1. Introduction

Calendaring is an integral feature of the Nexus system. If you want to use calendaring in clients other than Microsoft Outlook, Entourage or Internet Explorer then you will need to perform further setup and configuration procedures. One method is to use Davmail and this document outlines how to use this program together with iCal in Mac OS X 10.5 to access your Nexus account.

Davmail is an Exchange gateway allowing users to connect to Exchange via an alternate email/calendar client. It is available for different operating systems, including Mac OSX.

This particular guide has been written using Davmail 3.5.0. and iCal 3.0.7..

iCal is the calendaring application pre-installed on every Mac computer as part of Mac OS X. This particular configuration will only work on iCal in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). If you have Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) you should follow the instructions for Nexus calendaring using iCal on Snow Leopard.

This guide assumes that you are starting with a clean OS, with nothing but the standard security packages that come through the update manager.

Please note: You will not be able to share your calendar directly through this method.

2. Installing Davmail

To download Davmail go to: http://sourceforge.net/projects/davmail/files/ then click on DavMail-MacOSX-3.5.0-745.app.zip file to start downloading. When the file is downloaded, it automatically unzips and you’ll see Davmail application in your Downloads folder. Now drag the Davmail application file into your Applications folder.

3. Configuring Davmail

Open up Davmail from your Applications folder (you’ll see a yellow filled circle with a white lightning bolt inside it on your Dock) and click on [Davmail > Preferences]. The options should look like this:
  • OWA (Exchange) URL: https://nexus.ox.ac.uk/email
  • Local POP Port: Unticked
  • Local IMAP Port: Unticked
  • Local SMTP Port: Unticked
  • Caldev HTTP Port: Ticked - 1080
  • Local LDAP Port: Ticked - 1389
Click Save

Davmail needs to be running on your system before starting any email/calendaring client.

4. Configuring iCal: add a new account

  1. Open iCal.
  2. Go to [iCal > Preferences > Accounts tab]. Click on the + sign at the bottom left hand side corner to add new account.
  3. Fill in the Account Setup screen:
    • Description. What you want to call the calendar (e.g. Nexus Calendar)
      Username: Your university Single Sign-On username, eg oucs1234
      Password: Your university Single Sign-On password
    • Click on the triangle where it says Server Options. Type in http://localhost:1080/principals/users/firstname.lastname@dept.ox.ac.uk where firstname.lastname@dept.ox.ac.uk is your Oxford email address.
    Account setup screen
    Figure 1. Account setup screen
  4. Click on Add then click on Connect Anyway in the next box.
  5. You should now see your account listed in the Accounts window:
    Accounts tab in Preferences window with the Nexus Calendar listed.
    Figure 2. Accounts tab in Preferences window with the Nexus Calendar listed.
  6. Close the Preferences window and you should see Nexus Calendar listed on the left hand side pane of the iCal window
    iCal window with Nexus Calendar listed on the left hand side pane.
    Figure 3. iCal window with Nexus Calendar listed on the left hand side pane.

You cannot share calendars through this; however, if you have already set up shared calendars using Outlook, then you can view other people's calendars by adding a new account in iCal (see Configuring iCal: add a new account above). You need to give the new account a different name and remember to use the primary email address of the person who owns the account instead of yours (section 4.3 above).

Private calendar events: Some clients do not fully support private items and your private items may be revealed to those you share your calendar with. Please see the "How private are my private calendar entries?" entry in the Nexus FAQ for more details.