Deploying Firefox

[Arthur]

Michael. I'm currently in the process of creating an extremely locked-down Firefox package for my school and thought I would post the tweaks I've done so far, as I reckon you may find some (or all) of them quite useful for yours.

The attached .zip file contains a new userChrome.css file which hides the native Firefox bookmarking system completely, along with various items on the menus and context menus. Also included is a userContent.css file which will prevent file-system browsing plus an updated British English dictionary which will work properly in Firefox v3.5.3. I have added plenty of comments so hopefully it all makes sense should you use any of them.

[Michael]

Thanks I'll take a look

[Michael]

Latest Update

A new build based on Logistix Firefox 3.5.4 v7.1.2 is now available with the following enhancements:

- Latest Firefox 3.5.4 Release
- Now available in MSI format
- Easily removable from Add/Remove Programs
- Automatically creates Desktop and Start Menu shortcuts

Download Firefox which now comes in WinRAR format. Extract to a deployment directory, for example: \\Servername\Distribution\Mozilla Firefox (3.5.4) Logistix

Using Active Directory, specify and deploy the MSI. I recommend you deploy to a few machines initially and post here if you find any problems. Touchwood you shouldn't

As a recommendation, you should either uninstall/delete existing native or Logistix Firefox installations. I have provided a file called DEL-OLD-FF.bat which will do this for you. Any constructive feedback would be appreciated

[Michael]

New Update - Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 Logistix

Mozilla quickly released 3.5.5 after discovering some stability issues with 3.5.4. This release I have created is an MSI based on WinstallLE and works very smoothly You can perform an upgrade of Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 Logistix directly on 3.5.4, but NOT 3.5.3.

If you are running Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 Logistix, simply delete the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory, then install the latest version either manually or via GPO.

This is undoubtedly the best version I have created yet. I have also made it possible to create your own locked down settings. Below is the data file I use for Birmingham’s BGFL which will end up being Mozilla.cfg.

//
try {
lockPref("app.update.enabled", false);
lockPref("app.update.autoUpdateEnabled", false);
lockPref("app.update.disable_button.showUpdateHistory", true);
lockPref("network.cookie.cookieBehavior", 1);
lockPref("network.proxy.http", "eduproxy.bgfl.org");
lockPref("network.proxy.http_port", 80);
lockPref("network.proxy.type", 1);
lockPref("network.proxy.no_proxies_on", "localhost, 127.0.0.1, 10.*, 192.*, *.bgfl.org, *.bgfl.eu");
lockPref("network.proxy.share_proxy_settings", true);
lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://www.bgfl.org/");
lockPref("browser.startup.page", 1);
lockPref("browser.cache.disk.capacity", 50000);
lockPref("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", true);
lockPref("browser.download.manager.closeWhenDone", true);
lockPref("browser.download.manager.retention", 0);
lockPref("browser.download.useDownloadDir", false);
lockPref("browser.formfill.enable", false);
lockPref("browser.history_expire_days", 0);
lockPref("browser.popups.showPopupBlocker", false);
lockPref("browser.search.selectedEngine", "Google");
lockPref("browser.search.update", false);
lockPref("browser.shell.checkDefaultBrowser", false);
lockPref("browser.link.open_external", 2);
lockPref("browser.link.open_newwindow", 2);
lockPref("browser.tabs.loadInBackground", false);
lockPref("browser.tabs.warnOnClose", false);
lockPref("browser.tabs.autoHide", false);
lockPref("browser.display.screen_resolution", 96);
lockPref("browser.display.use_document_fonts", 1);
lockPref("browser.display.use_document_colors", true);
lockPref("browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing", true);
lockPref("browser.turbo.enabled", true);
lockPref("browser.places.importBookmarksHTML", false);
lockPref("browser.tabs.warnOnOpen", true);
lockPref("browser.display.use_focus_colors", false);
lockPref("browser.display.use_system_colors", false);
lockPref("browser.use_custom_colors", false);
lockPref("browser.underline_anchors", true);
lockPref("browser.offline-apps.notify", false);
lockPref("browser.active_color", "#EE0000");
lockPref("browser.anchor_color", "#0000EE");
lockPref("browser.display.background_color", "#FFFFFF");
lockPref("browser.display.focus_background_color", "#117722");
lockPref("browser.display.focus_text_color", "#ffffff");
lockPref("browser.display.foreground_color", "#000000");
lockPref("browser.visited_color", "#551A8B");
lockPref("browser.safebrowsing.enabled", true);
lockPref("browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled", true);
lockPref("dom.disable_open_during_load", true);
lockPref("pref.advanced.images.disable_button.view_image", true);
lockPref("pref.advanced.javascript.disable_button.advanced", true);
lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.current_page", true); 
lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.bookmark_page", true);
lockPref("pref.browser.homepage.disable_button.restore_default", true);
lockPref("pref.browser.language.disable_button.remove", true);
lockPref("pref.browser.language.disable_button.up", true);
lockPref("pref.browser.language.disable_button.down", true);
lockPref("pref.privacy.disable_button.cookie_exceptions", true);
lockPref("pref.privacy.disable_button.set_master_password", true);
lockPref("pref.privacy.disable_button.view_passwords", true);
lockPref("pref.downloads.disable_button.edit_actions", true);
lockPref("javascript.enabled", true);
lockPref("security.enable_java", true);
lockPref("security.warn_entering_secure", false);
lockPref("security.warn_entering_weak", true);
lockPref("security.warn_leaving_secure", false);
lockPref("security.warn_submit_insecure", false);
lockPref("security.warn_viewing_mixed", true);
lockPref("security.enable_ssl2", true);
lockPref("security.enable_ssl3", true);
lockPref("security.enable_tls", true);
lockPref("security.default_personal_cert", "Ask Every Time");
lockPref("print.save_print_settings", false);
lockPref("privacy.sanitize.promptOnSanitize", false);
lockPref("privacy.sanitize.sanitizeOnShutdown", true);
lockPref("privacy.popups.showBrowserMessage", false);
lockPref("signon.rememberSignons", false);
lockPref("permissions.default.image", 1);
lockPref("xpinstall.enabled", false);
lockPref("xpinstall.whitelist.required", true);
lockPref("general.autoScroll", true);
lockPref("general.smoothScroll", false);
lockPref("general.warnOnAboutConfig", false);
lockPref("extensions.update.enabled", false);
lockPref("extensions.update.autoUpdateEnabled", false);
lockPref("extensions.getAddons.showPane", false);
lockPref("font.default.x-western", "serif");
lockPref("font.language.group", "x-western");
lockPref("font.minimum-size.x-western", 0);
lockPref("font.name.cursive.x-western", "Comic Sans MS");
lockPref("font.name.monospace.x-western", "Courier New");
lockPref("font.name.sans-serif.x-western", "Arial");
lockPref("font.name.serif.x-western", "Times New Roman");
lockPref("font.size.fixed.x-western", 13);
lockPref("font.size.variable.x-western", 16);
lockPref("intl.accept_languages", "en-gb, en");
lockPref("intl.charset.default", "ISO-8859-1");
lockPref("intl.accept_charsets", "ISO-8859-1,*,UTF-8,");
lockPref("spellchecker.dictionary", "en-GB");
lockPref("layout.spellcheckDefault", 0);
lockPref("accessibility.blockautorefresh", false);
lockPref("accessibility.browsewithcaret", false);
lockPref("accessibility.typeaheadfind", false);
} catch(e) {
displayError("lockedPref", e);
}

Copy and paste all the above into Notepad, then save as Mozilla.txt. You now need to download a utility called Byte Shifter.

Lines of particular interest to most will be:

lockPref("network.proxy.http", "eduproxy.bgfl.org"); (Proxy Settings)
lockPref("network.proxy.http_port", 80); (Proxy Port)
lockPref("network.proxy.type", 1); (Enable Proxy) 
lockPref("network.proxy.no_proxies_on", "localhost, 127.0.0.1, 10.*, 192.*, *.bgfl.org, *.bgfl.eu"); (Proxy Exceptions)
lockPref("network.proxy.share_proxy_settings", true); (Use same Proxy Settings - recommended)
lockPref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://www.bgfl.org/"); (Homepage)

Specify the input path as (for example):

Input: C:\logistixonline.com\example\mozilla.txt
Output: C:\logistixonline.com\example\mozilla.cfg

Specify the shift value as: 13, then click ‘Go’.

Download any version of Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 Logistix and extract using WinRAR to a deployment directory. This would typically read:

\\SERVERNAME\Distribution\Mozilla Firefox (3.5.5) Logistix

Double click the Mozilla Firefox (3.5.5) Logistix folder. In the root you’ll see the MSI. You can either double click this manually or deploy using a GPO. If you then double click the sub folder Program Files > Mozilla Firefox, this is what will be deployed.

If you’ve created your own custom Mozilla.cfg file, simply overwrite the existing one within this directory. You’re now done and you can deploy Mozilla Firefox (3.5.5) Logistix with your settings

[Michael]

Thanks for the 'thanks'. Some feedback would be great how you get on

[TheWhiteWiltord]

Thanks Michael....great post, which I have just stumbled across!

I've only found one small problem having followed the instructions for 3.5.5 as above and that is that within Options > Security the tick box for 'Use a master password' is not grayed out, meaning that users can set and change a master password.

I have used your standard mozilla.cfg file, apart from our proxy/homepage settings, but please advise if there is another line that I need to add to fix this.

[Michael]

within Options > Security the tick box for 'Use a master password' is not grayed out, meaning that users can set and change a master password.

According to Mozilla this is by design, so I cannot grey it out! Some custom code may be needed to do this, however there are lots of free tools/methods on the web allowing you to reset the password completely.

By all means if you find a way let me know and I'll include the code in a future version

[DaveP]

Excellent! I have been testing this and found only a minor niggle:

I can't get FireFox to start without offering to recover a previous session and I cannot prevent the FireFox 'First Time Run' at the moment. Also I would like to prevent some of the add ins being offered [Some are needed for a proper browsing experience]

Do you have any ideas?

[Michael]

I can't get FireFox to start without offering to recover a previous session

Not quite sure why you're getting this error. Have you tried deleting the 'Mozilla' folder within Application Data on your profile? Did you already have a previous version of FF installed?

I cannot prevent the FireFox 'First Time Run' at the moment.

The First Run Mozilla webpage will appear, but of course any further attempts it won't appear. I don't consider it to be a major problem The wizard asking you to import IE favourites has been disabled.

What add-ons do you want to change/remove?

[Michael]

Any joy resolving this minor problem DaveP?

[DaveP]

All sorted now. Thanks. Have been meaning to get back about it but it has been a little manic.

However all software deployed without issue now.

Good work.

What happens when FireFox wants to update?

[Michael]

If you click on the Help menu Check for Updates is greyed out/unavailable. This is by design, so you can consistently control what version of Firefox your users are using. Deploying future versions of Logistix Firefox will simply be a repeat of how you've deployed this version. You'll be able to install directly on top of existing installs

Thanks for the feedback

[DaveP]

Thank you. Great job!

Saved me I don't know how much work [We have Serco and FireFox is so much faster at rendering the pages etc. it is a real boon!]

[Arthur]

I've only found one small problem having followed the instructions for 3.5.5 as above and that is that within Options > Security the tick box for 'Use a master password' is not greyed out, meaning that users can set and change a master password.

While you can't grey them out, you can hide them by putting the following code in the userChrome.css file.

#masterPasswordBox, #changeMasterPassword { display: none !important; }

You may find my post at the top of this page useful for further customizations.

[Arthur]

I can't get FireFox to start without offering to recover a previous session.

To do this you need to disable Firefox's session restore feature. This can be done by setting browser.sessionstore.enabled to false in your mozilla.cfg.

lockPref("browser.sessionstore.enabled", false); // Disable session restore feature