Allow iCal subscriptions on secure servers

Nov 10, '03 10:22:00AM

Contributed by: Ksenia

Note: this only works if you have your own Apache server or have access to the webserver directory (then you can use .htaccess files).

iCal has a nasty input control bug. You can't subscribe to a calendar through an https:// url. The "normal" workaround for this bug is first subscribe to http:// calendar (insecure), then manualy edit ~/Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.iCal.sources.plist and replace http:// with https://. But if you want to share the calendar with "normal" Apple users, you can't ask them to edit their config files... it would be against the evolution (of the species) ;-). The solution:

  1. Publish the calendar on a secure site. The final URL would be: https://www.secure.tld/dav/calendar.ics
  2. For the communication with subscribers, use non-secure URL, for example: http://www.nonsecure.tld/dav/calendar.ics.
  3. On the server where non-secure site is hosted, put the following code in httpd.conf (or in an .htaccess file) inside the scope of the non-secure site:
    
    <Location /dav>
    RedirectMatch (.*)$ https://www.secure.tld$1
    </Location>
    
That's it! Now you can subscribe to http://www.nonsecure.tld/dav/calendar.ics in your iCal and still be secure.

Comments (9)


Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20031102182954997