Many organizations rely on Microsoft Exchange for email and calendar management, but Linux users often face compatibility issues. While IMAP provides basic email functionality through clients like Thunderbird, calendar integration remains problematic without Outlook.

There are several technical approaches to access Exchange data from Linux:

# Example using curl to query Exchange Web Services
curl -X POST \
  https://outlook.office365.com/ews/exchange.asmx \
  -H "Content-Type: text/xml" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic base64_encoded_credentials" \
  --data-binary @- << EOF


  
    
      
        IdOnly
      
      
        
      
    
  

EOF

1. Evolution with EWS Plugin
The most complete Exchange integration solution for Linux:

# Installation on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install evolution evolution-ews

2. DavMail Gateway
A Java-based gateway that converts Exchange protocols to standard protocols:

# Sample DavMail configuration
davmail.url=https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
davmail.caldavPort=1080
davmail.imapPort=1143
davmail.smtpPort=1025

For developers preferring terminal solutions, these tools can help:

# vdirsyncer configuration for Exchange calendar sync
[general]
status_path = "~/.vdirsyncer/status/"

[pair work_calendar]
a = "work_calendar_local"
b = "work_calendar_remote"
collections = ["from a", "from b"]

[storage work_calendar_local]
type = "filesystem"
path = "~/.calendars/work/"
fileext = ".ics"

[storage work_calendar_remote]
type = "exchangelib"
url = "https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx"
username = "user@domain.com"
password = "password"

For those comfortable with APIs, Microsoft Graph offers modern access:

# Python example using OAuth2 and Microsoft Graph
import msal
import requests

app = msal.ConfidentialClientApplication(
    "client_id",
    authority="https://login.microsoftonline.com/tenant_id",
    client_credential="client_secret")

result = app.acquire_token_for_client(scopes=["https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"])

headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + result['access_token'],
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.get(
    'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events',
    headers=headers)

When your organization mandates Microsoft Exchange but you're running Linux, you face a triple challenge: email access, calendar synchronization, and meeting management. While IMAP solves basic email needs through clients like Thunderbird or Evolution, calendar integration remains notoriously problematic.

Modern Exchange servers typically support these access methods:

# Common Exchange protocols
1. IMAP/SMTP (basic email only)
2. EWS (Exchange Web Services)
3. ActiveSync (mobile-oriented)
4. REST API (Office 365 modern auth)
5. WebDAV (legacy, deprecated)

1. Evolution with EWS Plugin

The most native-feeling solution:

# Ubuntu/Debian installation
sudo apt install evolution evolution-ews
# Configuration requires:
# Server: https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
# OAuth2 authentication recommended

2. Thunderbird with TBSync+Provider for Exchange

Extend your existing email client:

# Add-ons needed:
# - TBSync (calendar synchronization core)
# - Provider for Exchange (EWS backend)
# - Lightning (calendar UI)

3. DavMail Gateway

For situations where direct EWS access is blocked:

# Sample davmail.properties config:
davmail.server=true
davmail.url=https://exchange.company.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
davmail.caldavPort=1080
davmail.allowRemote=true

Modern Exchange implementations often require OAuth2. For command-line tools, you might need:

# Using oauth2ms for device code flow
curl -X POST https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/token \
  -d "client_id=your_client_id" \
  -d "scope=https://outlook.office365.com/EWS.AccessAsUser.All" \
  -d "code=device_code" \
  -d "grant_type=urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code"

For developers needing custom integration, here's a Python EWS example:

from exchangelib import Credentials, Account, Configuration
from exchangelib.items import CalendarItem

creds = Credentials(username="user@domain.com", password="password")
config = Configuration(server='outlook.office365.com', credentials=creds)
account = Account(primary_smtp_address="user@domain.com", config=config)

# Fetch calendar items
for item in account.calendar.all().order_by('-start')[:10]:
    print(item.start, item.subject)

For those needing phone integration, consider:

• DAVx⁵ (Android) with Nextcloud or EWS backend
• Evolution sync to Nextcloud then mobile clients
• ProtonMail Bridge (if using Exchange hybrid)