imip-agent

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2016-01-29 Paul Boddie file changeset files shortlog Moved common test initialisation into a separate script.
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= imip-agent =
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{{{#!table
 
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[[/Downloads|Downloads]] || [[/GettingStarted|Getting started]] ||
 
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[[#Deployment|Deployment]] || [[#Usage|Usage]] ||
 
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[[#Development|Development]] ||
 
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[[/CalendaringSupport|Support for Standards]]
 
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}}}
 
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imip-agent is an extension for existing mail systems (such as
 
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[[http://exim.org/|Exim]] and [[http://www.postfix.org/|Postfix]])
 
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providing extra support for calendaring and scheduling.
 
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 * It uses the [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]],
 
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 [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5546|iTIP]] and
 
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 [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] Internet standards.
 
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 * It can inspect messages containing calendar objects and extract
 
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 availability information for sharing and publication. You and your users
 
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 decide exactly which kind of messages it will inspect, whose messages it
 
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 will inspect, and for whom no inspection or sharing will occur at all.
 
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 * It can provide a [[/CalendarManager|Web-based interface]] to calendar
 
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 information for users who cannot or choose not to use
 
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 [[/MailClients|mail software]] with calendaring support. This is optional
 
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 and your users can choose to adjust, ignore or disable this functionality.
 
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 * It supports autonomous entities such as meeting rooms and resources,
 
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 automatically accepting or declining invitations according to their
 
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 schedules. You can adjust this behaviour to implement your own policies.
 
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 * It is [[https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software|Free Software]],
 
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 giving you the freedom to see what the software does, as well as the freedom
 
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 to modify and share the software with others.
 
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{{{#!graphviz
 
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//format=svg
 
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//transform=notugly
 
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digraph architecture {
 
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  node [shape=box,fontsize="13.0",fontname="Helvetica",tooltip="The imip-agent architecture"];
 
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  edge [tooltip="The imip-agent architecture"];
 
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  rankdir=LR;
 
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  mail [label="Incoming mail",shape=folder,style=filled,fillcolor=cyan];
 
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  MTA [label="MTA\n(Exim, Postfix, ...)",tooltip="MTA"];
 
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  subgraph {
 
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    rank=same;
 
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    agent [label="imip-agent",style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
 
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    scheduling [label="Scheduling",shape=ellipse,style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
 
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    freebusy [label="Free/busy",shape=folder,style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
 
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    manager [label="imip-manager",style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
 
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  }
 
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  mailbox [label="Mailboxes\n(Cyrus, Dovecot, ...)",tooltip="Mailboxes"];
 
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  webserver [label="Web server\n(Apache, ...)",tooltip="Web server"];
 
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  client [label="Mail clients"];
 
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  browser [label="Web browsers"];
 
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  mail -> MTA -> agent -> mailbox -> client;
 
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  agent -> scheduling -> freebusy -> webserver -> client;
 
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  freebusy -> manager;
 
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  manager -> webserver [penwidth="3.0"];
 
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  webserver -> browser [penwidth="3.0"];
 
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  scheduling -> MTA -> mail [style=dashed];
 
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}
 
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}}}
 
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Unlike some monolithic groupware solutions...
 
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 * It does not require you to change your [[/MailIntegration|mail delivery]]
 
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 software or your [[/MailboxIntegration|mail storage]] software (subject to
 
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 existing support provided by imip-agent; support for other software can
 
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 always be added).
 
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 * It does not require your users to change their [[/MailClients|mail client]]
 
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 software.
 
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 * It does not insist that everybody must store their schedules on a single
 
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 server in order to collaboratively schedule events.
 
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 * Instead, imip-agent takes advantage of the decentralized nature of the
 
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 iCalendar and iMIP Internet standards.
 
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 * It allows people in your organisation to collaborate with people outside
 
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 your organisation without insisting that they join your infrastructure or
 
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 that everybody join some cloud service that keeps everyone's information
 
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 within a single, typically proprietary, remote service (that may also be
 
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 potentially vulnerable to intrusion and surveillance).
 
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The role of imip-agent is to bridge the gap between plain e-mail and
 
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"full-stack" groupware solutions, thus allowing organisations and individuals
 
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to augment their existing infrastructure instead of being compelled to perform
 
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costly and unnecessary migrations and infrastructure transformations.
 
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== Adding Calendaring to E-Mail ==
 
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With just an e-mail system, users can already create and schedule calendar
 
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events using any mail or groupware client software that supports calendars and
 
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that already supports [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]] and
 
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[[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]].
 
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Starting with an e-mail system, imip-agent can be used to add further support
 
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for calendaring:
 
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{{{#!table
 
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'''Requirement''' || '''Solution'''
 
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==
 
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Your users probably want to know when other people are available and when they
 
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are busy.
 
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||
 
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Although [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] supports this, most mail
 
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programs do not, so imip-agent will gather information about events and
 
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[[/FreeBusyPublishing|publish it for retrieval via HTTP]]. It will also respond
 
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to any iMIP requests for free/busy information via mail.
 
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==
 
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Organisations may want to coordinate access to resources using calendaring.
 
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||
 
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Here, imip-agent can provide [[/AgentPrograms|autonomous agents]] that can
 
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respond to event invitations, allowing users to book resources and to see
 
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published availability information for those resources.
 
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==
 
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Some users may not be using mail programs that understand calendars and
 
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events.
 
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||
 
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Here, imip-agent can provide a [[/CalendarManager|Web interface]] to let
 
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them respond to invitations and to create and schedule their own events.
 
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}}}
 
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According to your requirements, any or all of the above solutions can be
 
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implemented, providing as much of a groupware solution as you need.
 
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<<Anchor(Deployment)>>
 
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== Deploying the Software ==
 
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Initial activities:
 
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 * [[/Downloads|Downloads]]
 
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 * [[/GettingStarted|Getting Started]]
 
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References:
 
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 * [[/Administration|Administering imip-agent]]
 
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 * [[/Configuration|Configuration]] and [[/Preferences|Preferences]]
 
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 * [[/CalendarManager|Calendar Management Interface]]
 
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 * [[/FreeBusyPublishing|Free/Busy Publishing]]
 
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<<Anchor(Usage)>>
 
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== Using the Software ==
 
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 * [[/Usage|Using imip-agent]]
 
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<<Anchor(Development)>>
 
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== Development ==
 
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Some topics related to development:
 
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 * [[/Developing|Developing imip-agent]]
 
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 * [[/FuturePlans|Future Plans]]
 
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Details of the mechanisms employed by imip-agent are described in the
 
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following documents:
 
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 * [[/AgentPrograms|Agent Programs]]
 
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 * [[/CalendaringSupport|Calendaring Support]]
 
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 * [[/CounterProposals|Counter-Proposals and Offers]]
 
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 * [[/CronIntegration|Cron Task Scheduler Integration]]
 
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 * [[/EventRecurrences|Event Recurrences]]
 
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 * [[/FilesystemUsage|Filesystem Usage]]
 
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 * [[/IncomingMessages|Incoming Messages]]
 
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 * [[/OutgoingMessages|Outgoing Messages]]
 
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 * [[/MailIntegration|Mail Integration]]
 
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 * [[/MailboxIntegration|Mailbox Integration]]
 
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 * [[/Testing|Testing]]
 
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 * [[/UseCases|Use Cases]]
 
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 * [[/WebServerIntegration|Web Server Integration]]