[GH-ISSUE #508] Improve Icedove/Thunderbird profile to work with Unix Mailspool account (Unable to create lock file) #359

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opened 2026-05-05 05:40:42 -06:00 by gitea-mirror · 2 comments

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:40:42 -06:00

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Originally created by @boite on GitHub (May 10, 2016).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netblue30/firejail/issues/508

Icedove pops up the following message when configured with a Unix Mailspool (Movemail) account and when started with $ firejail icedove:-

Unable to create lock file /var/spool/mail/some_username.lock. For movemail to work, it is necessary to create lock files in the mail spool directory. On many systems, this is best accomplished by making the spool directory be mode 01777.

Output with --trace contains:-

2:icedove:open64 /var/spool/mail/some_username:36
2:icedove:access /var/spool/mail:-1
2:icedove:open64 /var/spool/mail/some_username:-1

Using firejail from the master branch @ HEAD.

$ firejail --version
firejail version 0.9.40~rc2
$ uname -rvmo
3.19.0-58-generic #64~14.04.1+7.0trisquel1 SMP Tue Apr 5 15:33:26 UTC 2016 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Originally created by @boite on GitHub (May 10, 2016). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netblue30/firejail/issues/508 Icedove pops up the following message when configured with a Unix Mailspool (Movemail) account and when started with `$ firejail icedove`:- > Unable to create lock file /var/spool/mail/some_username.lock. For movemail to work, it is necessary to create lock files in the mail spool directory. On many systems, this is best accomplished by making the spool directory be mode 01777. Output with `--trace` contains:- ``` 2:icedove:open64 /var/spool/mail/some_username:36 2:icedove:access /var/spool/mail:-1 2:icedove:open64 /var/spool/mail/some_username:-1 ``` Using firejail from the master branch @ HEAD. ``` $ firejail --version firejail version 0.9.40~rc2 $ uname -rvmo 3.19.0-58-generic #64~14.04.1+7.0trisquel1 SMP Tue Apr 5 15:33:26 UTC 2016 x86_64 GNU/Linux ```

gitea-mirror

2026-05-05 05:40:42 -06:00

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gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:40:48 -06:00

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@netblue30 commented on GitHub (May 15, 2016):

Fixed! Use --writable-var:

$ firejail --writable-var icedove

@netblue30 commented on GitHub (May 15, 2016): Fixed! Use --writable-var: ``` $ firejail --writable-var icedove ```

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 05:40:52 -06:00

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@boite commented on GitHub (May 15, 2016):

Thank you; works like a charm!

@boite commented on GitHub (May 15, 2016): Thank you; works like a charm!

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Reference: github-starred/firejail#359

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