Google Address book: Unable to open address book

[mmalmeida]

Since today (2015-05-27) I've been getting this message when trying to open my Google address book:

Unable to open address book

This address book cannot be opened. This either means that an incorrect URI was entered, or the server is unreachable.

Detailed error message: Unable to connect to 'Google address book': The requested resource was not found: https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps

Running standard Evolution ( 3.10.4) on Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS

[mmalmeida (mmalmeida)]

See also:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=749974

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Alejandro Espinosa (alejandro-espinosa)]

Same for me.
In the error message details you can see that it tries to redirect to https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps where you can read:

"ClientLogin has been officially deprecated since April 20, 2012 and is now no longer available. Requests to ClientLogin will fail with a HTTP 404 response. We encourage you to migrate to OAuth 2.0 as soon as possible."

[mmalmeida (mmalmeida)]

According to Evolution maintainers, Evolution 3.10.x is deprecated.

Since Ubuntu 14.04 is an LTS, how will this be handled? Should evolution version be upgraded within the LTS?

[Ilya G. Ryabinkin (ileyka)]

This bug affects also Evolution 3.2.3 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. How would I solve the problem there? There is nothing like GOA to configure.

[Gary Hooley (gary-hooley)]

Just like to add my name to list of people affected by this problem.
 I am using ubuntu 14.04 LTS 32bit with Evolution 3.10.4
An urgent fix would be appreciated as this is greatly affecting my daily business activities ('obviously').

[Anurag (anurag1008)]

hi
I am using Evolution 3.13.7on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64Bits , and started getting the same error. No longer able to get google contacts.

Tried the following but didn't work:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SyncEvolution/synchronize-google-contacts-with-evolution-addressbooks

Appreciate any help.

[Ajc (ajc-bcourt)]

I'm using Linux Mint version 17.1 Cinnamon, based on Ubuntu 14.04. Evolution is v3.10.4

I started a link on the Mint forums .. which has had over 200 views
- others I believe are affected by the bug.

link: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=196881

I imagine this should get a fairly high priority due to :
* 14.04 being a LTS
* it appears to be affecting more than one version of Evolution !

so hopefully the issue which is a Google ClientLogin issue can be sorted out by "migrate to OAuth 2.0 as soon as possible ..."

really hope this can be sorted out asap !!

Thx :^)

[cdh3 (charlie-hurt)]

Also using LM 17.1 and Evolution 3.10.4. Same problems as described above. Tried using Fedora 22 with Evolution 3.16 and the same problem occurs. Not sure that simply upgrading Evolution will solve this problem. As Ajc wrote: this is a Google ClientLogin issue.

[aeronutt (aeronutt)]

Same problem here. Hopefully gets fixed soooooon.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64bit
Evolution 3.10.4

[mmalmeida (mmalmeida)]

While a fix is not release, there is a workaround involving setting up Online Accounts directly. See https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=749974#c4

[Hagen Kuehn (hag-k)]

I am having the same problem too. Since so many different Evolution versions are affected, I get the impression that this problem is induced by Google...

Ubuntu 15.04 64-bit
Evolution 3.12.11

[Erman Kadir Kahraman (erman)]

I have solution for debian jessie.(debian wheezy not work)
Maybe this solution work for you.
Delete google contacts account created with evolution.
After create new online account with GNOME Contacts.
You may need also delete gmail imap mail account from evolution.
When configure online account with GNOME Contacts, it will create new gmail imap mail account

Tested succes :
Debian Jessie & GNOME Contacts 3.14.1

Tested fail :
Debian Wheezy & GNOME Contacts 3.4.1

[rhayman (rhayman)]

A temporary PITA workaround is to either use your 'Personal' contact list/address book or create a temporary contact list/address book.

1 - log into contacts.google.com, go to old contacts
2 - export your google contacts to a .vcf file
3 - Open Evolution, import that vcf file inot the 'Personal' or temporary contact list
4 - In Evolution, Edit -> Preferences -> contacts and change the autocompletion to be from the 'Personal' or temporary contact list/address book

Then, manually repeat/resync as often as needed.

Don't the maintainers of Evolution use the product? bugs like this are unacceptable since google announced the deprecation of the non OAuth authentication nearly 3 years ago.

[angus73 (angus73)]

Just to summarize:

The problem is: Evolution currently (even the git master development version) doesn't support OAuth authentications directly, only through GOA.

mmalmeida in comment #1 and comment #11 already pointed out how to solve this problem:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=749974#c4

Yes it is a workaround but AFAIK, and also in the opinion of evo developers, there are no drawbacks in setting up GOA directly.

So, set up a Google Online Account on your system, and all should work fine

[Ajc (ajc-bcourt)]

the workaround DOESN'T work for everyone ... !!!

for instance - it doesn't work with Linux Mint

=> so wonder if there are other distributions out there that might have the same problem ...

looks like Evolution is on it's way out !!
=============================

Thunderbird is already being chosen as the default email program for other distributions !

Sad to see it go ... :^(

[angus73 (angus73)]

I can add here that the "Google" address book is now working again. So I have disabled my GOA. Evo 3.12.11 on Ubuntu 15.04

[JL (ozrattler)]

Evolution 3.10.4
Mint 17.2 _x64~ Clean Install.

Work around posted as above failed. GOA being uncooperative as in I am unable to add an online account. More work on it coming up.

Any forecast on when Evolution will be able to work seamlessly as per past versions with Google?

[wmccarty (wdmlist)]

This bug affects me as well. This is that 0Auth password sign in thing that Google said they would no longer support from May 5th going onwards. I've know that in the past new releases of Evolution are normally not included unless you upgrade to a newer distribution (of your distro) or unless you find a package maintainer that has a newer version of Evolution, or unless you install the files yourself. (all in my experience)

You're supposed to be allowed to authorize "less secure devices" ('ll put the procedure below) but I've got that enabled and it has no effect on Evolution, so I'm thinking that this has more to do with the change that Google has done to their contacts, perhaps it's a new location, link, or connection method.

To enable Less Secure Devices:
Sign in to Gmail (or any other Google product)
Click your user picture
Select Account
Select Sign in & Security
Scroll down and set Allow less secure apps to ON

[wmccarty (wdmlist)]

Also if you have Gmail through Google Apps for work then you likely won't have the ability to change your Less Secure devices unless you're the maintainer of that service for your gmail accounts.

[wmccarty (wdmlist)]

I was just googling to find more recent articles and I found this on Stack Exchange where this person seems to be having similar problems with the latest version of Evolution... http://askubuntu.com/questions/648338/downgrade-from-evolution-3-16-to-evolution-3-12

[Lloyd Kvam (u-launchpad-venix-com)]

wmccarty: "0Auth password sign in thing that Google said they would no longer support"

I think that's backwards. Google requires OAuth, but Evolution does not DIRECTLY support it. Gnome now has a separate module for OAuth.

Run gnome-control-center; chose online accounts; add your Google account and allow Evolution to access it.

Once you've done this correctly, Google will display the access that you've allowed:
https://myaccount.google.com/u/1/security#connectedapps

[Rinaldo Bayreuth (gae2chah)]

Nope for Fedora latest. gnome-control-center.online accounts crashes and phones home to abrt.

[rhayman (rhayman)]

$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=14.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=trusty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS"

$ evolution -version
evolution 3.10.4

$ gnome-control-center --version
unity-control-center 14.04.3

I was able to get a Google Calendar to synch with Evolution, but still not able to get Google Contacts to synch using the following procedure:

1. Ubuntu: System Settings -> Online Accounts
 a. Add your Google account
 b. Turn off all applications except Evolution Data Server for Contacts and Calendar

2. Browser: Log in to Google go to your "My Account" page
 a. "Allow less secure Apps" must be ON
    If this is turned OFF, then Evolution will complain about an invalid password for your gmail account

Calendar
========
3. Ubuntu: Evolution -> Calendar
 a. Add a Google calendar
  i. Right-Click CalDAV (or Google, if it already exists in the left-hand frame)
  ii. Select Add Calendar
  iii. Type: Google,
       Name: <enter one>,
       Color: <choose one>,
       User: <your gmail address>,
       Calendar: "Default User Calendar"
  iv. Click OK
 b. Edit the Properties of calendar you just added
  i. Right-Click the new calendar
  ii. Select Properties
  iii. Click "Find Calendars"
  iv. Select the appropriate calendar
  v. Click OK

I had to perform both parts 3a and 3b because I received an error trying to select the Google calendar in the Add step

Contacts
========
4. Ubuntu: Evolution -> Contacts
 a. Click on GoogleContacts
  i. I continue getting the "Address book cannot be opened." error
     Unable to connect to 'Google Contacts': Requested resource was not found.
     https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps

<sigh> Maybe when 16.04 LTS stabilizes later this year this will be fixed...

[Barry Drake (b-drake)]

"<sigh> Maybe when 16.04 LTS stabilizes later this year this will be fixed..."

Not so far. If it is fixed, please can we have the working version put into 16.04, AND Yakkety too!

[Barry Drake (b-drake)]

The call is in camel-sasl-oauth2-google.c, but I don't know where it gets the URL string that needs changing. I guess I'd do the fix, if I understood a bit more! How long is that going to take someone who knows their way around the code?

When you go to the reported URL, you see this message: Important: ClientLogin has been officially deprecated since April 20, 2012 and is now no longer available. Requests to ClientLogin will fail with a HTTP 404 response. We encourage you to migrate to OAuth 2.0 as soon as possible. On that page, is the URL that needs to be called.

The link for migration in the above takes you to: https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/OAuth2

Regards, Barry.

[gcclinux (ricardo-gcclinux)]

I am running Ubuntu 16.04 and getting the same error:

Failed to connect address book 'Google : Google Address'

Has there been a solution for this issue?

[shelleyfrank (michael-pienaar)]

Linux Mint 17.3 XFCE, Evolution 3.10.4
Comment #7 above points to a workaround that actually works. SyncEvolution.

I am syncing my local address book in Evolution using syncevolution mentioned in post #7 above.
I followed the instructions given on the page https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SyncEvolution/synchronize-google-contacts-with-evolution-addressbooks to set up syncevolution. There they mention a file, /usr/share/accounts/services/google-contacts.service that needs to be edited before syncevolution can be set up. I discovered that this file doesn't exist on my system! I found the file here: https://apt-browse.org/browse/ubuntu/trusty/main/i386/evolution-data-server-online-accounts/3.10.4-0ubuntu1/file/usr/share/accounts/services/google-contacts.service and I created it in my /usr/share/accounts/services/ folder, added the missing line, and started setting up syncevolution.

What it does is syncing the Evolution address book under "On This Computer" and not the "<user>@gmail.com" Contacts. However, the result is identical and acceptable.

[Khurshid Alam (khurshid-alam)]

The fix has been released for eds-3.19 and evolution-3.19. It would be great if someone cherry-pick this for 3.18 a well.

[Phil Norisez (norisezp)]

I am experiencing "The requested resource was not found: https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps" on Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) evolution 3.2.3. I see the last post here was 2016-09-21. Has this been fixed and when will it be pushed out to 12.04 LTS?

[Lloyd Kvam (u-launchpad-venix-com)]

I believe this has been fixed in Ubuntu 16.04 - at least that's what I'm running and I have no complaints. I have no idea about the status with 12.04

[Scott Moore (scottbomb)]

I found this thread searching for the error. This is still present on my install of Kubuntu 16.04. Error says "The requested resource was not found: https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps".

[wmccarty (wdmlist)]

Somehow on the version of Evolution 3.22.6 that I am using when adding a google account it allowed me to sign in to google and authorize the adding of the account. This was after installing account-plugin-google on Kubuntu 17.04. I'm not 100% sure that helped but I figured it might after searching the packages for google.

[ggallozz (ggallozz-gmail)]

so what's going on, at today?!
This is a severe issue for Evolution and *buntu users (moreover for LTS's ones).
Why we aren't updated about ?!
I'm very disappointed, particularly after seen the problem going on for years ...

[Lloyd Kvam (u-launchpad-venix-com)]

Read comment #22.
The integration between online accounts (e.g. gmail) is a separate app within Gnome. Once you setup gmail within the online-accounts app you will be all set with Evolution. You can access the online-account setup from the gnome-control-center.