Re: [Evolution] Howto sync two workstatios?

[Jason Tackaberry <tack auc ca>]

Hi Guido,

On Wed, 2002-10-23 at 05:56, Guido de Melo wrote:
> I have installed Evolution at work and at home on two (nearly) identical 
> linux boxes. Now I'd like to have the same data at work that I have at 
> home. When I copy my ~/evolution directory from one machine to the 
> other, Evolution however seems not to be interested in the newer files. 
> It jsut keeps working on the old data. How can I overcome this?

I too am plagued with this problem, except I have three workstations I
want to sync Evo on (home desktop, laptop, workstation at the office). 
Here is the approach I have taken:

First, fetch Unison at http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/. 
(Unfortunately that website seems a bit unreliable; it's up and down at
times.)

I'm using one of the servers at work to act as a store for my Evolution
directory.  I setup passwordless ssh keys from all systems I want to
sync to this central store (unison needs this).  My unison default.prf
looks like this on all 3 of my workstations:

        # Unison preferences file
        # Roots of the synchronization
        root = /home/tack
        root = ssh://some.central.server.com//home/tack/
        
        # Paths to synchronize
        path = evolution
        batch = true
        auto = true
        prefer = newer
        
I have created a simple script that wraps Evolution and calls unison
before and after:

        killev
        unison-gui default
        evolution
        killev
        unison-gui default
        
One must killev before and after because otherwise, as you said,
Evolution (wombat in particular) won't notice the new files.  Also, of
course, it prevents things from getting out of sync.  If you prefer, you
can call the command line version of unison instead, but I like to see
what's going on since I invoke the script from a button on my panel. 
(You'll need the command line version on the server that acts as your
central repository.)

This seems to work reliably for me.  My calendar info, local contacts,
and email metadata (like labels and follow-up data) remains synced
between all 3 systems.  However, it's critically important that you exit
Evolution whenever you're done using it.  It also means you cannot have
two copies running at the same time.  So, I make sure I close evo at
home before I go to work, and vice versa.

It also happens that my mail configuration works fine no matter where I
am.  (The SMTP server at work supports TLS and AUTH so I can use it
anywhere.)  This may not be the case for you, and so you'd have to add
some extra steps to the wrapper script before running Evolution (and
after running unison) that modifies the necessary config files.  (A
little perl or sed magic would be fine.)

I'd _love_ a more integrated synchronization feature in Evolution.  But,
in the absence of any server support, this kludge seems to be working
okay.

Hope this helps,
Jason.

-- 
Jason Tackaberry  ::  tack auc ca  :: 705-949-2301 x330 
Academic Computing Support Specialist
Information Technology Services
Algoma University College  ::  www.auc.ca