Full configuration manual

Vdirsyncer uses an ini-like format for storing its configuration. All values are JSON, invalid JSON will get interpreted as string:

x = "foo"  # String
x = foo  # Shorthand for same string

x = 42  # Integer

x = ["a", "b", "c"]  # List of strings

x = true  # Boolean
x = false

x = null  # Also known as None

General Section

[general]
status_path = ...

  • status_path: A directory where vdirsyncer will store some additional data for the next sync.

    The data is needed to determine whether a new item means it has been added on one side or deleted on the other. Relative paths will be interpreted as relative to the configuration file’s directory.

    See A simple synchronization algorithm for what exactly is in there.

Pair Section

[pair pair_name]
a = ...
b = ...
#collections = null
#conflict_resolution = null

  • Pair names can consist of any alphanumeric characters and the underscore.

  • a and b reference the storages to sync by their names.

  • collections: A list of collections to synchronize when vdirsyncer sync is executed. See also More information about collections.

    The special values "from a" and "from b", tell vdirsyncer to try autodiscovery on a specific storage.

    If the collection you want to sync doesn’t have the same name on each side, you may also use a value of the form ["config_name", "name_a", "name_b"]. This will synchronize the collection name_a on side A with the collection name_b on side B. The config_name will be used for representation in CLI arguments and logging.

    Examples:

    • collections = ["from b", "foo", "bar"] makes vdirsyncer synchronize the collections from side B, and also the collections named “foo” and “bar”.
    • collections = ["from b", "from a"] makes vdirsyncer synchronize all existing collections on either side.
    • collections = [["bar", "bar_a", "bar_b"], "foo"] makes vdirsyncer synchronize bar_a from side A with bar_b from side B, and also synchronize foo on both sides with each other.

  • conflict_resolution: Optional, define how conflicts should be handled. A conflict occurs when one item (event, task) changed on both sides since the last sync. See also Conflict resolution.

    Valid values are:

    • null, where an error is shown and no changes are done.
    • "a wins" and "b wins", where the whole item is taken from one side.
    • ["command", "vimdiff"]: vimdiff <a> <b> will be called where <a> and <b> are temporary files that contain the item of each side respectively. The files need to be exactly the same when the command returns.
      • vimdiff can be replaced with any other command. For example, in POSIX ["command", "cp"] is equivalent to "a wins".
      • Additional list items will be forwarded as arguments. For example, ["command", "vimdiff", "--noplugin"] runs vimdiff --noplugin.

    Vdirsyncer never attempts to “automatically merge” the two items.

  • partial_sync: Assume A is read-only, B not. If you change items on B, vdirsyncer can’t sync the changes to A. What should happen instead?

    • error: An error is shown.
    • ignore: The change is ignored. However: Events deleted in B still reappear if they’re updated in A.
    • revert (default): The change is reverted on next sync.

    See also Syncing with read-only storages.

  • metadata: Metadata keys that should be synchronized when vdirsyncer metasync is executed. Example:

    metadata = ["color", "displayname"]

    This synchronizes the color and the displayname properties. The conflict_resolution parameter applies here as well.

Storage Section

[storage storage_name]
type = ...
  • Storage names can consist of any alphanumeric characters and the underscore.
  • type defines which kind of storage is defined. See Supported Storages.
  • read_only defines whether the storage should be regarded as a read-only storage. The value true means synchronization will discard any changes made to the other side. The value false implies normal 2-way synchronization.
  • Any further parameters are passed on to the storage class.

Supported Storages

CalDAV and CardDAV

Note

Please also see Servers, as some servers may not work well.

caldav

CalDAV.

[storage example_for_caldav]
type = "caldav"
#start_date = null
#end_date = null
#item_types = []
url = "..."
#username = ""
#password = ""
#verify = true
#auth = null
#useragent = "vdirsyncer/0.16.4"
#verify_fingerprint = null
#auth_cert = null

You can set a timerange to synchronize with the parameters start_date and end_date. Inside those parameters, you can use any Python expression to return a valid datetime.datetime object. For example, the following would synchronize the timerange from one year in the past to one year in the future:

start_date = "datetime.now() - timedelta(days=365)"
end_date = "datetime.now() + timedelta(days=365)"

Either both or none have to be specified. The default is to synchronize everything.

You can set item_types to restrict the kind of items you want to synchronize. For example, if you want to only synchronize events (but don’t download any tasks from the server), set item_types = ["VEVENT"]. If you want to synchronize events and tasks, but have some VJOURNAL items on the server you don’t want to synchronize, use item_types = ["VEVENT", "VTODO"].

Parameters:
  • start_date – Start date of timerange to show, default -inf.
  • end_date – End date of timerange to show, default +inf.
  • item_types – Kind of items to show. The default, the empty list, is to show all. This depends on particular features on the server, the results are not validated.
  • url – Base URL or an URL to a calendar.
  • username – Username for authentication.
  • password – Password for authentication.
  • verify – Verify SSL certificate, default True. This can also be a local path to a self-signed SSL certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • verify_fingerprint – Optional. SHA1 or MD5 fingerprint of the expected server certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • auth – Optional. Either basic, digest or guess. The default is preemptive Basic auth, sending credentials even if server didn’t request them. This saves from an additional roundtrip per request. Consider setting guess if this causes issues with your server.
  • auth_cert – Optional. Either a path to a certificate with a client certificate and the key or a list of paths to the files with them.
  • useragent – Default vdirsyncer.
carddav

CardDAV.

[storage example_for_carddav]
type = "carddav"
url = "..."
#username = ""
#password = ""
#verify = true
#auth = null
#useragent = "vdirsyncer/0.16.4"
#verify_fingerprint = null
#auth_cert = null
Parameters:
  • url – Base URL or an URL to an addressbook.
  • username – Username for authentication.
  • password – Password for authentication.
  • verify – Verify SSL certificate, default True. This can also be a local path to a self-signed SSL certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • verify_fingerprint – Optional. SHA1 or MD5 fingerprint of the expected server certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • auth – Optional. Either basic, digest or guess. The default is preemptive Basic auth, sending credentials even if server didn’t request them. This saves from an additional roundtrip per request. Consider setting guess if this causes issues with your server.
  • auth_cert – Optional. Either a path to a certificate with a client certificate and the key or a list of paths to the files with them.
  • useragent – Default vdirsyncer.

Google

Vdirsyncer supports synchronization with Google calendars with the restriction that VTODO files are rejected by the server.

Synchronization with Google contacts is less reliable due to negligence of Google’s CardDAV API. Google’s CardDAV implementation is allegedly a disaster in terms of data safety. See this blog post for the details. Always back up your data.

At first run you will be asked to authorize application for google account access.

To use this storage type, you need to install some additional dependencies:

pip install vdirsyncer[google]

Furthermore you need to register vdirsyncer as an application yourself to obtain client_id and client_secret, as it is against Google’s Terms of Service to hardcode those into opensource software [googleterms]:

  1. Go to the Google API Manager and create a new project under any name.

  2. Within that project, enable the “CalDAV” and “CardDAV” APIs (not the Calendar and Contacts APIs, those are different and won’t work). There should be a searchbox where you can just enter those terms.

  3. In the sidebar, select “Credentials” and create a new “OAuth Client ID”. The application type is “Other”.

    You’ll be prompted to create a OAuth consent screen first. Fill out that form however you like.

  4. Finally you should have a Client ID and a Client secret. Provide these in your storage config.

The token_file parameter should be a filepath where vdirsyncer can later store authentication-related data. You do not need to create the file itself or write anything to it.

[googleterms]See ToS, section “Confidential Matters”.

Note

You need to configure which calendars Google should offer vdirsyncer using a rather hidden settings page.

google_calendar

Google calendar.

[storage example_for_google_calendar]
type = "google_calendar"
token_file = "..."
client_id = "..."
client_secret = "..."
#start_date = null
#end_date = null
#item_types = []

Please refer to caldav regarding the item_types and timerange parameters.

Parameters:
  • token_file – A filepath where access tokens are stored.
  • client_id/client_secret – OAuth credentials, obtained from the Google API Manager.
google_contacts

Google contacts.

[storage example_for_google_contacts]
type = "google_contacts"
token_file = "..."
client_id = "..."
client_secret = "..."
Parameters:
  • token_file – A filepath where access tokens are stored.
  • client_id/client_secret – OAuth credentials, obtained from the Google API Manager.

EteSync

EteSync is a new cloud provider for end to end encrypted contacts and calendar storage. Vdirsyncer contains experimental support for it.

To use it, you need to install some optional dependencies:

pip install vdirsyncer[etesync]

On first usage you will be prompted for the service password and the encryption password. Neither are stored.

etesync_contacts

Contacts for etesync.

[storage example_for_etesync_contacts]
email = ...
secrets_dir = ...
#server_path = ...
#db_path = ...
Parameters:
  • email – The email address of your account.
  • secrets_dir – A directory where vdirsyncer can store the encryption key and authentication token.
  • server_url – Optional. URL to the root of your custom server.
  • db_path – Optional. Use a different path for the database.
etesync_calendars

Calendars for etesync.

[storage example_for_etesync_calendars]
email = ...
secrets_dir = ...
#server_path = ...
#db_path = ...
Parameters:
  • email – The email address of your account.
  • secrets_dir – A directory where vdirsyncer can store the encryption key and authentication token.
  • server_url – Optional. URL to the root of your custom server.
  • db_path – Optional. Use a different path for the database.

Local

filesystem

Saves each item in its own file, given a directory.

[storage example_for_filesystem]
type = "filesystem"
path = "..."
fileext = "..."
#encoding = "utf-8"
#post_hook = null

Can be used with khal. See The Vdir Storage Format for a more formal description of the format.

Directories with a leading dot are ignored to make usage of e.g. version control easier.

Parameters:
  • path – Absolute path to a vdir/collection. If this is used in combination with the collections parameter in a pair-section, this should point to a directory of vdirs instead.
  • fileext – The file extension to use (e.g. .txt). Contained in the href, so if you change the file extension after a sync, this will trigger a re-download of everything (but should not cause data-loss of any kind).
  • encoding – File encoding for items, both content and filename.
  • post_hook – A command to call for each item creation and modification. The command will be called with the path of the new/updated file.
singlefile

Save data in single local .vcf or .ics file.

The storage basically guesses how items should be joined in the file.

New in version 0.1.6.

Note

This storage is very slow, and that is unlikely to change. You should consider using filesystem if it fits your usecase.

Parameters:
  • path – The filepath to the file to be written to. If collections are used, this should contain %s as a placeholder for the collection name.
  • encoding – Which encoding the file should use. Defaults to UTF-8.

Example for syncing with caldav:

[pair my_calendar]
a = my_calendar_local
b = my_calendar_remote
collections = ["from a", "from b"]

[storage my_calendar_local]
type = "singlefile"
path = ~/.calendars/%s.ics

[storage my_calendar_remote]
type = "caldav"
url = https://caldav.example.org/
#username =
#password =

Example for syncing with caldav using a null collection:

[pair my_calendar]
a = my_calendar_local
b = my_calendar_remote

[storage my_calendar_local]
type = "singlefile"
path = ~/my_calendar.ics

[storage my_calendar_remote]
type = "caldav"
url = https://caldav.example.org/username/my_calendar/
#username =
#password =

Read-only storages

These storages don’t support writing of their items, consequently read_only is set to true by default. Changing read_only to false on them leads to an error.

http

Use a simple .ics file (or similar) from the web. webcal://-calendars are supposed to be used with this, but you have to replace webcal:// with http://, or better, https://.

[pair holidays]
a = holidays_local
b = holidays_remote
collections = null

[storage holidays_local]
type = "filesystem"
path = ~/.config/vdir/calendars/holidays/
fileext = .ics

[storage holidays_remote]
type = "http"
url = https://example.com/holidays_from_hicksville.ics

Too many WebCAL providers generate UIDs of all VEVENT-components on-the-fly, i.e. all UIDs change every time the calendar is downloaded. This leads many synchronization programs to believe that all events have been deleted and new ones created, and accordingly causes a lot of unnecessary uploads and deletions on the other side. Vdirsyncer completely ignores UIDs coming from http and will replace them with a hash of the normalized item content.

Parameters:
  • url – URL to the .ics file.
  • username – Username for authentication.
  • password – Password for authentication.
  • verify – Verify SSL certificate, default True. This can also be a local path to a self-signed SSL certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • verify_fingerprint – Optional. SHA1 or MD5 fingerprint of the expected server certificate. See SSL and certificate validation for more information.
  • auth – Optional. Either basic, digest or guess. The default is preemptive Basic auth, sending credentials even if server didn’t request them. This saves from an additional roundtrip per request. Consider setting guess if this causes issues with your server.
  • auth_cert – Optional. Either a path to a certificate with a client certificate and the key or a list of paths to the files with them.
  • useragent – Default vdirsyncer.