path: root/README.rst

===============
 SyncEvolution
===============

------------------------------------------------
synchronize personal information management data
------------------------------------------------

:Manual section: 1
:Version: 1.0
:Date: Apr 28, 2010

SYNOPSIS
========

Show available sources:
  syncevolution

Show information about configuration(s):
  syncevolution --print-servers|--print-configs|--print-peers

Show information about a specific configuration:
  syncevolution --print-config [--quiet] <config> [main|<source> ...]

List sessions:
  syncevolution --print-sessions [--quiet] <config>

Show information about SyncEvolution:
  syncevolution --help|-h|--version

Run a synchronization as configured:
  syncevolution <config> [<source> ...]

Run a synchronization with properties changed just for this run:
  syncevolution --run <options for run> <config> [<source> ...]

Restore data from the automatic backups:
  syncevolution --restore <session directory> --before|--after [--dry-run] <config> <source> ...

Modify a configuration:
  syncevolution --remove|--migrate|--configure <options> <config>

DESCRIPTION
===========

This text explains the usage of the SyncEvolution command line.

SyncEvolution synchronizes personal information management (PIM) data
such as contacts, appointments, tasks and memos using the Synthesis
sync engine, which provides support for the SyncML synchronization
protocol.

SyncEvolution synchronizes with SyncML servers over HTTP and with
SyncML capable phones locally over Bluetooth (new in 1.0). Plugins
provide access to the data which is to be synchronized. Binaries are
available for Linux desktops (synchronizing data in GNOME Evolution,
with KDE supported indirectly already and Akonadi support in
development), for MeeGo (formerly Moblin) and for Maemo 5/Nokia
N900. The source code can be compiled for Unix-like systems and
provides a framework to build custom SyncML clients or servers.

USAGE
=====

The <config> and the <source> strings are used to find the
configuration files which determine how synchronization is going to
proceed. Each source corresponds to one local address book, calendar,
task list or set of memos and the corresponding database on the
peer. Depending on which parameters are given, different operations
are executed.

Starting with SyncEvolution 1.0, <config> strings can have different
meanings. Typically, a simple string like `scheduleworld` refers to
the configuration for that peer, as it did in previous releases. A
peer is either a SyncML server (the traditional usage of
SyncEvolution) or a client (the new feature in 1.0).

Each peer configuration exists inside a specific context, typically
the `@default` context. All peers in the same context share some parts
of their configuration, for example, which local databases are to be
synchronized.  In that sense, a configuration context can be seen as a
set of local databases plus the peer configurations that are
synchronized against those databases.

When different peers are meant to synchronize different local
databases, then different contexts have to be used when setting up the
peers by appending a context name after the `at` sign, as in
`scheduleworld2@other-context`. Later on, if `scheduleworld2` is
unique, the `@other-context` suffix becomes optional.

Sometimes it is also useful to change configuration options of a
context, without modifying a specific peer. This can be done by using
`@default` (or some other context name) without anything before the
`at` sign. The empty string "" is the same as `@default`. ::

   syncevolution

If no arguments are given, then SyncEvolution will list all available
data sources regardless whether there is a configuration file for them
or not. The output includes the identifiers which can then be used to
select those sources in a configuration file. For each source one can
set a different synchronization mode in its configuration file. ::

   syncevolution <config>

Without the optional list of sources all sources which are enabled in
their configuration file are synchronized. ::

   syncevolution <config> <source> ...

Otherwise only the ones mentioned on the command line are active. It
is possible to configure sources without activating their
synchronization: if the synchronization mode of a source is set to
`none`, the source will be ignored. Explicitly listing such a source
will synchronize it in `two-way` mode once.

Progress and error messages are written into a log file that is
preserved for each synchronization run. Details about that is found in
the `Automatic Backups and Logging` section below. All errors and
warnings are printed directly to the console in addition to writing
them into the log file. Before quitting SyncEvolution will print a
summary of how the local data was modified.  This is done with the
`synccompare` utility script described in the `Exchanging Data`
section.

When the `logdir` option is enabled (since v0.9 done by default for
new configurations), then the same comparison is also done before the
synchronization starts.

In case of a severe error the synchronization run is aborted
prematurely and SyncEvolution will return a non-zero value. Recovery
from failed synchronization is done by forcing a full synchronization
during the next run, i.e. by sending all items and letting the SyncML
server compare against the ones it already knows. This is avoided
whenever possible because matching items during a slow synchronization
can lead to duplicate entries.

After a successful synchronization the server's configuration file is
updated so that the next run can be done incrementally.  If the
configuration file has to be recreated e.g. because it was lost, the
next run recovers from that by doing a full synchronization. The risk
associated with this is that the server might not recognize items that
it already has stored previously which then would lead to duplication
of items. ::

   syncevolution --configure <options for configuration> <config> [<source> ...]

Options in the configuration can be modified via the command
line. Source properties are changed for all sources unless sources are
listed explicitly.  Some source properties have to be different for
each source, in which case syncevolution must be called multiple times
with one source listed in each invocation. ::

   syncevolution --remove <config>

Deletes the configuration. If the <config> refers to a specific
peer, only that peer's configuration is removed. If it refers to
a context, that context and all peers inside it are removed.

Note that there is no confirmation question. Neither local data
referenced by the configuration nor the content of log dirs are
deleted. ::

   syncevolution --run <options for run> <config> [<source> ...]

Options can also be overridden for just the current run, without
changing the configuration. In order to prevent accidentally running a
sync session when a configuration change was intended, either
--configure or --run must be given explicitly if options are specified
on the command line. ::

   syncevolution --status <config> [<source> ...]

Prints what changes were made locally since the last synchronization.
Depends on access to database dumps from the last run, so using the
`logdir` option is recommended. ::

   syncevolution --print-servers|--print-configs|--print-peers
   syncevolution --print-config [--quiet] <config> [main|<source> ...]
   syncevolution --print-sessions [--quiet] <config>

These commands print information about existing configurations. When
printing a configuration a short version without comments can be
selected with --quiet. When sources are listed, only their
configuration is shown. `Main` instead or in combination with sources
lists only the main peer configuration.

With --print-session information about previous synchronization
sessions for the selected peer or context are printed. This depends on
the `logdir` option.  The information includes the log directory name
(useful for --restore) and the synchronization report. In combination
with --quiet, only the paths are listed. ::

   syncevolution --restore <session directory> --before|--after
                 [--dry-run] <config> <source> ...

This restores local data from the backups made before or after a
synchronization session. The --print-sessions command can be used to
find these backups. The source(s) have to be listed explicitly. There
is intentionally no default, because as with --remove there is no
confirmation question. With --dry-run, the restore is only simulated.

The session directory has to be specified explicitly with its path
name (absolute or relative to current directory). It does not have to
be one of the currently active log directories, as long as it contains
the right database dumps for the selected sources.

A restore tries to minimize the number of item changes (see section
`Item Changes and Data Changes`_). This means that items that are
identical before and after the change will not be transmitted anew to
the server during the next synchronization. If the server somehow
needs to get a clean copy of all items on the client then, use "--sync
refresh-from-client" in the next run.


OPTIONS
=======

Here is a full description of all <options> that can be put in front
of the server name. Whenever an option accepts multiple values, a
question mark can be used to get the corresponding help text and/or
a list of valid values.

--sync|-s <mode>|?
  Temporarily synchronize the active sources in that mode. Useful
  for a `refresh-from-server` or `refresh-from-client` sync which
  clears all data at one end and copies all items from the other.

--print-servers|--print-configs|--print-peers
  Prints the names of all configured peers to stdout. There is no
  difference between these options, the are just aliases.

--print-config|-p
  Prints the complete configuration for the selected <config>
  to stdout, including up-to-date comments for all properties. The
  format is the normal .ini format with source configurations in
  different sections introduced with [<source>] lines. Can be combined
  with --sync-property and --source-property to modify the configuration
  on-the-fly. When one or more sources are listed after the <config>
  name on the command line, then only the configs of those sources are
  printed. `main` selects the main configuration instead of source
  configurations. Using --quiet suppresses the comments for each property.
  When setting a --template, then the reference configuration for
  that peer is printed instead of an existing configuration.

--configure|-c
  Modify the configuration files for the selected peer. If no such
  configuration exists, then a new one is created using one of the
  template configurations (see --template option). When creating
  a new configuration only the active sources will be set to active
  in the new configuration, i.e. `syncevolution -c scheduleworld addressbook`
  followed by `syncevolution scheduleworld` will only synchronize the
  address book. The other sources are created in a disabled state.
  When modifying an existing configuration and sources are specified,
  then the source properties of only those sources are modified.

--run|-r
  To prevent accidental sync runs when a configuration change was
  intended, but the `--configure` option was not used, `--run` must be
  specified explicitly when sync or source properties are selected
  on the command line and they are meant to be used during a sync
  session triggered by the invocation.

\--migrate
  In older SyncEvolution releases a different layout of configuration files
  was used. Using --migrate will automatically migrate to the new
  layout and rename the <config> into <config>.old to prevent accidental use
  of the old configuration. WARNING: old SyncEvolution releases cannot
  use the new configuration!
  
  The switch can also be used to migrate a configuration in the current
  configuration directory: this preserves all property values, discards
  obsolete properties and sets all comments exactly as if the configuration
  had been created from scratch. WARNING: custom comments in the
  configuration are not preserved.
  
  --migrate implies --configure and can be combined with modifying
  properties.

--sync-property|-y <property>=<value>|<property>=?|?
  Overrides a source-independent configuration property for the
  current synchronization run or permanently when --configure is used
  to update the configuration. Can be used multiple times.  Specifying
  an unused property will trigger an error message.
  
  When using the configuration layout introduced with 1.0, some of the
  sync properties are shared between peers, for example the directory
  where sessions are logged. Permanently changing such a shared
  property for one peer will automatically update the property for all
  other peers in the same context because the property is stored in a
  shared config file. When printing a config in verbose mode, a summary
  comment shows which properties are shared in which way.

--source-property|-z <property>=<value>|<property>=?|?
  Same as --sync-property, but applies to the configuration of all active
  sources. `--sync <mode>` is a shortcut for `--source-property sync=<mode>`.
  
  When combined with `--configure`, the configuration of all sources is
  modified. Properties cannot be specified differently for different
  sources, so if you want to change a source property of just one specific
  sync source, then use `--configure --source-property ... <server> <source>`.
  
  As with sync properties, some properties are shared between peers,
  in particular the selection of which local data to synchronize.

--template|-l <peer name>|default|?<device>
  Can be used to select from one of the built-in default configurations
  for known SyncML peers. Defaults to the <config> name, so --template
  only has to be specified when creating multiple different configurations
  for the same peer, or when using a template that is named differently
  than the peer. `default` is an alias for `scheduleworld` and can be
  used as the starting point for servers which do not have a built-in
  template.
  
  Each template contains a pseudo-random device ID. Therefore setting the
  `deviceId` sync property is only necessary when manually recreating a
  configuration or when a more descriptive name is desired.
  
  The available templates for different known SyncML servers are listed when
  using a single question mark instead of template name. When using the
  `?<device>` format, a fuzzy search for a template that might be
  suitable for talking to such a device is done. The matching works best
  when using `<device> = <Manufacturer> <Model>`. If you don't know the
  manufacturer, you can just keep it as empty. The output in this mode
  gives the template name followed by a short description and a rating how well
  the template matches the device (100% is best).

--status|-t
  The changes made to local data since the last synchronization are
  shown without starting a new one. This can be used to see in advance
  whether the local data needs to be synchronized with the server.

--quiet|-q
  Suppresses most of the normal output during a synchronization. The
  log file still contains all the information.

--keyring|-k
  Save or retrieve passwords from the GNOME keyring when modifying the
  configuration or running a synchronization. Note that using this option
  applies to *all* passwords in a configuration, so setting a single
  password as follows moves the other passwords into the keyring, if
  they were not stored there already::
  
     --keyring --configure --sync-property proxyPassword=foo
  
  When passwords were stored in the keyring, their value is set to a single
  hyphen ("-") in the configuration. This means that when running a
  synchronization without the --keyring argument, the password has to be
  entered interactively. The --print-config output always shows "-" instead
  of retrieving the password from the keyring.

--help|-h
  Prints usage information.

\--version
  Prints the SyncEvolution version.


EXAMPLES
========

List the known configuration templates::

   syncevolution --template ?

Create a new configuration, using the existing ScheduleWorld template::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --sync-property "username=123456" \
                --sync-property "password=!@#ABcd1234" \
                scheduleworld

Review configuration::

   syncevolution --print-config scheduleworld

Synchronize all sources::

  syncevolution scheduleworld

Deactivate all sources::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --source-property sync=none \
                scheduleworld

Activate address book synchronization again, using the --sync shortcut::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --sync two-way \
                scheduleworld addressbook

Change the password for a configuration::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --sync-property password=foo \
                scheduleworld

Set up another configuration for under a different account, using
the same default databases as above::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --sync-property username=joe \
                --sync-property password=foo \
                --template scheduleworld \
                scheduleworld_joe

Set up another configuration using the same account, but different
local databases (can be used to simulate synchronizing between two
clients, see `Exchanging Data`_::

  syncevolution --configure \
                --sync-property "username=123456" \
                --sync-property "password=!@#ABcd1234" \
                --source-property sync=none \
                 scheduleworld@other
  
  syncevolution --configure \
                --source-property evolutionsource=<name of other address book> \
                --source-property sync=two-way \
                scheduleworld@other

  syncevolution scheduleworld 
  syncevolution scheduleworld@other

Migrate a configuration from the <= 0.7 format to the current one
and/or updates the configuration so that it looks like configurations
created anew with the current syncevolution::

  syncevolution --migrate scheduleworld


NOTES
=====

Exchanging Data
---------------

SyncEvolution transmits address book entries as vCard 2.1 or 3.0
depending on the type chosen in the configuration. Evolution uses
3.0 internally, so SyncEvolution converts between the two formats as
needed. Calendar items and tasks can be sent and received in iCalendar
2.0 as well as vCalendar 1.0, but vCalendar 1.0 should be avoided if
possible because it cannot represent all data that Evolution stores.

.. note:: The Evolution backends are mentioned are as examples;
   the same applies to other data sources.

How the server stores the items depends on its implementation and
configuration. In the default Funambol server installation, contacts
and calendar items are converted into an internal format, but at
least for contacts it preserves most of the properties used by
Evolution whereas iCalendar 2.0 items are not preserved properly 
up to and including Funambol 8.0. ScheduleWorld uses the same format
as Evolution for calendars and tasks and thus requires no conversion.

To check which data is preserved, one can use this procedure
(described for contacts, but works the same way for calendars and
tasks):

1. synchronize the address book with the server
2. create a new address book in Evolution and view it in Evolution
   once (the second step is necessary in at least Evolution 2.0.4
   to make the new address book usable in SyncEvolution)
3. add a configuration for that second address book and the
   same URI on the SyncML server, see EXAMPLES_ above
4. synchronize again, this time using the other data source

Now one can either compare the address books in Evolution or do that
automatically, described here for contacts:

- save the complete address books: mark all entries, save as vCard
- invoke `synccompare` with two file names as arguments and it will
  normalize and compare them automatically

Normalizing is necessary because the order of cards and their
properties as well as other minor formatting aspects may be
different. The output comes from a side-by-side comparison, but
is augmented by the script so that the context of each change
is always the complete item that was modified. Lines or items
following a ">" on the right side were added, those on the
left side followed by a "<" were removed, and those with
a "|" between text on the left and right side were modified.

The automatic unit testing (see HACKING) contains a `testItems`
test which verifies the copying of special entries using the
same method.

Modifying one of the address books or even both at the same time and
then synchronizing back and forth can be used to verify that
SyncEvolution works as expected. If you do not trust SyncEvolution or
the server, then it is prudent to run these checks with a copy of the
original address book. Make a backup of the .evolution/addressbook
directory.

Item Changes and Data Changes
-----------------------------

SyncML clients and servers consider each entry in a database as one
item. Items can be added, removed or updated. This is the item change
information that client and server exchange during a normal,
incremental synchronization.

If an item is saved, removed locally, and reimported, then this is
usually reported to a peer as "one item removed, one added" because
the information available to SyncEvolution is not sufficient to
determine that this is in fact the same item. One exception are
iCalendar 2.0 items with their globally unique ID: the modification
above will be reported to the server as "one item updated".

That is better, but still not quite correct because the content of the
item has not changed, only the meta information about it which is used
to detect changes. This cannot be avoided without creating additional
overhead for normal synchronizations.

SyncEvolution reports *item changes* (the number of added, removed and
updated items) as well as *data changes*. These data changes are
calculated by comparing database dumps using the `synccompare` tool.
Because this data comparison ignores information about which data
belongs to which item, it is able to detect that re-adding an item
that was removed earlier does not change the data, in contrast to the
item changes. On the other hand, removing one item and adding a
different one may look like updating just one item.

Automatic Backups and Logging
-----------------------------

To support recovery from a synchronization which damaged the
local data or modified it in an unexpected way, SyncEvolution
can create the following files during a synchronization:

- a dump of the data in a format which can be restored by
  SyncEvolution, usually a single file per item containing
  in a standard text format (VCARD/VCALENDAR)
- a full log file with debug information
- another dump of the data after the synchronization for
  automatic comparison of the before/after state with
  `synccompare`

If the server configuration option "logdir" is set, then
a new directory will be created for each synchronization
in that directory, using the format `<peer>-<yyyy>-<mm>-<dd>-<hh>-<mm>[-<seq>]`
with the various fields filled in with the time when the
synchronization started. The sequence suffix will only be
used when necessary to make the name unique. By default,
SyncEvolution will never delete any data in that log
directory unless explicitly asked to keep only a limited
number of previous log directories.

This is done by setting the "maxlogdirs" limit to something
different than the empty string and 0. If a limit is set,
then SyncEvolution will only keep that many log directories
and start removing the "less interesting" ones when it reaches
the limit. Less interesting are those where no data changed
and no error occurred.

To avoid writing any additional log file or database dumps during
a synchronization, the "logdir" can be set to "none". To reduce
the verbosity of the log, set "loglevel". If not set or 0, then
the verbosity is set to 3 = DEBUG when writing to a log file and
2 = INFO when writing to the console directly. To debug issues
involving data conversion, level 4 also dumps the content of
items into the log.

ENVIRONMENT
===========

The following environment variables control where SyncEvolution finds
files and other aspects of its operations.

http_proxy
   Overrides the proxy settings temporarily. Setting it to an empty value
   disables the normal proxy settings.

HOME/XDG_CACHE_HOME/XDG_CONFIG_HOME
   SyncEvolution follows the XDG_ desktop standard for its files. By default,
   `$HOME/.config/syncevolution` is the location for configuration files.
   `$HOME/.cache/syncevolution` holds session directories with log files and
   database dumps.

.. _XDG: http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html

SYNCEVOLUTION_DEBUG
   Setting this to any value disables the filtering of stdout and stderr
   that SyncEvolution employs to keep noise from system libraries out
   of the command line output.

SYNCEVOLUTION_GNUTLS_DEBUG
   Enables additional debugging output when using the libsoup HTTP transport library.

SYNCEVOLUTION_BACKEND_DIR
   Overrides the default path to plugins, normally `/usr/lib/syncevolution/backends`.

SYNCEVOLUTION_TEMPLATE_DIR
   Overrides the default path to template files, normally
   `/usr/share/syncevolution/templates`.

SYNCEVOLUTION_XML_CONFIG_DIR
   Overrides the default path to the Synthesis XML configuration files, normally
   `/usr/share/syncevolution/xml`. These files are merged into one configuration
   each time the Synthesis SyncML engine is started as part of a sync session.

   Note that in addition to this directory, SyncEvolution also always
   searches for configuration files inside `$HOME/.config/syncevolution-xml`.
   Files with the same relative path and name as in `/usr/share/syncevolution/xml`
   override those files, others extend the final configuration.

BUGS
====

See `known issues`_ and the `support`_ web page for more information. 

.. _known issues: http://syncevolution.org/documentation/known-issues
.. _support: http://syncevolution.org/support

SEE ALSO
========

http://syncevolution.org

AUTHORS
=======

:Main developer:
     Patrick Ohly <patrick.ohly@intel.com>, http://www.estamos.de
:Contributors:
     http://syncevolution.org/about/contributors
:To contact the project publicly (preferred):
     syncevolution@syncevolution.org
:Intel-internal team mailing list (confidential):
     syncevolution@lists.intel.com