Browser Update - Firefox

[Ed_P]

When the Firefox update module runs it creates a profile folder and adds it's name to the .mozilla/firefox/ installs.ini and profiles.ini. But all the current Firefox bookmarks and settings are in the old Firefox's profile folder. To keep my bookmarks/Favorites and settings I edit the installs.ini and profiles.ini files and point the new Default names to the old Firefox's profile folder.

Should I copy the files from the new Firefox profile folder to the old Firefox's folder? Or should I copy all the files from the old Firefox folder to the new Firefox profile folder and not edit the installs.ini and profiles.ini files?

Or should the Browser Selection and Update Tool do that automatically for Firefox Updates?

[Ed_P]

I'm the only one who uses Firefox!!

[AcnapyxoB]

Answer to your question lies in this question!

If it works according to your method, it doesn't matter which way you choose.
The newer Firefox will looks for ********.default-release profile.

[AcnapyxoB]

I'm the only one who uses Firefox!!

You are not the only one. I'm uing it from the time when it was a Phoenix, then a Firebird until it becomes Firefox

"While talking about the wolf he is in the pen" there is new 85.0 release: https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla. ... ases/85.0/

[Ed_P]

My path is Mosaic > Netscape > Firefox.

So, how do you do the updates and keep your settings and bookmarks AcnapyxoB?

[AcnapyxoB]

So, how do you do the updates and keep your settings and bookmarks AcnapyxoB?

The update has nothing to do with the settings and profile
Firefox is in: /usr/lib64/firefox (64bit), /usr/lib/firefox (32bit)
and the profile is in: /home/USER_NAME/.mozilla/firefox/PROFILENAME.default-release
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pr ... -user-data

[Ed_P]

My profile.ini file is in the /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/ folder. And each firefox update adds a new name for the profile.ini and a new default folder. But my settings and bookmarks are in the /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/dsxquimp.default folder and when the update release starts they aren't present.

My profile.ini file:

Code: Select all

[Install8EE4439F9AB0F49E]
Default=dxsqumip.default
Locked=1

[Profile3]
Name=default-esr-2
IsRelative=1
Path=g89thxoy.default-esr-2

[Profile2]
Name=default-esr-1
IsRelative=1
Path=zz7u6zk6.default-esr-1

[Profile1]
Name=default-esr
IsRelative=1
Path=h11c8gy9.default-esr

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=dxsqumip.default
Default=1

[Install84C7E5489A661753]
Default=dxsqumip.default
Locked=1

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1
Version=2

[InstallBF30F23273C142F6]
Default=dxsqumip.default
Locked=1

[Install93951F1802389310]
Default=dxsqumip.default
Locked=1

Unless I edit the Default name to be dxsquimp.default my bookmarks and etc are not picked up.

If I were to keep the new Default folder's name I need to copy my dxsquimp.default files into the update's new Default's folder.

I don't know which approach is better and why the Browser Update doesn't do it automatically.

[AcnapyxoB]

Ed_P why don't you try this:

Backup existing profiles!

Copy in advance key4.db and logins.json (login passwords) from your current profile.
Export bookmarks Ctrl+Shift+O / Import and Backup / Backup

Delete existing profiles and start new fresh Firefox.
Copy/Paste key4.db and logins.json inside the new created profile and import (previously saved) bookmarks Ctrl+Shift+O / Import and Backup / Restore.

Wait for the next Firefox update to check is it OK!

[Ed_P]

Backup/Import of the bookmarks looses all the associated favicons connected to the bookmarks. Deleting my existing profile folder looses all my addon Extensions.

I run a script that backs up all my Poeteus settings and customizations to a xzm module which allows me to run a customized Porteus in a safe mode, no changes saved. In my script this is the code I use to backup my Firefox system.

Code: Select all

#                  -- Browser files - Firefox --
FFPATH=`grep "Path=" /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini|tail -n1`; FFPATH=${FFPATH:5}
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/*.ini                         /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/addonStartup.json.lz4 /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/addons.json           /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/content-prefs.sqlite  /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/cookies.sqlite        /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/favicons.sqlite       /tmp/mod/ 
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/formhistory.sqlite    /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/key?.db               /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/logins.json           /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/permissions.sqlite    /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/places.sqlite         /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/prefs.js              /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/search.json.mozlz4    /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/webappsstore.sqlite   /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/xulstore.json         /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/Alternate*.txt        /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/Security*.txt         /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/SiteSecurity*.txt     /tmp/mod/
cp -a --parents    /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/TRRBlack*.txt         /tmp/mod/
if [ -d            /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/browser-extension-data/ ]; then
   cp -a --parents /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/extensions/*              /tmp/mod/
   cp -a --parents /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/$FFPATH/extension*.json           /tmp/mod/
fi

The files backed up are found to have been changed after I have added or changed something in Firefox then run a changes.sh script that does a "sudo -S find /mnt/live/memory/changes -iname "*" -mmin -$X" with $X usually set to 1.

BTW I boot the Porteus systems as ISOs and for updating with the changes=EXIT cheatcode option.

[Ed_P]

Adding a path to the name of my existing firefox profile to the bottom of the new firefox profiles.ini's Profile entry results in Firefox prompting me to select which profile to use when restarting it. I select my existing profile, firefox then updates the profiles.ini to use it for the new Profile which seems to solve my problem. Deleting the profiles.ini's new Profile's path line and replacing it with the one for my existing profile works also but having firefox make the change may result in changes less obvious that are important to keep.

But a new problem has shown up. The firefox updates when initially run after being activated creates a new /home/guest/.cache/mozilla/firefox/profilename-default folder. And it gets added to the save.dat file when the changes=EXIT cheatcode is used. This can result in the save.dat file growing unexpectedly and becoming corrupted. When researching this problem I found 6 or 7 of these firefox .cache folders in my 96% full save.dat file.

[i3slkiller]

Every time after updating Firefox module it created new clean profile, so far I marked old profile as default in "about:profiles". Over time, it was getting more and more annoying
During my fast research I found this post:

Issue depends exactly to the "path" in which is installed firefox binary file.

The script I used creates a package that installs it within a path containing version number of firefox:
```
/usr/lib64/firefox-115.0.2/firefox
/usr/lib64/firefox-115.0.2/firefox-bin
```
The hash as you pointed out is generated by that path.
When I upgrade that path changes, hash changes and the new firefox create a new profile linked to the new hash (and differs by the old default profile).

By reading latest-firefox.sh gist they have patched this issue, now the path contains the firefox "channel" (latest, esr, beta...). So the path should become something like:

/usr/lib64/firefox-latest/firefox

And it remains the same as far as upgrades belong to the same "channel".
If I try to upgrade to a "beta" version that path will change (/usr/lib64/firefox-beta/firefox) and a new profile will be created when FF will be restarted. I think it's a proper solution.

I made the patch of "update-firefox-live" script which changes that where firefox executables are placed in module (before was /usr/lib64/firefox-VERSION_NUMBER):
- /usr/lib64/firefox-esr for esr
- /usr/lib64/firefox-current for current
- /usr/lib64/firefox-beta for beta

Code: Select all

--- update-firefox-live	2024-05-08 18:38:07.792006582 +0200
+++ update-firefox-live.new	2024-05-08 18:46:03.700482871 +0200
@@ -218,13 +218,13 @@
 dWNrRHVja0dvIgpicm93c2VyLmNhY2hlLmRpc2suY2FwYWNpdHk9MTAyNDAKYnJvd3Nlci5zaGVs
 bC5jaGVja0RlZmF1bHRCcm93c2VyPWZhbHNlCmFwcC5zaGllbGQub3B0b3V0c3R1ZGllcy5lbmFi
 bGVkPWZhbHNlCmJyb3dzZXIuY29tcGFjdG1vZGUuc2hvdz10cnVlCmJyb3dzZXIudGFicy5pblRp
-dGxlYmFyPTAK" | base64 -d > $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/distribution/distribution.ini
+dGxlYmFyPTAK" | base64 -d > $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/distribution/distribution.ini
 }
 
 disable_updates(){
 echo "ewoicG9saWNpZXMiOiAKICAgewogICAgICJEaXNhYmxlQXBwVXBkYXRlIjogdHJ1ZSwKICAgICAi
 RGlzYWJsZVRlbGVtZXRyeSI6IHRydWUsCiAgICAgIkRpc2FibGVQb2NrZXQiOiB0cnVlCiAgICB9
-Cn0K" | base64 -d > $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/distribution/policies.json
+Cn0K" | base64 -d > $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/distribution/policies.json
 }
 
 create_fake_slack(){
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@
 fi 
 
 ## Create distribution directory
-mkdir -p $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/distribution || \
+mkdir -p $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/distribution || \
 { red "Failed to create distibution directory."; cleanup; exit 1; }
 
 green "Decompressing firefox tarball ..."
@@ -437,18 +437,18 @@
 
 green "Linking firefox binary ..."
 cd $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}
-ln -sf ./firefox-$LATVER firefox
+ln -sf ./firefox-$CHOICE1 firefox
 cd -
 
 ## Create lib dir
 green "Copying firefox files ..."
-cp -a firefox/* $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/ #|| { red "Failed to copy firefox directory."; cleanup; exit 1; }
+cp -a firefox/* $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/ #|| { red "Failed to copy firefox directory."; cleanup; exit 1; }
 [ -e $TARG/usr/bin/firefox ] && unlink $TARG/usr/bin/firefox
 [ ! -d $TARG/usr/bin ] && mkdir -p $TARG/usr/bin
-#ln -s /usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/firefox $TARG/usr/bin/firefox
+#ln -s /usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/firefox $TARG/usr/bin/firefox
 cat > $TARG/usr/bin/firefox << EOF
 #!/bin/bash
-exec env GTK_CSD=1 /usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/firefox "\$@"
+exec env GTK_CSD=1 /usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/firefox "\$@"
 EOF
 chmod +x $TARG/usr/bin/firefox
 
@@ -467,8 +467,8 @@
 #chown -R 1000:1000 $TARG/home/guest
 chmod 755 $TARG/usr/bin
 chmod 755 $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}
-chmod 755 $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER
-chmod -R 755 $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/distribution
+chmod 755 $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1
+chmod -R 755 $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/distribution
 
 mkdir -p $TARG/usr/share/applications 2>/dev/null
 echo "W0Rlc2t0b3AgRW50cnldCkV4ZWM9ZmlyZWZveCAldQpJY29uPWZpcmVmb3gKVHlwZT1BcHBsaWNh
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@
 
 # Add home page
 green "Adding home page: $HOMEPAGE"
-sed -i 's@https://forum.porteus.org@'$HOMEPAGE'@g' $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$LATVER/distribution/distribution.ini
+sed -i 's@https://forum.porteus.org@'$HOMEPAGE'@g' $TARG/usr/lib${SUFFIX}/firefox-$CHOICE1/distribution/distribution.ini
 
 create_fake_slack
 ## remove - for some locales

Of course Firefox from module created by patched script will again create new profile (I hope it will be last time ), but after next updates old selected profile should be loaded
And no, symlink (firefox -> firefox-125.0.3) won't help because it's somehow dereferenced by firefox executable.

[Ed_P]

Of course Firefox from module created by patched script will again create new profile (I hope it will be last time ), but after next updates old selected profile should be loaded

Interesting. Nice work i3slkiller.

And while this makes an "update" truly an update an option for a "new release" might be useful also. "new release" = new profile, all old stuff gone, fresh start module.

Added in 4 hours 4 minutes 54 seconds:
Actually for a "new release" option all a user has to do is delete the old module before doing the "update".

[Otto]

I am only a user that like to experiment (Not understand programming at all).
I read your idea to keep the prev. FFprofile.
Last night I tested my own way and it works.

Before you updated it to a newer version, make a copy of 2 ff-folders:
1. /home/guest/.mozilla/ff
2. /homw/guest/.cache/mozilla/ff
After update: delete the 2 folders and replace with saved copy and reboot.
I hope you can find the better way.
No guaranty, do your own Risk.

[Ed_P]

A FF install creates a new release name folder, like /home/guest/.mozzila/firefox/cuiho3hm.default-release-2, and writes that name into the /home/guest/.mozilla/firefox/installs.ini and profiles.ini files. Since both the release name folder and the ini files are in the same /home/guest/.mozzila/firefox folder your approach works.

As for the /home/guest/.cache/mozilla/ff files I don't know. I'm not that familiar with cache files/folders as I consider them to be disposable. Try doing an update where you don't restore the /.cache/mozilla/ff folder. And if that works delete the backup.

[ncmprhnsbl]

update-firefox-live has been updated on the server with i3slkiller's changes. thank you for that
and the latest firefox module on the server has been built with this script.