Authentications failure accessing Gmail
I am moving from windows to Ubuntu, and I have just copied my thunderbird files over. Now I am getting authentication error when connecting to server imap.googlemail.com. I have tried everything I can think of, (24 hours of emails await me) including deleting and recreating the account (that simply told me the receiving imap server that I had just deleted, already existed).
This is the beginning of the troubleshooting information:
Application Basics
Name: Thunderbird Version: 60.6.1 Build ID: 20190325143859
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.6.1 OS: Linux 4.15.0-47-generic
Multiprocess Windows: 0/0 (Disabled) Web Content Processes: Stylo: content = true (enabled by default), chrome = true (enabled by default) Enterprise Policies: Google Location Service Key: Missing Google SafeBrowsing Key: Missing Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing Safe Mode: false
Mail and News Accounts
account1:
INCOMING: account1, , (imap) imap.googlemail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true
OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false
OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false
account2:
INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext
Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
All Crash Reports
Extensions
Name
Version
Enabled
ID
Lightning
6.2.6.1
true
{e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
Messaging Menu and Unity Launcher integration
1.4
true
messagingmenu@mozilla.com
Security Software
Type: Name
Antivirus:
Antispyware:
Firewall:
Chosen solution
Thanks both for your input. Wish I had known about pkcs11.txt earlier.
I actually removed Thunderbird, deleted the .thunderbird file and then re-installed, set up the access. Then, to bring my address book and filters over over, I closed TB, copied over abook.mab (personal address book) and *.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/msgFilterRules.dat. Then I re-started TB, and had to edit each filter to reselect the target folder, and wait while 3 years of mail came down.
Once complete, it all appears to work.
Thanks again. Ian
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (4)
Additional information: Google has been set to allow less secure apps access. Google reports Thunderbird IS permitted to access my account Two factor authentication is OFF. It has been many hours since I changed my password. The new password works to let me access gmail and my account on-line. The new password is stored in my password manager, so it is not miss-typed.
When you copy a TB profile from Windows to Linux or OS X (or vice versa), the stored passwords aren't recognized unless you delete the pkcs11.txt file from the profile folder.
But you are using Authentication Method :OAuth2, so the password is only used to connect to gmail server, if an oauth token needs to be created. If password was used to create an oauth token then token is used thereafter to access server - not the password. When you update the password in webmail and Thunderbird, gmail is supposed to update the token.
So in theory if you remove the old oauth token from the saved passwords, then when you 'Get Messages', gmail should auto prompt you to logon via browser to check you really are you and then create new token.
Just wondering about what version of Thunderbird were you last using on the Windows OS ?
If it was a version prior to 60 then differnt files are used for passwords etc in newer versions.
Try this:
In Thunderbird
- Help > Troubleshooting Information
- click on 'Open Folder'
- Exit Thunderbird.
In profile name folder:
- locate and delete this file: pkcs11.txt
- Retart Thunderbird.
Chosen Solution
Thanks both for your input. Wish I had known about pkcs11.txt earlier.
I actually removed Thunderbird, deleted the .thunderbird file and then re-installed, set up the access. Then, to bring my address book and filters over over, I closed TB, copied over abook.mab (personal address book) and *.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/msgFilterRules.dat. Then I re-started TB, and had to edit each filter to reselect the target folder, and wait while 3 years of mail came down.
Once complete, it all appears to work.
Thanks again. Ian