Using Google Calendar, Thunderbird and Lighting to full effect

[dmfield]

Interesting that people can't get this working with Gutsy, followed my own instructions, and they seemed to work as i'd written the, Also since writing Lightning and the provider have both had heavy upgrades.

Still wish it was as simple as this to get Evolution working with gnome, because i'm incapbable of getting GcalDaemon working, and it all seems a bit much in order to do something wich does "just work" in Thuhn

[stevewabc]

this is nuts I have used lighting and google now for mo. but in ubuntu after installing the calenders into thunder bird and when I go to add a new calendar I pic (ICS) place the location and can not click on next.. anyone else have this problem?

any pointer would be helpful thanks..

[Girindor]

I have followed the instructions, Provider didn't work (in the TB add-ons menu it said that Provider "requires addictional items". I finally figured out I had to get a "CVS version" (whatever that is...) from http://gdataprovider.mozdev.org/

So I managed to download a version that actually works (the one released on Oct. 24th 2007). Now, whenever I try to create a calendar in TB following your instructions, after I choose name and colour and click "finish", the window disappears and NO calendar is created.

Very frustrating...

-I'm running Gutsy, TB as well as lightning installed from "Add/Remove Applications".

[dmfield]

I think i know what might be causing the problem here, the version of lightening you use has to be the latest, and maybe the Ubuntu repo you are downloading from has an old version, Try downloading Lightening from

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/

And Provider from

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/4631

[Jonathan Métillon]

Hi,

I want to say to the people who use a mobile phone with a good mobile OS, like my Nokia N95 8GB running S60 and not that crappy Windows Mobile:

You can achieve synchronization between your mobile and Google Calendar using the free service at GooSync.com. This will be limited to one calendar and 7 days in the past and 30 days in future. And they can even autoconfigure your phone using SMS!

And if you upgrade your account for only $3.33 USD /month, you will be able to sync all your calendars with no time limit, plus GMail contacts! There's currently an "anniversary" offer with 3 months for free.

Then you will be able to sync GCal and Thunderbird using dmfield method.

Now I'm looking at RememberTheMilk.com and Jott.com to sync my todo lists. The bad news is that I will have to migrate from TadaList.com...

[jcampos]

Advantages

• You can access your PIM data from any '''web access''' point (by web interface)
• You can manage your PIM data with a '''local client''' (it usually has '''more features''' and is '''faster''')
• You can manage your PIM data '''offline''' (everything is duplicated locally)
• You can '''backup''' your PIM data (from the local copy)
• You can have more than one local client sharing the same data and work offline (i.e. '''laptop offline access''' when there is no connection)

GMail client: Thunderbird (read/write)

Config

sudo aptitude install thunderbird

thunderbird

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/a...y?answer=77662

exit thunderbird, and launch it again

http://dogmafobia.com/2007/11/02/acc...rotocolo-imap/
* Más configuración de Thunderbird


Offline

• Menu / Edit / Accounts
  
  • from your account, Offline
  • Choose folders to work offline

Backup

you messages are in ~/.mozilla-thunderbird/<code>/ImapMail/...

GCalendar from Thunderbird (read/write)

Config

http://gcaldaemon.sourceforge.net

sudo aptitude install lightning-extension lightning-extension-locale-ca

wget -O /tmp/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/sourc...1.0-beta16.zip
cd /usr/local/sbin
sudo unzip /tmp/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip
sudo addgroup gcaldaemon
sudo vi /etc/group
gcaldaemon:1004:jcampos,...
sudo chgrp -R gcaldaemon /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon
sudo chmod -R g+w /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/bin/*.sh
xhost +
su - <your username> # to ensure you're in the gcaldaemon group
export DISPLAY=:0.0
/usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/bin/config-editor.sh
Calendar reloader script: choose the one that appears
HTTP Sync
Google Account
New account
Verify
OK
Choose account
Save and Exit

sudo /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/bin/standalone-start.sh

thunderbird

http://gcaldaemon.sourceforge.net/usage.html#online

stop previous standalone-start.sh process, we'll add it to init system

sudo vi /etc/init.d/gcaldaemon

#!/bin/sh

GCAL_PATH=/usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/bin/
GCAL_CMD=standalone-start.sh

case $1 in

start)

$GCAL_PATH/$GCAL_CMD &
;;

stop)

GCAL_PID=`ps ax | grep 'org.gcaldaemon.standalone.Main' | grep -v grep | awk '{ print $1; }'`
kill -9 $GCAL_PID

;;

restart|reload)

$0 stop
$0 start

;;

esac

sudo chmod a+x /etc/init.d/gcaldaemon

sudo update-rc.d gcaldaemon multiuser

sudo invoke-rc.d gcaldaemon restart


sudo vi /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/conf/gcal-daemon.cfg

http.allowed.addresses=127.0.0.1

sudo invoke-rc.d gcaldaemon restart



Offline

Local GCalDaemon provides offline service.


Backup

backup files are located in: /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/work/backup

GContacts from Thunderbird (read)

Config

NOTE: It didn't work with icedtea-java7-jre. It works with sun-java6-jre.

http://gcaldaemon.sourceforge.net/usage4.html

sudo /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/bin/password-encoder.sh

add user and password to:

sudo vi /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/conf/gcal-daemon.cfg

ldap.enabled=true
ldap.google.username=(gmail)
ldap.google.password=(use password encoder!)
ldap.vcard.version=3.0
ldap.allowed.hostnames=localhost

sudo invoke-rc.d gcaldaemon restart

thunderbird

Menu / Preferences / Compose / Address / Search in directory / GMail

you may need this to import data: http://labs.brotherli.ch/vcfconvert/



Offline

Local GCalDaemon provides offline service.

However, you can also:

# From the Thunderbird contact manager:
#* import your contacts into the "Local address book" (you can find them in /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/work/vcard/contacts.*)
# in Edit / Preferences / Compose / Address /
#* also mark "Local address book"

Backup

you can backup your contacts, which are in: /usr/local/sbin/GCALDaemon/work/vcard/contacts.*

[VMan]

For those that are having problems with Thunderbird versions. I use the following solution:

Run Thunderbird Portable from a USB stick. It runs under Windows (XP & Vista) and Linux (using Wine).

This way, I have the same calendar and contacts on any computer I use (I have to use several different computers at work, plus two different ones at home, and any at school). The Portable Apps site has a good number of applications that install to and run from a USB stick. I initially started using it for the OpenOffice.Org installation. I love the Thunderbird+Lightning functionality. Now with this guide, I have all I need. Thanks. Previous to your guide, I could only get my Google Calendar as read only; now it works perfectly!!

[skabouter]

Hi!
Newcomer here, found this thread very usefull. I made the link with Google Calendar from TB but have one itch: how to check my agenda in TB when i'm offline, for example in a meeting with a client or so!?

Is there a way to locally store the last known calendar in TB for offline viewing? Otherwise... not so usefull for me i'm afraid.

Hope didn't overlook the answer to my question...

Grtz
K

[Brian96]

Very useful howto, DM.

I find that when I enter an event into the calendar from TB, it does not appear in the Gmail calendar, which defeats the whole purpose. I have installed Lighnint and Provider into TB under XP (it only works with version 2 and up of TB, and Ubuntu is still stuck in version 1.5).
ANy idea why the gmail calendar is not being updeated?

I don't know if you ever got an answer to your question, but Provider puts a "Reload" icon in your Thunderbird toolbar. Clicking on that should sync your online calendars.

Hi!
Newcomer here, found this thread very usefull. I made the link with Google Calendar from TB but have one itch: how to check my agenda in TB when i'm offline, for example in a meeting with a client or so!?

Is there a way to locally store the last known calendar in TB for offline viewing? Otherwise... not so usefull for me i'm afraid.

Hope didn't overlook the answer to my question...

Grtz
K

So, are you saying the Google calendar entries disappear when you load Thunderbird offline? That is a problem.


While I find this an extremely helpful howto, I really dislike the new interface for Lightning 0.7, so I am back to Lightning 0.5 (the one available in the Gutsy repos). Provider, sadly, does not work with the older Lightning.

HOWEVER, you can still VIEW your Google calendar entries in Lightning, you just can't sync them. That is fine for me, as I don't mind switching to the web interface to enter new agenda items.

You can do this by following the instructions in the normal howto for sharing your Google calendar, you just have to use the ICS option (as there will not be a "Google Calendar" option) in Lightning's new calendar dialog.

[EddieT]

I had the same problem with getting lighting to work properly in TB. Like everyone else I couldn't add new calendars. I fixed it by getting Lightning v.5 from the repos or add/remove programs. Then I used the previous version of Provider v.2.1 that you can get by clicking on the version history for Provider and finding 0.2.1
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thu.../versions/4631
It's not the newest version but all is working now!