Mobile Device Setup: Difference between revisions

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Go to [http://www.gotdotnet.com/codegallery/codegallery.aspx?id=c05b7e5d-09af-4b58-87f4-684190e86757 SSL Chain Saver Download] and download the SSLChainSaver utility.  
Go to [http://www.gotdotnet.com/codegallery/codegallery.aspx?id=c05b7e5d-09af-4b58-87f4-684190e86757 SSL Chain Saver Download] and download the SSLChainSaver utility.  


  More info about chainsaver can be found [http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/08/11/sslchainsaver.aspx Here].
  More info about chainsaver can be found [http://files.zimbra.com/downloads/SslChainSaver.exe Here].


Extract the utility to a folder on your pc.   
Extract the utility to a folder on your pc.   

Revision as of 01:38, 1 August 2007

Network Edition only

Zimbra Mobile Overview

Zimbra Mobile is the Zimbra synchronization program that provides 'over-the-air' mobile data access (email, contacts, calendar) to devices using the native software / UI installed on the device. It works with Symbian S60/S80, Windows® Mobile (WM5), and Palm smartphones.

Devices listed below can be configured to work with Zimbra Mobile out of the box. Many more devices work with Zimbra Mobile natively but a sync plug-in is not bundled with the device (plug-in is available via a 3rd party - DataViz).

You enable Zimbra Mobile in the ZCS COS or for individual Accounts. Users configure the device’s software for Zimbra Mobile similarly to how they configure the device to sync against Microsoft® Exchange.

The following may need to be configured:

  • Server address. Type the fully qualified hostname of the user’s Zimbra Collaboration Suite mailbox server.
  • User name. Type the user’s name as configured in their Zimbra account. The domain is configured separately.
  • Domain Type the user’s Zimbra mailbox domain name.

Afterwards users can sync their Zimbra mailbox to their mobile device. They can send email, create appointments, and add contacts.

Zimbra supports the DirectPush technology that is available on mobile devices that run Windows Mobile 5.0 and have the MSFP (Messaging and Security Feature Pack) installed.

IMPORTANT: Some users may experience configuration difficulty if using SSL. WM5 includes a limited number of root certificates and it may be necessary to install your server’s signing CA’s certificate on the device in order to use SSL

Note: BlackBerry is supported via a partner, see Blackberry.

Configuring a Windows Mobile 5 device for over-the-air sync with the Zimbra server

Follow these steps on the device. For the examples, we will configure ActiveSync for a user bob@example.com to connect to a zimbra server known on the internet as zimbra.example.com.

1. Select Start.

2. Select ActiveSync.

3. Choose to configure a new account:

A. If no account is configured for ActiveSync, select the option to "Set up your device to sync with it" [the server].

B. If you are replacing a pre-existing account, select Menu and then select "Configure Server".

4. In the box for "Server address:", enter the publicly accessible hostname of the server (zimbra.example.com).

5. If the server requires SSL (that is, if the server's zimbraMailMode is either "https" or "mixed"), check the box for "This server requires an encrypted (SSL) connection". Note that Windows Mobile enforces strict verification of server certificates; if your zimbra server has the default self-signed certificate, you will not be able to use Zimbra Mobile unless you import the root certificate from the server into the device. See the link to the SSLChainSaver utility below.

6. Select Next.

7. In the "User name:" box, enter the username part of the email address ("bob" of "bob@example.com").

8. In the "Password:" box, enter the password of the user (bob@example.com's password).

9. In the "Domain:" box, enter the domain part of the email address ("example.com" of "bob@example.com").

10. Check the "Save password" box.

11. Select Next.

12. Check the boxes for any combination of Contacts, Calendar, and E-mail. As of ZCS 4.5.6, Tasks do not sync through Zimbra Mobile; selecting Tasks will cause the device to not sync properly with the server.

13. Select Finish.

The device has been configured. Select Sync to synchronize the selected items with the server.


Configuring a Windows Mobile 6 device for over-the-air sync with the Zimbra server

We just received a T-Mobile Wing device. The goal is to test against with Zimbra over over secured 802.11 network. It is pretty easy to import a certificate in WM6 (much better than WM5). After that getting it on the secured 802.11 was pretty easy. I will post an update after I get it configured to talk to Zimbra. --Skelley 17:15, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

I was able to follow the WM5 configuration and it worked just fine. I did not use SSL to Zimbra. I do note only "Contacts" and not "Emailed Contacts" sync to the WM6 device. WM6 is annoying though and forces you to enter the certificate name as the user name when connecting to a cert secured 802.11 network. --Skelley 17:22, 17 July 2007 (CDT)


Windows Mobile 2003 device setup

Successfully tested on Cingular 8125 and Motorola Q on ActiveSync 4.2

Connect the device to your windows pc.

Open ActiveSync if it is not already running.

Go to the Tools Menu, Configure Server Source.

Put the FQDN of your Zimbra server in the server source box.

Put a check next to “this server requires a encrypted (SSL) connection” (if appropriate)

Enter the full email address of the user as the username

Enter their password

Enter their mail domain as the domain name

Put a check next to save password (as desired)


You must import a certificate from the Zimbra Server to your mobile device in order for it to sync, or you will get an error about an invalid cert.

To import a certificate:

Go to SSL Chain Saver Download and download the SSLChainSaver utility.

More info about chainsaver can be found Here.

Extract the utility to a folder on your pc.

From a cmd prompt, go to the folder where it extracted the utility.

Type in the command:

sslchainsaver mail.company.com (where mail.company.com is the fqdn of your Zimbra server)

It should create a folder with your fqdn. Inside that folder, you will find a file called root.cer.

Open activesync and click on explore. Copy the root.cer file from your computer to the mobile device.

Disconnect the mobile device from your pc. On the mobile device, open the file browser. Go to where you pasted the root.cer file. Click on the root.cer file and it will import the file.

You should now be able to sync with your Zimbra server over the air.

Resetting your device

Why is a full resync necessary

A Zimbra server upgrade sometimes includes data structure changes to the sync state metadata. For example, the upgrade from 4.0.5 to 4.5 happens to include such a change. In such cases after the upgrade the devices that were in sync with server may experience errors on the next sync transaction. This is because when the server detects that a client's state is no longer compatible with server metadata, a special reset code is sent back to the client. However the special reset code is handled in different ways on different devices.

Performing a full resync

Windows Mobile

On a Windows Mobile device, such as Treo 700w and MOTO Q, the phone display the following error message: "A critical error has occurred. ActiveSync can recover from this error, but the next time you synchronize, you may lose changes made since your last successful synchronization". The user can click OK and proceed to sync again. This "critical error" message may appear a couple of times depending on what's being sync'ed. Simply click "OK" and click "Sync" button again on error prompt. After a couple of trials the client will reset its state and automatically start a full resync, which will bring the client to be in sync with server.

In the rare cases when automatic reset and full resync on WM device does not happen, the user can manually force a client state reset. In the ActiveSync program, choose Menu->Options... and uncheck all the checkboxes on sync categories such as Contacts, Calendar and E-mail. The device will ask the user to confirm that all client sync data will be removed. Click "OK" to proceed. Once the data are removed, re-enabled the desired sync categories and click "Sync" button. That will kick off a full resync.

Palm devices (Versamail)

The VersaMail 3.5 client on Palm devices, such as Treo 650 (with upgrade) or Treo 700p, has somewhat similar behavior. Upon receiving the reset code from the server, VersaMail displays an error message saying "There was a problem syncing messages". If you dismiss that error message and click "Sync" again, you will see an alert message like this: "There was a problem syncing with the Exchange ActiveSync server. Your next sync will take a little longer than usual. Do you want to sync now?" If you click Yes then the full resync will start. The alert message may appear more than once depending on what's being sync'ed.

Note that VersaMail clients older than the latest 3.5 do not support the reset code. In that case the user only sees the error message but is not given the choice of a resync. To force a manual reset and resync, the user needs to update the sync profile as a workaround. To update the sync profile, launch VersaMail and click on the pull down menu of "Account Setup". Select the Exchange sync account and click "Edit...". Change the username to anything and save. When you click "Done", the client will ask "Are you sure you want to overwrite the existing settings for the XXX account?" Click "Yes". You will see an alert message. Click "No" to dismiss the alert. Now edit the sync profile again to revert the username change you did earlier in order to force a reset. When you are done, this time click "Yes" on the alert message to start a full resync. Depending on your version of VersaMail, the error messages and alert messages you see may vary, but the general process is the same.

Nokia symbian devices

On Nokia E61, the Mail for Exchange client does not handle the reset code at all. Upon receiving the reset code, the client just displays this error message: "Unable to synchronize with server. Please try again later". However the client does make it very easy to do a manual full resync. Simply choose Options->Full resync, and it will resync everything from scratch.

Other devices

If your device doesn't support a forced-resync, removing and recreating your profile will accomplish the same thing.

Setup for specific devices

Other Errors after the 4.5 upgrade

(This occurs mostly on Mac servers).

If a resync doesn't fix your issue, and you're seeing this in /opt/zimbra/log/sync.log:

[mid=3;name=laan.vd.r;DeviceId=A8C56474222A0CACB274C839DEC2C55A;DeviceType=PocketPC;SyncCmd=Sync;class=Calendar;folder=10;] sync - Unexpected exception
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError
at javax.swing.SwingUtilities.isEventDispatchThread(SwingUtilities.java:1270)

You've hit [bug 13974]

The fix is straightforward:

 su - zimbra
 tomcat stop
 su - root
 mv /opt/zimbra/libexec/zmtomcatmgr /opt/zimbra/libexec/zmtomcatmgr.fcs
 ln -s /opt/zimbra/libexec/zmtomcatmgr.unrestricted /opt/zimbra/libexec/zmtomcatmgr
 su - zimbra
 zmlocalconfig -e tomcat_java_options="-client -XX:NewRatio=2 -Djava.awt.headless=true"
 tomcat start
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