The configuration of Thunderbird is accomplished by creating a .mozconfig file containing the desired configuration options. A default .mozconfig is created below. To see the entire list of available configuration options (and an abbreviated description of each one), issue ./configure --help. If you are going to use system-installed versions of the NSS and NSPR libraries, ensure you uncomment the two lines near the bottom of the file. You may also wish to review the entire file and uncomment any other desired options. If you would prefer to download the file instead of creating it by typing or cut-and-pasting, you can find it at http://anduin.linuxfromscratch.org/files/BLFS/thunderbird-1.5.0.9-mozconfig (the file must be installed in the root of the source tree mozilla directory, and named .mozconfig). Create the file by issuing the following command:

cat > .mozconfig << "EOF"
# This file contains the options used in the Thunderbird build. You may
# need to specify additional options for your specific build needs.
# Use the information provided by running './configure --help' to
# help you determine if you need to add any additional options.
# Some additional options can be added by uncommenting the examples
# in this file or adding options by inserting a line containing
# 'ac_add_options --some-option-you-need'.


# Use the default settings specified in the source tree
. $topsrcdir/mail/config/mozconfig

# Create an object directory and specify to build the package in that
# directory. If desired, modify the location of the object directory
# to a directory inside the source tree by removing '../' from the
# line below.
mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/../thunderbird-build

# Specify the installation prefix. If you would prefer Thunderbird
# installed in a different prefix, modify the line below to fit
# your needs. You'll also need to modify some of the instructions in
# the BLFS book to point to your desired prefix.
ac_add_options --prefix=/usr

# These options are used so that the Thunderbird binaries are linked to
# the system-installed copies of the specified libraries instead of
# the source tree code which may not be the most recent versions.
ac_add_options --with-system-zlib
ac_add_options --with-system-png
ac_add_options --with-system-jpeg
ac_add_options --enable-system-cairo

# This option causes the installed binaries to have the official
# Thunderbird name embedded in them. Due to license restrictions, you
# may not distribute binaries created using this option.
ac_add_options --enable-official-branding

# This option specifies to include support for rendering the HTML
# <canvas></canvas> tag in the Thunderbird mail client.
#ac_add_options --enable-canvas

# This option is used so that the debugging symbols are removed from
# the installed binaries during the installation process. Comment out
# this option if you may have a need to retain the debugging symbols
# in the installed binaries. Note that this can substantially
# increase the size of the installed binaries.
ac_add_options --enable-strip

# This option is added so that test libraries and programs are not
# built. These would only be required for debugging purposes.
ac_add_options --disable-tests

# This option is added so that the Mozilla Installer program is not
# built or installed. The program is not required for a BLFS
# installation of Thunderbird.
ac_add_options --disable-installer

# This option is used to disable the a11y support in the Thunderbird
# binaries. Comment out this option if you require a11y support.
ac_add_options --disable-accessibility

# This option is used to enable source tree included LDAP support in
# the Thunderbird binaries.
ac_add_options --enable-ldap

# This option is used to enable support for rendering SVG files in the
# Thunderbird mail client. Uncomment the line below to enable the option.
#ac_add_options --enable-svg

# Uncomment this option if you desire support for dual-monitor
# display of Thunderbird using the X-Window Xinerama libraries.
#ac_add_options --enable-xinerama

# Complex scripts such as Thai can only be rendered in Thunderbird with
# the help of Pango. This option significantly slows rendering, so only
# use it if necessary.
#ac_add_options --enable-pango

# These two options enable support for building Thunderbird with
# system-installed versions of the Network Security Services (NSS)
# and Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) libraries. Uncomment both
# lines to enable support for system-installed NSS/NSPR.
#ac_add_options --with-system-nss
#ac_add_options --with-system-nspr

# This option identifies the default binary directory of the Thunderbird
# installation and is used to locate Thunderbird's installed files. This
# option is not required for end-user use, and is only used for
# development purposes.
#ac_add_options --with-default-mozilla-five-home=/usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9

EOF

If you wish to use Pango for font rendering and have uncommented the appropriate option in .mozconfig, apply the following patch:

patch -Np1 -i ../thunderbird-1.5.0.9-pangoxft-1.patch

If you have system-installed Network Security Services (NSS) and Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) libraries and you uncommented the appropriate lines in the .mozconfig file to utilize them, apply the following patch:

patch -Np1 -i ../thunderbird-1.5.0.9-system_nss-1.patch

Compile Thunderbird by issuing the following commands:

sed -i "s/^    enum$/& xptinfo_enum_1/" \
    xpcom/reflect/xptinfo/public/xptinfo.h &&
make -f client.mk build

This package does not come with a test suite.

If you're building the Enigmail extension, issue the following commands:

tar -xf ../enigmail-0.94.2.tar.gz -C mailnews/extensions &&
( cd mailnews/extensions/enigmail && ./makemake -r ) &&

make -C ../thunderbird-build/mailnews/extensions/enigmail &&
make -C ../thunderbird-build/mailnews/extensions/enigmail \
        XPIFILE=enigmail.xpi xpi

Install Thunderbird by running the following commands as the root user:

make -f client.mk install &&

install -v -m644 ../thunderbird-build/dist/public/ldap-private/* \
    /usr/include/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/ldap &&

install -v -m755 -d /usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/defaults/isp/US &&
install -v -m644 mailnews/base/ispdata/movemail.rdf \
                 mail/extensions/newsblog/rss.rdf \
    /usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/defaults/isp &&
ln -v -s ../{movemail,rss}.rdf \
    /usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/defaults/isp/US

If you built Thunderbird utilizing system-installed NSS and NSPR libraries, the thunderbird-ns*.pc pkgconfig files are broken as they point to the wrong directories where the actual libraries and interface headers are located. Issue the following commands as the root user to replace the broken files with symbolic links to known good files:

ln -v -sf nss.pc /usr/lib/pkgconfig/thunderbird-nss.pc &&
ln -v -sf nspr.pc /usr/lib/pkgconfig/thunderbird-nspr.pc

If you did NOT build Thunderbird utilizing system-installed NSS and NSPR libraries, issue the following commands as the root user to install the NSS interface headers:

install -v -m755 -d /usr/include/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/nss &&
cp -v -Lf ../thunderbird-build/dist/{private,public}/nss/*.h \
    /usr/include/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/nss

If you built the Enigmail extension, issue the following commands as the root user to install the .xpi file:

install -v -m644 -D ../thunderbird-build/dist/bin/enigmail.xpi \
    /usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/xpi_store/enigmail.xpi

If you want to install Enigmail globally so that all users who run Thunderbird will have access to the extension, issue the command shown below. Note that this procedure starts an instance of Thunderbird and you must have an X server running. Issue the following command as the root user:

/usr/bin/thunderbird -install-global-extension \
    /usr/lib/thunderbird-1.5.0.9/xpi_store/$ENIGMAIL_FILENAME

Global installation of other extensions can be done using the same basic method as the Enigmail extension. See the “Configuring Thunderbird” section below for information about configuring Enigmail for individual users if you did not not install it globally.