Frequently Asked Question

CalDAV personal and shared Calendars and Addressbooks
Last Updated 2 years ago

CalDAV / CardDAV server

The mailbox server can also act as a calendar and scheduling (CalDAV) server. There are 3 different collection types and a hierarchical view of all collections is available in "Configuration :: E-Mail Service :: Mailbox Server :: Mailboxes management". A different icon is used to depict the type of each mailbox:

  • E-Mail mailboxes: These are the typical mailboxes or mail folders as they appear on IMAP clients. They contain e-mails.
  • Calendars: Calendars contain calendar collections (events) that use RFC 5322 messages to store iCalendar data.
  • Addressbooks: Addressbooks contain addressbook collections (contacts) that use RFC 5322 messages as vCard data.

Note: In some cases a mailbox may appear with only a folder icon. This is the case where an actual mailbox does not actually exist on the server there (it may existed and was later moved or deleted), but there are still mailboxes that are below that path.

Calendars and Addressbooks are not accessible via IMAP. They can be accessed via CalDAV and CardDAV clients.

A default addressbook and the required calendars for a user will be automatically created the first time that the user authenticates to the CalDAV/CardDAV server. Note that the user MUST have an existing IMAP Inbox in order for them to be created.

Initialize shared calendars/addressbooks: In order to create Shared (public) addressbooks and calendars, two top level mailbox collections must be created. These can be created using the "Initialize shared calendars/addressbooks" button in the Tools tab on the mailboxes management interface. The collections will appear on the top level of the mailboxes management and allow the creation of shared calendars and shared addressbooks. If these collections exist already, an error will report that the mailboxes already exist.


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CalDAV/ CardDAV URLs

Calendars are accessible using the URL form below:
http://servername]:9080/dav/calendars/user/[username]/[calendar]/ or
https://[servername]:9443/dav/calendars/user/[username]/[calendar]/

Addressbooks are accessible using the URL form below:
http://[servername]:9080/dav/addressbooks/user/[username]/[addressbook]/ or
https://[servername]:9443/dav/addressbooks/user/[username]/[addressbook]/

Shared calendars and addressbooks are accessible using the URL form below:
http://[servername]:9080/dav/calendars/[shared_calendar]/ or
https://[servername]:9443/dav/calendars/[shared_calendar]/
http://[servername]:9080/dav/addressbooks/[shared_addressbook]/ or
https://[servername]:9443/dav/addressbooks/[shared_addressbook]/

Free/busy URL:
http://[servername]:9080/dav/calendars/user/[username]/?action=freebusy
https://[servername]:9443/dav/calendars/user/[username]/?action=freebusy
Note: For the freebusy URL to be publicly accessible, the 9 right (freebusy) must be set for anyone on the "#calendars" collection.

Principals URL:
For clients that are able to autodetect all available calendars and addressbooks on the server, a single url, the principals url, may be used:
http://[servername]:9080/dav/principals/user/
https://[servername]:9443/dav/principals/user/

The same URLs are also available from the corresponding Groupware ports (80 HTTP and 443 HTTPS by default)

A minimal user's calendar and addressbook management interface is available on these URLs:
http://[servername]:9080/dav/calendars/user/[username]/
https://[servername]:9443/dav/calendars/user/[username]/
http://[servername]:9080/dav/addressbooks/user/[username]/
https://[servername]:9443/dav/addressbooks/user/[username]/

Groupware Webmail (roundcube) Grouware's webmail already uses CalDAV and CardDAV to use the user's Default calendar and Default addressbook. Discovery is not supported here, so any additional addressbooks and calendars must be added by URL.

Groupware's Collaboration Suite since v1.9.2 contains two new applications (Contacts and Calendar) for accessing and managing all calendars and addressbooks the user has access to, and even creating new calendars and addressbook on the server. This is the recommended and most complete way for managing the DAV collections on the server, also providing the means to import and export data from preexisting sources.

Calendar app of Collaboration Suite:

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Contacts app of Collaboration Suite:

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CalDAV/CardDAV Clients

  • iOS: iOS natively supports CalDAV and CardDAV. This allows direct use of the addressbook and calendar collections on the server without any other special software. For iOS version 11 and newer, CalDAV and CardDav accounts can be installed via an iOS configuration profile, available from the user's web interface (port 9237 https). Users can just point the camera to the provided QR code and install the configuration profile following the instructions on their device. Configuration profiles contain account information for e-mail, CalDAV and CardDAV.


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    Older versions will have to manually create the CalDAV and CardDAV accounts using the principal URL.


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  • Android: Android devices do not support CalDAV and CardDAV, so a third party application is necessary to sync with the server. The recommended app to use is DAVx⁵ (former DAVDroid)https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.bitfire.davdroid
    The principal URL can be used withDAVDroid, providing all calendars and addressbooks, personal or shared, that the user has access to.


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    DAVx⁵ is also available for free via F-Droid.
    There are many more CalDAV and CardDAV clients available on Google Play.

  • Outlook: Outlook does not support CalDAV or CardDAV directly, but can sync Calendars, Tasks and Addressbooks via Outlook CalDav Synchronizer, a free Outlook Plugin (https://caldavsynchronizer.org/). Because of the way CalDAV synchronizer works, and the requirement of local calendars and addressbooks created in Outlook, the principal URL cannot be used and each addressbook and calendar must be individually configured using their corresponding URLs.

    First create a new local calendar. Go to Calendars, right-click on Calendar node and select New Calendar in the context menu.


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Provide the new calendar name and specify the location of your new calendar.

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Now go to CalDav Synchronizer tab and select Synchronization Profiles:

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In the Options dialog select Add new profile:

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In the Select Profile Type dialog select Generic CalDAV/CardDAV:

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Fill in the name of Profile and in the Outlook Settings select the Outlook folder that you have created above. In Server Settings fill in the CalDAV URL of the server calendar you want to synchronize with.

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    The synchronization does not start immediately. To start the synchronization manually select Synchronize now on the CalDav Synchronizer tab.


  • Thunderbird: Thunderbird supports CalDAV and CardDav natively via the included Lightning addon and the new Address Book. Thunderbird also supports the use of principal URLs, so it can automatically discover all user and shared calendars available on the server.

    To add your calendars, click on File -> New -> Calendar...

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    After this step you will be asked for your password. If the authentication is successful, the list of available calendars will be displayed. Select those you wish to subscribe to:

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    To add your Address Books, go to Tools -> Address Book and then click on File -> New -> CardDAV Address Book

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    Again, you will be asked for your password. Enter it and if the authentication is successful the list of available address books will be displayed. Check those you wish to subscribe to:

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    --
    iNODE Support Team

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