Unfortunately, the installation on Ubuntu/Kubuntu and any other Linux distribution is still not the most comfortable. For this reason, I sat down some hours and packed the tool into a deb-package and additionally added a nice command line tool to simplify some of the basics.

For those who can’t wait, here’s the package: gcaldaemon_1.0beta16~ubuntu0_all.deb

Update Nov/08: Ubuntu Intrepid: I just re-installed my Ubuntu and successfully tested the provided version for the new system. Works like a charm for Hardy and for Intrepid.
~ 150 downloads so far, no complains/malfunctions!

Update Feb/09: Launchpad: I just uploaded the code that creates the deb-package on Launchpad. Maybe somebody of the Ubuntu team will pick it up and integrate it into the distribution. There is also a bug report for this issue, – feel free to contribute.

For all of you interested how to create your own package from my sources, follow these steps:

$ bzr branch lp:~binwiederhier/+junk/gcaldaemon
$ cd gcaldaemon
$ wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gcaldaemon/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip
$ sudo ./create-package.sh gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip 'gcaldaemon_1.0beta16~ubuntu0_all.deb'
$ sudo dpkg -i gcaldaemon_1.0beta16~ubuntu0_all.deb

Update Apr/09: Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope: As Jens just wrote in the comments-section, the deb-package seems to work for Jaunty as well without complications. Yeyy!

Download and install

Alternatively to creating the package from my source, you can just download and install it from my deb-file:

$ wget http://blog.philippheckel.com/uploads/2008/09/gcaldaemon_1.0beta16~ubuntu0_all.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i gcaldaemon_1.0beta16~ubuntu0_all.deb

The following tools will be available:

• gcaldaemon
  Start/stop/restart the daemon.
• gcaldaemon-sync-now
  For immediate synchronization.
• gcaldaemon-config
  Open the graphical config editor.
  Also available via the menu „Utilities -> Configure GCALDaemon”.
• gcaldaemon-password-encoder
  Encode passwords for the config file.

Configuration

Each user of the system can have his or her own instance of the daemon running.
The config file is located at ~/.gcaldaemon/conf/gcal-daemon.cfg.

To edit the config file, you can either use your favorite editor, e.g. vi or use the GCALDaemon config editor GUI:

$ gcaldaemon-config

You can also open the config editor via the menu: „Utilities -> Configure GCALDaemon”.

To create passwords for the config file use the gcaldaemon-password-encoder-script. For details about the config options, please read the GCALDaemon documentation.

Running GCALDaemon

I have simplified the way how to start/stop the daemon with a small script. Simply type “gcaldaemon” to see what it can do.

To start, restart, stop and check the status (just like in an init-script), type:

$ gcaldaemon start
Starting GCALDaemon ... ok
 
$ gcaldaemon status
GCALDaemon is running as PID 30543.
 
$ gcaldaemon restart
Stopping GCALDaemon ... ok
Starting GCALDaemon ... ok
 
$ gcaldaemon stop
Stopping GCALDaemon ... ok

Enable autostart for GCALDaemon

To enable the autostart-option for GNOME or KDE, type:

$ gcaldaemon enable kde
$ gcaldaemon enable kde4
$ gcaldaemon enable gnome

As a GNOME user, it’s also possible to enable/disable the daemon autostart via the menu „System -> Settings -> Sessions”

Finally …

I know that the package is far from perfect, but it’s a lot easier to install/configure than the original package. Feedback is always welcome.