microsnailapps/thunderbird repository overview

⁠Thunderbird

This is Thunderbird email application (www.thunderbird.net)⁠ with Lightning calendar extension run in a Docker container. It was built and tested on Windows host, but should run on Mac or Linux also.

As it is a GUI application it needs X11 server running on a host - VcXsrv (sourceforge.net/projects/vcxsrv)⁠ is a good option for Windows.

⁠How to use it

⁠1. Start X11 server

You can use any X11 server. The command bellow shows start of VcXsrv on Windows:

vcxsrv.exe :0 -ac +bs -reset -terminate -dpi auto -render color -lesspointer -multiwindow -multimonitors +xinerama -clipboard -emulate3buttons -hostintitle -keyhook -wgl -swrastwgl -winkill

This will enable to start docker application in a standard window with clipboard mapped to/from container.

⁠2. Start the app

To start the app run:

docker run -d --rm -v $HOSTCONFIG:/config:rw -v $HOSTSTORAGE:/storage:rw microsnailapps/thunderbird

The -v $HOSTCONFIG:/config part of the command mounts $HOSTCONFIG directory from the underlying host system as /config inside the container, where Thunderbird will store its profile data. The -v $HOSTSTORAGE:/storage then gives Thunderbird access to files on host system.

NOTE: for Linux host you should also add mount of X11 directory like -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix.

⁠Configuration

Most of settings are built into the image, however some of them can be changed on runtime via environment variables or commands.

⁠Timezone

The default timezone of the image is Europe/Prague. However, you can change it by passing environment variable on container start -e "TZ=$YOURTIMEZONE".

⁠Display

The default DISPLAY value is host.docker.internal:0.0, which resolves to host address in Docker Desktop for Windows and Mac from version 18.03. Until Linux Docker distribution will supported this also, you can override the default on start by -e "DISPLAY=$YOURDISPLAYVALUE".

⁠Keyboard input language

The default keyboard language is US (QWERTY). Unfortunatelly, it cannot be changed by any shortcut, but following command will do the trick:

docker exec $CONTAINER setxkbmap $KB

where $KB is two letter identification of keyboard language, e.g. us for US keyboard, cz for Czech keyboard.

⁠Font size

Display font size can be adjusted using environment variable GDK_DPI_SCALE. It is set to 0.8 by default, but you can change it by passing another value on container start -e "GDK_DPI_SCALE=$YOURVALUE".

⁠More resources

You can find more information (like Dockerfile, helper scripts and contact) at Microsnail docker apps and utils⁠ page.