Google Calendar Connector Sync Service Installation and Configuration Guide 1.2.0.289

The Google Calendar Connector Sync Service provides data flow from Google Calendar. The Sync Service periodically polls Google Calendar for free/busy data and appointment data, which includes the name, place, and attendees of events.

This document provides detailed instructions for installing and configuring the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service. Contents

1. About This Document
1. Audience
2. For More Information
2. Before You Install
1. Prerequisites
2. Google Calendar Account Setup
3. Exchange User Mapping
4. Dedicated Windows Service Accounts
5. Installation Checklist
3. Installing the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service
1. MSI Installation
2. Multiple Sync Service Instances
4. Configuring the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service
1. Editing the Configuration File
2. Encrypting the Configuration File
3. HTTP Proxy Configuration Optional
5. Installation Success
1. Start the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service
6. Testing and Troubleshooting
1. Running Diagnostics Tests
2. Logging Configuration
7. Known Issues
8. Copyright Notices

1 About This Document

This section describes the audience for this document, the organization of the material, and some additional sources of information.

The Google Calendar Connector Kit is a set of server-installed tools that require knowledgeable installation and configuration, tailored to the particulars of a customer's environment. These tools are only the technological part of the integration experience.

Before proceeding to install the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service, please read and understand the important Security Considerations outlined in the Overview Guide.

Audience

This document is for systems administrators tasked with setting up and managing the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service. Users of this documentation need to be familiar with Google Calendar administration, Microsoft Exchange Server and Windows network administration.

It is important to note that this tool only represents part of a solution for free/busy interoperability.

For More Information

This document is part of the Google Calendar Connector document set, which includes the following related documents:

• Overview Guide. Describes the components, process flow, and security considerations for the connector.

• Web Service Installation and Configuration Guide. Provides instructions for installing and configuring the Web Service, which provides Exchange free/busy data flow to Google Calendar.

For background or general information on Google Apps, see the Google Apps for Administrators Help Center.

For background or general information on Windows administration, see Microsoft TechNet.

2 Before You Install

Before you install and configure the connector, make sure your Windows environment meets the prerequisites, and that your Google Calendar and Exchange accounts are prepared for sharing data.

Prerequisites

• A Google Apps Premier Edition domain

To support the Sync Service, your Windows environment must meet these prerequisites:

• Microsoft Advanced Server 2003
• Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2
• Exchange 2003 Native Mode or 2007/2003 Mix Mode Environment
• ASP.NET 2.0 runtime

Google Calendar Account Setup

Create a dedicated Google Apps Administrator account and perform an initial login. The user name and password are required later when you populate the GoogleApps.AdminUser.Login and Password parameters in the configuration process. NOTE: Before this account can be used with the Sync service you must login to Google Apps account and accept the standard terms of service agreement for the user account.

Exchange User Mapping

Each Google Calendar user must have a corresponding mail-enabled Active Directory user, contact object or mailbox-enabled user object. Whether you choose to map Google Apps users to contact objects or user objects depends upon whether you have chosen the SchedulePlus writer or AppointmentWriter respectively, for synchronizing user data.

See the Overview Guide for more information.

For instructions on how to create a mail-enabled users, see the Microsoft TechNet article, How to Create a New Mail-Enabled User.

For instructions on how to create an Active Directory contact, see the Microsoft TechNet article, How to Create a Contact in Active Directory.

Dedicated Windows Service Accounts

The Sync Service requires dedicated Active Directory role accounts for performing LDAP queries against Active Directory and performing free/busy reads and writes against Exchange.

Create these service accounts as described in this section, and reference the user names and passwords when configuring the Sync Service.

The required service accounts are itemized below:

Active Directory LDAP Query User

Create a dedicated user for performing Active Directory LDAP queries. The user name and password are required later when you populate the ActiveDirectory.DomainUser.Login and Password parameters in the Sync Service configuration file.

Exchange Query Admin User

Create a dedicated user for the Sync Service to read and write free/busy or appointments against Exchange. The user name and password are required later when you populate Exchange.GCalQueryAdmin.Login and Password parameters in the Sync Service configuration file.

The Exchange Query Admin user needs the extended "Receive As" permissions to be able to read and write both free/busy and appointments in Exchange.

To configure the permissions for the query admin user:

1. Start Registry Editor (regedit).
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\ExAdmin
3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
• Value Name : ShowSecurityPage
• Data Type : REG_DWORD
• Value : 1
4. Close Registry Editor.
5. Start the Exchange System Manager.
6. Right Click on your Exchange Organization Name and select Properties
7. Select the Security Tab
8. Click the Advanced button
9. Click Add
10. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog enter the user name of the query admin user and click OK
11. Check the Allow box for the permission "Receive As" and click OK

Remounting the Exchange Information Stores

The Exchange Information store caches permissions data. To flush the cache immediately after setting new permissions, dismount and remount the appropriate information store or restart the Information Store service. Otherwise the changes will not take effect until Exchange rebuilds the permissions cache.

To dismount and remount the public folder store:

1. Open Exchange System Manager
2. In tree view, expand Administrative Groups, {Your Administrative Group}, Servers, {Your local Exchange server}, and {Your Storage Group}.
3. Right click on the Public Folder Store, select Dismount Store and click Yes to continue.
4. Right click on the Public Folder Store, select Mount Store and click Yes at the success message dialog.

To restart the service Microsoft Exchange Information Store:

1. Open the services.msc
2. In right pane view, locate Microsoft Exchange Information Store, right click and select Restart

Installation Checklist

3 Installing the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service

MSI Installation

The installer for the Sync Service is provided in the installation package file GoogleCalendarConnectorSyncService.msi.

To install the Sync Service:

1. Locate and open the file GoogleCalendarConnectorSyncService.msi.
2. In the welcome dialog, click Next.
3. In the Select Installation Folder dialog, select the desired folder or accept the default value.
4. In the Select Installation Folder dialog use the radio buttons at the bottom of the dialog to determine whether to install the service only for yourself, or for all users, and click Next.
5. Click Next to begin the installation, and then Close when the dialog displays the message "Installation Complete".

Multiple Sync Service Instances

If you need to sync more than one domain with the Google Calendar Sync Service you can use the following instructions for setting up multiple instances of the Google Calendar Sync Service on a single server.

1. Install the Google Calendar Sync Service
2. Copy the default installation of the Google Calendar Sync Service to a new folder, for example "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Calendar Connector Sync Service - domain.com"
3. Run the sc command to create a new service entry for the new path and exe

NOTE: There is a single space after binpath= and start=

 %WINDIR%\System32\sc.exe create "Google Calendar Sync Service - domain.com" binpath= "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Calendar Connector Sync Service - domain.com\GoogleCalendarSyncService.exe" start= auto

1. Create new logging folder paths

 mkdir C:\google\logs\Domain.com
 mkdir C:\google\data\Domain.com

2. Configure new logging paths: Update the new config file for the new domain with the following in the GoogleCalendarSyncService.exe.config adding the domain.com directory to each logging path

 <add key="GoogleApps.GCal.LogDirectory" value="C:\google\logs\domain.com\"/>
 <add key="SyncService.XmlStorageDirectory" value="C:\Google\data\domain.com\" />
 <file value="C:\Google\logs\domain.com\SyncService.log" />
 initializeData="c:\google\logs\domain.com\SyncNetTrace.log"

3. Update the specific Google Apps Domain Values

 <add key="GoogleApps.DomainName" value="domain.com" />
 <add key="GoogleApps.AdminUser.Login" value="user" />
 <add key="GoogleApps.AdminUser.Password" value="password" />

4 Configuring the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service

Configuration settings for the Sync Service are stored in the configuration file GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config. You must edit this file and enter values appropriate to your setup.

Editing the Configuration File

The configuration file GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config is located in the installation directory for the sync service, by default "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Calendar Connector Sync Service". The "appSettings" section of GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config contains configuration keys for setting up the Sync Service.

Note: If you have already set up the Google Calendar Connector Web Service in your environment, the Sync Service should use most the same settings for the following subsections of appSettings:

• Active Directory
• Exchange
• Google Apps

<add key="ActiveDirectory.DomainController" value="HQAD1.corp.acme.com,">

</add>

To edit the configuration file:

1. Using your preferred XML or text editor, open GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config. The default location is C:\Program Files\Google\Google Calendar Connector Sync Service\.
2. Scroll to the appSettings section and enter appropriate values for each of the required values shown in the table above. For example, if you are using the SchedulePlus writer option instead of the Appointment writer, specify it in the SyncService.FreeBusy.Writer key: <add key="SyncService.FreeBusy.Writer" value="SchedulePlus"/>
3. Save the file.
4. Save or copy a backup copy of the file to a secure location.

Encrypting the Configuration File

Because some configuration keys contain user names and passwords in plain text, it is recommended that you encrypt these configuration parameters. To enable encryption, set the value of the Config.EncryptOnNextRun key to true. The next time the sync service starts, the appSettings keys will be automatically encrypted. This encryption method will encrypt the entire appSettings node of the configuration file, rendering it unreadable. Once encrypted, the settings are no longer in plain text on the file system. However, settings can still be changed through the IIS Manager.

HTTP Proxy Configuration Optional

The Sync Service can optionally be configured to work with an HTTP proxy. This configuration may be required if all out-bound communication is routed through a proxy. Configuring the HTTP proxy parameters in GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config would instruct the Sync Service to properly forward its communication through such a proxy.

Microsoft Support includes an overview of the same process and configuration in the following Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307220.

The table below outlines the configuration parameters located under the <system.net.defaultProxy> node of GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config:

Important Note: Please carefully consider whether your Microsoft Exchange server communication should be sent through a custom proxy. Including Microsoft Exchange servers in a custom proxy scheme could result in decreased performance and certain types of Windows authentication may fail.

5 Installation Success

Start the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service

1. Open the Windows Services Management console.
2. Select the "Google Calendar Sync Service" and right-click for properties.
3. Click "Start" if the service is not already started.
4. Browse to log file path as defined by GoogleApps.GCal.LogDirectory (i.e. C:\google\logs)
5. Review the log file SyncService.log and verify success messages

6 Testing and Troubleshooting

The Sync Service logs debugging information to a text log file, which is configurable through the log4net.config node in GoogleGCalExhangeSync.Service.exe.config. For more information, see Logging Configuration.

Monitoring the debug output in the log files is the best way to troubleshoot issues with the sync service. It is recommended to use the freeware log file utility Baretail to monitor the file in real time.

Important Note: Please review Logging Configuration before beginning to test any of the functionality of the service.

Running Diagnostics Tests

The Google Calendar Connector Web Service contains a diagnostics page that can help diagnose issues. Diagnostics.aspx, located in the root of the Web Service virtual directory, contains the following diagnostic tests relevant to the Sync Service:

• Verify free/busy data can be found in Google Calendar

This test attempts to retrieve free/busy information for a specific Google Calendar user. If the Sync Service and Google Apps are configured correctly, free/busy data should be returned.

• Verify Appointments can be written to Exchange

The Sync Service can be configured to store Google free/busy data in Exchange using an appointment writer. The appointment writer creates new events on a particular user's calendar and lets Exchange handle the generation of free/busy messages. This test attempts to create such an appointment for the specified user.

• Verify free/busy can be written to Exchange

The Sync Service is by default configured to write free/busy data directly into the Exchange public free/busy store. This test attempts to perform a free/busy write to the Exchange public store for the specified user.

To run diagnostic tests:

1. Use a web browser to navigate to /Diagnostics.aspx in the root folder of the Web Service's virtual directory.
2. Select a test and enter any optional details in its text area.
3. Click "Verify" to run the diagnostic and view its results.

Logging Configuration

The Google Calendar Connector Sync Service includes a configuration node named

<log4net>

Verify Log Path

To change where the log file is stored, edit the node path configuration/log4net/appender/file and change the value attribute of the file node to the new location. Include the file name in the value attribute. NOTE: The SYSTEM account needs "Modify" access to the file system path.

Increase the logging level

There are four logging levels, with DEBUG providing the most output and ERROR only logging severe events:

• DEBUG
• INFO
• WARN
• ERROR

The Sync Service has many potential logging points for the DEBUG and ERROR levels. When logging is set to these levels, the size of the log file may grow very rapidly.

To set the Sync Service logging to a certain level, edit the node path configuration/log4net/root/level and change the value attribute to one of the four levels listed. Lower severity levels are inclusive of higher levels. For example if the Sync Service is set to INFO, it also logs WARN and ERROR but not DEBUG messages.

Verify log file permissions

Verify that the following log file permissions have been set up properly:

In GoogleGCalExchangeSync.Service.exe.config\appSettings\:

• SYSTEM should have "MODIFY" privileges to the GoogleApps.GCal.LogDirectory directory.
• SYSTEM should have "MODIFY" privileges to the SyncService.XmlStorageDirectory directory.
• SYSTEM should have "MODIFY" privileges to the install directory or the file GoogleGCalExchangeSync.Service.exe.config.

In GoogleGCalExchangeSync.Service.exe.config\configuration\log4net\appender\:

• SYSTEM should have "MODIFY" privileges to path defined configuration \log4net\appender\file.

To grant "Modify" access to a directory do the following:

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to the directory root folder (i.e. C:\Google\Data).
3. Right click on the folder and select Properties.
4. Select the Security tab and click Add, type SYSTEM and click OK.
5. With the SYSTEM user highlighted, check Allow for Modify privileges.

7 Known Issues

• See Google Code Project for any known issues.

8 Copyright Notices

Library and license attributions are provided to conform with the Apache License, Version 2.0. A copy of the Apache License, Version 2.0 can be found here. The following licenses and libraries are used in the Google Calendar Connector Sync Service:

Google Data (GData) API .NET Client Library and its dependencies licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. (project, license) Apache log4net licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. (project, license) tz4net v3.0.2.0 licensed under the GNU LGPL V2. (project, license)

Portions Copyright (c) 2002 James W. Newkirk, Michael C. Two, Alexei A. Vorontsov or Copyright (c) 2000-2002 Philip A. Craig

Google, Google Calendar, Google Calendar Connector, Google Calendar Connector Web Service, Google Calendar Connector Sync Service are trademarks of Google, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.