When using QCS 3.0 with Exchange 2007 in the target environment, what needs to be done in order to be able to synchronize calendar data? Is it true that the only option for synchronization of calendar data is to create a mailbox enabled user object for each user, and then publish the data? Does every user indeed need a mailbox for this?
QCS can still synchronize all Free/Busy data as it was done in the past, a mailbox in the target is not required. However, in this case the Free/Busy data needs to be stored in the System Folder called Schedule+ Free Busy Information under Public Folders, which means the target Exchange server needs to have a Public Folder information store present.
As the User Guide explains:
To support Exchange 2007 deployments without public folders (where no free/busy information exists), Calendar information synchronization has been implemented in Collaboration Services.
In Exchange 2007 Free/Busy data is stored inside the mailbox, if the mailbox doesn't exist a Public Folder information store is needed to store this information.
When creating mailboxes one can benefit from this in multiple ways:
1. Having clean native Exchange 2007 environment without Public Folder information store.
2. Users can view Calendar data when creating/sending appointments.
If Synchronize appointment details check box is selected then QCS will publish the following additional parameters for each appointment:
As the QCS Release Notes explain: Calendar details synchronization - Collaboration Services now supports for Calendar synchronization in Exchange 2007. This feature, in particular, allows users to share information about scheduled meetings and their locations, and view detailed descriptions of each appointment.
One of the main disadvantages of using the system folders to store Free/Busy data is that the Availability Services in Exchange 2007 needs to be configured to look in the Public Folders when looking up Free/Busy information for users which were created by QCS (for users with a specific namespace). If the target Exchange 2007 server has the CAS and MAILBOX server roles installed, it will require a change of default settings (disabling SSL).
See solution SOL40397 - When using Outlook 2007 or Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2007, free/busy information for QCS stub objects is missing. - https://support.quest.com/Search/SolutionDetail.aspx?id=SOL40397
For more information please review Quest KB article 46396: https://support.quest.com/SUPPORT/index?page=solution&id=SOL46396
Publishing availability data from 2007:
In order to publish availability data from Exchange 2007 without Public Folders, you must publish calendar information. Without a Public Folder database, there is no Free/Busy to publish, so publishing Free/Busy will not work.
Synchronization partners using Public Folders can still subscribe to this calendar collection and choose not to create mailboxes, this will populate Free/busy data in the Public Folder Database.
Summary: one can still use Public Folders to store Free/Busy information when using QCS 3.0, creating mailboxes in order to be able to synchronize Free/Busy data is not a must.
In order to configure Publication for Calendar synchronization please refer to QCS 3.0 User Guide, page 25:
Synchronization Type
In the first step of the wizard, do the following:
By selecting Calendar information QCS would know that mailbox-enabled stub objects need to be created.
