Thunderbird Snap problem

[waverider]

Since upgrading to Kubuntu 24.04 I have been having problems with email storage using Thunderbird. Thunderbird is now installed as a Snap.

I store my emails on my local server so that I can access them from different computers and connect through my wired network.

I had a weird situation where sometimes on starting the computer Thunderbird connected OK to the server, but at other times it failed to access them. It took me a while to work out that if the computer was turned off over-night, the next day it would fail to access the mail on the server. On rebooting it accessed the mail on the server correctly.

I also have observed that if I turn the computer off, then a couple of hours later reboot, it again connects correctly.

It appears that the overnight shutdown is the catalyst for the connection issue.

I have now set Thunderbird to autostart on boot, but the problem was the same if I activated it manually after startup.

Others have reported online problems with setting a remote local directory using the new Thunderbird Snap on Kubuntu 24.04.

I also installed Thunderbird as a Flatpack to check if it was the Snap, and experienced exactly the same behavior with the Flatpack install.

I checked with dmesg and have found that after the overnight shutdown, the next day the last entries resulting from Thunderbird startup are as follows:




[ +2.096772] kauditd_printk_skb: 7 callbacks suppressed

[ +0.000005] audit: type=1107 audit(1726543014.112:261): pid=1538 uid=103 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=unconfined msg='apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call" bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.103" pid=2836 label="snap.thunderbird.thunderbird" peer_pid=3708 peer_label="unconfined"

exe="/usr/bin/dbus-daemon" sauid=103 hostname=? addr=? terminal=?'

[ +0.000916] audit: type=1107 audit(1726543014.113:262): pid=1538 uid=103 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=unconfined msg='apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call" bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.103" pid=2836 label="snap.thunderbird.thunderbird" peer_pid=3708 peer_label="unconfined"

exe="/usr/bin/dbus-daemon" sauid=103 hostname=? addr=? terminal=?'

[Sep17 13:18] audit: type=1107 audit(1726543127.777:263): pid=1538 uid=103 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=unconfined msg='apparmor="DENIED" operation="dbus_method_call" bus="system" path="/org/freedesktop/timedate1" interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" mask="send" name=":1.112" pid=2836 label="snap.thunderbird.thunderbird" peer_pid=4433 peer_label="unconfined"

exe="/usr/bin/dbus-daemon" sauid=103 hostname=? addr=? Terminal=?'




These messages do not appear after a reboot when the emails are correctly accessed.


Is this a timing issue with network connection of some sort after a long period shut down or is there some other explanation?

Is it that Thunderbird is called before the network connection to the server is established? I have established that it is not the server causing the problem as other users with Kubuntu 22.04 can connect correctly.

[kc1di]

I no expert at this, but I would try a straight .deb install of thunderbird and see if it still a problem.
https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php...b-ubuntu-2404/

[waverider]

Thanks for the response,
Yes the deb install may resolve the immediate problem, however it doesn't fix the issue which if Ubuntu is going to use snaps and flatpack will be ongoing until it is fixed.
I am wondering if it is associated with apparmor which is sending the DENIED messages? I don't know enough about apparmor to determine this.

[kc1di]

Thanks for the response,
Yes the deb install may resolve the immediate problem, however it doesn't fix the issue which if Ubuntu is going to use snaps and flatpack will be ongoing until it is fixed.
I am wondering if it is associated with apparmor which is sending the DENIED messages? I don't know enough about apparmor to determine this.

Appamor may be the culprit but I don't know enough about it to venture a guess. Good luck in finding a solution.