It is recommended that you regularly make backups of all your Thunderbird application data, including mail files, address books, and account settings, so that you can restore your complete profile(s) if it becomes necessary.
In addition, you may want to occasionally make separate backups of all your address books by exporting them as LDIF files. That way, if your address books ever happen to become corrupted, you will still have a separate backup that you can import into any Thunderbird profile. To do so, export each address book as an LDIF file using the procedure described above and then burn the LDIF files onto a CD-ROM or store them elsewhere for safekeeping.
To export an address book:
- Open Thunderbird > Tools - Address Book
* In the Address Book window, select the address book that you want to export.
* Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Export...".
* Enter a name for the address book, select "LDIF" from the drop-down list, choose where on your computer you want to save the address book, and then click to save the file.
Backing up your address books Command-Line
Your address book in stored in your profile to know where is it execute :
sudo locate *.mab -> find something like abook.mab
Yo could use a bash script. Check this link. There is a script provided that backups your thunderbird directory. This folder should also include your adress book. The author also provides instructions how to setup this script as a cron.
Note: the script backups your complete folder. You should customize this line
tar zcf thunderb-mail-${x}.tgz ~roger/.thunderbird
to something like this
tar zcf thunderb-mail-${x}.tgz ~/.thunderbird/youradressbookfilename.mab
Mozilla Address Book
.mabBacking up your address books GUI
It is recommended that you regularly make backups of all your Thunderbird application data, including mail files, address books, and account settings, so that you can restore your complete profile(s) if it becomes necessary.
In addition, you may want to occasionally make separate backups of all your address books by exporting them as LDIF files. That way, if your address books ever happen to become corrupted, you will still have a separate backup that you can import into any Thunderbird profile. To do so, export each address book as an LDIF file using the procedure described above and then burn the LDIF files onto a CD-ROM or store them elsewhere for safekeeping.
To export an address book:
Backing up your address books Command-Line
Your address book in stored in your profile to know where is it execute :
Yo could use a bash script. Check this link. There is a script provided that backups your thunderbird directory. This folder should also include your adress book. The author also provides instructions how to setup this script as a cron.
Note: the script backups your complete folder. You should customize this line
to something like this
and it will just backup your adress book file.