Zimbra Project FAQ

General Project Questions

Why did we change email systems again?

Our Oracle Collaboration Suite (OCS) support contracts expire this year, and the move to Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) gives us the opportunity to provide a single, more efficient web solution for email and calendar collaboration. Zimbra has a simpler architecture which is easier to maintain and upgrade, and the added services have been sought by many campus constituents. In addition, Oracle Calendar is moving away from the desktop client and does not support Outlook 2007.

When will Zimbra be available for use?

Zimbra email became available in August 2008. Users will move to the Zimbra calendar in April 2009.

Will I need a new ID and password to sign into Zimbra?

No. Zimbra will use your existing Cal Poly username and password.

Will I need new software on my computer to use Zimbra? (What clients do we support?)

ITS recommendations for connecting to Zimbra Calendar are here (PDF). For best functionality and reliability, ITS recommends using the Zimbra web client for all users, and especially for users who manage calendars for other people.

Zimbra may also be used with other clients, but there are constraints, especially for users who manage calendars for other people. Please review the document carefully for constraints associated with Outlook 03 and 07, iCal, iSYNC, and mobile devices.

Will PDAs and smartphones work with Zimbra?

Zimbra will support a wide variety of PDAs and smartphones. With the large number of different devices on the market and rapidly changing technology, a definitive list of brand names is not possible. ITS will provide configuration information for mobile devices that support IMAP4, and those which support IMAP4/Exchange (includes iPhones). Please visit the PDA support site for more information.

How can I stay updated on what's happening with the project?

The best source of information on Zimbra is the ITS Service Desk’s email support website (http://email.calpoly.edu). ITS will also use Cal Poly Report announcements, occasional emails, and open forums to keep the campus informed. ITS technical staff will communicate directly with LAN coordinators and other technical support personnel.

How am I going to learn how to use the new system?

The list of resources for learning Zimbra are posted at http://www.email.calpoly.edu. These include video tutorials, user guides, and live training before and after implementation. In addition, Zimbra’s on-line help is extensive and easy to use. Zimbra will be supported by the ITS Service Desk.

What should I do if I have questions or a problem?

Contact your LAN coordinator and/or ITS Service Desk by using the Service Request System or calling 756-7000. Be sure to include as much specific information about your problem as possible (such as circumstances when the problem occurred, browser and email client versions) so that we may assist you in as timely manner as possible.

Is Zimbra accessible (ADA compliant)?

The standard web-based version of Zimbra is fully compliant with Section 508 standards. Zimbra is committed to making their product compliant. However, the more advanced web-based version is not yet compliant. If you are currently using the accessible features of a desktop client such as Microsoft Outlook, we recommend you continue to use them.

Email

How much space will users have on the Zimbra system?

We will start with one gigabyte (1 GB) of storage for state staff and faculty, and 250 megabytes (250 MB) of storage for students and all other accounts. ITS will continue to monitor storage needs. This space includes email, calendar, attachments, and anything stored in a Zimbra document or briefcase. For more information please click here.

Will there be any changes to SPAM handling?

There are no changes planned, although users need to create cpSPAM filters or rules.

How long can I store emails in the junk or trash folders in Zimbra?

We will be reviewing policies for junk and/or trash folders after the move to Zimbra. Even with the increased email storage allotments, we may be able to assist quota and email management by the introduction of system-wide email aging for these folders. If instituted, the timelines for email aging will be published clearly in advance so that users may avoid accidental loss of mail.

How long does the Zimbra system take to time out?

The IMAP and ZCO clients will not time out. The Zimbra Web clients will time out after 4 hours of inactivity for all account types (e.g. faculty, staff, departments, CPC, ASI, Emeritus) except students. Student accounts will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity. Composing a message is tracked as activity; as is sending and receiving messages and moving between modules.

Calendar

How do I use Zimbra Calendar with an off-campus email address (EDA)?

If you set your Email Delivery Address (EDA) to an off-campus address and you want to use the Calendar scheduling component of the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, you will need to perform the following steps in order to use the Zimbra Calendar.

1. In the Cal Poly Portal, reset your Email Delivery Address (EDA) to use your Cal Poly Email Delivery Address.
The EDA update tool is found on the Personal Information Channel on the Personal Info tab. Note that the change from your EDA to your Cal Poly email address may require 10 - 15 minutes to take effect.

2. Configure Zimbra to forward email to your off-campus address.
Log on to the Portal and click on the Zimbra Email / Calendar button.
Within Zimbra Collaboration Suite, select Preferences, Mail tab.
In the Receiving message section of Mail preferences, under the action of

When a message arrives:
Forward a copy to: enter off-campus email address.

Leave the checkbox "Don't keep a local copy of messages" unchecked. Zimbra must receive calendar meeting notification emails in your Zimbra Inbox for meetings to be scheduled or saved on your Zimbra Calendar.

Click Save to complete the operation.

The above steps will allow you to forward the email to an off-campus address and to access the Zimbra Calendar. However, you will need to clean out the Zimbra Inbox on a regular basis since email will accumulate in it.

How does the Zimbra Calendar compare to the OCS Calendar?

While the interface may look quite different from the Oracle calendar, most prompts and other interactions will be intuitive for new Zimbra users. In fact, Zimbra Calendar will be familiar to users of Google and other calendar vendors, with easy to use drag-and-drop functionality, as well as some calendar customization. Zimbra Calendar includes features such as the ability to have multiple, user-created calendars, and the ability to subscribe to other user calendars. Zimbra Calendar will continue to offer variable privacy settings per meeting, calendar delegation, schedulable calendar resources, meeting reminders and notifications, and free-busy calendar lookups.

Will all my current OCS Calendar entries be transferred over?

Basic calendar agenda items, such as agenda items and daily notes, will be transferred over. Meetings that have been migrated will continue to list the correct membership per entry, and can be modified in the new system. Tasks will NOT be migrated. Users are encouraged to resolve tasks before Calendar implementation, or recreate the task in Zimbra. See the Zimbra Calendar Migration Overview page for details.

I'm using Outlook with the Zimbra Connector and it appears to be hanging when I try to sync my calendar.

Slow startup is expected during the first/initial synchronization with Outlook Connector and may take up to 15-20 minutes for large data stores. If you continue to experience slow response, please refer to ITS Recommendations for Connecting to Zimbra Calendar.

Will I be able to manage all the calendars and resources I do now?

Yes. Zimbra includes resource calendars and allows delegated access to calendars. Resource calendars will be migrated when user calendars are migrated.

Will I be able to access my contacts/address book after we move to the Zimbra Calendar?

Yes, BUT remember that the contact/address book information was migrated when we moved to the Zimbra Email system over Labor Day weekend (September 2008). Since then, all new contacts and contact updates should have been entered via the Zimbra WEB Client to assure that they are saved on the server after the migration to Zimbra Calendar. Contacts will not be migrated again with the Calendar migration.

I'm sure I've updated contacts since September, but I'm not sure if I've updated them in the correct place. What should I do?

The definitive authority for contacts will be the Zimbra Web Client. Any contacts that appear here are saved to the Zimbra central servers (not just your workstation) and will be available from any location regardless of the Zimbra Calendar migration. Users should compare contact lists from their desktop clients to the lists on the Zimbra Web Client and UPDATE the information on the Zimbra Web Client to assure access to all contacts after the move to Zimbra Calendar.

I don't see ANY contacts on the Zimbra Web Client. What should I do?

If you do not see your contacts after the calendar migration, you may be able to find them elsewhere. If you have been using Mac Mail, Thunderbird, or Outlook IMAP (without OCFO), your contacts are stored locally and you should be able to find them where you last saw them. If you have been using Outlook with OCFO, your contacts were on the old calendar server that we just migrated away from. Contact the Service Desk or your LAN Coordinator to see if we can restore them. If you have been using your contacts on the Zimbra Web Client, they remained untouched during migration and you can still find them there.

How can I move my local contacts to Zimbra?

Each client will have a different method for exporting your contacts:
If you are using Outlook IMAP, click on File -> Import/Export…, choose Export to a File, click next and then choose Comma Separated Value (Windows), click next and highlight the file you are attempting to export, most likely it is called the default Contacts. Click next, choose where to store the file and click finish.
If you are using Thunderbird, open your Address Book, click Tools -> Export… Choose a file name and change the Save As… to Comma Separated, click Finish.
If you use Mac Address Book, you may have to use an unsupported third party software such as A to G to export your contacts into a .CSV file.
You can import them into Zimbra by going to Preferences in the Web Client, click on Import/Export, click the bubble for Contacts, designate the destination and source file and click Import.

Will my mobile "smart" phone work with the Zimbra calendar?

Yes, mobile devices that use resident, Exchange-based, protocols may be configured to work with the Zimbra Calendar. To ensure a smooth transition, it is recommended that all data on the device be backed up and then a "hard reset" be performed to clear the device and enable a clean install and configuration. Third party software such as SyncML should be removed, or at the very least, disabled. Devices that use the Palm operating systems will work with Zimbra Email, but older Palm Treos may sync completely, only partially, or not all. Sync problems happen intermittently and can usually be resolved by synching again. Configuration information for mobile devices is available at the PDA Support website located at http://pda.calpoly.edu.

How long can I use the web calendar client before it times out?

The web calendar client times out after four (4) hours of inactivity for faculty and staff, and 30 minutes for students. The my.calpoly.edu portal times out after 30 minutes of inactivity for all users, but this will not disrupt the connection to Zimbra web applications.

Do I need to uninstall or remove the OCS Calendar Client?

No. None of our testing thus far has shown any issues with leaving it on the computer.

How do I print my calendar on the Standard Version?

There are several options for printing the Zimbra calendar. You will want to experiment to see which output most closely matches your needs. The options include
1. use the print option within the calendar (the small printer icon located at the top of the calendar)
2. launch the calendar in a separate window (right click on the name of the calendar to select this option) and use your browser's print option (Ctrl+P) to print the view you select
3. use your browser's print option (Ctrl+P) to print the window containing the open calendar(s)
4. switch to the standard version of Zimbra (click "Standard version" in the upper right hand corner of the Zimbra window) and use the browser's print option (Ctrl+P) to print the calendar window.

Why am I not receiving calendar entries?

If your Email Delivery Address (EDA) is set to a non-Zimbra address (such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail) you will not receive calendar entries. Zimbra calendar entries are triggered by calendar emails arriving in the Zimbra mail Inbox. If the calendar mail never arrives in the Zimbra Inbox (if it is delivered to another address), no calendar entry is made. There are two work-arounds.

1. To use your Cal Poly account for both email and calendar, in the Cal Poly Portal, reset your EDA to use your Cal Poly address.

2. To continue reading mail in your non-Zimbra account, but use the Zimbra account for calendaring:

* In the Cal Poly Portal, reset your EDA to use your Cal Poly address.
* Configure Zimbra to forward email to your external address. Log in to the Portal and click on the Zimbra Email/Calendar button. Within Zimbra Collaboration Suite, select Preferences, then the Mail tab. In the Receiving Message section of Mail Preferences, under the action of "When a message arrives:" choose the option to "Forward a copy to: enter external email address". Enter your non-Zimbra email address and click Save to complete the operation. Do NOT select "Don't keep a local copy of messages", which keeps this solution from working.

How do I disable meeting responses?

You cannot currently disable meeting responses. However, a filter has been pre-established in your Zimbra account to move responses into a "Meeting Responses" folder so you don't have to see them in your Inbox. To activate the rule, select Preferences, Mail Filters, then click the Active check mark.

Why can't meeting notifications just go away?

The Zimbra calendar is message-based. Rather than having one centralized appointment which all the attendees have a "link" to, each Zimbra appointment attendee gets their own copy of the meeting stored in their own calendar folder. Zimbra sends special .ics emails to each user to invite or modify a meeting. The message must reach the user's inbox for Zimbra to interpret it and update their copy of the meeting. You can activate the mail filter to move meeting RESPONSES to a separate "Meeting Responses" mail folder, but you must receive meeting INVITATIONS in your inbox.

What if I don't want a meeting response folder?

Just delete it. If you do not wish to use the Meeting Response filter to keep meeting responses out of your regular Inbox, you may delete the folder. If you delete the folder and later decide to activate the filter, the folder will have to be recreated.

If my designate rights were migrated to Zimbra, why don’t I see my resources and managers’ calendars?

The first time you access Zimbra calendar, you will only see calendars for which you are the owner. For most users this is only your own calendar. For some, it includes one or more resource calendars. To see the resource and individual calendars for which you are a designate, you will need to link to the shared calendars the first time you login. Instructions to link to a shared calendar are found on page five of the Zimbra Web Client Quick Start Guide: http://email.calpoly.edu/documentation/zimbra/Zimbra_Calendar_Quickstart_Guide.pdf

Can I move the all day events to the bottom of my calendar?

The day events cannot be moved, but they can be hidden. Run your cursor over the thick line between the all day events and the regular calendar appointments, until the cursor changes to a hand shape. Click on the line. The day events will be hidden. To make the day events reappear, mouse over bottom of the thick bar at the top of the calendar, just under the date. When the cursor changes to a hand shape, click again. The day notes will reappear.

iCal and iSync with Macintosh

Why can't I add attendees or search for people by name in iCal?

iCal requires an iCal Server to do full name resolution; we do not have an iCal Server. Use the Cal Poly username (jmustang@calpoly.edu) to add other attendees to your meeting.

My iCal Calendar won't sync or is stuck syncing when sharing (usually on Leopard okay after first time).

On Leopard operating systems, this could happen during your very first sync with Zimbra. If it does, just retry the sync. The Tiger OS uses the outdated, ICS calendar standard and will be consistently slow. Solution: Upgrade to Leopard CalDAV.

Why can’t I see private appointments with iCal?

iCal doesn’t display private appointments except in the “free/busy” bar unless given appropriate management/viewing permissions by the calendar owner.

Can I use iSync to synchronize calendars and share contacts on Zimbra?

No. iSync is not recommended at this time, but upcoming releases of Zimbra appear to address some of the limitations with iSync. These enhancements will be thoroughly tested and implemented as they become available.
• Calendars you subscribe to from either the Zimbra Web client and in iCal are not included with the calendars are synchronized.
• iSync is not recommended for sharing contacts. iSync causes shared contacts to be saved locally (on the workstation) of the person you are sharing with. These locally stored contacts can never be recalled.
• Complicated CalDAV configuration and management.
• iSync only works with Mac OS versions 10.4.6 and newer/greater.

I’m trying to reset my CalDAV settings by uninstalling iSync but nothing is happening, what do I do?

iSync is not recommended at this time. While it can be used to configure your CalDAV settings for your Zimbra account, uninstalling the Zimbra Connector for Apple iSync will not delete or refresh your CalDAV settings. The current CalDAV settings will remain intact. To clear CalDAV settings, you must delete your CalDAV Profile.

How do I delete my CalDAV Profile?

Open CalDAV settings -> Highlight the profile you wish to delete -> Choose the minus (-) button near the bottom of the interface.

How do I reconfigure CalDAV settings through iSync?

The best practice is to delete your CalDAV configuration and start fresh with a new iSync configuration. During the configuration process, be sure to select options to sync your calendar with CalDAV.

Why can’t I revoke my access to shared contacts?

Macs copy contact shares to the local machine so once you have shared it with someone that uses Mac you have no control over it.

I have an older Mac; will it still work with Zimbra?

Optimal Macintosh system requirements are operating system version 10.4.11 or higher. Earlier versions may have performance problems if attempting to run iCal with Zimbra. If you have an older Mac, you will have the best success if you use the Zimbra Web client from a Safari 3+ or Firefox 3+ browser.

Other

Does Zimbra have a desktop client?

Zimbra has a "Beta" desktop client being tested, but does not recommend it for production environments. A general
release date has not been announced. ITS continues to recommend the use of the Zimbra web client for full features, functionality and support of the product.

When I make an appointment myself and then cancel it, I don't appear to receive an email? Is it working?

If you modify a meeting on your calendar as a meeting owner or as an attendee, you don't receive an .ics email in your Inbox because you have already modified your copy of the meeting and Zimbra needs to take no further action.

Why does syncing my Treo Smartphone create duplicate calendar entries?

The meetings appear to be identical but the duplicate has a plus sign in front of the name. The problem seems to have to do with the way the Palm calendar interacts with the Calendar server.
****PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A GUARANTEED SOLUTION****
THE PROBLEM CAN REPLICATE ITSELF EVEN AFTER THE FOLLOWING IS DONE

1. Perform a hard reset to completely format the phone. This is usually done by holding the reset button inside the battery compartment at the same time as the power button. The phone will prompt you for confirmation of a format.
2. Check the Treo site at http://kb.palm.com/wps/portal/kb/na/deviceselector/page_en.html
to see if there are any firmware upgrades available. The firmware version number can be checked inside the system information of the phone.
3. If upgraded firmware exists, upgrade the firmware of the phone.
4. Set the phone back up with Zimbra, but DO NOT sync calendar. This will only further perpetuate the problem (creating triplicates of all entries).
5. Do an advanced find in the Calendar tab of Zimbra. Search for all [+] [*+] and [+*] entries and manually delete them. It should be noted that users that were invited to these meetings will receive an email for every entry you delete. Please inform them ahead of time.
6. Once these entries have been completely cleared, set the calendar sync on the phone to the MINIMUM time allowed (i.e. a Month of data).
7. Sync the phone, and observe your Calendar on the Zimbra web client. Refresh the page a few times while the phone syncs in order to see if the problem is replicating itself.

Depending on the number of duplicate calendar entries you have, ITS-Collaboration Support can assist with the process above.
1. Follow the above steps through #3, upgrading the firmware of the phone.
2. Call the Service Desk (x67000) and ask that the Collaboration Support Group move all your production calendar data into a separate calendar.
3. Either wipe the production calendar, or reset it to a time when duplicate entries did not exist.
4. Set up Calendar on phone to sync for the minimum time necessary (i.e. a month) and sync the phone.
5. Observe Zimbra Web calendar to see if the problem persists.

What if I have other questions?

Zimbra also publishes its own user guide for Zimbra, found at the following link:
http://www.zimbra.com/community/end_user_guide_and_how_to.html

Questions about the Zimbra project can be sent to zimbraproject@calpoly.edu

Need Assistance?

Can't find the information you need? Contact the Service Desk at (805) 756-7000 or send an email to servicedesk@calpoly.edu.

Email and Calendar Support

California Polytechnic State University

Zimbra Support

General Email Support

Support Sites

Zimbra Project FAQ

General Project Questions

Email

Calendar

iCal and iSync with Macintosh

Other

General Project Questions

Email

Calendar

iCal and iSync with Macintosh

Other

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