http:// www.jms1.net / davical /

DAViCal

DAViCal is an open-source CalDAV server. It allows users to store their calendar data on a server, much like how IMAP allows users to store email on a server. It can also be used in a corporate setting to allow users to see each others' calendars, or only free/busy times, and to schedule meetings and other events. The CalDAV protocol is published as RFC 4791.

The server acts as a repository for peoples' calendar events. It stores the events in a PostgreSQL database. I've been told that support is in the works for using MySQL or SQLite as the database back-end, however this isn't an issue for me because I prefer PostgreSQL anyway.

Each user who stores events in the server has a userid and password. They each start with one calendar called "home", and can create multiple calendars on the server as needed. For example, I use my "home" calendar for personal items, and I also have calendars called "business", "radio", and "LEAP".

The DAViCal server itself is a set of PHP 5 scripts, written to work under Apache. It has a basic web interface, which is used to maintain users (and can be used to import data into the server, although this is easier to do with a client.) Everything else - creating and removing calendars, working with events, and so forth - is done using a CalDAV client.

When I started this page, the server setup directions were here. However, by the time I was finished with those directions, I realized that there was too much information for just one page, so I broke the server setup directions off into a separate page.

This link goes to the server setup directions.


Clients

In order to view, add, change, or remove events, you need a client which supports the CalDAV protocol. This page on the DAViCal Wiki has a list of clients which are known to work with DAViCal, and this page on DAViCal's sourceforge site has directions for setting several clients.

Below is a list of the clients I have personally used, and the differences I found between them.

My personal preference at this point is still iCal, mostly because I can synchronize my Blackberry against it, and no other Blackberry sync solution exists which ties into Sunbird yet.