible to remove it. I have tested both the 2.1 SDK emulator as well as the Motorola Droid (NOT the Milestone) and these still do NOT support provisioning. This issue might be limited to the Milestone device. That being said if you plan on having users with Android 2.1 devices, do NOT enable provisioning unless you are willing to deal with this issue.
It's beyond the scope of this page to go into detail for each individual device. In general, you will need to create a new account on your device. The account type should be something like Microsoft Exchange or ActiveSync. Some devices use Corporate. You will need to enter your normal Horde username and password in the appropriate fields. In the field for the server address, you should enter the root of the webserver or virtual host that hosts Horde. For example, if you host horde at http://host.example.com/horde then you should enter http://host.example.com. You can ignore any reference to a domain entry.
A special note for the iPhone/iPod (and possibly others) - if you do not use a SSL enabled site you may receive errors about not being able to find the ActiveSync server. If this happens, just continue, or save, or whatever your option is to continue. On the iPhone, after everything is completely set up, you must go back into the account settings and disable SSL.
After the connection particulars are entered, you should choose to enable the folders that you want sync'd. Right now only Contacts and Calendar are supported.
If you are not even able to get past the initial setup page on your phone: you should first check to be sure you do not have SSL enabled on the phone when you're server is not serving SSL. The iPhone/iPod will not let you turn this off until after you save the configuration, so you must continue through all the errors and go back into the settings to disable SSL. You should also make sure that you have not enabled Provisioning support if your phone does not support it.
If the configuration went well, but you are not seeing any contacts/calendar items appear on the device: Some clients require a manual refresh or folder selection after setup when not using the "Automatic Discovery" facility of Exchange. With TouchDown, for example, after setup you must select the folders you want sync'd under the Advanced settings tab. If you can't figure out this issue, we will be happy to try to help work it out, but you should be able to check/provide us with the following:
http://z-push.sourceforge.net
https://zimbrabackend.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/zimbrabackend/zimbra.php
Some discussion/issues/info on calendar sycing
http://z-push.sourceforge.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=119&start=10
Some discussion on remote wipe issues with various devices
http://z-push.sourceforge.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=802
Useful information/examples:
http://wiki.openchange.org/index.php/ActiveSync_Protocol
Another AS implementation in PHP - there is some good implementation information there for the taking.
https://svn.tine20.org/svn/trunk/tine20/ActiveSync
TouchDown Client:
http://www.nitrodesk.com/dk_touchdownFeatures.aspx
Android SDK:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
iPhone/iPod Touch EAS:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf
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