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How do I set the calendar/contacts/tasks to a USB/Mounted drive location?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by Matt

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Fundamentally I want to share my calendars/tasks/contacts etcetera between devices... and I want them to be E2EE encrypted.

CalDav does not support encryption. Nextcloud therefore does not support the necessary encryption.

If I try to set thunderbird to look at a local network location, it does nothing. In an ideal world the following would happen.

  1. I would boot up Thunderbird on Device A
  2. I would click a button to sync "Contacts", "Calendar Entries", "Tasks" to Encrypted Device A (Encrypted USB or Encrypted cloud location through say RClone Crypt)
  3. This would upload the relevant files in plane to the encrypted location.
  4. I dismount the encrypted drive/usb.
  5. I boot up Thunderbird on Device B.
  6. I plug in Encrypted Device B and decrypt it (or mount the RClone Crypt as appropriate).
  7. I point thunderbird to the relevant mount point and press the button to link up.
  8. Thunderbird accesses the information on the remote location and by default includes it (temporarily) into the Thunderbird information.
  9. Upon disconnecting the remote location Device B forgets everything unless I've chosen to sync/import the information. Or returns a warning that information cannot be read due to 404 or such.

I do not wish to share this information with other individuals and I don't want to include emails in this process.

Any ideas? I mean I'd love to just be able to use nextcloud by my personal installation crashed and burned and I don't really trust anyone else with it in an un-encrypted format even if they claim to have e2ee themselves.

Fundamentally I want to share my calendars/tasks/contacts etcetera between devices... and I want them to be E2EE encrypted. CalDav does not support encryption. Nextcloud therefore does not support the necessary encryption. If I try to set thunderbird to look at a local network location, it does nothing. In an ideal world the following would happen. # I would boot up Thunderbird on Device A # I would click a button to sync "Contacts", "Calendar Entries", "Tasks" to Encrypted Device A (Encrypted USB or Encrypted cloud location through say RClone Crypt) # This would upload the relevant files in plane to the encrypted location. # I dismount the encrypted drive/usb. # I boot up Thunderbird on Device B. # I plug in Encrypted Device B and decrypt it (or mount the RClone Crypt as appropriate). # I point thunderbird to the relevant mount point and press the button to link up. # Thunderbird accesses the information on the remote location and by default includes it (temporarily) into the Thunderbird information. # Upon disconnecting the remote location Device B forgets everything unless I've chosen to sync/import the information. Or returns a warning that information cannot be read due to 404 or such. I do not wish to share this information with other individuals and I don't want to include emails in this process. Any ideas? I mean I'd love to just be able to use nextcloud by my personal installation crashed and burned and I don't really trust anyone else with it in an un-encrypted format even if they claim to have e2ee themselves.

Chosen solution

One idea here is to export a calendar... delete it... and then use File > Open > Calendar file. This should then use the ics file from then on. Not sure how to get this to work with contacts/tasks.

--- So I've been doing more research on this matter and this allows for Encrypted Remote Calendars/Tasks and Contacts.

I believe for this you will need CardBook and possibly the Lightning plugins, I'm more sure of the former than I am the latter.

Encrypted Remote Calendar Proviso: If you're encrypting you probably don't want to share it to another person. There's no elegant solution to preserving privacy while sharing E2EE for Calendars/Tasks. CalDav doesn't support E2EE. However what you can do is create an RClone Crypt container... or use a USB.

Export Calendar as .ics file to desired remote location (USB/RClone) Delete existing Calendar File > Open > Calendar File Ensure that Calendar has 'offline support' in Thunderbird.

Note: This will also cover tasks assigned to this calendar. Any device with access to the RClone or USB can also open up the respective files.

Encrypted Contacts Proviso: Sharing to people is likely not the end goal here. Again no real way to support this, but again we can use a USB or RClone Crypt container. Reducing demand on local resources, while allowing for interdevice sharing.

Export to a directory of your choosing on the USB. Delete existing contacts. Click the Hamburger -> New Address Book -> Local -> Open an Existing Address Book (Directory) Navigate to existing directory

Done. Now your contacts are on the remote device in an encrypted container (VeraCrypt or RClone Crypt) and are not being 'synced' to a local directory that may take up valuable space.

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Chosen Solution

One idea here is to export a calendar... delete it... and then use File > Open > Calendar file. This should then use the ics file from then on. Not sure how to get this to work with contacts/tasks.

--- So I've been doing more research on this matter and this allows for Encrypted Remote Calendars/Tasks and Contacts.

I believe for this you will need CardBook and possibly the Lightning plugins, I'm more sure of the former than I am the latter.

Encrypted Remote Calendar Proviso: If you're encrypting you probably don't want to share it to another person. There's no elegant solution to preserving privacy while sharing E2EE for Calendars/Tasks. CalDav doesn't support E2EE. However what you can do is create an RClone Crypt container... or use a USB.

Export Calendar as .ics file to desired remote location (USB/RClone) Delete existing Calendar File > Open > Calendar File Ensure that Calendar has 'offline support' in Thunderbird.

Note: This will also cover tasks assigned to this calendar. Any device with access to the RClone or USB can also open up the respective files.

Encrypted Contacts Proviso: Sharing to people is likely not the end goal here. Again no real way to support this, but again we can use a USB or RClone Crypt container. Reducing demand on local resources, while allowing for interdevice sharing.

Export to a directory of your choosing on the USB. Delete existing contacts. Click the Hamburger -> New Address Book -> Local -> Open an Existing Address Book (Directory) Navigate to existing directory

Done. Now your contacts are on the remote device in an encrypted container (VeraCrypt or RClone Crypt) and are not being 'synced' to a local directory that may take up valuable space.

Modified by yurix+tech1

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