diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 971ab28..7caf875 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -52,5 +52,8 @@ base_pkg_non_free_firmware: false
 # do we want contrib from eth zuerich?
 base_pkg_contrib: false
 
+# mailx for debian (recomended for unattended_upgrades role
+base__install_mailx: true
+
 # version management
 submodules_versioncheck: false
diff --git a/tasks/packages.yml b/tasks/packages.yml
index f5c3457..a836d95 100644
--- a/tasks/packages.yml
+++ b/tasks/packages.yml
@@ -67,3 +67,11 @@
     ansible_distribution == 'Fedora' and ansible_distribution_version | float >= 32 or
     ansible_distribution == 'Debian' and ansible_distribution_version | float >= 9 or
     ansible_os_family == 'Archlinux'
+
+- name: install mailx on debian
+  become: true
+  package:
+    name:
+      - bsd-mailx
+    state: "{{ base__package_state }}"
+  when: ansible_distribution == 'Debian' and ansible_distribution_version | float >= 7 and base__install_mailx | bool
diff --git a/vars/main.yml b/vars/main.yml
index 8de141e..7a73649 100644
--- a/vars/main.yml
+++ b/vars/main.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ base__linux_packages:
   - asciinema
   - youtube-dl
   - bzip2
+  - jq
 
-playbook_version_number: 9005  # should be over ninethousand
+playbook_version_number: 9006  # should be over ninethousand
 playbook_version_path: 'base-packages_roles-ansible_github.version'