How to setup your Office 365 email using Evolution-EWS (Linux)

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[Note: The instructions which follow are specific to customers of UT-Austin’s EXO environment.]

A variant of the Evolution email client for Linux is available which utilizes the Exchange-native Exchange Web Services (EWS) API to access and manage Exchange mailbox content, including Calendar data. For Linux users, this represents the best available option for connecting Office 365 Exchange Online aside from the Outlook Web App.
(Note that this information is provided for informational purposes only. This is not an officially supported client in our environment.)

Obtaining Evolution EWS

For Ubuntu, Debian, and their variants, open a terminal and run the following shell commands:

sudo apt-get remove evolution
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install evolution
sudo apt-get install evolution-ews

(The first command will remove any existing version in case an older, non-EWS-aware version is present.)

For CentOS or RedHat, open a terminal and run the following shell commands:

sudo yum update
sudo yum install evolution
sudo yum install evolution-ews

Configuring Evolution-EWS to connect to Exchange Online

Launch the Evolution application. If this is a new installation, follow the prompts below to configure your account. Otherwise, select the menu items File -> New -> Mail Account, click Next, then follow the prompts.

  • Enter your name and your primary Smtp address, uncheck Look up mail server details… and click Next.
  • For Server Type, select Exchange Web Services.
  • For Username, specify your email address.
  • Change Host URL to https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx .
    Click the Fetch URL button, providing your EID password when prompted. This will result in the OAB URL field being populated, which is the address from which the client can download a copy of the Offline Address Book.
  • Change Authentication to OAuth2 (Office365).
  • Make sure that Override Office365 OAuth2 settings is checked and populate the Tenant ID and Application ID fields as follows:
    • Tenant ID: 31d7e2a5-bdd8-414e-9e97-bea998ebdfe1
    • Application ID: bd4d4c73-8649-4fd0-9c9d-3a88e73432f5
  • Finish the New Mail Account Wizard, and you will then be taken to the University’s login page. Authenticate with your EID credentials and perform Duo multi-factor authentication.

Please note that the initial synchronization with your account may take an extended period of time if you have a large mailbox.

External documentation: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evolution/EWS/OAuth2

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