[deep breath, disclaimer: I am a knowledgeable end user, having administered a LAN of Linux and Windows PCs at home for several years, but I don't code and I knew nothing of LDAP until recently. I originally submitted this to openldap-software, but the moderator said it was more appopriate for this list. I have lurked for a week with increasing agitation at my lack of technical knowledge - apologies if this question is too stupid for most of you.]
I run an IMAP server on my Linux box at home (Debian Etch), so that I can read my mail from anywhere, using any IMAP client (Outlook at work, Evolution at home, Thunderbird at my in-laws, etc.). I got frustrated with having to export and import my contacts all the time, never remembering which client had the most up-to-date set. So I looked into setting up my own LDAP server so they could live in one place, available to any client, just like the email.
Sadly it doesn't seem to be that simple. Apt-get install slapd went fine - Debian was even so kind as to set up a bdb database for me with suffix "dc=mydomain", so all I had to do was create a rootdn and rootpw in slapd.conf. I painstakingly exported my contacts from Outlook as CSV, via Evolution as vCard then via http://labs.brotherli.ch/vcfconvert/ into LDIF. But trying to import the result into slapd gave lots of errors, and this is when I discovered the joys of schemata. The vCard-to-LDIF converter uses a variant Mozilla-address-book schema which slapd doesn't understand. I tried tweaking the LDIF file with this python script (http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python/Recipe/476224) but that fell over because some of my contacts don't have email addresses. So slapd is up and running but I have no way of importing my contact info without doing some Python hacking or re-keying the info (about 400 records).
Basic question: is there an existing schema that I can include in slapd.conf which will allow my contacts to be intelligible to all the clients I use (let alone might use)? They are just basic person data: names, postal addresses, phone/fax numbers, email addresses, etc.
Assuming no, can I combine a schema for each client, if I can find one? For example, the Mozilla one is here (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=166746), which will work for Thunderbird, SeaMonkey etc. If I can find one for Evolution and one for Outlook, could I just include them all, or would there be incompatibilities? (Even if there aren't, a quick look at the Mozilla one leads me to suspect that I would need to duplicate numerous fields.)
Does anyone successfully use LDAP with multiple clients? Is there an easy way to do it? Judging from the 'AD-style AUX classes' thread there are some issues with Outlook - in the first instance I would be happy if both Evolution and Thunderbird/SeaMonkey could see and edit the same contact data.
Thanks in advance for any help, and apologies for the lengthy footer over which I have no control,
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