Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Administration Guide |
Chapter 1
OverviewSun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 (Calendar Server) is a scalable, Web-based solution for centralized calendaring and scheduling for enterprises and service providers. Calendar Server supports personal and group calendars for both events and tasks as well as calendars for resources such as conference rooms and equipment.
For information about basic configuration scenarios, see the Sun Java System Communications Services 6 2005Q1 Deployment Planning Guide at:
http://docs.sun.com/coll/CalendarServer_05q1
This chapter includes the following information:
Calendar Server InstallationThe installation and configuration of Calendar Server has significantly changed from earlier Calendar Server releases (pre-2003Q4 versions). There is no longer a standalone installer for Calendar Server.
If you do not already have Calendar Server 2003Q4 (6.0) or later installed, you must use the Sun Java Enterprise System installer to get the 2005Q1 version. With this installer, you can also install other Sun component products and packages. For information about the Java Enterprise System installer, refer to the Sun Java Enterprise System 2005Q1 Installation Guide.
If you want to upgrade from Calendar Server 6 2003Q4 to Calendar Server 6 2005Q1, the upgrade process is described in “Upgrading from Java Enterprise System 2003Q4” in the Sun Java Enterprise System 2005Q1 Installation Guide.
For information about migrating from older versions of Calendar Server, refer to the information in Chapter 4, "Database Migration Utilities."
Post Installation ConfigurationAfter you install Calendar Server 6 2005Q1, you must configure it. This step was previously performed as part of the installation process, but has now been separated out of the installer.
After you install Calendar Server, you must configure Calendar Server as follows:
- Run the Directory Server Setup script (comm_dssetup.pl) to configure Sun Java System Directory Server 5.x (if the script has not already been run).
- Run the Calendar Server configuration program (csconfigurator.sh) to configure your site’s specific requirements and to create a new ics.conf configuration file. For a description of the parameters in the ics.conf file, see Appendix E, "Calendar Server Configuration Parameters"
Both comm_dssetup.pl and csconfigurator.sh are located in the following directory: /opt/SUNWics5/sbin
For information about running comm_dssetup.pl and csconfigurator.sh, see Chapter 12, "Administering Calendar Server."
Calendar Server AdministratorsAdministrators for Calendar Server include:
Calendar Server Administrator (calmaster)
The Calendar Server administrator is a specific user name with its associated password that can manage Calendar Server. For example, a Calendar Server administrator can start and stop Calendar Server services, add and delete users, create and delete calendars, and so on. This user has administrator privileges for Calendar Server but not necessarily for the directory server.
The default user ID for the Calendar Server administrator is calmaster, but you can specify a different user during Calendar Server configuration, if you prefer. After installation you can also specify a different user in the service.admin.calmaster.userid parameter in the ics.conf file.
The user ID you specify for the Calendar Server administrator must be a valid user account in your directory server. If the Calendar Server administrator user account does not exist in the directory server during configuration, the configuration program can create it for you.
Table 1-1 describes the Calendar Server administrator configuration parameters in the ics.conf file.
Calendar Server User and Group
These special accounts are the user ID and group ID under which Calendar Server runs. Unless there are overriding reasons not to, use the default values, icsuser and icsgroup, which are automatically created by the configuration program, if they do not exist.
If you prefer, however, you can specify values other than icsuser and icsgroup when you run the Calendar Server configuration program. These values are stored in the local.serveruid and local.servergid parameters, respectively, in the ics.conf file.
Superuser (root)
You must log in as or become superuser (root) to install Calendar Server. You can also run as superuser to manage Calendar Server using the command-line utilities. For some tasks, however, you should run as icsuser and icsgroup (or the values you have selected) rather than superuser to avoid access problems for Calendar Server files.
Proxy Administrator Logins
To allow administrators to administer user calendars, you need to set a parameter in the configuration file, ics.conf. The default is “no”, which means this kind of proxy authentication is not allowed.
If you are using Communications Express, this parameter must be set to “yes”.
For instructions on how to set this parameter and verify that proxy logins are working, see To Configure Proxy Administrator Logins.
Calendar Server End User AdministrationEnd users connect to Calendar Server from client machines by using one of the two Web user interfaces (UIs), that is, either Sun Java System Calendar Express, or Sun Java System Communications Express. Users must have a unique entry in the LDAP directory. Each user can have one or more calendars and can belong to one or more groups.
Administrators, with the proper permissions, can add, delete or modify users and their calendars, using the Delegated Administrator utility (commadmin). The GUI for Delegated Administrator does not currently support Calendar Server. Be sure use the Delegated Administrator command-line utility only.
For documentation on the Delegated Administrator utility, see the Sun Java System Communications Services Delegated Administrator Guide at:
http://docs.sun.com/coll/CalendarServer_05q1
In addition, when necessary, you can use ldapmodify to modify LDAP entries directly. For information about ldapmodify, refer to the Sun ONE Directory Server Resource Kit 5.2 Tools Reference, which is available at the following Web site:
http://docs.sun.com/doc/816-6400-10
This section describes the following aspects of user and user calendar administration:
Creation of Calendar Server Users
Calendar Server users are created either manually or automatically:
In non-hosted domain mode, Calendar Server creates the calendar ID (calid) of the default calendar from the user ID. For example, if John Doe has a user ID of jdoe, his default calendar calid would be jdoe.
In hosted domain mode, the calid is a combination of the user ID and the user’s domain. For example, if John Doe is in domain example.com, and his user ID is jdoe, then his calid in a hosted domain environment is jdoe@example.com.
For auto provisioning to occur, the following criteria must be met:
For example, suppose tchang exists in the directory server but is not yet enabled for calendaring (that is, does not have a default calendar). When tchang logs into Calendar Server for the first time, Calendar Server automatically enables tchang for calendaring and creates a default calendar with the calid tchang.
Authentication of Calendar Server Users
Calendar Server requires a directory server such Sun Java System Directory Server to authenticate users (and to store user preferences). However, To allow access for users defined in a non-LDAP directory server, Calendar Server includes the Calendar Server API (CSAPI), which you can use to write a plug-in to access a non-LDAP directory. For information about CSAPI, refer to the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.
Calendar Server User Preferences
Calendar Server allows users to customize their views of calendar data by setting user preferences attributes, which are stored in the directory server. User preferences (as opposed to Calendar Server configuration parameters) refer to the user interface representation of calendar data and include items such as user name, email address, and preferred colors to use when rendering calendar views.
For a list of preferences, refer to the get_userprefs and set_userprefs WCAP commands in the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.
Calendar Groups
A calendar group is a named list of individual subscribed calendars. Group calendars allow multiple calendars to be combined into a single calendar for viewing. A user creates the groups using the Communications Express or Calendar Express user interface.
For example, a user can have a calendar group consisting of a private calendar, department calendar, and company holidays calendar. Users can also use a calendar group to select a list of calendars and view them side-by-side or invite the calendar owners to an event.
These groups are not to be confused with LDAP groups. Groups created in the user interface are stored in the user’s LDAP entry in icsSet attributes. Therefore, other users can’t see them when searching for attendees in LDAP.
For more information about Calendar Server users, see Chapter 14, "Administering Users and Resources." See also, the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Schema Reference at:
http://docs.sun.com/coll/CalendarServer_05q1
Calendar Resources
A resource is anything that can be scheduled using a calendar, such as a conference room, or a projector. There is a separate resource LDAP entry for each such item. Create the LDAP entry and its associated calendar using the appropriate tools:
- For Schema 2–Use a combination of the Delegated Administrator commadmin resource create command to create the resource LDAP entry, and the Calendar Server utility cscal to create the calendar.
- For Schema 1–Use the csresource create command which creates both the resource LDAP entry and the calendar.
Calendar Server DataThis section describes the following information about Calendar Server data:
Calendar Server Data Format
Calendar Server data format is modeled after RFC 2445, Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar). Calendar Server supports the following formats:
You can add other formats by developing your own XSL translations for the Calendar Express views and dialogs. You can also use CSAPI to develop a translator DLL or shared library for the WCAP protocol. For information about WCAP and CSAPI, see the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.
Import and Export of Calendar Data
Calendar data can be imported and exported in either iCalendar (.ical) or XML (.xml) format. End users import and export data using one of the graphical user interfaces, for example, Sun Java System Calendar Express. For information, see the appropriate user interface’s online Help. Calendar Server administrators can import and export calendar data using the Calendar Server csimport and csexport utilities.
Calendar Links for Data Exchange
Calendars can be referenced as links embedded in email messages and on Web pages. Users can then click a link to view a calendar as long as the calendar allows read access, without having to log into Calendar Server. For example, the following link specifies a resource room named Auditorium:
http://calendar.sesta.com:8080/?calid=Auditorium
Calendar Server Alarms
Calendar Server supports server-side email alarms, which can be sent to a list of recipients. The format of the email message is configurable and is maintained as a server attribute, rather than as a user or calendar attribute. Calendar Server has limited support for the ITIP/IMIP standards (RFC-2446 and RFC-2447), including ITIP methods PUBLISH, REQUEST, REPLY, and CANCEL for events.
Calendar Access ControlCalendar Server uses Access Control Lists (ACLs) to determine the access control for calendars, calendar properties, and calendar components such as events and todos (tasks).
This section covers these topics:
Secure Calendar Server Logins
When users log in to Calendar Server through Calendar Express, by default the authentication process does not encrypt the login information, including user names and passwords. If you want secure logins as your site, configure Calendar Server to use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to encrypt the login data. For more information, see Chapter 8, "Configuring SSL."
Access Control by Users
Calendar Server considers the following users when determining access to calendars, calendar properties, and calendar components:
An administrator such as calmaster, or a superuser such as root, is not subject to access control restrictions and can perform any operation on a calendar or calendar component. For more information, see Calendar Server Administrators.
The special calendar ID (calid) anonymous can access Calendar Server using any password, if service.http.allowanonymouslogin in the ics.conf file is set to “yes” (which is the default). The anonymous user is not associated with any particular domain.You can change the calid for the anonymous user by editing the calstore.anonymous.calid parameter.
You can also view a calendar anonymously if the calendar’s permissions allow read access for everybody. For example, the following link allows users to anonymously view the calendar with the calid tchang:meetings (if the calendar’s permissions allow read access for everybody):
http://calendar.sesta.com:8080/?calid=tchang:meetings
An anonymous user can view, print and search for public events and tasks on the calendar but cannot perform any other operations.
For information about viewing a resource calendar anonymously, see Chapter 15, "Administering Calendars".
Access Control Lists (ACLs)
Calendar Server uses access control lists (ACLs) to determine access control for calendars, calendar properties, and calendar components such as events and todos (tasks). An ACL consists of one or more access control entries (ACEs), which are strings that collectively apply to the same calendar or component Each ACE in an ACL must be separated by a semicolon. Note: ACE string characters are case insensitive.
For example:
An ACE consists of the following elements, with each element separated by a caret (^):
- Who - The individual, user, domain, or type of user who the ACE applies to.
- What - The target being accessed, such as a calendar or a calendar component such as an event, todo (task), or calendar property.
- How - The type of access control rights permitted, such as read, write, or delete.
- Grant - A specific access control right that is either granted or denied.
For example, in the ACE jsmith^c^wd^g:
- jsmith is the Who element, indicating who the ACE applies to.
- c is the What element, indicating what is being accessed (only the calendar components).
- wd is the How element, indicating which access rights are to be granted or denied (write and delete).
- g is the Grant element, indicating that the specified access rights, write and delete, for the calendar components are granted to jsmith.
Who
The Who element is the principal value for an ACE and indicates who the ACE applies to, such an individual user, domain, or specific type of user.
Who is also called the Universal Principal Name (UPN). The UPN for a user is the user’s login name combined with the user’s domain. For example, user bill in domain sesta.com has the UPN bill@sesta.com.
Table 1-2 shows the Who formats used in Calendar Server ACEs.
What
The What element specifies the target being accessed, such as a calendar, calendar component (event or task), or calendar property.
Table 1-3 shows the What target values used in Calendar Server ACEs.
How
The How element specifies the type of access control rights permitted, such as read, write, or delete.
Table 1-4 shows the How types of access control rights used in Calendar Server ACEs.
Grant
The Grant element specifies whether to grant or deny access for a specified access type, such as d (delete) or r (read).
Table 1-5 shows the Grant attribute values used in Calendar Server ACEs.
Table 1-5 Grant Values for Access Control Entry (ACE) Strings
Value
Description
g
Grant the specific access control right.
d
Deny the specific access control right.
Examples of ACEs
The following examples show the use of ACEs:
Placing ACEs in an ACL
When the Calendar Server reads an ACL, it uses the first ACE it encounters that either grants or denies access to the target. Thus, the ordering of an ACL is significant, and ACE strings should be ordered such that the more specific ones appear before the more general ones.
For example, suppose the first ACE in an ACL for the calendar jsmith:sports grants read access to all users. Then, Calendar Server encounters a second ACE that denies bjones read access to this calendar. In this case, Calendar Server grants bjones read access to this calendar and ignores the second ACE because it is a conflict. Therefore, to ensure that an access right for a specific user such as bjones is honored, the ACE for bjones should be positioned in the ACL before more global entries such as an ACE that applies to all users of a calendar.
Calendar Server Internal SubsystemsSun Java System Calendar Server includes the following internal subsystems:
Figure 1-1 shows the logical flow through these subsystems.
Figure 1-1 Calendar Server Internal Subsystems Logical Flow
Protocol Subsystem
Commands and requests enter through the HTTP protocol layer. This is a minimal HTTP server implementation, streamlined to support calendar requests.
Clients use SHTML or Web Calendar Access Protocol (WCAP) commands to submit requests:
- The Calendar Express UI uses SHTML commands, which are based on XML and XSLT specifications that generate the user interface. In response to an incoming request, the UI generator uses an XML specification to build a document tree with calendar and user data, subject to access control. The XSLT specification then traverses the document data tree and emits HTML. This design results in fewer interactions between the client and server, which reduces the network traffic.
- The Communications Express UI uses WCAP commands to retrieve calendar data that is used by its presentation layer to display the data. WCAP is an open protocol that allows you to write your own interface to Calendar Server. Using WCAP commands (.wcap extension), you can perform most server commands, except for certain administrative commands. You can use WCAP commands to request output as XML or iCalendar wrapped in HTML.
Core Subsystem
The Core subsystem includes the access control subsystem, user interface (UI) generator subsystem (either SHTML using XML and XSLT or WCAP using data translators), calendar database subsystem, and any CSAPI plug-ins. The Core subsystem processes calendar requests and generates the desired UI output. The Core subsystem also handles user authentication, including Calendar Server API (CSAPI) and Proxy Authentication SDK (authSDK).
Database Subsystem
The Database subsystem uses the Berkeley DB from Sleepycat Software (the database API is not public). The Database subsystem stores and retrieves calendar data to and from the database, including events, todos (tasks), and alarms. Calendar data is based on iCalendar format, and the schema used for Calendar Server data is a superset of the iCalendar standard.
The Database subsystem returns data in a low-level format, and the Core UI generator (either SHTML or WCAP) then translates the low-level data into the desired output.
For a distributed calendar database, Calendar Server uses the Distributed Wire Protocol (DWP) to provide a networking capability. For more information, see Distributed Database Service: csdwpd.
For information about the calendar database, refer to Chapter 16, "Administering Calendar Server Databases with csdb."
Calendar Server ServicesCalendar Server services run as daemons (or processes). These services include:
Administration Service: csadmind
The csadmind service provides a single point of authentication for administering Calendar Server. The csadmind service also manages alarm notifications, group scheduling requests.
HTTP Service: cshttpd
Since Calendar Server uses HTTP as its primary transport, the cshttpd service listens for HTTP commands from Calendar Server end users, receives the user commands, and returns calendar data, depending on the format of the incoming command:
Automatic Backup Service: csstored
When properly configured, the csstored service creates automatic backups of the calendar database. However, the service is installed in an unconfigured state. You can configure Calendar Server for automatic backups when the csconfigurator.sh configuration program runs, or you can do it at a later time, as described in this guide.
If the service is started in the unconfigured and disabled state, it will send a message to the administrator every 24 hours stating that automatic backups are not enabled.
For instructions on how to configure this service to perform backups, see Chapter 10, "Configuring Automatic Backups (csstored)".
When configured properly, the service has the following functionality:
- Upon system start up and at 24 hour (default interval) intervals thereafter, takes a snapshot of the live Calendar Server calendar database. The interval is configurable. (If the service has been stopped and restarted, it does not take another snapshot unless the configured interval has elapsed since the last snapshot.)
- Verifies the database by running csdb verify against the backup copy.
If the verify step fails (the database is corrupted), the service notifies the administrator. The administrator can put the live database in read-only mode, allowing you to troubleshoot the problem without having to shut down the databases. While in read-only mode, no modify or delete transactions are accepted (no logging). For more information about read-only mode, see Preventing Service Interruptions When Your Database is Corrupted (Read-only Mode).
Administrator intervention is required when a corruption is sensed. A notification is sent to the administrator.
If the verify succeeds, csstored performs the following additional tasks:
Should the live database become corrupted, a hotbackup provides an immediate uptodate backup of the database with a minimum of data loss and downtime.
For information on how to restore an automatic backup copy, see Restoring an Automatic Backup Copy.
Event Notification Service (ENS): csnotifyd and enpd
The ENS service consists of these individual services:
- csnotifyd–The csnotifyd service sends notifications of events and todos (tasks). The csnotifyd service also subscribes to alarm events. When an alarm event occurs, csnotifyd sends an SMTP message reminder to each recipient.
- enpd–The enpd service acts as the broker for event alarms. The enpd service receives notifications of alarms from the csadmind service, checks for subscriptions to this event, and then notifies the event’s subscribers by passing the subscribed-to alarm notifications to csnotifyd. The enpd service also receives and stores subscriptions and cancellations of subscriptions (unsubscribe) from csnotifyd.
Distributed Database Service: csdwpd
The csdwpd service is required to distribute calendar databases across multiple back-end servers. The csdwpd service allows you to link front-end servers to back-end servers within the same Calendar Server configuration to form a distributed calendar store.
The csdwpd service runs in the background on a back-end server and accepts requests that follow the Database Wire Protocol (DWP) for accessing the calendar database. DWP is an internal protocol used to provide networking capability for the Calendar Server database.
Calendar Server APIs and SDKsCalendar Server includes the following APIs and SDKs:
Web Calendar Access Protocol (WCAP)
Calendar Server supports WCAP 3.0, a high-level, command-based protocol that allows communication with clients. WCAP commands, which use the .wcap extension, allow clients to get, modify, and delete calendar components, user preferences, calendar properties, and other calendar information such as time zones. WCAP elements such as times, strings, and parameters generally follow RFC 2445, RFC 2446, and RFC 2447 specifications.
WCAP returns output calendar data in an HTTP message in the following formats:
Using WCAP commands, a Calendar Server administrator who logs in using the login.wcap has the following capabilities:
For more information, see the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.
Calendar Server API (CSAPI)
The Calendar Server API (CSAPI) allows you to customize functional areas of Calendar Server such as user login authentication, access control, and calendar lookup. For example, by default Calendar Server uses entries in an LDAP directory server to authenticate users and to store user preferences. The CSAPI allows you to override the default Calendar Server authentication by implementing another authentication mechanism that is not based on an LDAP directory server.
For information about CSAPI, see the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.
Event Notification Service (ENS) API
The Event Notification Service (ENS) is an alarm dispatcher that detects events on an alarm queue and sends notifications of these events to its subscribers. The ENS API allows programmers to modify publish-and-subscribe functions used by Calendar Server to perform functions such as subscribe to events, unsubscribe to events, and notify a subscriber of events. The ENS APIs consists of these specific APIs: Published API, Subscriber API, and Publish and Subscribe Dispatcher API.
For information about the ENS API, see the Sun Java System Communications Services 6 2005Q1 Event Notification Service Manual.
Proxy Authentication SDK (authSDK)
Calendar Server provides the authSDK for user authentication. With authSDK, you can integrate an existing portal service with Calendar Server, thus allowing users to access various applications without requiring re-authentication. The authSDK consists of the functions packaged in a DLL/shared-object library and a header file.
A connection established between Calendar Server and the authSDK forms a trusted relationship. If a user logs in and successfully authenticates to the authSDK, Calendar Server accepts the certificate generated by the proxy for its functions.
For information about authSDK, see the Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q1 Developer’s Guide.