I want to put my "local" mail folders onto a network drive but access it via a linux pc and a windows pc
I need to have my mail in a location where I can access it from two (or more) pc's. One is a Linux box and the other will be a windows box. The reason is that I have two pc's being used via a kvm switch and while I am in windows, I have no access to the email system. I have to switch back to Linux to send email. So, what I was wondering is, can I put my email onto a NAS, point my thunderbird installation at it from each PC and see the email ?? Also I suspect that I can't use the same profile (accounts, address box) from that same NAS, ie one copy as the file names, paths or whatever will be incompatible from Linux to windows. If I can, then all the better, as there would be no synchronisation problems, like adding an email address on one pc and not seeing it on another.
Has anyone done this before and what where the problems ?
Thanks for your patience in this long message.
Ausgewählte Lösung
You have identified one major problem; pathname incompatibility. Another is that addons with binary components (for example, Lightning, Enigmail) cannot be shared between different operating systems.
And I'm sorry to have to say that people who use a common profile on a network share such as a NAS run into problems, even when all the sharing computers run the same OS. Similarly, tricks such as keeping the profile in Dropbox often have troubles of their own.
I use what has become known as "the cloud"; IMAP for email, services such as Google Calendar and Google Contacts for Lightning and the Address Book. But this excludes Local Folders and account settings.
Another approach which I'm rather reluctant to mention is to have a separate profile for each OS, but put your message stores into a shared folder. These are set as the "Local Directory" in Account Settings. Doing this puts the onus on you to track these folders, since when they are no longer held in the profile, they won't be included by normal profile maintenance activities.
Of course, doing this with message stores doesn't do anything to help with contacts and calendars, nor with the management of your email accounts.
Be aware that there is a locking mechanism too. I don't know what happens if your Linux instance tries to modify the profile while it is simultaneously open in the Windows instance. It's quite possible that neither will recognise the other's lock file. But having two clients simultaneously accessing a common resource will lead to trouble, as it was not designed for use this way. And I would expect the same issues with separate profiles and a common Local Folders file.
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Ausgewählte Lösung
You have identified one major problem; pathname incompatibility. Another is that addons with binary components (for example, Lightning, Enigmail) cannot be shared between different operating systems.
And I'm sorry to have to say that people who use a common profile on a network share such as a NAS run into problems, even when all the sharing computers run the same OS. Similarly, tricks such as keeping the profile in Dropbox often have troubles of their own.
I use what has become known as "the cloud"; IMAP for email, services such as Google Calendar and Google Contacts for Lightning and the Address Book. But this excludes Local Folders and account settings.
Another approach which I'm rather reluctant to mention is to have a separate profile for each OS, but put your message stores into a shared folder. These are set as the "Local Directory" in Account Settings. Doing this puts the onus on you to track these folders, since when they are no longer held in the profile, they won't be included by normal profile maintenance activities.
Of course, doing this with message stores doesn't do anything to help with contacts and calendars, nor with the management of your email accounts.
Be aware that there is a locking mechanism too. I don't know what happens if your Linux instance tries to modify the profile while it is simultaneously open in the Windows instance. It's quite possible that neither will recognise the other's lock file. But having two clients simultaneously accessing a common resource will lead to trouble, as it was not designed for use this way. And I would expect the same issues with separate profiles and a common Local Folders file.
Geändert am von Zenos
Thanks for your reply and very informative information. I don't think that I'll be using the NAS location for sharing the email.
The profile problems make it a non-starter, but It could be useful when I come to reinstall this machine, (Linux), which is my main machine. I can have the mail store and the profile on the NAS, which is constantly backed up, unlike this machine. I can then wipe the older installation of Linux, and upgrade. Point thunderbird at it again, on the NAS and good to go, and if all fails or I need to get to the email other way, I can use the windows machine.
As you can imagine, the email is an important resource, as its part of my business and would need to be accessible at all times.
Being on the NAS gives me a level of security that I need.
Again, thanks for the reply.