Installation & Configuration

System Requirements

Enigmail requires SeaMonkey, Epyrus or Postbox. It runs on any platform that is supported by these tools. Furthermore, Enigmail may…

Enigmail requires SeaMonkey, Epyrus or Postbox. It runs on any platform that is supported by these tools. Furthermore, Enigmail may use GnuPG.

Historically, Enigmail used to run on Mozilla Thunderbird (until Thunderbird version 68).

Posted  8 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration

Is Enigmail working?

If the installation of Enigmail was successful, you will need to restart the application. After restarting the application, launch the…

If the installation of Enigmail was successful, you will need to restart the application. After restarting the application, launch the main Mail window, which should now have an Enigmail menu on the menubar. Choose the About Enigmail option, which should display the version number and the GnuPG executable details.Enigmail has only been tested with official releases of Mozilla Thunderbird and SeaMonkey. If you use a nightly build (or your own build), Enigmail may not work.

Posted  8 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration

How to uninstall Enigmail?

Enigmail can be uninstalled like any other Thunderbird add-on in the Addons Manager. Go to the menu Tools > Add-ons…

Enigmail can be uninstalled like any other Thunderbird add-on in the Addons Manager.

  • Go to the menu Tools > Add-ons

  • Click on Enigmail

  • Click on the Uninstall button

Posted  8 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration

How to Install Enigmail Globally

A global installation will install an extension to the application directory rather than within a profile, so it will be…

A global installation will install an extension to the application directory rather than within a profile, so it will be available to all users. To perform a global installation you need to download and save the .xpi file to disk and ensure that you close the application completely.

Then follow the following steps:

  1. Create a new folder called "{847b3a00-7ab1-11d4-8f02-006008948af5}" in the <installation directory>\extensions folder of the application (note: the curly brackets are part of the folder name).
  2. Uncompress the .xpi file (as a ZIP file) to the newly created folder.
Posted  8 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration

Migrating from GnuPG 1.4.x to GnuPG 2.0

The latest version of Enigmail, v1.9, does not support GnuPG 1.4 anymore. This article provides tips and help for migrating…

The latest version of Enigmail, v1.9, does not support GnuPG 1.4 anymore. This article provides tips and help for migrating from GnuPG 1.4 to GnuPG 2.0.

Enigmail supported GnuPG 1.4 since 2004, 2.0 since 2007 and 2.1 since 2015. Enigmail 1.8 supports them all, but GnuPG 2.0 is recommended since Enigmail 1.6. Enigmail 1.9, the next major version of Enigmail will require GnuPG 2.x. That is why GnuPG 1.4 is now deprecated.

Installation

  • Windows

    We recommend you install Gpg4win-Vanilla from gpg4win.org. This will install all components required by Enigmail. Expert users may install the full version instead. Its additional parts are not used by Enigmail.

  • Linux and other Unix Systems

    We recommend you install GnuPG 2.0 via the regular package management system of your distribution (e.g. apt, yum, yast). On many distributions the package is called "gnupg2" or "gpg2".

  • Mac OS X

    We recommend you download GpgTools and install only the core parts. Expert users may install all components. The additional components are not used by Enigmail.

General Recommendations

There is no need to uninstall GnuPG 1.4.x; in most cases Enigmail will find GnuPG 2.0 automatically after the installation. Simply restart Thunderbird after you installed GnuPG 2.0.x. If Thundebird would still report that it found GnuPG 1.4.x, then uninstall the GnuPG 1.4.x package and restart your PC afterwards.

Make sure to keep Thunderbird, Enigmail and GnuPG up to date. Only the latest release version of GnuPG / Gpg4Win / GpgTools is supported by Enigmail for security reasons. This applies to GnuPG stable (2.0.x) and modern (2.1.x).

What happens to my keys after the upgrade?

GnuPG 2.0 uses the same keys as GnuPG 1.4; there is no need to change anything concerning your private and public keys. However, independently of whether or not you upgrade GnuPG, we recommend you make a backup of your keys from time to time. Now is the perfect moment to do this.

 

Resolving Issues

If GnuPG 2.0 doesn't work, or Enigmail reports errors with accessing keys or passphrases, then please visit our Resolving issues with GnuPG 2.0 guide.

Posted  9 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration

Compatibility with other Extensions

Enigmail is compatible to most other Thunderbird extensions. If you suspect that Enigmail is incompatible with another extension, then please…

Enigmail is compatible to most other Thunderbird extensions.

If you suspect that Enigmail is incompatible with another extension, then please send a message to our mailing list, or post on our support forum.

Posted  9 years  ago by  patrick
Installation & Configuration