Ansible Role: thunderbird-autoconfig

Provision Thunderbird with a locked auto-config, pre-seeded accounts/contacts, optional CA certificates, and multi-profile support (VNC-friendly by default).

What this role does

• Stops Thunderbird and removes the existing profile directory before applying changes.
• Installs syspref.js and thunderbird.cfg under /etc/thunderbird and /usr/lib/thunderbird.
• Creates profiles.ini, installs.ini, and profile directories for profile.default plus every entry in thunderbird_profile_names.
• Patches /usr/lib/thunderbird/thunderbird.sh so VNC sessions use vnc<DISPLAY> profile names, matching the defaults in thunderbird_profile_names.
• Imports trusted CA certificates and seeds accounts/address book entries on first start when provided.

Role Variables

Profile and file layout

Variable	Default	Description
thunderbird_user	auto-detected first user with UID >= 1000	User whose Thunderbird config is managed; set explicitly to override detection.
thunderbird_config_dir	/home/{{ thunderbird_user }}/.thunderbird	Thunderbird configuration directory that will be replaced.
thunderbird_syspref	syspref.js	Source file copied to /etc/thunderbird/syspref.js to activate autoconfig.
thunderbird_autoconfig	thunderbird.cfg.j2	Template/file rendered to /usr/lib/thunderbird/thunderbird.cfg.
thunderbird_profiles_ini	profiles.ini	Template used to write profiles.ini inside thunderbird_config_dir.
thunderbird_installs_ini	installs.ini	Template used to write installs.ini inside thunderbird_config_dir.
thunderbird_profiles_version	FDC34C9F024745EB	Install identifier used in the ini files.
thunderbird_profile_names	['vnc0', 'vnc1', 'vnc2']	Extra profiles created alongside profile.default; the patched launcher will pick vnc<DISPLAY> automatically, so keep names in sync with expected display numbers.

Account and data setup

Variable	Default	Description
thunderbird_config	[]	List of mail accounts to create (see account fields below).
thunderbird_contacts	[]	List of address-book entries to add on first start.
thunderbird_trusted_certs	[]	List of CA certificate file paths that will be imported into Thunderbird.

thunderbird_config account fields

Field	Default	Description
name	falls back to email	Display name for the account.
email	required	Account email address.
user	required	Username for IMAP/POP3 and SMTP.
password	null	Password stored in the login manager when provided.
retrievServer	required	IMAP/POP3 server hostname.
retrievPort	143	Retrieval port.
retrievSock	2	Retrieval socket option (0 none, 2 STARTTLS, 3 SSL/TLS).
retrievAuth	3	Retrieval auth method (1 none, 3 normal password, 4 encrypted password, 5 Kerberos/GSSAPI, 6 NTLM, 7 TLS cert, 8 OAuth2).
mode	imap	Retrieval mode placeholder (currently stored but not consumed by the template).
smtpServer	required	SMTP server hostname.
smtpPort	587	SMTP port.
smtpSock	2	SMTP socket option (0 none, 2 STARTTLS, 3 SSL/TLS).
smtpAuth	3	SMTP auth method (values as above).
cert	null	Optional S/MIME certificate file (import depends on Thunderbird support).
cert_pw	null	Password used for cert when required.

Example playbook

Provision multiple VNC profiles with one configured account, seeded contacts, and imported CA certs:

- hosts: "{{ test_host | default('localhost') }}"
  roles:
    - role: thunderbird-autoconfig
      vars:
        thunderbird_profile_names:
          - vnc0
          - vnc1
          - vnc2
          - vnc3
        thunderbird_trusted_certs:
          - files/ca.crt
        thunderbird_config:
          - name: Test User
            email: test@local
            user: test@local
            password: test
            smtpServer: 127.0.0.1
            smtpPort: 587
            smtpSock: 2
            smtpAuth: 3
            retrievServer: 127.0.0.1
            retrievPort: 993
            retrievSock: 3
            retrievAuth: 3
            mode: imap
        thunderbird_contacts:
          - FirstName: Bob
            LastName: Example
            PrimaryEmail: [email protected]
            DisplayName: Bob Example
          - FirstName: Alice
            LastName: Example
            PrimaryEmail: [email protected]

Licence

GPL-3.0

Author information

This role was created in 2019 by Maximilian Frank adapted by Lenhard Reuter (AIT)