Ubuntu, email client for MS Exchange 2007

Introduction

Using Ubuntu as the main OS at work, I ran into the problem of connecting to MS Exchange 2007. We have disabled the POP and IMAP protocols, the only loophole was OWA - the web interface. So, we will try to consider possible solutions to this problem. Ubuntu 11.04 is used as the test operating system.

Evolution-exchange

One of the most common options is to use the evolution-exchange package, which allows you to connect to Microsoft Exchange via Exchange OWA - the web interface, of course, if this feature is enabled. Setting up this connection method is quite simple: evolution asks to enter an email address, then the OWA URL in the form of ~ https: //owa.domaine.ru/owa and the user name. When entering a username there is one nuance: evolution will not understand it in its usual form - domaine / login , the username should be entered in the form - login@domaine.local . We try to log in: you are prompted to enter the password to login@domaine.local , after you enter the password for the domain account, you receive another request to enter the password to login - that is, the mailbox name, and then failure - an authorization error. Most likely this is due to the fact that evolution-exchange works well with MS Exchange 2000/2003, but we have Exchange 2007.

MAPI Provider

Next, we consider how to use the MAPI Provider or evolution-mapi package . When setting up an account in Evolution, set the server type - Exchange MAPI. The server itself should be specified in the same way as when configuring Outlook. It remains to enter the user name and domain, then authentication and configuration is complete. But when you start the client, everything turns out to be very sad: evolution does not see folders called Cyrillic characters. With a similar setting in Ubuntu 10.10, folder names were displayed with question symbols, but they were displayed. However, I managed to see the contact list and calendar, and even send a letter, but this, unfortunately, is not enough.

DavMail

Another way, in my opinion the most efficient, is to use DavMail . This is a layer between the email client and MS Exchange. DavMail connects to MS Exchange and creates a local IMAP and POP server. In this case, I used Mozilla Thunderbird as my email client. Setting up DavMail comes down to specifying the OWA address and connection ports. In Thunderbird, as SMTP, IMAP or POP servers, you must specify localhost and the corresponding port.
')
To work with the calendar, you must install the extension Lightning . Connecting the calendar is also carried out by means of DavMail, similarly to the previous settings, we specify localhost as the server and the default port is 1080. In my case, the calendar swore on an expired security certificate. We open the Thunderbird settings, go to the Additional -> Certificates tab -> View certificates -> Servers tab and import the certificate previously saved during the error.

Next you need to connect the address book through the LDAP port, I did not succeed. To work with contacts you need to install the extension Inverse SOGo Connector . Then open the address book, open the menu file -> create -> Remote Address Book , enter the name and URL to the contacts. Contacts in this case in DavMail are connected via the Caldav HTTP protocol and accordingly the connection port will be the same as when the calendar is connected - 1080. As a result, the URL string will look like this: ~ http: // localhost: 1080/users/login@domaine.ru / contacts . This completes the Thunderbird setup. To my surprise, a bunch of Thunderbird and DavMail works perfectly with MS Exchange 2007. It should also be noted that Thunderbird and DavMail are cross-platform products, so it is quite suitable as an email client for windows.