Evolution Data Sources LDAP Backend For GConf
=============================================
This is a special-purpose backend for GConf which enables default
mail accounts, addressbooks and calendars for Evolution to be
configured using each user's LDAP entry. By setting each user's mail
address, incoming/outgoing mail server addresses and
addressbook/calendar addresses in the user's LDAP entry, Evolution
will be automatically configured to use these addresses.
Getting it Going
================
Once installed, you first need to point the backend at the
appropriate LDAP server. Edit /etc/gconf/2/evoldap.conf:
---
<evoldap>
<server>
<host>ldap.blaa.com</host>
<port></port>
<base_dn>ou=people,dc=blaa,dc=com</base_dn>
</server>
---
<host> should be pointed at your LDAP server, <port> should usually
be left blank (it defaults to 389, the standard port for LDAP) and
<base_dn> should point to the location in LDAP where your user entries
are stored.
You then need to store the mail account and addressbook/calendar
information in your user's LDAP entries. Using the default template
(see below for details on the template) you need to install the LDAP
schemas from in your LDAP server evoldap.schema.
How you install the custom schema depends entirely on the LDAP
server you're using, but with the openldap server, you can just edit
/etc/openldap/slapd.conf and add
include /etc/openldap/schema/evoldap.schema
somewhere near the top of the file. You then install the .schema
file in /etc/openldap/schema and restarted slapd.
Once the schema is installed, you need to modify the LDAP entries to
add the "evolutionMailAccount", "evolutionAddressbookSource",
"evolutionCalendarSource" and "evolutionTasksSource" objectClasses and
set the cn, mail, evolutionMailSourceURI, evolutionMailTransportURI,
evolutionAddressbookURI, evolutionCalendarURI and evolutionTasksURI
attributes. You can use any method you like to modify the LDAP entries
e.g. a graphical LDAP editor like "gq" or a slapd.replog script with
ldapmodify:
---
ldapmodify -x -W -D cn=Manager,dc=blaa,dc=com -h ldap.blaa.com <<EOF
dn: uid=markmc,ou=people,dc=blaa,dc=com
add: objectClass
objectClass: evolutionMailAccount
objectClass: evolutionAddressbookSource
objectClass: evolutionCalendarSource
objectClass: evolutionTasksSource
cn: Mark McLoughlin
mail: markmc@blaa.com
evolutionMailSourceURI: imap://markmc@mail.blaa.com/;use_ssl=always
evolutionMailTransportURI: smtp://mail.blaa.com
evolutionAddressbookSource: FIXME
evolutionCalendarSource: FIXME
evolutionTasksSource: FIXME
EOF
---
You should then be able to verify that the backend is generating the
correct value for the /apps/evolution/mail/accounts GConf key:
---
[markmc@blaa ~]$ gconftool-2 --direct --config-source=evoldap:readonly:/etc/gconf/2/evoldap.conf -g /apps/evolution/mail/accounts
Resolved address "evoldap:readonly:/gnome/head/INSTALL/etc/gconf/2/evoldap.conf" to a read-only configuration source at position 0
None of the resolved addresses are writable; saving configuration settings will not be possible
[<?xml version="1.0"?>
<account name="markmc@blaa.com" uid="1113478550.9037.0@blaa"
enabled="true">
<identity>
<name>Mark McLoughlin</name>
<addr-spec>markmc@blaa.com</addr-spec>
<reply-to/>
<organization/>
<signature uid=""/>
</identity>
<source save-passwd="false" keep-on-server="false" auto-check="false" auto-check-timeout="10">
<url>imap://markmc@mail.blaa.com/;use_ssl=always</url>
</source>
<transport save-passwd="false">
<url>smtp://mail.blaa.com</url>
</transport>
<drafts-folder/>
<sent-folder/>
<auto-cc always="false">
<recipients/>
</auto-cc>
<auto-bcc always="false">
<recipients/>
</auto-bcc>
<pgp encrypt-to-self="false" always-trust="false" always-sign="false" no-imip-sign="false">
<key-id></key-id>
</pgp>
<smime sign-default="false" encrypt-default="false" encrypt-to-self="false">
<sign-key-id/>
<encrypt-key-id/>
</smime>
</account>
]
---
Finally, in order to make GConf pull from this configuration source,
you need to add it to the GConf path file in /etc/gconf/2/path by
adding the configuration source address -
"evoldap:readonly:/etc/gconf/2/evoldap.conf" - after the user's
configuration source - e.g.
---
# Give users a default storage location, ~/.gconf
xml:readwrite:$(HOME)/.gconf
# Pull default Evolution account from LDAP
evoldap:readonly:/etc/gconf/2/evoldap.conf
---
Getting More Complex
====================
Although this default method of setting things up should work for
most people, the configuration file does give you a fair number of
options if e.g. you didn't want to (or couldn't) add the custom
evolutionMailAccount schema to your LDAP server or if you wanted to
have multiple default accounts per user.
The default template looks like:
---
<template filter="(&(uid=$(USER))(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(objectClass=evolutionMailAccount)(objectClass=evolutionAddressbookSource)(objectClass=evolutionCalendarSource)(objectClass=evolutionTasksSource))">
<account_template>
<account name="$(LDAP_ATTR_mail)" uid="$(EVOLUTION_UID)" enabled="true">
<identity>
<name>$(LDAP_ATTR_cn)</name>
<addr-spec>$(LDAP_ATTR_mail)</addr-spec>
<reply-to></reply-to>
<organization></organization>
<signature uid=""/>
</identity>
---
The first configurable part is the "filter_str" attribute. This can
be any valid LDAP filter which the backend uses to query the LDAP
server using the base DN specified earlier. You can test the filter
from the command line with:
---
ldapsearch -x -h ldap.blaa.com -b ou=people,dc=blaa,dc=com "(& (uid=markmc)(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(objectClass=evolutionMailAccount)(objectClass=evolutionAddressbookSource)(objectClass=evolutionCalendarSource)(objectClass=evolutionTasksSource))"
---
(Note that you need to unescape the ampersand and use a valid
username when testing the filter)
The next configurable part is the variables sprinkled around in the
snippet above. There are three types of variables:
- $(USER) is the username of the user running evolution
- $(EVOLUTION_UID) is a UID generated by the backend in the same
format as Evolution uses
- $(LDAP_ATTR_*) is the name of an LDAP attribute
Each of these variables can be used anywhere in the filter - well,
you can't use the $(LDAP_ATTR_*) variables in the filter - or template
<account>.
The value of the /apps/evolution/mail/accounts key is generated by
applying this template to each of the LDAP entries returned by
searching using the filter string in the specified base DN. The value
of the $(LDAP_ATTR_*) variable is determined by looking up the
attribute value on then entry to which the template is being applied.
Effectively, this means you can don't need to use the custom schema,
you can store the account data anywhere in the directory and you can
have multiple accounts per user.
Caveats
=======
- In the short term, the configuration file format, schema etc. are
all still subject to change
- This hasn't yet seen much testing. If you try this out, feedback
is much appreciated whether it be good or bad.
