Upgrading BusyCal to iCloud

This guide is designed to help BusyCal users upgrade to iCloud. If you are a BusySync user, please see Upgrading BusySync to iCloud.

iCloud Requirements

iCloud is Apple's new cloud-syncing service for Mac and iOS that replaces MobileMe. Calendar syncing with iCloud is nearly identical to MobileMe with some notable exceptions:

• Sharing calendars through iCloud — If you are sharing calendars with others through MobileMe, you must upgrade all users to iCloud to continue sharing calendars with them. You cannot share calendars between MobileMe and iCloud users.
• Separate calendars for Events and To Dos — iCloud calendars are type-specific. Each iCloud calendar may contain either Events or To Dos, but not both. When you move your calendars to iCloud, each calendar will be split into two calendars — one for Events and one for To Dos.
• Repeating To Dos — The Reminders app in iOS 5 supports repeating To Dos, and they sync with BusyCal through iCloud. However, the Reminders app uses a different model for handling repeating To Dos that BusyCal has adopted to ensure compatibility. In the new model, only the next undone occurrence of a repeating To Do is shown. When you complete an occurrence of a repeating To Do, the next occurrence will appear. Therefore, you can no longer see repeating To Dos in the future, beyond the next one due.

If you are not ready to upgrade to iCloud yet, you may postpone the upgrade and continue syncing with MobileMe, which will remain active until June 30, 2012

Migrating to iCloud

Like MobileMe, iCloud requires all calendars you wish to sync between your Mac and iOS device to be hosted on iCloud. This allows you to sync calendars between multiple Macs and iOS devices from any location. It's ideal for individuals, families, and small workgroups provided everyone uses iCloud as their cloud-based calendar server.

Since all calendars must be hosted on iCloud, the following limitations apply:

• Local calendars will not sync with iCloud.
• LAN calendar subscriptions will not sync with iCloud.
• Google calendar subscriptions will not sync with iCloud.

If you are currently syncing all of your calendars with MobileMe, then the upgrade to iCloud should be seamless. However, if you are using BusyCal to sync calendars on a LAN or with Google Calendar, you will have to make changes to your workflow if you want to sync those calendars with iCloud. Since iCloud is free, now may be a good time to migrate your entire calendar sharing workflow exclusively to iCloud, instead of syncing on the LAN or with Google. Here are suggestions for migrating to iCloud:

• Migrate exclusively to iCloud — Instead of sharing calendars over the LAN or through Google, you can host your calendars on iCloud, then share your calendars with others through iCloud.
• Publish iCloud calendars on a LAN — LAN subscriptions will not sync with iCloud but you can publish iCloud calendars on your LAN. You may want to do this to share iCloud calendars on a LAN with those who are unable to use iCloud.
• Publish iCloud calendars to Google — Google Calendar subscriptions will not sync with iCloud but you can publish iCloud calendars to Google. You may want to do this to share your iCloud calendars on Google with those who are unable to use iCloud.
• Sync an iOS device with both Google and iCloud — If you are syncing BusyCal with both Google and iCloud, and want to sync those same calendars to your iPhone, you can sync your iPhone directly with Google Calendar, in addition to syncing your iPhone with iCloud.

Upgrading to iCloud

Please follow these instructions when upgrading BusyCal to iCloud.

1. Install BusyCal 1.6

You must be running BusyCal 1.6 or later to sync with iCloud. Direct customers may install the latest version of BusyCal by selecting Check for Updates from the BusyCal menu. Mac App Store customers may install the latest version from the Updates tab in the Mac App Store.

2. Reset BusyCal

It is recommended (but not required) that you reset BusyCal before upgrading to iCloud. Resetting BusyCal will clear your publish and subscribe settings and prevent subscribed calendars from getting orphaned on iCloud during the upgrade process (as described in step 7).

To reset BusyCal: Launch BusyCal, and select Help > Reset > Reset BusyCal.

When resetting BusyCal, your calendar data will be saved in a backup file, your publish and subscribe settings will be cleared, BusyCal will quit and its database will be deleted. Your MobileMe calendars will be preserved on MobileMe, your Google Calendars will be preserved on Google, and your local calendars will be preserved in Sync Services.

3. Install OS X Lion 10.7.2

You must be running OS X Lion 10.7.2 or later to sync with iCloud. To install the latest version of Lion, select Software Update from the Apple menu.

4. Open the iCloud prefpane and sign in

After installing OS X Lion 10.7.2, open the iCloud System Preference pane and enter your Apple ID (your MobileMe username) and password and click Sign In. If you don't already have an Apple ID, you can create a new account. Then follow the instructions to move your data to iCloud.

5. Launch iCal

Launch iCal and wait patiently while it syncs with iCloud. It may take a while. Wait until the process completes before continuing.

6. Launch BusyCal

Launch BusyCal and it should begin syncing with iCloud. If the iCloud calendars do not automatically appear in BusyCal, select Connect to iCloud/CalDAV Server from the Calendar menu and enter your Apple ID and password.



Note: iCloud will split each calendar into two calendars — one that contains Events, and one that contains To Dos. For example, if you had a Work calendar prior to the upgrade, it will be transformed into two Work calendars on iCloud — one for Events and one for To Dos. BusyCal will display a checkmark next to each of the To Do calendars and will automatically group them under a new calendar group called To Dos to help differentiate them from the Event calendars.

7. Delete orphaned calendars on iCloud and/or reconfigure your calendar sharing workflow

If you did not reset BusyCal prior to upgrading to iCloud (as described in step 2) you may have to perform some clean up. Since the iCloud upgrade process moves all calendars to the iCloud server, you may end up with orphaned calendars on iCloud that you were previously subscribed to on your LAN or on Google. Following is a description of what happens during the iCloud upgrade process and how to reconfigure things.

• Local calendars — All local calendars will be moved to iCloud.
• MobileMe calendars — All MobileMe calendars will be moved to iCloud. If you were previously sharing calendars through MobileMe, you will have to upgrade all users to iCloud and share calendars through iCloud.
• LAN calendar subscriptions — All calendars you were subscribed to on the LAN will be copied to iCloud and will no longer be syncing on the LAN. To clean things up, you must delete the orphaned calendars on iCloud (by control-clicking on them in BusyCal and choosing Delete), and resubscribe to the LAN calendars. Or you may want to stop sharing calendars over the LAN, and host your calendars on iCloud and share calendars through iCloud instead.
• Google calendar subscriptions — All calendars you were subscribed to on Google will be copied to iCloud and will no longer be syncing with Google. To clean things up, you must delete the orphaned calendars on iCloud (by control-clicking on them in BusyCal and choosing Delete), and resubscribe to the Google calendars. Or you may want to stop syncing with Google, and host your calendars on iCloud and share calendars through iCloud instead.
• Published calendars — All calendars you were publishing on the LAN or to Google will be unpublished. You can republish the iCloud calendars on the LAN or to Google after they have been moved to iCloud.

Note: Unique data types in BusyCal (such as Stickys, Journals, Graphics, Attachments, Tags, and Recurring To Dos) will be preserved when migrating from MobileMe to iCloud. But unique data types stored on local calendars, LAN calendar subscriptions, or Google Calendar subscriptions will be lost when migrating to iCloud. To restore them, see Restoring BusyCal unique data types.