Zarafa (software)
Encyclopedia
Zarafa is the name of an European open source collaborative software
, developed in Delft
, the Netherlands. The company that develops Zarafa, previously known as Connectux, is also called Zarafa. The Zarafa groupware provides email
storage on the server side and brings its own Ajax
-based mail client called WebAccess. Advanced features are available in commercially supported versions ("Small Business", "Professional" and "Enterprise" (different feature levels)).
Zarafa is designed to integrate with Microsoft Office Outlook
and is intended as an alternative to the Microsoft Exchange Server
. Connectivity with Microsoft Outlook is provided via a proprietary client-side plugin. The WebAccess has the same "look-and-feel" as the Outlook
desktop application. People used to working with Outlook should be able to use the WebAccess without any problems. Personal address book, calendar, notes and tasks, "Public Folders" and shared calendar functionality (inviting internal and external users, resource management) can be handled by the software as well. The open source community edition supports three Outlook users. It can be downloaded at www.zarafa.com/content/downloads.
All server side components and the WebAccess of Zarafa are published under the Affero General Public License
(AGPL), based on the GNU General Public License
, version 2 (GPLv2). Introducing and maintaining a dual licensing strategy, on 18 September 2008 Zarafa released the full core software, that is the server side software stack, under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3
(AGPLv3).
-based server with Outlook clients using MAPI
. The communication between server and client is based upon SOAP
technology. The connection to Outlook clients can be secured using TLS/SSL
, either directly between the Zarafa server program and the client, or via an HTTPS proxy
.
All data is generally stored in a MySQL
database, although attachments can be saved on the filesystem. The Zarafa server can get its user information from LDAP, Active Directory
, Unix
user accounts or the MySQL database.
The webmail is based on AJAX
technology, with a PHP
backend using a MAPI
PHP extension.
Other clients can connect via POP3
, IMAP
and iCalendar
/CalDAV
.
Zarafa initiated a project called Z-push
in October 2007. It supports ActiveSync
compatible devices (Symbian
, Pocket PC
, iPhone
(firmware 2.0 and higher), Android (version 2.1 and higher), Nokia
(mail4Exchange)) implementing the ActiveSync
protocol and using the Incremental Change System (ICS) provided by the PHP-MAPI
extension.
Zarafa is part of the OpenMapi project which is developing an open groupware API
based on MAPI
.
and O3spaces
were released by Zarafa. The Alfresco ECM
system was integrated using Zarafa's Webaccess Plugin System. The user is able to archive attachments directly to Alfresco and send e-mails attaching files from the Alfresco repository. An integration with OpenERP
is also available.
An overview of integrated applications and a online demo (including SugarCRM
and Alfresco ECM
) can be found at the homepage.
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
, developed in Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, the Netherlands. The company that develops Zarafa, previously known as Connectux, is also called Zarafa. The Zarafa groupware provides email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
storage on the server side and brings its own Ajax
Ajax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...
-based mail client called WebAccess. Advanced features are available in commercially supported versions ("Small Business", "Professional" and "Enterprise" (different feature levels)).
Zarafa is designed to integrate with Microsoft Office Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
and is intended as an alternative to the Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
. Connectivity with Microsoft Outlook is provided via a proprietary client-side plugin. The WebAccess has the same "look-and-feel" as the Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
desktop application. People used to working with Outlook should be able to use the WebAccess without any problems. Personal address book, calendar, notes and tasks, "Public Folders" and shared calendar functionality (inviting internal and external users, resource management) can be handled by the software as well. The open source community edition supports three Outlook users. It can be downloaded at www.zarafa.com/content/downloads.
All server side components and the WebAccess of Zarafa are published under the Affero General Public License
Affero General Public License
The Affero General Public License, often abbreviated as Affero GPL and AGPL , refers to two distinct, though historically related, free software licenses:...
(AGPL), based on the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, version 2 (GPLv2). Introducing and maintaining a dual licensing strategy, on 18 September 2008 Zarafa released the full core software, that is the server side software stack, under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3
Affero General Public License
The Affero General Public License, often abbreviated as Affero GPL and AGPL , refers to two distinct, though historically related, free software licenses:...
(AGPLv3).
Technology
Zarafa provides its groupware functionality by connecting the LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
-based server with Outlook clients using MAPI
Messaging Application Programming Interface
Messaging Application Programming Interface is a messaging architecture and a Component Object Model based API for Microsoft Windows. MAPI allows client programmes to become messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers...
. The communication between server and client is based upon SOAP
SOAP
SOAP, originally defined as Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks...
technology. The connection to Outlook clients can be secured using TLS/SSL
Transport Layer Security
Transport Layer Security and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer , are cryptographic protocols that provide communication security over the Internet...
, either directly between the Zarafa server program and the client, or via an HTTPS proxy
Proxy server
In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
.
All data is generally stored in a MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database, although attachments can be saved on the filesystem. The Zarafa server can get its user information from LDAP, Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
, Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
user accounts or the MySQL database.
The webmail is based on AJAX
Ajax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...
technology, with a PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
backend using a MAPI
Messaging Application Programming Interface
Messaging Application Programming Interface is a messaging architecture and a Component Object Model based API for Microsoft Windows. MAPI allows client programmes to become messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers...
PHP extension.
Other clients can connect via POP3
Post Office Protocol
In computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
, IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol
Internet message access protocol is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol...
and iCalendar
ICalendar
iCalendar is a computer file format which allows Internet users to send meeting requests and tasks to other Internet users, via email, or sharing files with an extension of .ics...
/CalDAV
CalDAV
Calendaring Extensions to WebDAV, or CalDAV, is an Internet standard allowing a client to access scheduling information on a remote server. It extends WebDAV specification and uses iCalendar format for the data. The protocol is defined by RFC 4791...
.
Zarafa initiated a project called Z-push
Z-push
Z-Push is an open source implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol which is used to synchronize email, personal contacts and other items between a central server and a mobile device...
in October 2007. It supports ActiveSync
ActiveSync
ActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization technology and protocol developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer , and another technology,...
compatible devices (Symbian
Symbian
Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...
, Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
(firmware 2.0 and higher), Android (version 2.1 and higher), Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
(mail4Exchange)) implementing the ActiveSync
ActiveSync
ActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization technology and protocol developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer , and another technology,...
protocol and using the Incremental Change System (ICS) provided by the PHP-MAPI
Messaging Application Programming Interface
Messaging Application Programming Interface is a messaging architecture and a Component Object Model based API for Microsoft Windows. MAPI allows client programmes to become messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers...
extension.
Zarafa is part of the OpenMapi project which is developing an open groupware API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
based on MAPI
Messaging Application Programming Interface
Messaging Application Programming Interface is a messaging architecture and a Component Object Model based API for Microsoft Windows. MAPI allows client programmes to become messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers...
.
Supported clients
- Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
XP- 2010 - Web access via Firefox3.6+ or Internet ExplorerInternet ExplorerWindows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
8, 9,10 - All ActiveSyncActiveSyncActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization technology and protocol developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer , and another technology,...
compatible PDAs and smartphones via Z-pushZ-pushZ-Push is an open source implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol which is used to synchronize email, personal contacts and other items between a central server and a mobile device... - BlackBerryBlackBerryBlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
devices via the Blackberry Enterprise Server - POP3Post Office ProtocolIn computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
/IMAP4Internet Message Access ProtocolInternet message access protocol is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol...
email clients - iCalICaliCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....
/CalDAVCalDAVCalendaring Extensions to WebDAV, or CalDAV, is an Internet standard allowing a client to access scheduling information on a remote server. It extends WebDAV specification and uses iCalendar format for the data. The protocol is defined by RFC 4791...
calendar clients
Features
- Addressbook
- Calendar
- Notes
- Tasks
- Personal Folders / Public Outlook Folders
- Permissions for every User and Folder configurable
- Meeting invitation and free/busy option
- Resources planning
- POP3Post Office ProtocolIn computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
- IMAPInternet Message Access ProtocolInternet message access protocol is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol...
- iCalendarICalendariCalendar is a computer file format which allows Internet users to send meeting requests and tasks to other Internet users, via email, or sharing files with an extension of .ics...
- CalDAVCalDAVCalendaring Extensions to WebDAV, or CalDAV, is an Internet standard allowing a client to access scheduling information on a remote server. It extends WebDAV specification and uses iCalendar format for the data. The protocol is defined by RFC 4791...
- PDAPersonal digital assistantA personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
synchronization via Z-pushZ-pushZ-Push is an open source implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol which is used to synchronize email, personal contacts and other items between a central server and a mobile device... - BlackBerryBlackBerryBlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
integration over BESBlackBerry Enterprise ServerBlackBerry Enterprise Server designates the middleware software package that is part of the BlackBerry wireless platform supplied by Research In Motion... - Out-of-office message
- Brick-level backup
- Single sign-onSingle sign-onSingle sign-on is a property of access control of multiple related, but independent software systems. With this property a user logs in once and gains access to all systems without being prompted to log in again at each of them...
- Hierarchical storage managementHierarchical storage managementHierarchical storage management is a data storage technique which automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as hard disk drive arrays, are more expensive than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic...
(Zarafa Archiver) - Server-side message indexing (version 6.40.0 and higher)
Screenshots
Screenshots are available at the Zarafa homepage.Integration with open source projects
Zarafa is compatible / integrated with many other open source projects.- MTA: PostfixPostfix (software)In computing, Postfix is a free and open-source mail transfer agent that routes and delivers electronic mail. It is intended as a fast, easier-to-administer, and secure alternative to the widely-used Sendmail MTA....
, EximEximExim is a mail transfer agent used on Unix-like operating systems. Exim is free software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, and it aims to be a general and flexible mailer with extensive facilities for checking incoming e-mail....
, qmailQmailqmail is a mail transfer agent that runs on Unix. It was written, starting December 1995, by Daniel J. Bernstein as a more secure replacement for the popular Sendmail program...
, SendmailSendmailSendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and -delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol used for email transport over the Internet.... - Database: MySQLMySQLMySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
- Authentication: OpenLDAPOpenLDAPOpenLDAP Software is a free, open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol developed by the OpenLDAP Project. It is released under its own BSD-style license called the OpenLDAP Public License. LDAP is a platform-independent protocol. Several common Linux distributions...
, Kerberos, Cyrus SASLCyrus IMAP serverThe Cyrus IMAP server differs from other IMAP server implementations in that it is generally intended to be run on sealed servers, where normal users cannot log in. The mail spool uses a filesystem layout and format similar to the Maildir format used by other popular email servers such as qmail,...
(via MySQLMySQLMySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
or rimap methods) - Web technologies: ApacheApache HTTP ServerThe Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
, PHPPHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document... - Anti-Spam/Virus: ClamAVClam AntiVirusClam AntiVirus is a free, cross-platform antivirus software tool-kit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses. One of its main uses is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner. The application was developed for Unix and has third party versions available for...
, SpamAssassinSpamAssassinSpamAssassin is a computer program released under the Apache License 2.0 used for e-mail spam filtering based on content-matching rules. It is now part of the Apache Foundation....
, AMaViS/amavisd-new, DSPAMDSPAMDSPAM is a free software statistical spam filter written by Jonathan A. Zdziarski, author of the book Ending Spam and other books. It is intended to be a scalable, content-based spam filter for large multi-user systems...
Integration with other applications
Zarafa developed and recently released an integration framework for 3rd party software. On the server side the Zarafa calendar, contacts, tasks and notes can be replicated in realtime to other applications using the replication framework Z-Merge. Demo integrations for SugarCRMSugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
and O3spaces
O3spaces
O3Spaces is a document management system developed by O3Spaces B.V.. It is built by a team of software engineers based in the Netherlands using OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, and ODF-centric applications as enterprise office and collaboration solutions. The product is written in Java, and based on the...
were released by Zarafa. The Alfresco ECM
Alfresco (software)
Alfresco is a Free/Libre enterprise content management system for Microsoft Windows and Unix-like operating systems. Alfresco comes in two flavours. Alfresco Community Edition is free software, LGPL licensed open source and open standards. Alfresco Enterprise Edition is commercially & proprietary...
system was integrated using Zarafa's Webaccess Plugin System. The user is able to archive attachments directly to Alfresco and send e-mails attaching files from the Alfresco repository. An integration with OpenERP
OpenERP
OpenERP is an open source comprehensive suite of business applications including Sales, CRM, Project management, Warehouse management, Manufacturing, Accounting and Human Resources. OpenERP has separate client and server components...
is also available.
An overview of integrated applications and a online demo (including SugarCRM
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
and Alfresco ECM
Alfresco (software)
Alfresco is a Free/Libre enterprise content management system for Microsoft Windows and Unix-like operating systems. Alfresco comes in two flavours. Alfresco Community Edition is free software, LGPL licensed open source and open standards. Alfresco Enterprise Edition is commercially & proprietary...
) can be found at the homepage.
Support and Community
Official support for Zarafa is provided to users with valid subscriptions via the Zarafa portal. Unofficial support is available on the Zarafa forums, which are monitored by Zarafa employees as well as members of the Zarafa community. Zarafa provide official documentation on installing, configuring and upgrading the software. The Zarafa community have written a number of informal guides (e.g.) to supplement the official instructions. Community-written guides are often aimed at integrating Zarafa with external software that is not covered by the official documentation, and many of the integration plugins offered on the official Zarafa site were developed by members of the community.See also
- @Mail@MailAtmail is a commercial Linux messaging platform provider. The company was founded in 2001 and has its company headquarters located in Peregian Beach, Australia...
- CitadelCitadel/UXCitadel/UX is a collaboration suite that is descended from the Citadel family of programs which became popular in the 1980s and 1990s as a bulletin board system platform. It is designed to run on open source operating systems such as Linux or BSD...
- KolabKolabKolab is an open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Horde Webfrontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extension and Microsoft Outlook with proprietary Kolab-Connector PlugIns.-Basic...
- Kerio Connect
- Open-XchangeOpen-XchangeOpen-Xchange Server is an open source project sponsored by Open-Xchange, Inc., developing collaboration software; i.e. email, calendaring, address book, etc. Product offerings based on Open-Xchange Server are marketed under the brand of Open-Xchange Server and various other names, e.g. 1&1...
- ScalixScalixScalix is an e-mail and groupware server that runs on Linux, licensed under the Scalix Public License .Scalix provides e-mail, group calendaring and other collaborative software, which are standard in groupware...
- SOGoSogoSogo Co., Ltd. is a department store chain that operates an extensive network of branches in Japan. It once owned stores in locations as diverse as Beijing in China, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, Taipei in Taiwan, Jakarta, Medan, Bandung & Surabaya in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Singapore,...
- ZimbraZimbraZimbra Collaboration Suite is a groupware product created by Zimbra, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was purchased by Yahoo! in September 2007, and subsequently purchased by VMware on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. The software consists of both client and server components...
Publications
- Peter van Wijngaarden: Linux Magazine NL, Sep/2006, nr 4 -- Zarafa extended with real-time LDAP coupling
- Sebastian Kummer und Manfred Kutas: Linux Magazine PRO (USA) Feb/2008 -- Zarafa - Exchange Alternative, Linux New Media AG, München, 2007—available online: http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2008/87/exchange_alternative/
- Dozens of Software Vendors and Open Source Projects Integrate with Zarafa: http://www.linux.com/component/content/article/133-general-linux/149779
- Roberto Galoppini and Davide Galletti: Open Source Messaging & Collaboration: Zarafa, SOS Open Source 2011—available online: http://sosopensource.com/601.html