imapsync/FAQ.d/FAQ.Contacts_Calendars.txt

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$Id: FAQ.Contacts_Calendars.txt,v 1.15 2021/09/06 14:32:19 gilles Exp gilles $

This documentation is also available online at
https://imapsync.lamiral.info/FAQ.d/
https://imapsync.lamiral.info/FAQ.d/FAQ.Contacts_Calendars.txt

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           Imapsync issues about syncing Contacts & Calendars.
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Questions answered in this FAQ are:

Q. Can I copy or sync Contacts, Calendars, Tasks or Chat messages with imapsync?
Q. How can I copy or synchronize Calendars or Contacts?
Q. How can I avoid copying Calendar or Contacts folders?

Now the questions again with their answers.

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Q. Can I copy or sync Contacts, Calendars, Tasks or Chat messages with imapsync?

R. No, Imapsync can't migrate Contacts, Calendars, Tasks nor Chat messages.
  It's because most IMAP servers don't get contacts and calendars 
  events via IMAP. In other words, messages synced by imapsync from 
  Contacts/Calendars/Tasks/Chat folders are not used by email servers to set 
  or get the contacts, calendars, tasks or chat messages. 
  No way via IMAP, no way via imapsync.
  
  So it's a good idea to avoid syncing contacts and calendars when
  using imapsync. See at the end of this document
  "How can I avoid copying Calendar or Contacts folders?"
  
  But see also the question below
  "How can I copy or synchronize Calendars or Contacts?".

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Q. How can I copy or synchronize Calendars or Contacts?

R1. Synchronizing Calendars or Contacts can't be done with imapsync. 
    For detailed explanations, see the question above
    "Can I copy or sync Calendars or Contacts with imapsync?".

R2. Synchronizing Calendars or Contacts can be done, not
    with imapsync, depending on the imap server software tool used.

a) From Exchange to Exchange, export contacts and calendar to
   PST format files on host1 and import them on host2.

b) From Gmail to Gmail, export and import calendars in ical format, 
   extension for those files is .ics.
   Contacts can be copied using a csv file. See the help page
   http://support.google.com/mail/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=1669027

c) For Outlook, use caldavsynchronizer.
   Homepage: http://caldavsynchronizer.org/
   Outlook CalDav Synchronizer is a free Outlook Plugin, which synchronizes 
   events, tasks and contacts between Outlook and Google, SOGo, Nextcloud or 
   any other CalDAV or CardDAV server. 
   Supported Outlook versions are Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007.
   Free and Open Source software tool.


d) Etc. Search the web. There's also specific tools and paid services.
   There's no silver bullet to migrate Calendars and Contacts,
   if you find one, tell me!
   Also consider asking experts at Sumatra company 
   https://twitter.com/sumatra_dev
   http://sumatra.com/
   
e) I plan to make tools for that but so far nothing has began
   more than this discussion:
http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync_list/msg01797.html
http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync_list/msg01811.html

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Q. How can I avoid copying Calendar or Contacts folders?

R. You can avoid synchronizing Calendar or Contacts folders with
  the --exclude option. First you have to search what is their
  exact name. The folders listing printed by imapsync at the
  beginning of a run will surely help to find their names. 
  Assuming their names are "Calendars" and "Contacts" use then:

    imapsync ... --exclude "Calendar" --exclude "Contacts" 

  Be aware that this syntax will exclude all folders that have
  Calendar or Contacts in their names, as a substring,
  like "MyCalendarZ" or "TheContactsImDoneWith". 
  Also, case matters: "calendar" does not match "Calendar".
  
  To stritly avoid only "Calendar" or "Contacts" use 
  the following

  On windows:
  
    imapsync ... --exclude "^Calendar$" --exclude "^Contacts$" 

  On Unix:
  
    imapsync ... --exclude '^Calendar$' --exclude '^Contacts$'
    or
    imapsync ... --exclude "^Calendar\$" --exclude "^Contacts\$" 


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