How do I query the GMS address books from Thunderbird

Question

I’d like to be able to access my address books stored on the server from my Thunderbird mail client. Is this possible?

Answer

GMS makes all address book data available via LDAP. As Thunderbird includes a built in LDAP directory query tool it is indeed possible to access address book data from your Thunderbird client.

To set this up, start your Thunderbird client and follow these steps:

Personal Address Book

1. Click on "Address Boook"
2. Go to "File -> New -> LDAP Directory"
3. Under the general tab enter the details:
   • Name: a name to identify this directory to you – such as "My Addresses"
   • Hostname: – the hostname or IP address of your GMS server
   • Base DN: mail=youracccount@yourdomain,ou=gmsaddressbook
   • Port Number: 389
   • Bind DN:mail=youracccount@yourdomain,ou=gmsaddressbook
4. Under the Advanced tab, ensure that "Scope" is set to "Subtree"

Local Address Book

1. Click on "Address Boook"
2. Go to "File -> New -> LDAP Directory"
3. Under the general tab enter the details:
   • Name: a name to identify this directory to you – such as "Local Addresses"
   • Hostname: – the hostname or IP address of your GMS server
   • Base DN: mail=everyone@yourdomain,ou=gmsaddressbook
   • Port Number: 389
   • Bind DN:mail=youracccount@yourdomain,ou=gmsaddressbook
4. Under the Advanced tab, ensure that "Scope" is set to "Subtree"

In both cases above, you need to replace "youraccount" with your username on the GMS system, and "yourdomain" with the name of your domain.

You should then be able to query your personal address book or local address book depending which you configure.

Keywords:Thunderbird address ldap