Jump to content

Zarafa (software)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Flok (talk | contribs) at 12:50, 30 November 2015 (→See also). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Zarafa
Developer(s)Zarafa BV
Stable release
7.2.1-51838 / October 29, 2015 (2015-10-29)
Preview release
7.1.14RC1-51758 / October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02)
Repository
Operating systemLinux
TypeGroupware
LicenseServer side: AGPL
Other parts: proprietary
Websitewww.zarafa.com

Zarafa, an open-source groupware application, originated in the city of Delft in 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 offers its own Ajax-based mail client called WebAccess and a HTML5 based, WebApp. Advanced features are available in commercially supported versions ("Small Business", "Professional" and "Enterprise" (different feature levels)[1]).

Zarafa was originally designed to integrate with Microsoft Office Outlook and was intended as an alternative to the Microsoft Exchange Server.[2] Connectivity with Microsoft Outlook is provided via a proprietary client-side plugin. Outlook support is to be discontinued after Q1/2016.[3] The WebApp (and WebAccess) has the same "look-and-feel" as the Outlook desktop application. The software handles a personal address-book, calendar, notes and tasks, "Public Folders", a shared-calendar (inviting internal and external users, resource management), exchange of files and video-chat. The open-source edition does not support any MAPI-based Outlook users, while the community edition supports three Outlook users.[4][5]

All server-side components and the WebApp/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).[6]

Technology

Zarafa provides its groupware functionality by connecting the Linux-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 HTML5 (WebApp) and AJAX technology (WebAccess), 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.[7] 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Editions. www.zarafa.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
  2. ^ Asay, Matt. (2008-09-28) Zarafa: Open-source e-mail gets competitive | The Open Road - CNET News. News.cnet.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17. [dead link]
  3. ^ Zarafa to discontinue Qutlook support, Zarafa Forum (2015-01-16) [1]. forums.zarafa.com. Retrieved on 2015-04-12
  4. ^ zarafa-license / community version forums.zarafa.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-22.
  5. ^ What happens when I create more than 3 users in the community version incl. Outlook support?. www.zarafa.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
  6. ^ http://download.zarafa.com/zarafa/pressrelease%20opensource.pdf
  7. ^ Z-Push - open source push technology. Z-push.sourceforge.net. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.

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
  • Roberto Galoppini and Davide Galletti: Open Source Messaging & Collaboration: Zarafa, SOS Open Source 2011
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zarafa_(software)&oldid=693104855"