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Currently running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with Thunderbird v91.11 installed from Debian packages, but soon switching over to 22.04 LTS, what is the best way to update Thunderbird to the most recent version available from Snap Store or Flatpak while keeping all settings, accounts and mail databases?

Will it be done automatically during Ubuntu upgrade, or should I switch to Snapcraft before upgrading, or should I keep the package install and switch to Snapcraft or Flatpak after doing the 22.04.1 upgrade?

(I don't have Flatpak yet but I guess I will after I have upgraded to 22.04 LTS.)

w-sky
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  • How one user did it successfully: https://askubuntu.com/a/1425324/19626 . Basically, your Profile must move from /$HOME/.thunderbird to /$HOME/.snap/thunderbird/common/.thunderbird – user535733 Sep 06 '22 at 11:44
  • Alternately, if using IMAP, simply re-enter your mailserver address and password, and Thunderbird will do the rest. – user535733 Sep 06 '22 at 11:46

2 Answers2

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Thunderbird (APT) version still exists and is currently at v91.13.0 in Ubuntu 22.04.1. Since it available from Ubuntu Software, upgrading from 20.04 should not have any significant impact.

The question as to whether to change to the snap version is one of choice.

This resource from Snapcraft provides a route to install the Snap version for many Linux versions including Ubuntu.

graham
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  • There is one reason for me, being that the apt version still is at v91 while Snapcraft has v102. Thanks! Know I know what to do! – w-sky Sep 14 '22 at 15:31
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Installing the snap or flatpak version will not automatically migrate the settings for the APT install. All these packages can eoexist and also use different locations to store the user configuration.

To migrate the settings (and email), it suffices to move the .thunderbird directory to the new location.

For example, the Thunderbird settings for an APT installation are stored in ~/.thunderbird (where ~ stands for your home directory, e.g. /home/user). The snap version stores the profile under ~/snap/thunderbird/common. Thus

  1. Make sure Thunderbird is closed and remove the APT version.
  2. Install the snap version.
  3. Run the snap version of thunderbird and connect to an account in order to create the necessary directories.
  4. Close Thunderbird.
  5. Delete the folder ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.thunderbird and move .thunderbird in your home directory to the directory ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.

When restarting Thunderbird (the Snap version) it will work with the profile used by the APT version.

vanadium
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