Q: How to locally sync an iPhone with OS X Mavericks? iCloud is NOT an option.

Tim, I'd be grateful for your help, please.

AIUI, the option for anyone who (for whatever reason) doesn't want to use the cloud (whether iCloud or any other cloud-based service) is to set up their own CalDAV and CardDAV server on there desktop/laptop machine, and then connect to it using their phone's wifi, either directly on a computer to computer network, or via their own LAN. I need an option like this, both because of legal data protection issues and because of periods when I do not have internet access but still need to keep my phone and laptop in sync.

This can be achieved by acquiring the OS X Mavericks Server, or (in theory), for those on very tight budgets, by using open source third party servers.

Apache2 is preinstalled with Mavericks and is fairly easy to activate, and it is not difficult with a little know how and the willingness to use Terminal to set up a server on your own machine. Alternatively MAMP provides an easy-to-use free alternative. After that you can then set up a CalDAV and/or CardDAV server. One option would be ownCloud unfortunately 5.x is not compatible with OS X due to Unicode issues. Version 4.x is easily installed, but unfortunately it will not accept a delete Calendar command from Calendar, so at the moment it is not a viable option.

I am now moving on to looking at Baïkal. I have been documenting my efforts on another thread. In particular the starting point is does it matter whether I use the Flat Package or the Regular Package to download on to my Mac? Does it make any difference to what is eventually installed. Later on I know I will hit questions with the detailed adjustments I need to make, and matching them to the specific nature the Apache installation on Mavericks. If anyone here knows the answer to my first question, I'd be grateful for the answer (either here or on the other thread), and even more grateful if anyone else has manged to set this up.

It won't solve the problem for those who want wired USB sync, but it will be a help for those who need/want sync without using over the internet cloud services.

Thanks

James

I am now moving on to looking at Baïkal. I have been documenting my efforts on another thread.

I am working on a user tip for setting that up. I'm pretty sure you want the regular package.

I'm still working on the formatting, but here is what I have:

Setting up Baïkal server on Mavericks

Caveats

• You must do this as an “admin” user on Mavericks.
• These instructions assume you are not already running an Apache2 Web Server on your Mac. If you are running a web server, you should be able to install this without my help. These instructions will install the web server as the main web server for your Mac.
• This installation sets up the server in an insecure mode, but should not be a problem when run totally within your own home network. If your home network is not isolated from the Internet with a NAT router, then you shouldn’t use these instructions. Perhaps someone will modify them to set up a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) server.

Instructions

Installing the Server Code

1. Download TextWrangler from BareBones’ website: http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/
   • http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/You don’t need to use TextWrangler, but it makes some things much simpler. You must use the version on the Bare Bones website, not the version on the App Store. It will allow you to elevate your privileges to modify the necessary system files from within TextWrangler. Other text editors will not do this and you will have to set the privileges in the Finder. I am not going to tell you how to do this, so download TextWrangler and use it.
2. Download the Baïkal server from here: http://baikal-server.com. Choose the regular package.
3. Open your downloads folder and double-click the downloaded tar file. For example: baikal-regular-0.2.6.tar
4. It will expand into a folder. Mine was named baikal-regular.
5. Inside that folder is a file called INSTALL.md. That is the primary source and I will try to “interpret” it for you. We will start with section 3.2 - Installing Baïkal on a dedicated host.
6. Move the Baïkal server folder to the WebServer folder.
7. In the Finder, move the “baikal-regular” folder into this folder: /Library/WebServer/Documents
8. It will ask you to “Authenticate” to make the move. Enter your admin user name and password.
9. Rename the folder. Again, it will ask you to authenticate.
   • The suggested name is dav.mydomain.com where my domain.com is your web server domain name. However, you can name it anything you like, but stay away from special characters. I’m going to call mine dav.server.
   • Whatever you choose, note the name as you will need it later.
10. Move the Baïkal server folder to the WebServer folder.
11. Change the permissions on the baikal server folder.
    1. Open Terminal.
    2. Run this command, changing the name of your server folder as appropriate:
       • sudo chown -Rf www:www /Library/WebServer/Documents/dav.server
    3. You can check that it has correctly set the permissions by running this command:
       • ls -l /Library/WebServer/Documents/dav.server/

• The result will look like this (note the _www  _www entries):

-rw-r--r--@ 1 _www  _www    106 Jul  7 09:56 ChangeLog.md

drwxr-xr-x@ 5 _www  _www    170 Jul  7 16:38 Core

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 _www  _www   9223 Jul  7 09:41 INSTALL.md

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 _www  _www  35135 Jul  7 09:29 LICENSE.txt

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 _www  _www   1688 Jul  7 09:43 README.md

drwxr-xr-x@ 6 _www  _www    204 Jul  7 16:38 Specific

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 _www  _www   2635 Jul  7 09:29 TROUBLESHOOTING.md

-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 _www  _www   1062 Jul  7 09:29 UPGRADE.md

drwxr-xr-x@ 8 _www  _www    272 Jul  7 16:38 html

drwxr-xr-x@ 6 _www  _www    204 Jul  7 16:38 vendor

Set up the Web Server

1. Edit the web server config file:
   1. Open the Apache2 folder. It is at /etc/apache2. To get to it, type cmd-shift-g in Finder and type in that path, then click Go.
   2. Right-click on httpd.conf and choose Open With… TextWrangler. If TextWrangler doesn’t appear in the Open With menu, choose Other…, then select TextWrangler.
   3. In the Edit menu of TextWrangler, select Text Options… and in the Display settings, select Line Numbers.
   4. At approximately line 44, change Listen 80 to Listen 8080
      • This will cause the web server to run on a different port than the standard.
      • When you begin to edit the file, TextWrangler will ask if you want to unlock the file. Choose Unlock.
   5. At approximately line 118, remove the # symbol from this line:
      • LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so
      • On mine, the only modules left commented out are perl_module and unique_id_module
   6. At approximately line 154, you can add your email address if you want, but nobody is going to see it.
   7. At approximately line 163, give your server a name. Example:
      • ServerName www.myServer.org:8080
   8. At Approximately line 478, remove the # symbol from the front of this line:

      • Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

   9. Save the file and close. Authenticate when requested.
2. Edit the Virtual Hosts config file:
   1. In the apache2 folder, open the extra folder.
   2. Open httpd-vhosts.conf with TextWrangler.
   3. Edit the end of the file so that it looks like this:

#
# Use name-based virtual hosting.
#
NameVirtualHost *:8080

#
# VirtualHost example:
# Almost any Apache directive may go into a VirtualHost container.
# The first VirtualHost section is used for all requests that do not
# match a ServerName or ServerAlias in any <VirtualHost> block.
#
<VirtualHost *:8080>

          DocumentRoot /Library/WebServer/Documents/dav.server/html
          ServerName dav.server

          <Directory "/Library/WebServer/Documents/dav.server/html">
                    Options None
                    Options +FollowSymlinks
                    AllowOverride All
          </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Change dav.server to whatever you chose in step 4.C.

4. Save the file and close; authenticate when requested.

Start the Web Server (and your new CardDAV and CalDAV servers)

1. In the Terminal, copy and paste this command then hit return:

apachectl configtest

• If you do not get Syntax OK, it will state where there is a problem by file and line number. Fix them as per the instructions.

2. After fixing any problems, copy and paste this command into Terminal and hit return:

sudo apachectl start

• It will likely warn you about using sudo, then ask for your password. You will not see anything when you type the password. Just type it in and hit return.

Your server should now be running. Go to your browser and enter this address: http://localhost:8080

You should get this warning, which indicates the server is running, but you will need to enable the admin setup.

Baïkal Install Tool is locked.

To unlock it, create (or re-create if it exists already) an empty file named ENABLE_INSTALL (uppercase, no file extension) in the Specific/ folder of Baïkal.

1. As the directions specify, run this command in Terminal:

sudo touch /Library/WebServer/Documents/dav.server/Specific/ENABLE_INSTALL

2. It may or may not ask for your password this time.
3. Reload the web page and you should be presented with the Baïkal Initialization Wizard page.

Configure Baïkal server

1. Set the Time Zone and create an Admin password, then Save Changes.
2. Leave the default database settings and click Save Changes.
3. Click Start using Baïkal.

Add Users

You should be on the Dashboard.

1. Click the Users and resources link at the top of the page.
2. Click the +Add user button
3. Fill in the info and click Save changes
4. Add additional users as desired.

Edit Calendars and Address Books

Calendars

1. In the Users list, select Calendars next to the user you want to edit.
   • There is a default calendar created. You can change the name of it with the Edit button.
   • You can also enable or disable Todos (Reminders).
2. Click Save changes to save the Calendar.

Address Books

1. In the Users list, Select Address Books next to the user you want to edit.
2. Edit the name and description as desired.
3. Click Save changes to save the Address Book.

• You can add additional Calendars and Address Books in each of the Edit pages.

Adding the Calendars and Address Books to your Mac

1. Note that these instructions are also in the INSTALL.md file in the Baïkal server folder.
2. Open Internet Accounts System Preferences.
3. Click on Add Other Account…

For Calendars:

1. Select Add a CalDAV account and click Create…
2. Set Account Type to Manual
3. Enter the Username and Password that you added to Baïkal
4. In the Server Address enter:
   • http://localhost:8080/cal.php/principals/username
5. Change username to the name you created.
6. Click Create.
7. Acknowledge the warning about the insecure server.
8. Edit the Description (this will show up in the sidebar).
9. Check the Reminders box if desired (and available).

For Contacts:

1. Select Add a CardDAV account and click Create…
2. Enter the Username and Password that you added to Baïkal
3. In the Server Address enter:
   • http://localhost:8080/card.php/principals/username
4. Change username to the name you created.
5. Click Create.
6. Edit the Description (this will show up in the sidebar).

Adding the Calendars and Address Books to your iOS devices

• Note that these instructions are also in the INSTALL.md file in the Baïkal server folder. However, the Contacts for iOS devices must be modified slightly.

1. Note the IP address of your Mac that is hosting the Server.
   1. Open Network System preferences.
   2. Select WiFi.
   3. On the main page it will state:
   4. Wi-Fi is connected to <your WiFi network name> and has the IP address <IP Address>.
      • Your IP Address will be in the form: 000.000.000.000. For example, 192.168.1.3.
2. On your iOS device, Open Settings
3. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars
4. Select Add Account
5. Select Other

For Calendars:

1. Select Add CalDAV account
2. Set the server to:
   • http://<ip address>/cal.php/principals/username
3. Enter the username and password for the account you created.
4. Enter a useful description.
5. Touch Next
6. Touch Continue to set up without SSL.
7. It should verify and have Calendars and Reminders set on.
8. Click Save

For Contacts:

1. Select Add CardDAV account
2. Set the server to:
   • <ip address>:8080/cal.php
   • Note that you must enter the port number (which we set in the web server configuration), and there isn’t “http://“ nor the “/principals/username”
3. Enter the username and password for the account you created.
4. Enter a useful description.
5. Touch Next
6. Touch Continue to set up without SSL.
   • It should verify, but it needs more adjustments
7. Click Advanced Settings
8. The Account URL will have two card.php/ entries. Remove one of them so that it looks like:
9. http://<ip address>/card.php/principals/username
10. Touch the Back button, then Done.
11. It will warn that the account verification failed. Ignore that and touch OK.
12. Touch Done, then Save.

You should now be able to add contacts, calendar events, and reminders on all of your devices.

hello

what do you think about the apps Agendus on Appstore

does somebody knows if it's running with Mavericks

http://www.iambic.com/agendus/mac/default.asp

thank you

Note that in the setup I posted, if you happen upon another wifi network that you can connect to that is running a CalDAV or CardDAV server on the same IP address as your server, and it has the same usernames and passwords as you set up, it will attempt to sync. That would be bad. Not bad in the Ghostbusters sense, but still bad. I don't imagine the liklihood of that is high, but possible.

patrick.fr wrote:

 

hello

 

what do you think about the apps Agendus on Appstore

 

does somebody knows if it's running with Mavericks

 

http://www.iambic.com/agendus/mac/default.asp

 

thank you

A quick peek looks like you need it loaded on both the phone and the Mac. It is likely using CalDAV and CardDAV since it syncs with Google Calendar.  I don't think you could just install it on your Mac and it would sync without the apps on the iPhone.

hax0r - please come up with a solution. There are clearly thousands of us that don't want to use the iCloud solution for syncing Contacts and Calendar. I do a daily search for a solution ...

wow, blatant censorship going on here...

you don't like a comment, you just delete it and kick the user...

wow, just wow

Thank you Barney

i find this on iambic web site

At the time Agendus for iPhone was initially released Apple did not allow third-party access to the native iPhone/iPod Touch Calendar.  As of iPhone OS 3.x there are no third-party applications which are able to display data from the native iPhone calendar in order to display it. For this reason the calendar data in Agendus has to sync over the air to Google.

As for synchronizing with any desktop clients, such as Outlook or iCal, at the present time we are at a stage in which we are unable to proceed with adding desktop synchronization support for the calendar.  This is because we are waiting to see if Apple will remove this limitation, providing us access to the native databases.  Should this happen, desktop synchronization will be made simple.  If they were to continue preventing access, we still will make all efforts to add desktop synchronization, but will need to take a different approach.

Indications are that Apple will be unlocking the calendar data in version 4 of their software update. We are investigating a variety of options for desktop synchronization should this be the case.

perhaps it could be a solutionin a near futur ...

i send them a mail to have som more information

Barney-15E, thanks for posting this. I'll give it a try. I've just got some questions first, if you are able to help.

MAMP sets the Apache port for its server to be 8888. Presumably this will mean that at step 4 under 'Set up the Server' the change should be to 8888 rather than to 8080. (And then 8888 should be used instead of 8080 throughout your instructions.)

Under the heading "Adding Calendars and Addressbooks to your Mac" you give a couple of URLs ending in 'username' (e.g. http://localhost:8080/cal.php/principals/username). Should those URLs end with the word 'username' or should I substitute my own username?

Lower down you refer to the IP address of your Mac. My wifi network uses a DHCP server, so the IP address may change each time I log on. I can get it to issue a fixed IP address, but this will not work if I try to sync on someone else's LAN, or if I use a computer-to-computer network. If I go to System Preferences>>Sharing the pane states that  "Computers on your local network can access your computer at: [My computer's network name].local". Can I use that name (including '.local') instead of an IP address when adding CalDAV and CardDAV accounts?

Once again many thanks for posting this.

James

mshasegawa wrote:

 

wow, blatant censorship going on here...

 

you don't like a comment, you just delete it and kick the user...

 

wow, just wow

Yep. Apple is all about patronization and censorship. Have a look at their iCloud TOS: "...Apple reserves the right at all times to determine whether Content is appropriate and in compliance with this Agreement, and may pre-screen, move, refuse, modify and/or remove Content at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion..."

Who wants to store data with such a company?

As has been noted before, you don't have to use iCloud, so don't.

I don't think you want to just open the ports for contacts / calendar to the public Internet. Having port 80 and 443 visible and responding will simply incite a lot of bots to start looking for exploits on your web server.

I'm afraid you should RTM and look at using the VPN for any roaming devices. Even that will need open ports, but you should be a bit more secure since the server will eventually reject unauthenticated requests (but it is still open to any exploits that may exist in vpn).

It's why such a simple feature removal will cause so many headaches, setting up servers (correctly and securely) is hard.

Apple give you some big toggles inside server app and a manual, hopefully you have enough of a clue to read the latter and already know how to secure a network.

Csound1 wrote:

 

As has been noted before, you don't have to use iCloud, so don't.

As has been noted before, that's nonsense. Read the title of the topic and come back later.

ciu5781 wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

As has been noted before, you don't have to use iCloud, so don't.

As has been noted before, that's nonsense. Read the title of the topic and come back later.

Still trying to control who posts and what they say?

As usual you are reaching far beyond your influence.

You are not forced to use iCloud

You are not forced to use iCloud

You are not forced to use iCloud

You are not forced to use iCloud