Meqaris

Contents:

• Description
• Meqaris GUI
• Screenshots
• Download
• Installing the software
• Compatibility
• Reporting issues
• My projects on SourceForge
• My other software
• Contact information
• Page information

Description

Meqaris (Meeting Equipment and Room Invitation System) is a system that allows booking resources using e-mail invitations.

Meqaris allows you to:

• register meeting resources,
• send invitations to the resources (requires mail server support),
• receive positive and negative replies.

Meqaris is NOT:

• an e-mail client program
• a plug-in, extension or other add-on to an e-mail client program
• an e-mail server program

Meqaris is a program that an e-mail server calls and the user interacts with by sending e-mails.

The most up-to-date documentation can be found in the package itself, a generated copy is available here, in the docs directory.
You can also read the Meqaris wiki.

Features:

• supports RFC 2445/5545 iCalendar attachments in mails, both with the text/calendar and application/ics MIME types
• sends mail replies back to the sender using a mail server (RFC 2446/5546 and RFC 2447/6047)
• can pipe the response mail to a specified command
• supports creation, updates and cancellation of single events
• supports creation, updates and cancellation of recurring events
• supports both interval-defined and duration-defined events
• supports CalDAV (RFC 4791)
• supports events with multiple resources
• automatically updates its own database structures to the required version when needed
• supports time zones
• mail replies and logs can have various verbosity levels
• has wide logging capabilities
• has a command-line interface - no need to run SQL statements
• portable and system-independent

Features not currently supported (usually ignored, these don't need to always generate an error):

• processing more than one iCalendar in an e-mail (the first successfully processed stops the rest), but you can always send more than one invitation mail
• iCalendar methods other than REQUEST and CANCEL (but you can always cancel the current event and request a new, modified one)
• iCalendar components other than VEVENT or VTIMEZONE
• events that are infinite or anniversary-type (take no time)
• any kind of delegations
• any kind of encryption or digital signatures
• authentication to a mail server (but you can pipe the response e-mails to e.g. your local mail transport utility or esmtp or other tools that would provide authentication)
• the value of the RSVP parameter (Meqaris always replies)
• priorities of iCalendar components
• different STATUS values when method is REQUEST (all events are treated as definite). When method is CANCEL, STATUS:CANCELLED deletes the whole event.
• REQUEST-STATUS in responses

Meqaris GUI

Meqaris also has a new GUI written in Java, available for download together with the program itself, at SourceForge Meqaris UI downloads.

Screenshots of Meqaris

Screenshots are available on the SourceForge project page.

Download Meqaris

Current version is 2.0.
Current GUI version is 1.2.



Download these at SourceForge.

Meqaris release file feed

Installing the software

The most up-to-date documentation can be found in the package itself, a generated copy is available here, in the docs directory.
You can also read the Meqaris wiki.

Initial steps - most are one-time

1. Install Perl, along with the following modules (available from CPAN / metacpan):
   • Config::Simple,
   • Data::ICal,
   • DateTime::Format::ICal,
   • DateTime::Set,
   • DateTime::TimeZone::ICal,
   • DBD::Pg,
   • DBI,
   • Fcntl,
   • Getopt::Long,
   • HTTP::DAV,
   • Log::Log4perl,
   • MIME::Base64,
   • MIME::Parser,

   with all their dependencies (the list may include but not be limited to: Module::Install, Test::NoWarnings, Test::LongString, Class::Accessor, DateTime, DateTime::TimeZone, Moo, Set::Infinite, Test::Requires, Class::Accessor-Chained, Class::ReturnValue, DateTime::Event::ICal, DateTime::Event::Recurrence, Params::Validate, Text::vFile::asData).

   Actual mail sending requires the Net::SMTP and Net::Domain Perl modules,

2. A PostgreSQL database server, version 9.2 or newer, must be running.
   On a Linux system, you would do one of:
   • login to the system as the database user postgres (you can do su - postgres as root to login to that account on Linux) and run:

     	pg_ctl start

   • login as root and run:

     	systemctl start postgresqlXX (XX being the version)

   • login as root and run:

     	service postgresql start

3. A mail (SMTP) server must be running.
   On a Linux system with Postfix, you would do one of (as root):

   	systemctl start postfix

   	service postfix start

4. A database user must be created within the database server.
   With PostgreSQL, you would login to the system as the database user postgres and run:

   	createuser -P meqaris

   It's advised for the user to be the owner of the database that will be created.
   It's easiest to create a user with the same name as the system user name and create the database as the system user.
   
   
5. A logical database must be created within the database server.
   With PostgreSQL, you would login to the system as the database user postgres and run:

   	createdb -O meqaris meqaris

   (for the specified user to be the database owner)
6. NOTE for older database versions
   On PostgreSQL versions older than 13.0, you may need to perform one additional step before running Meqaris - install the btree_gist extension manually in the Meqaris database you've just created. Meqaris cannot do this, because only the database superuser (usually postgres) is allowed to do it. Substitute the hostname and port number where necessary and run this command to install the extension:

   	psql -U postgres -h hostname -p port_number -d meqaris -c 'create extension if not exists btree_gist;'

7. Database access rules must be created within the database server unless you wish to leave the default rules.
   With PostgreSQL, you would do (as the database user postgres or root):

   	cp /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf-backup
   	echo local meqaris meqaris scram-sha-256 >> /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
   	echo host all all 127.0.0.1/32 scram-sha-256 >> /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf

   (Note the double ">>" - it's CRUCIAL to use double ">>", a single ">" would OVERWRITE the target file).
   With older PostgreSQL versions, replace scram-sha-256 with md5.
   If you'll need to access the database from another computer:
   • a line similar to the host all all 127.0.0.1/32 scram-sha-256 should be added to pg_hba.conf, containing the correct IP address
   • firewall rules may need to be adjusted
   • the /etc/hosts.allow file (tcpwrappers) may need to be adjusted
8. After changing the access rules for the database server, restart it.
   With Linux with PostgreSQL, you would do one of:
   • login to the system as the database user postgres and run:

     	pg_ctl reload

   • login as root and run:

     	systemctl restart postgresqlXX (XX being the version)

   • login as root and run:

     	service postgresql restart

Installation

1. Choose 4 paths:
   • BINDIR - a directory for the Meqaris program (like /usr/bin),
   • CONFDIR - a directory for the Meqaris' configuration (like /etc),
   • DATADIR - a directory for the Meqaris' data files (like /var/lib). The data files will be installed in DATADIR/meqaris,
   • DOCDIR - a directory for the Meqaris' documentation (like /usr/share/doc). The documentation will be installed in DOCDIR/meqaris.
   • MANDIR - a directory for the manual files (like /usr/share/man). The manual page will be installed in MANDIR/man1.
2. Copy bin/meqaris to BINDIR
3. Edit config/meqaris.ini to match your directories and database settings (see below)
4. Edit config/meqaris-log4perl.cfg and choose your log file's location
5. Copy the whole sql directory and the config/meqaris-log4perl.cfg file to DATADIR.
6. Copy config/meqaris.ini to CONFDIR
7. Copy config/meqaris.logrotate to a directory expected to contain logrotate configuration files (like CONFDIR/logrotate.d)
8. Copy the manual to a place suitable for documentation, like /usr/share/doc

Alternatively, if you have the make program and some common Linux utilities, you can run make install, passing the target directories. Examples:

	make install BINDIR=/usr/bin CONFDIR=/etc DATADIR=/var/lib DOCDIR=/usr/share/doc MANDIR=/usr/share/man
	make install BINDIR=$HOME/tools/meqaris/bin \
		CONFDIR=$HOME/tools/meqaris/etc \
		DATADIR=$HOME/tools/meqaris/data \
		DOCDIR=$HOME/tools/meqaris/doc \
		MANDIR=$HOME/tools/meqaris/man

All the above directories and their parent directories must be reachable by your mail server.

The log file (/var/log/meqaris.log by default) must be created writeable for your mail server. Alternatively, the directory which would contain it must be writeable by your mail server.

The necessary database structures will be automatically created by the application itself while operating, but to avoid concurrent database upgrades (all of which except one would fail), it is recommended to run the database installation/upgrade scripts manually by calling

	meqaris --upgrade-db

Meqaris configuration

The most up-to-date documentation can be found in the package itself, a generated copy is available here, in the docs directory.
You can also read the Meqaris wiki.

You need to edit the meqaris.ini file to set the proper values for database access in the [postgresql] section and your chosen application data files' directory in the [meqaris] section under:

	[meqaris]
	dbtype=postgresql
	datadir=/path/to/meqaris/data
	log4perl_config_location=/path/to/meqaris/data/meqaris-log4perl.cfg
	lock_dir=/var/lock

	[postgresql]
	username=meqaris
	password=meqaris-pass
	dbname=meqaris
	host=127.0.0.1
	port=5432
	connect_timeout=30

Make sure that the datadir directory, the log4perl_config_location file and the actual log file have the right permission so that Meqaris, which will run under the mail server's privileges, has the right access to all of those locations.

Mail server configuration

Consult your mail server manual about how to make it send e-mails addressed to your resources (rooms, etc.) to the Meqaris script and how to accept the replies.

For Postfix, you can edit the /etc/postfix/aliases file and add the right command there. It must being with the "pipe" symbol - "|" - so that the Meqaris script receives the mail on the so-called "standard input".

Assuming you want a "room 1" alias and everything is installed in the default paths, the simplest entry in the /etc/postfix/aliases file could be:

	room1: |"meqaris"

Assuming you want a "room 1" alias and everything is installed NOT in the default paths, the most complicated entry in the /etc/postfix/aliases file could be:

	room1: |"SMTPHOSTS=smtp-host-name /path/to/perl -I /path/to/perl/modules /path/to/meqaris --conf /path/to/meqaris.ini"

By using just the cat command as the output instead of sending e-mails (see the Manual for administrators in the documentation), you can pipe the reply from Meqaris to other commands, including the mail server's own commands and since you know e.g. the alias which is being processed, you can add it to the other command's options, like so:

	room1: |"meqaris"| some-other-command "room1"

Meqaris itself can also pipe the reply to another program when you set the mail_command and mail_sending_method parameters. Read the Administrator's manual in the documentation for more details.

For a password-less, local-only mail submission, add this to your /etc/postfix/main.cf file:

	inet_interfaces = localhost
	inet_protocols = all
	mynetworks_style = host
	smtpd_relay_restrictions = permit_mynetworks permit_sasl_authenticated reject_unauth_destination
	smtp_sasl_auth_enable = no
	smtp_tls_security_level =
	smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = no
	smtpd_tls_security_level = 

Restart the Postfix server (or reload its configuration) afterwards.

Compatibility

Various versions of Meqaris have successfully been used with the following components in the following versions:

1. PostgreSQL:
   • 11.x (checked: 11.18), with an extra installation step
   • 12.x (checked: 12.13), with an extra installation step
   • 13.x (checked: 13.9)
   • 14.x (checked: 14.1)
   • 15.x (checked: 15.1, 15.3)
   • 16.x (checked: 16.0)
2. Perl:
   • v5.20.3
   • v5.34.0
3. Postfix:
   • 3.6.5
4. Cyrus IMAP (CalDAV module):
   • 3.6.0

Other versions may also work.

Reporting issues

Any defects or issues can be reported by e-mail or in the SourceForge project defect manager (in English).

Any improvement suggestions can be reported by e-mail or in the SourceForge project ticket manager (in English).

To report usage problems, include:

1. the Meqaris version you're using, e.g. Meqaris 2.0,
2. the PostgreSQL version you're using, e.g. PostgreSQL 14.1,
3. the Perl version you're using, e.g. the output of perl --version:

   	This is perl 5, version 34, subversion 0 (v5.34.0) built for x86_64-linux-thread-multi

4. a description of the problem that the software causes,
5. any error messages that are displayed or written to the log file (set the log level to TRACE, if possible),
6. precise steps for reproducing the error, if possible. This will make finding the problem easier,
7. the anonymized (all names and e-mail addresses changed to fakes) iCalendar attachment (if it may have caused the problem),
8. any other information that you think could lead to solving the problem.

Help in victory, play a game, send regards, or at least stop using some products

My projects on SourceForge

• WipeFreeSpace - a program for cleaning of free space on filesystems
• LibSecRm - a security wrapper library for C library functions which insecurely delete data
• Trinventum - software that helps manage an e-business
• Meqaris - meeting room and equipment booking system using e-mail invitations
• JYMAG - a program for serial-based (AT-based) mobile phones (like Sagem) and a serial port terminal
• IMYplay - a program for playing iMelody ringtones (IMY files) and an IMY-to-MIDI converter
• LibHideIP - a security wrapper library for C library functions which could lead to revealing your local IP address
• LibNetBlock - a security wrapper library that ensures that no program under its control can access the network
• FMSec - a set of extensions to file managers that enable some security-related operations to be easily performed. The operations include:
  • Secure removal of files using shred,
  • Secure removal of directories,
  • Mounting block devices and regular files using VeraCrypt,
  • Unmounting directories using VeraCrypt,
  • Wiping block devices (without removing them) using shred (the filesystem itself is destroyed too)
  • Wiping free space on filesystems on block devices or inside regular files using WipeFreeSpace,
  • Encrypting and decrypting files using OpenSSL,
  • running programs with LibSecRm preloaded,
  • running programs with LibHideIP preloaded,
  • running programs with LibNetBlock preloaded.
  FMSec consists of projects formerly known as KonqSec/Konq4Sec/Konq5Sec.
• Project Asmosis - a set of tools for assembly language programmers:
  • the Asm::X86 Perl module,
  • AsmDoc - a HTML documentation generator for assembly language,
  • assembly source code converters between NASM, fasm and GNU as,
  • C header to assembly header converters (h2fasm, h2gas, h2nasm),
  • Makefile generator for fasm (make4fasm),
  • Linux 2.6 kernel module helpers for fasm and NASM (symvers-nasm, symvers-fasm),
  • Asm4Doxy - Assembly converter for Doxygen,
  • util-macros.* - some utility macros for fasm and NASM,
  • Autoconf macros that check for existence and command-line options of the various assemblers (ax_prog_nasm.m4, ax_prog_nasm_opt.m4, ax_prog_fasm.m4, ax_prog_fasm_opt.m4, ax_prog_yasm.m4, ax_prog_yasm_opt.m4, ax_prog_tasm.m4, ax_prog_tasm_opt.m4, ax_prog_masm.m4, ax_prog_masm_opt.m4, ax_prog_hla.m4, ax_prog_hla_opt.m4),
  • OS parts - sample pieces of code that may be useful for starting developing a simple operating system.
• KeyParaStocX - is an extension for LibreOffice, Apache OpenOffice and the old OpenOffice.org that searches for keywords in a text, changes their style and builds a Table of Contents for them (formerly: "PozeraczUstaw").
• Fronsetia - a web application that allows testing webservices (formerly: SOAPServiceTester).

The always-up-to-date list of my SourceForge projects is on my profile page on SourceForge.

My other software

• primary site - rudy.mif.pg.gda.pl/~bogdro/soft - down
• first backup site - bogdro.ciki.me/soft - down
• second backup site - bogdro.fulba.com/soft - down
• third backup site (also available over HTTPS)
• fourth backup site (also available over HTTPS)

1. Certificate and key generators
2. E-mail address verifiers
3. LastMod - a script that inserts or updates a META element with the Last-Modified HTTP header
4. Atom2Rss - a script that converts an Atom (RFC 4287) channel XML file to an RSS 2.0 XML file
5. List2Atom - a script that generates an Atom (RFC 4287) channel XML file from a list of files
6. InSyTrack - telemetry software to track program flow (calls) across libraries, threads, programming languages or even different systems on different machines

• primary site with assembly tools - rudy.mif.pg.gda.pl/~bogdro/inne - down
• first backup site with assembly tools - bogdro.ciki.me/inne - down
• second backup site with assembly tools - bogdro.fulba.com/inne - down
• third backup site with assembly tools (also available over HTTPS)
• fourth backup site with assembly tools (also available over HTTPS)

1. Kate/KWrite syntax highlighting for NASM/fasm

Contact information

Contact me: bogdro AT users . sourceforge . net (English accepted, just say '[SOFT]' in the title).

The certificate of the timestamping server which confirms the signature time, can be found on freeTSA.org.

Page information

This page is hosted at SourceForge.net.
This page is written using valid HTML 4.01 , , for all browsers:

This page uses a valid CSS

This page has a content security policy.

This page doesn't use GIF images and doesn't use JPG images.

This page is pure HTML and CSS.

The project icon was created using Inkscape™.

Legal information

LINUX® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Postgres® and PostgreSQL® and the Elephant Logo (Slonik) are all registered trademarks of the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada.

Oracle®, Java, and MySQL are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

All other trademarks, logos and names on this page and all subpages are properties of their respective owners and are given here only as an example.