Radicale: Can someone please offer any guidance on usage and security. Om abit lost

2026-06-11 22:02 UTC

Hi everyone I posted before here. I’ll try once more but don’t want to get over bearing. I’m trying to self host all my contacts and my calendar. I’ve managed to install radicale but there very little ui and I’m not actually sure how to import my contacts and calendar, or how to start using it with a client. This is all I see I’ve set up the calendar and contacts server but I can’t find any security settings to password protect it Any guidance would be awesome, thank you

Replies (9)

@Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 2026-06-12 06:04

You forget about that UI. Only used to create users. Then use. Cardiac/cal app like Dav5X on Android or similar to connect and do all the stuff like create, import etc See my wiki at wiki.gardiol.org/7-services/radicale It also shows how to install infCloud to get an actual web GUI to use calendars from your server

Open ##3356499
@Ooops@feddit.org 2026-06-12 00:33

The options to password protect it are in the (usually /etc/radicale/)config file under [auth]. For proper security you could use type = htpasswd htpasswd_filename = /etc/radicale/users htpasswd_encryption = bcrypt then create a users file with apache tools (htpasswd -c -B users User1) or one of the million online htpasswd file creators.

Open ##3357144
@gedaliyah@lemmy.world 2026-06-12 00:48

Yes, radicale works great, but the UI is pretty spartan. It will manage the data, but requires a client to make edits or view the content. First, you will have to export any existing calendar and contacts as files. It depends on what you're currently using. Contacts should probably be a vcf file, and a calendar should probably be an ics. Next, use the ↑ button in radicale, select the exported files, and it will create a new "collection" as shown in your post. You can also create a new empty collection to use as you wish. Radicale will not merge files, but you can use a client to do that once you have created the collection in radicale. You will have to find a client that will sync. On Android, DAVx5 will integrate it into the system so basically any client can access it. Certain Android apps may connect directly, but it's pretty hit or miss. On desktop, I use Thunderbird which works very well, but there are other options. You will use the blacked-out URL in your post to add the contacts and calendar. Check the individual app documentation or make another post if you want help. Oh, and the last thing... Of course the client will have to be on the same network. If you want to access it remotely, you will want to set up something like wireguard (I use Tailscale, which is dead simple).

Open ##3395808
@curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 2026-06-12 00:09

FYI, you can just edit your post, you don't need to delete and post again Unfortunately I don't use radicale so I can't help much on that front

Open ##3395809
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2026-06-11 22:15

There are many different clients available What is the use case?

Open ##3395810
@jeena@piefed.jeena.net 2026-06-11 23:22

Radicals is an amazing software but I also struggled to understand the concept at first, the documentation assumes you know so much already, which you normally don't. But once you get through the initial hurdle it's really reliable and uses minimal resources.

Open ##3395811
@philanthropicoctopus@thelemmy.club 2026-06-12 11:08

Thank you. I've got it going, I'm just not sure how to select it on my phone. I've got it running on dav5x

Open ##3395812
@Nomad@infosec.pub 2026-06-12 13:45

Your browser also sends all kinds of fingerprintable information.

Open ##3395838
@Nomad@infosec.pub 2026-06-12 13:44

The password is also hashed....

Open ##3395839