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Sync and the new Firefox 58

Firefox Sync data
nostromov replied
FredMcD
FredMcD

With the new Firefox 58, several data files have been changed.
cert8.db changed to cert9.db | key3.db changed to key4.db
and others. The new data files will be using a different format.
So does this mean Firefox 58 will not be able to share data with other Firefox versions?

With the new Firefox 58, several data files have been changed.<br> cert8.db changed to cert9.db | key3.db changed to key4.db<br> and others. The new data files will be using a different format.<br> So does this mean Firefox 58 will not be able to share data with other Firefox versions?

FredMcD modificouno o

cor-el
cor-el
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Chosen Solution

Not unless you take the extra effort and use key4.db in the other versions as well. Support for SQLite key4.db and cert9.db is probably been available for 10 years or more.

ESR 10 already had it:

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cor-el
cor-el
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Firefox versions prior to Firefox 58 can use SQLite databases by using a special environment variable, so this isn't really something new. Only in Frefox 58 the SQLite format got enabled by default.

  • NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="dbm" : key3.db - cert8.db
  • NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql" : key4.db - cert9.db

Firefox 58+ will fallback to the older versions if you remove the newer SQLite versions. If you need to use the newer versions with older Firefox versions then try to start Firefox via a CMD file and set NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE to sql.

  • set NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE=sql

cor-el modificouno o

cor-el
cor-el
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See also:

FredMcD
FredMcD Question owner

Thank you for responding, cor-el.

So does this mean Firefox 58 will not be able to share data with other Firefox versions?
cor-el
cor-el
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Chosen Solution

Not unless you take the extra effort and use key4.db in the other versions as well. Support for SQLite key4.db and cert9.db is probably been available for 10 years or more.

ESR 10 already had it:

nostromov
nostromov

Yup, we're bound to start having millions of these issues now that the Password Exporter Add-On no longer functions with the new(est) Firefox. That extension has always been lagging behind, but somehow remained useful until recently.

I don't get how come that Mozilla hasn't included this (import, export) mechanism into the browser, or made their certified, official utility (in the past decade+)

Edit: The Sync component is, basically, bloatware - and something that Google Chrome, Android, or Apple users would like. For us, normal people, it's not really a solution, btw. :)

nostromov modificouno o