This guide is aimed at system administrators who are capable of connecting to remote systems such as Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) for Business and Office 365 Admin Panel.
Cloudiway’s Free/Busy calendar coexistence solution is ideal for company mergers, or for companies that require a long-term solution to interoperability. It’s simple to set up and maintain. Cloudiway provides a cloud-based application that manages coexistence without requiring any software installation or overhead.
Overview:
1.1. Free/Busy
Calendar coexistence manages cross-platform communication with no impact on the end-user. It provides a seamless connection between different remote systems, such as Google Workspace, Office 365, and Exchange.
For example, a Google user can check the Free/Busy time of an Office 365 user using Google’s standard calendar interface. Similarly, an Office 365 user on one domain can check the free/busy time of an Office 365 or Google user on an entirely different domain.
To achieve this, each remote system needs to be configured to communicate with Cloudiway, including its own ‘connector’ on the Cloudiway platform.
1.2. How it works:
When a Google user wants to know if another user on Office 365 is available, the user creates a meeting request and clicks on the Find a Time tab to see Free/Busy time. Likewise, from Office 365, the user will click on “Scheduling Assistant” to see the Free/Busy time.
You can also use coexistence during mailbox migrations. End users can continue working without interruption.
When a mailbox is migrated, address books are synchronized, the mail is rerouted, and free/busy time is available at both the source of the migration and at the target.
1.3. Supported Systems
Calendar Free/Busy coexistence can be implemented between two or more remote systems. Currently, the following systems are supported:
If you are using Exchange On-Premises 2010 or any other system, please get in touch with our technical consultants here to discuss how coexistence can be implemented with your combination of remote systems.
The following scenarios are not supported:
For more questions please contact your Cloudiway Sales Manager.
1.4. Performance & Security
We take your privacy and security seriously at Cloudiway, and we have invested significant effort into making our platform and your data secure. Cloudiway provides a cloud-based application hosted in Windows Azure… For more information about security, please refer to this article.
For total assurance, Cloudiway provides auditing tools. Secure, authenticated data connections, and a logging system. Free/busy queries are performed in real-time (with a 2 min cache implemented).
The Google service account requires a valid Google license and the calendar App must be activated for that user.
No permissions are required for the Office 365 user; only an Exchange license is needed.
There are four simple steps to configuring a remote system to coexist with another remote system:
Each Cloudiway connector requires a domain name as well as security credentials to allow two-way communication. Google also requires Service Account details (email and private key) before the connector can be saved.
You can set up any remote system to coexist at any time. However, you must adhere to the order outlined in each section below, to avoid coexistence being activated before all the required steps have been completed.
NOTE: If you configure your remote systems prior to contacting Cloudiway, you risk being blacklisted by Google and/or Office 365.
For Cloudiway to successfully provide coexistence between two remote systems, you will need to set up a connector for each domain intended to coexist.
The following chapter shows how to setup Free/Busy between Google Workspace, Office 365, and On-Premises environments.
3.1. Create Your Connectors
Cloudiway needs to be able to communicate with both your source and target domains. To do this, Cloudiway uses connectors. Please refer to this page to configure your connectors.
When you create your connectors, make sure to select FreeBusy in Coexistence Products:
3.2. FreeBusyConfiguration
Once your connectors are created. Go to Free Busy >
Click on a connector:
DETAILS: Enable or disable event details. In addition to the availability status, the platform gives you the choice to display the event details.
Note: This setting can be overwritten for each user in the MANAGE Users and resources list section.
ACTIVE: Enable or disable the connector.
3.3. Manage Users and resources list
Users
It is highly recommended to let the system manage automatically the user list.
Note: if the user list is empty, you can query the Free/Busy of any users of the company. However, as soon as you fill the list, only members of the list can be queried. In order to avoid to have to maintain the list, we recommend to leave it empty.
For testing purposes, you can add a few users in the list, at least one in each connector.
In the Free Busy page, in the Users and resources list, go to MANAGE
Click on CREATE (single), IMPORT (CSV), or EXPORT (CSV) users.
Click on SAVE.
Resources
You can query the Free/Busy of resources (room and equipment).
Note: Please be aware that Google resources cannot be booked outside of a Google client calendar. Office 365 doesn’t have this restriction. Therefore, you may want to manage your resources in Office 365 instead of Google.
That said, if you want to query the Free/Busy of Google resources, just add them in the list as resources.
Read more: https://help.cloudiway.com/article/how-to-set-coexistence-google-rooms-and-resources/
3.4. Generate Cloudiway credentials
The systems (Office 365, Google, Exchance) that will be connected through the platform need to authenticate.
Go to Free Busy > Manage to create your credentials:
Note: Free busy alias is the URL used to access the platform, it is communicated by Cloudiway.
4.1. Google Workspace Configuration
Follow these steps to set up Google.
4.2. Office 365 Configuration
Follow these steps to set up Office 365.
The configuration of Free/Busy requires an AvailabilityAddressSpace.
In the steps below, we will create an AvailabilityAddressSpace.
Launch Windows PowerShell and connect to Exchange Online.
Enter the script:
# Connect Exchange Online #
$admin = $Host.UI.PromptForCredential("Office 365 Administrator Credentials","Enter your Office 365 user name and password.","","")
Get-PSSession | Remove-PSSession
$ps = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName microsoft.exchange `
-ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell `
-Credential $admin -Authentication basic `
-AllowRedirection
If ($error[0] -ne $null)
{
Write-Host $error[0]
$error.Clear()
exit
}
Import-PSSession $ps
Before you can create an availability address, you must run the following command at least once:
New-AvailabilityConfig -OrgWideAccount limitedUser@company.com
Note: Cloudiway is not using limitedUser@company.com, therefore you can enter any existing user without specific privilege.
The script will output something similar to the text below:
Copy the commands below
$adminCredsId = "\ConsumerKey" $adminCredsPassword = "ConsumerSecret" $securePassword = ConvertTo-SecureString $adminCredsPassword -AsPlainText -Force $adminCreds = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($adminCredsId,$securePassword) Add-AvailabilityAddressSpace ` -AccessMethod OrgWideFB ` -ForestName domainname.com ` -Credentials $adminCreds ` -TargetAutodiscoverEpr "https://<customer-coex>.cloudiway.com/autodiscover.xml"
Note:
If you receive any error messages, check TechNet online (eg, https://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/bb124122(v=exchg.160).aspx) for more details.
The steps below work only for Exchange On-Premises 2013 and later. If you have Exchange OnPremises 2010, please get in touch to discuss calendar free/busy coexistence implementation.
Launch Exchange Management Shell to connect to your Exchange server
Copy the commands below
$adminCredsId = "\ConsumerKey" $adminCredsPassword = "ConsumerSecret" $securePassword = ConvertTo-SecureString $adminCredsPassword -AsPlainText -Force $adminCreds = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($adminCredsId,$securePassword) Add-AvailabilityAddressSpace ` -AccessMethod OrgWideFB ` -ForestName domainname.com ` -Credentials $adminCreds ` -TargetAutodiscoverEpr "https://<customer-coex>.cloudiway.com/autodiscover.xml"
Note:
If you receive any error messages, check TechNet online (eg: https://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/bb124122(v=exchg.160).aspx) for more details.
Office 365 and Exchange can only query the free/busy time of objects that exist in the global address book.
In order to test the free/busy time of the remote system, you must:
In the following chapter, we will create a contact in the global address list and rebuild the address book. Exchange Online doesn’t rebuild the address book every time to modify a contact. You can force the rebuild using PowerShell.
For this, you need the Address List Management role in Exchange.
At this point, your system configuration is complete and you’re ready to test coexistence from your calendars.
Once you’re satisfied that coexistence is working as expected, you can import your remaining users and go live (or empty the list to open it to all users).
We provide a command-line utility to test the Free/Busy here.
Cloudiway provides an extensive knowledge base with many resources, including common error messages, guides, and downloads. Please visit the knowledgebase here (where you can search for keywords or read through topics).
