Member Avatar for GuildD50

Hi everybody. New here, so be gentle...
I am the sole Mac user in a network of 10 machines (9 PCs all running XP).
Our server is a Linux box (i.e. NOT Exchange Server). I use Entourage for mail, iCal for calendar, etc etc. I HOPE to be able to sync with co-workers Outlook Calendar (probably have to use Entourage at best, I realize).
Menus are different, controls/commands/preferences/properties too...old news. Mac Vs. PC. We can't seem to get them to see each other. I keep getting errors in Entourage about "error on the IMAP server."
Any ideas?

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Dani AI

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Practical troubleshooting and calendar-sharing options for a mixed OS X + Windows environment when mail is hosted on a Linux box (no Exchange). reported Entourage showing an "error on the IMAP server," and pointed toward a web-based groupware approach. The notes below expand diagnosis steps for the IMAP problem and offer realistic calendar-sharing alternatives that do not rely on Exchange.

  1. Basic IMAP diagnosis

    • Verify the IMAP service is reachable from the Mac. Example checks:

      telnet mail.example.com 143
openssl s_client -connect mail.example.com:993

    • Confirm Entourage account settings: exact server name, username format (sometimes full email required), port, and whether the server expects STARTTLS (port 143) or SSL (port 993). Self-signed certificates commonly cause generic "IMAP server" errors in older clients.

    • Inspect server-side IMAP logs (dovecot/cyrus/imapd) for the corresponding login/error entries and enable verbose logging briefly if needed.

    • Test with another client (Mail.app or Thunderbird) to determine whether the problem is Entourage-specific or server-wide.

    • Check firewall/port forwarding and mailbox format/permissions on the Linux host (Maildir vs mbox can matter depending on server config).

  2. Calendar sharing (important distinction)

    • IMAP carries e-mail only. Outlook calendar data lives in the user PST/OST file unless Exchange is used, so calendars will not magically appear via IMAP.
    • Quick, one-way option: export or publish an Outlook calendar as an iCalendar (.ics) file on HTTP/WebDAV and let Entourage/iCal subscribe to that URL.
    • Two-way sync requires a calendaring server both clients can speak to (CalDAV/iCalendar or an Exchange-compatible gateway/connector for Outlook). That is the practical route when bidirectional editing is required.

Work in small steps: stabilize mail access first, back up Windows PST files before any server-side changes, then pick either publish/subscribe (.ics) for read-only sharing or a server-based calendaring solution for full two-way collaboration.

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

This is definately an interesting scenerio. I got around it by using eGroupware on the Linux server, and having everyone do things via a web client. I also issued a certificate so that the communications would be encrypted. But that also means that everyone else would have to change with you, and that could be a problem.

As you do not have an exchange server, I am guessing that people's Outlook calendars are stored locally to the C: ... perhaps if they have roaming profiles, they would make it to the server. Still.... that could be a risk if the machine dies.

Let us know if you have solved it. Sounds like a neat expirement to try working on.

Christian

Member Avatar for GuildD50

Thanks so Much Christian. I have forwarded to my [PC] IT guy. I am fluent Spanish, but have trouble with Greek. I'll check in with an update!

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