FAQ for Thunderbird contact sync

  1. Getting Started
  2. What is slow sync?
  3. What is fast sync?
  4. What are Conflicts?
  5. What is auto-sync?
  6. One of my contacts wont sync
  7. Security
  8. Open-source software
  9. Roadmap
  10. Reporting bugs
  11. What is synchronized?

Also see:

Getting Started

  1. Download and install the addon.
  2. Check your Thunderbird proxy settings.

If your browser uses a proxy server to connect to the internet, use the same settings in Thunderbird. See Thunderbird/Tools/Options/Network/Connection.

  1. Enter your login details under Thunderbird/Tools/Zindus
  2. Click ‘Sync Now’

Before getting started, backup your contacts.  The addon’s record of stability speaks for itself.   But it has happened more than once that someone is in sync, deletes all their contacts, and then syncs again, causing the contacts on the other side to be deleted too.   So backup - its better to be safe than sorry.

What is slow sync?

When Zindus is first installed (or after you select the ‘Reset’ button), Thunderbird and the server aren’t in sync.

The first sync is a “slow” sync, in which all contacts are retrieved from the server and merged with those in Thunderbird. Here is an example:

Thunderbird Remote Server
Before slow sync
a a
b c
After slow sync
a a
b b
c c

If two contacts are identical in every field that’s synced between Thunderbird and the remote server(s), the contacts match. Otherwise they don’t.

Slow sync gets the two sides into sync.  Fast sync (below) keeps the two sides in sync.

What is fast sync?

In a fast sync, changes made to either to one side are propagated to the other side.

Usually, the first sync is a slow sync and subsequent sync are “fast” syncs.

What are Conflicts?

When a contact is modified in two places, or modified in one place and deleted in another, there’s a conflict.

Some conflicts are resolved automatically and other conflicts cause the sync to fail and must be resolved manually before a sync can succeed. Here are some examples:

Example Conflict #1 If a contact changed on both Thunderbird and the remote server, the conflict is resolved in favour of Thunderbird. The remote server is updated with Thunderbird’s version.

Example Conflict #2 If you are syncing with Zimbra and Thunderbird has an addressbook named “zindus/Trash”, the sync will fail and report:

Sync failed: Addressbook with reserved name: zindus/Trash

This type of conflict can’t be resolved automatically. In order to sync, the “zindus/Trash” addressbook must be removed or renamed to a name that is valid within Zimbra.

What is auto-sync?

To keep you in sync, the addon initiates sync on a periodic basis.  Two preferences affect the frequency of auto-sync:

  • extensions.zindus.system.as_timer_delay_on_start - the number of seconds after startup
  • extensions.zindus.system.as_timer_delay_on_repeat - the number of seconds after the first auto-sync

These preferences are a mean value only - the runtime values are randomized to minimize server congestion. These preferences are not exposed through the user-interface - to see or change their values, use the Thunderbird about:config editor.

If you want to know when the next auto-sync is scheduled, one of the last few lines in the logfile should look like this:

info: sync next: Friday, 11 January 2008 5:16:41 PM

Auto sync can be disabled via the Zindus Preferences dialog.

One of my contacts wont sync

If one of your Thunderbird contacts won’t sync the most likely reason is that it is in a mailing list.  Mailing lists and the contacts in them aren’t synced - see the roadmap.

Contacts in Thunderbird mailing lists are effectively removed from the view of the addon.  If you want to experiment with this, move a Thunderbird contact into a mailing list.  The next sync will delete the corresponding contact on the server.  To get the contact back, move the Thunderbird contact out of the mailing list and the next sync adds it back to the server.

If you aren’t sure whether the addon is working correctly, try this:

  1. from Thunderbird: add, modify or delete a contact, then visit Tools/Zindus then click ‘Sync Now’.
  2. from the browser: click ‘reload’ to force the browser refresh it’s cache from the server.
  3. Hey presto, the browser shows the change that you made in Thunderbird.

If you add, modify or delete a contact in Gmail, the change will eventually appear in Thunderbird, but it’s not immediate.  The delay can be minutes or hours before the change you made in Gmail is available via Google’s Contacts API.

Security

Passwords

The addon stores passwords using the same mechanism that Thunderbird uses to store your IMAP/POP passwords.  The mechanism allows you to use a master password to encrypt stored passwords.  For technical details, do a web search for “nsIPasswordManager”.

Network traffic

The sync network traffic (usernames/passwords/contacts) goes between Thunderbird and your server (Google or Zimbra).  No third party web sites are involved.

For Google, the addon defaults to using https.

For Zimbra, the addon uses the url supplied by the user. When a Zimbra server gives the addon a choice of soapURLs, the addon defaults to selecting https.

Like most other addons, this addon checks the server that you downloaded it from for version updates.

Open-source software

The Zindus addon is open-source software.  The source code is licensed under the Mozilla Public License.

To see the source code, download the addon, unzip the .xpi then unzip the .jar.

Roadmap

Q3 2009:

22 June 2009: v3 work is well advanced but on hold pending Google improving postal address parsing (for timeline see last post in thread).

Thunderbird Mailing lists / Google Groups / Zimbra Distribution Lists

The Zindus addon doesn’t currently sync Thunderbird mailing lists with Google Groups or Zimbra Distribution Lists.  The main reason is that the Thunderbird Address Book API is currently undergoing significant rework. We prefer to wait for that API to settle down before writing a bunch more code that relies on it.  Ideally we’d support mailing lists to co-incide with the release of Thunderbird 3, but that timeline is now looking unlikely - see: Thunderbird 3 planning, Address Book RoadMap, and mailing list sanity.

Thunderbird 3

The testing release of the addon generally supports the current alpha or beta release of Thunderbird 3.  Check the release notes for details.

Thunderbird 3 pre-releases (and earlier alpha/beta releases) are not supported because the Addressbook API can change from day to day.  If your Thunderbird version has the suffix “pre” the addon won’t work.  If you really want to experiment with the addon on pre-releases, set the preference extensions.zindus.system.as_allow_pre_release to true.

Feature requests

If you would like the Zindus addon to do something that it doesn’t currently do, please let us know. It there is enough interest, it may get on to the roadmap. Here are some candidates:

  • Windows Live Contacts (Hotmail), Yahoo Mail, …

Let us know if you would like the Zindus addon to sync with something other than Google or Zimbra.  Other services that people have previously asked for: Kerio Groupware and Zarafa.

  • iPhone

Let us know if you would like the addon to sync iPhone contacts with Thunderbird.

  • One-way sync …

Let us know if you would like the addon to sync one-way only, either server ==> Thunderbird or Thunderbird ==> server or both.

Reporting bugs

To report a bug:

  1. locate the Zindus logfile (see below)
  2. zip it up
  3. email it as an attachment along with a description of the problem to support@zindus.com.

The logfile helps us understand what the problem is. Without it we often can’t be of much help.

Disclosure: along with debugging information, the logfile may also contain part or all of your addressbook. Of course, we treat your personal information as completely confidential - as per the Privacy Policy.

The logfile is located in the zindus/log/ subdirectory of the Thunderbird profile directory. Here are some examples:

Windows 2000 and XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\John Smith\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\yidda0ce.default\zindus\log\logfile.txt

Windows Vista:
C:\Users\John Smith\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\yidda0ce.default\zindus\log\logfile.txt

Debian Linux:
~/.mozilla-thunderbird/hbswezv5.default/zindus/log/logfile.txt

Apple Mac OS X
~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/yidda0ce.default/zindus/log/logfile.txt

What is synchronized?

For answers to questions specific to sync with Google or Zimbra, see: