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Change about:config settings via mac terminal

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by docwisdom

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Hello,

I administer over 140 mac computers, all with firefox installed. Unfortunately it seems like a daily occurance when a user calls and says that firefox is bugging them to update, which they cant because they are not admin accounts. Now I use apple remote desktop to turn off auto-update for a lot of other applications like software update, microsoft office, and adobe. Unfortunately since firefox doesnt use a standard plist file on the mac I cant use default to write the preference remotely. Question: Is there a way to write to the firefox config via command line so I can turn off auto-update in mass instead of having to touch each computer and make the change in the GUI?


thanks!

Hello, I administer over 140 mac computers, all with firefox installed. Unfortunately it seems like a daily occurance when a user calls and says that firefox is bugging them to update, which they cant because they are not admin accounts. Now I use apple remote desktop to turn off auto-update for a lot of other applications like software update, microsoft office, and adobe. Unfortunately since firefox doesnt use a standard plist file on the mac I cant use default to write the preference remotely. Question: Is there a way to write to the firefox config via command line so I can turn off auto-update in mass instead of having to touch each computer and make the change in the GUI? thanks!

Chosen solution

Use a mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to lock prefs or specify default values.

Place a file local-settings.js in the defaults/pref folder where you also find the file channel-prefs.js to specify using mozilla.cfg.

pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0); // use this to disable the byte-shift

See:

You can use these functions in mozilla.cfg:

defaultPref();  // set new default value
pref();         // set pref, but allow changes in current session
lockPref();     // lock pref, disallow changes

lockPref("app.update.enabled", false);
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Chosen Solution

Use a mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to lock prefs or specify default values.

Place a file local-settings.js in the defaults/pref folder where you also find the file channel-prefs.js to specify using mozilla.cfg.

pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0); // use this to disable the byte-shift

See:

You can use these functions in mozilla.cfg:

defaultPref();  // set new default value
pref();         // set pref, but allow changes in current session
lockPref();     // lock pref, disallow changes

lockPref("app.update.enabled", false);
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cheers,

looks like it will work. I will give it a go first thing monday!