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Z-push for MX Route
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Z-push for MX Route

@jarland please remove if not appropriate!

So I have a service with MXRoute, unfortunately due to it being quite unreliable MXRoute doesn't currently offer Active Sync. I decided to see if it was possible to setup Z-push on a standalone VPS to connect to the MXRoute servers... Turns out it is! :)

I have put together a small document to explain how I did it. Note Z-push is not the most reliable and there are a couple of annoying issues that I haven't managed to fix yet.

Using Z-PUSH (2.3.5) to connect to MX Route

Known Issues:

Z-push syncs the shared address book, I haven’t worked out how to stop this, it’s a minor issue, but you do need to be aware of it.

Z-push fails to get the name of the calendar, so on an activesync device the calendar name shows up as unknown, but it works.

Z-push pulls the tasks through as a calendar, I have turned off syncing tasks.

Z-push itself isn’t the most reliable platform. This isn’t an issue per se, but it is something you need to be aware of.

Pre-Reqs

A VPS or server, I am running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
A MXRoute account
Apache installed with an SSL cert (I’m using letencrypt)
PHP7 with php-cli and php-soap
Instructions

Add the z-push repo by creating /etc/apt/sources.list.d/z-push.list with the content

deb http://repo.z-hub.io/z-push:/final/Ubuntu_16.04/ /

Download and add the repo key to the keychain

wget -qO - http://repo.z-hub.io/z-push:/final/Debian_8.0/Release.key | sudo apt-key add –

Run apt-get update

We then need to install the z-push packages that we need

apt-get install z-push-common z-push-config-apache z-push-backend-caldav z-push-backend-carddav z-push-backend-combined z-push-backup-imap z-push-ipc-sharedmemory

This will install and configure z-push ready to go, we now need to edit the config files to tell it where to get the contacts, calendar and email from.

Start by editing /usr/share/z-push/config.php

Change the section “Default Settings” to match your timezone and ensure that the define(‘USE_FULLEMAIL_FOR_LOGIN’,true); is set to true.

Under the logging settings there is a specialLogUsers value, this is really useful to put a user in here when you need to troubleshoot, this generates debug logs for the named user and which can be found in the /var/log/z-push directory, but remember to remove them when you have done your testing as they can generate massive log files.

The only other setting we need to change is the Backend settings.

Change the backend provider setting to:

define(‘BACKEND_PROVIDER’,’BackendCombined’);

Save and exit the file

Next edit the /usr/share/z-push/backend/combined/config.php

Update it to match the following values

'backends' => array(

            'i' => array(

                'name' => 'BackendIMAP',

            ),

            'd' => array(

                'name' => 'BackendCardDAV',

            ),

            'c' => array(

                'name' => 'BackendCalDAV',

            ),

        ),

        'delimiter' => '/',

        //force one type of folder to one backend

        //it must match one of the above defined backends

        'folderbackend' => array(

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_INBOX => 'i',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_DRAFTS => 'i',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_WASTEBASKET => 'i',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_SENTMAIL => 'i',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_OUTBOX => 'i',

// SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_TASK => 'c',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_APPOINTMENT => 'c',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_CONTACT => 'd',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_NOTE => 'c',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_JOURNAL => 'c',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_OTHER => 'i',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_MAIL => 'i',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_APPOINTMENT => 'c',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_CONTACT => 'd',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_TASK => 'c',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_JOURNAL => 'c',

           SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_USER_NOTE => 'c',

            SYNC_FOLDER_TYPE_UNKNOWN => 'i',

        ),

        //creating a new folder in the root folder should create a folder in one backend

        'rootcreatefolderbackend' => 'i',

    );

}

}

This tells z-push which backend is responsible for which function.

Next we need to edit the individual service files we will start with email.

Edit the file /usr/share/z-push/backend/imap/config.php

Update the following values, this is assuming you are using MXRoute’s London servers.

// Defines the server to which we want to connect

define('IMAP_SERVER', 'london.mxroute.com');

// connecting to default port (143)

define('IMAP_PORT', 993);

// best cross-platform compatibility (see http://php.net/imap_open for options)

define('IMAP_OPTIONS', '/ssl/norsh');

// Mark messages as read when moving to Trash.

// BE AWARE that you will lose the unread flag, but some mail clients do this so the Trash folder doesn't get boldened

define('IMAP_AUTOSEEN_ON_DELETE', false);

// Since I know you won't configure this, I will raise an error unless you do.

// When configured set this to true to remove the error

define('IMAP_FOLDER_CONFIGURED', true);

// Folder prefix is the common part in your names (3, 4)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_PREFIX', '');

// Inbox will have the preffix preppend (3 & 4 to true)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_PREFIX_IN_INBOX', false);

// Inbox folder name (case doesn't matter) - (empty in 4)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_INBOX', 'INBOX');

// Sent folder name (case doesn't matter)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_SENT', 'inbox.SENT');

// Draft folder name (case doesn't matter)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_DRAFT', 'inbox.DRAFTS');

// Trash folder name (case doesn't matter)

define('IMAP_FOLDER_TRASH', 'inbox.TRASH');

// Spam folder name (case doesn't matter). Only showed as special by iOS devices

define('IMAP_FOLDER_SPAM', 'inbox.junk');

// Archive folder name (case doesn't matter). Only showed as special by iOS devices

define('IMAP_FOLDER_ARCHIVE', 'ARCHIVE');

You also want to update the method used for sending emails (I am using an SSL connection to MXRoute)

define('IMAP_SMTP_METHOD', 'smtp');

global $imap_smtp_params;

$imap_smtp_params = array('host' => 'ssl://london.mxroute.com', 'port' => 465, 'auth' => true, 'username' => 'imap_username', 'password' => 'imap_password' );

The above ‘imap_username’ and ‘imap_password’ are variables and do not need changing to the actual username and password.

Save and close the file.

Next we will setup syncing contacts

Edit /usr/share/z-push/backend/carddav/config.php update the following

// Server protocol: http or https

define('CARDDAV_PROTOCOL', 'https');

// Server name

define('CARDDAV_SERVER', 'london.mxroute.com');

// Server port

define('CARDDAV_PORT', '2080');

// Address book path

define('CARDDAV_PATH', '/rpc/addressbooks/%u/');

// Server path to the default address book

define('CARDDAV_DEFAULT_PATH', 'contacts/');

// Support sync-collection

define('CARDDAV_SUPPORTS_SYNC', false);

Save and close the file

Finally the calendar sync

Edit /usr/share/z-push/backend/caldav/config.php

// Server protocol: http or https

define('CALDAV_PROTOCOL', 'https');

// Server name

define('CALDAV_SERVER', 'london.mxroute.com');

// Server port

define('CALDAV_PORT', '2080');

// Path

define('CALDAV_PATH', '/rpc/calendars/%u/');

// Default CalDAV folder (calendar folder/principal). This will be marked as the default calendar in the mobile

define('CALDAV_PERSONAL', 'calendar');

// If the CalDAV server supports the sync-collection operation

// DAViCal, SOGo and SabreDav support it

// SabreDav version must be at least 1.9.0, otherwise set this to false

// Setting this to false will work with most servers, but it will be slower

define('CALDAV_SUPPORTS_SYNC', false);

// Maximum period to sync.

// Some servers don't support more than 10 years so you will need to change this

define('CALDAV_MAX_SYNC_PERIOD', 2147483647);

Save and close the file

Although not necessarily I restart apache at this point.

service apache2 restart

Client Device

On your client device (iOS / Android / Outlook 2013+)

As there is no autodiscovery function you will need to enter the settings manually.

Username: Full email address

Password: Users MXRoute Password

Server: Your VPS address (i.e. z-push.yourdomain.com)

Basic Troubleshooting

Check the apache and z-push logs, both of which can be found in /usr/var/log/
Turn on debugging for a single user (see above for details)
Check you can access activesync on your server https://z-push.yourdomain.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync, you should be promoted for a username and password use the email address and the users mxroute password, you should see a page that gives you the activesync information and tell you that “GET is not supported”.
You should now be good to go!

Thanked by 1netomx

Comments

  • I am using the London service, this should work for the US servers to but you will need to adjust the server as applicable.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    michaels said: please remove if not appropriate

    Quite appropriate :)

  • I'm using Z-push for push of my emails (emails only, no calender etc) and until now I have not (yet ?) experienced any isses. Push might be delayed by a few seconds (but that's OK).

    Are there any known issues in pushing emails with z-push ? @Jarland ?

    Thanks

    BTW: I wrote a how-to-setup-z-push for myself (email only). will cross-check it with your document.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @wlambrechts said:
    Are there any known issues in pushing emails with z-push ? @Jarland ?

    Just that multi tenant zpush setups have a tendency to randomly not work for no clear reason.

  • @jarland said:

    @wlambrechts said:
    Are there any known issues in pushing emails with z-push ? @Jarland ?

    Just that multi tenant zpush setups have a tendency to randomly not work for no clear reason.

    @jarland: multi-tenant as in "multiple users on the same server/domain" ? If so: any idea on whether there was some kind of maximum number of concurrent users z-push was able to handle ? Tx

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @wlambrechts said:

    @jarland said:

    @wlambrechts said:
    Are there any known issues in pushing emails with z-push ? @Jarland ?

    Just that multi tenant zpush setups have a tendency to randomly not work for no clear reason.

    @jarland: multi-tenant as in "multiple users on the same server/domain" ? If so: any idea on whether there was some kind of maximum number of concurrent users z-push was able to handle ? Tx

    I think I had about 25 active users each with their own domain on my installations, and it was a constant stream of "it's not working, ok now it's working, ok now it's not working." Every day would be at minimum one person experiencing issues at random while others were fine, and troubleshooting options are pretty limited when it's both working and not working at the same time, so I came to trust it less and less, and it just took too much time to deal with compared to it's benefits.

    Thanked by 1wlambrechts
  • That's been my experience with just a couple of users, there is no reliable way to monitor it. It's just a bit flakey. I think SoGo have a activesync client too, but have found even less documentation on that. It seems the only reliable way to get activesync is to pay for it. I have used Zimbra in the past with Zextra's and that has proved to be really reliable, if zextras produced a "standalone" version I would pay for it.

    Thanked by 1wlambrechts
  • @jarland, @michaels: do you recall what version of Z-push this was ... My current project heavily relies on z-push :-(

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @wlambrechts said:
    @jarland, @michaels: do you recall what version of Z-push this was ... My current project heavily relies on z-push :-(

    Every version I ever tried :P

    Been about 6 months since I gave up on it completely and stopped trying to support it, if that matters.

  • @jarland said:

    @wlambrechts said:
    @jarland, @michaels: do you recall what version of Z-push this was ... My current project heavily relies on z-push :-(

    Every version I ever tried :P

    Been about 6 months since I gave up on it completely and stopped trying to support it, if that matters.

    Did you start using SoGo ? Or implement another push technology ? Tx !

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    wlambrechts said: Did you start using SoGo ? Or implement another push technology ? Tx !

    I have not yet.

    Thanked by 1wlambrechts
  • @wlambrechts said:
    @jarland, @michaels: do you recall what version of Z-push this was ... My current project heavily relies on z-push :-(

    Version 2.3.5

    Thanked by 1wlambrechts
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