Administrator setup for Google Apps Sync

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® is a Microsoft Outlook® plug-in that lets you use Microsoft Outlook® as a client for Google Apps email, calendar, and contacts. Email, calendar events (including recurring meetings), and contacts are all synchronized between Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook®. Outlook Notes are synced with Google Docs. Outlook Tasks are synced with your Gmail Task gadget. And your organization's Global Address List is automatically synchronized, as well. This includes your Google Apps users, groups, shared contacts, and conference rooms, and provides contact look-up as well as free/busy information for users and conference rooms.

Beta feature: Synchronizing Outlook Notes and Tasks with Google Apps are currently Beta release features.

Data synchronization occurs on the following schedule (and also each time you start Outlook):

• Email: Every minute
• Calendar: Immediately after you create or receive a meeting invitation, or every 10 minutes
• Contacts: Every 20 minutes
• Global address list: Every 24 hours
• Notes:  Immediately after creating or changing a note, or every 60 minutes 
• Tasks: Every 2 hours

Importing: Google Apps Sync also lets users import data from Outlook to Google Apps—either when initially setting up their user profile in Outlook, or any time afterwards. When importing, people have the option to import directly from an Exchange account or from a PST file. Keep in mind that executables and attachments over 18MB are not imported to Gmail, as per Google Apps restrictions. See below for details.

For information about which Microsoft Outlook® features are supported and how using this service differs from using Microsoft Outlook® with other mail systems such as Microsoft® Exchange, see the Google Apps Sync user help.

Edition requirements

• Google Apps for Business, Education, or Government

Settings you need to make in the Google Admin console

• Verify that the Enable Google Apps Sync and Google Apps Connector for my users option is set in the Admin console:
  1. Click Google Apps > Gmail > User settings. Where is it?
  2. Under Outlook & Blackberry Support, verify that the check box is selected for Enable Google Apps Sync and Google Apps Connector for my users.
  3. If you have to select the check box, also click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
• Verify that the Google Calendar service is enabled so your users can create profiles:
  1. In the Admin console, click Google Apps. ^{Where is it?}
  2. If Calendar is not listed, click .
  3. Under Calendar, click Add it now.
• Verify that contact sharing is enabled so that your Global Address List is dynamically updated for each instance of the utility:
  1. Click Google Apps > Contacts > Sharing Settings.
     ^{Where is it?}
  2. Select Enable contact sharing (if it's not already selected).
  3. Click Save changes.
• If you plan to use Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® to import email to Google Apps, you'll need to:
  • Set the Email Migration API option in the Admin console: In the console, go to the Settings > Email > User email uploads section, select the check box for "Allow users to upload mail using the Email Migration API."
  • Make sure Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook® is installed on each user's computer. See below for details.
• If you plan to use Global Address List (GAL) Generator, set the Enable API option in the Admin console:
  1. In the Admin console, click Security > API reference.
  2. Select the check box for Enable API Access.
  3. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Links to Microsoft's website are provided for your convenience. The links and their content may change without notice. Please consult Microsoft's website for the latest configuration and support information.

Operating system requirements

• Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit)
• Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
• Windows Vista SP1 (64 bit)
• Windows Vista SP1 (32 bit)
• Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

Note: Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is not supported for the Mac. Microsoft Outlook for Mac does not support the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), which is required for Google Apps Sync to communicate with Outlook. This Outlook limitation makes a Mac-compatible version of Google Apps Sync infeasible.

Microsoft Outlook® requirements

• Microsoft Outlook® 2013 (32 and 64 bit)
• Microsoft Outlook® 2010 (32 and 64 bit) * and this free/busy hotfix
• Microsoft Outlook® 2007 with Office SP2
• Microsoft Outlook® 2007 with Office SP1 and this hotfix
• Microsoft Outlook® 2003 with Office SP3

* Only MSI-based editions of Outlook are supported, not Click-to-Run editions. If you're using Click-to-Run, you can follow these instructions from Microsoft to Switch to using an MSI-based Office edition (instructions apply for Outlook 2010 Click-to-Run only).

Permissions requirements for users

Users need to have local admin permissions for their computers in order to perform the installation.

Port requirements

Open port 443 for the following applications on the computer on which you install Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook®:

• Outlook.exe
• ProfileEditor.exe

Google Apps Sync must be installed on each person's computer, who wants to use the plug-in. You have two options for installation:

• Push an .msi file to your users and let them use the Run Advertised Programs option in the Windows Control Panel. Download the .msi file below—be sure to pick the correct one, based on your users' version of Outlook. For information on implementing the .msi file, consult your Windows documentation.
  Download 32-bit enterprise_gsync.msi (Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 32-bit edition)
  Download 64-bit enterprise gsync.msi (Outlook 2010, 2013 64-bit edition)
• Let users download Google Apps Sync themselves from the Google Apps Sync download page. They can then follow these instructions to install the plug-in.

Importing: To migrate their old Outlook data to Google Apps, users also need a separate tool, Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®. Users who download Google Apps Sync version 2.1 or later from the download page get this migration tool, automatically. If you push Google Apps Sync to users via an .msi file, however, you'll need to push Google Apps Migration to them as well, or have them install the migration tool themselves. See below for details.

Google Apps Sync lets users import data from an Exchange account or Outlook PST file using a separate migration tool, Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®. The import experience is seamless for users in that Google Apps Sync launches the migration tool for them, so in most cases, users won't even notice they're using a separate tool.

Google Apps Sync launches the migration tool in the following cases:

• When users import data while creating their user profile—either when first installing Google Apps Sync or by choosing Google Apps Sync > Set up a Google Apps Sync user from the Windows Start menu (see creating a new profile).
• When users choose to import data to an existing profile by choosing Google Apps Sync > Import data to Google Apps Sync from the Windows Start menu.

In each of these cases, users can import mail, contacts, calendar events, and Outlook notes, which become available both in Outlook and the Google Apps web interface. They can also import Outlook tasks, and journal entries, which remain available only in Outlook.

Migration tool must be installed: For Google Apps Migration to launch, the tool must be installed on the user's computer. Downloading Google Apps Sync version 2.1 or later from the Google Apps Sync download page downloads Google Apps Migration automatically, so users who do that can import data with no extra setup. Users who are upgraded from a previous version of Google Apps Sync, however, need to install Google Apps Migration themselves if they want to import data. For details, see enable my import options.

You'll also need to push the migration tool to users who install Google Apps Sync via an .msi file, as downloading the .msi installation file does not automatically install Google Apps Migration. For more, see install Google Apps Sync, above.

Running Google Apps Migration standalone: Note that users can also launch Google Apps Migration as a standalone application from the Windows Start menu > Google Apps Migration menu. However, this doesn't import Outlook notes, tasks, or journal entries. To import this data, users should run their migrations via Google Apps Sync.

If you're using Google Apps Sync in a mixed Google Apps/Exchange environment, and you want to query free/busy information for Exchange users, you need to:

• Enable Google Calendar Connectors:
  • Consult http://code.google.com/p/google-calendar-connectors/ for information about setting up and managing the Google Calendar Connector Web Service.
  • Download GoogleCalendarConnectorWebService(1.3).msi so you can run the installation.
• Create the following registry key and accompanying string value on each computer where Google Apps Sync is installed:
  • Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Apps Sync\CalendarSync
  • String value: Value name: FreeBusyURL; Value data: <URL for the Calendar Connector>—for example, http://www.MY_COMPANY_FREEBUSY_SERVER.com/GCalExchangeLookup/ExchangeQuerierAsIcal.aspx (where you replace MY_COMPANY_FREEBUSY_SERVER with the name of your company's server).
  Note: If you're running a 32-bit version of Outlook on a 64-bit version of Windows, create this registry key in the correct location for 32 bit applications. For details, see the instructions on using the Windows registry at Configure limits and options via the registry.

As an administrator, you can use Google Update to control whether or not Google Apps Sync is automatically updated on your users' computers. Learn more