Ubuntu & Thunderbird 60.2.1 update: Calendar gone!

Post by **^rooker** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:44 am

[PROBLEM]
On Xubuntu 16.04.1, I've updated from Thunderbird 57 (or so) to 60.2.1.
In about 15 years of heavy Thunderbird usage, I've never had a problem with an update.

Except for now:
My calendar (Lightning) was gone/disabled - because it's incompatible with Thunderbird >60.
And the addons didn't seem to provide any Lightning update beyond v5.4, claiming:

This add-on is not compatible with your version of Thunderbird.

After reading release notes for v60.2.1, I knew there's at least some hope to get this back to work:

If you have installed Lightning, Thunderbird's Calendar add-on, it will automatically be updated to match the new version of Thunderbird. Refer to this Calendar troubleshooting article in case of problems.

Also: Fear not! Your calendar data and configuration stayed untouched. It's just waiting for you to get the Lightning extension back

*phew*

[SOLUTION]
The referenced article "Calendar updates issues with Thunderbird", mentioned that Ubuntu offers Lightning as distro-package...

So here's how to get the Lightning Calendar back to work:

Go to Thunderbird Add-Ons
Remove Lightning Plugin.
Close Thunderbird.
Install the package: "xul-ext-lightning".
Restart Thunderbird.

I usually have the calendar opened as a tab.
To do that, select the "Events and Tasks" menu and select "Calendar (Ctrl+Shift+C)".
btw: "View > Calendar" will be disabled until you display the calendar like that. Confused me at first.

Now everything should be back to normal again.