Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Natao arisiva ity resaka mitohy ity. Mametraha fanontaniana azafady raha mila fanampiana.

Installing edited add-on gives "Installation aborted because the add-on appears to be corrupt" error

  • 3 valiny
  • 1 manana an'ity olana ity
  • 1 view
  • Valiny farany nomen'i Nida

more options

Hello there!

I have been trying to edit an existing browser extension (for the sole reason of adding new features to it for myself), and I've been trying to add it to my Firefox browser. However, upon trying to install it to the browser, it throws an error saying: "Installation aborted because the add-on appears to be corrupt". I've been trying to read more into this issue all across the internet, but none of the recommendations seem to be working.

I tested my extension locally and with using the about:debugging temporary add-on method, and everything seemed fine.

I tried to re-configurate the 'xpinstall.signatures.required' variable by setting it to false (even thought this method is considered unsafe in most cases), and the issue still occurs

I also tried adding a new gecko ID to it as stated in this article, but to no avail: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/browser_specific_settings

And last, but certainly not least, I tried compressing the extension with web-ext aswell.

My question is - is there a way to add this extension permanently to my browser without submitting it to Mozilla? I did not create this extension, I only added custom integrations to it for myself.

And more importantly - is there a way to add it to the basic Firefox browser, which is not Firefox developer of Firefox nightly? Or maybe create a desktop shortcut that will always start the browser in debug mode, always containing the extension as "temporary"?

I can see that many posts and questions have already been posted regarding this "custom add-on" topic, but my situation is a bit different since my goal is to only use this add-on by myself (and I'm also revisiting this topic since none of the previous suggestions worked in my case)

Any comments, helps, or even links would be greatly appreciated! Have a great day!

Hello there! I have been trying to edit an existing browser extension (for the sole reason of adding new features to it for myself), and I've been trying to add it to my Firefox browser. However, upon trying to install it to the browser, it throws an error saying: "Installation aborted because the add-on appears to be corrupt". I've been trying to read more into this issue all across the internet, but none of the recommendations seem to be working. I tested my extension locally and with using the about:debugging temporary add-on method, and everything seemed fine. I tried to re-configurate the 'xpinstall.signatures.required' variable by setting it to false (even thought this method is considered unsafe in most cases), and the issue still occurs I also tried adding a new gecko ID to it as stated in this article, but to no avail: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/browser_specific_settings And last, but certainly not least, I tried compressing the extension with web-ext aswell. My question is - is there a way to add this extension permanently to my browser without submitting it to Mozilla? I did not create this extension, I only added custom integrations to it for myself. And more importantly - is there a way to add it to the basic Firefox browser, which is not Firefox developer of Firefox nightly? Or maybe create a desktop shortcut that will always start the browser in debug mode, always containing the extension as "temporary"? I can see that many posts and questions have already been posted regarding this "custom add-on" topic, but my situation is a bit different since my goal is to only use this add-on by myself (and I'm also revisiting this topic since none of the previous suggestions worked in my case) Any comments, helps, or even links would be greatly appreciated! Have a great day!

Vahaolana nofidina

You have to sign your extension, even for private use. You can select the Unlisted mode, then the extension won't be visible on AMO.

See https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/publish/submitting-an-add-on/

Hamaky an'ity valiny ity @ sehatra 👍 1

All Replies (3)

more options

Vahaolana Nofidina

You have to sign your extension, even for private use. You can select the Unlisted mode, then the extension won't be visible on AMO.

See https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/publish/submitting-an-add-on/

more options

You can permanently install unsigned extensions with xpinstall.signatures.required set to false in about:config on Developer Edition and Nightly as long as there is a gecko ID in the manifest. You don't need to compress it with web-ext, just zip it.

Unsigned extensions give a "has not been verified" error while a "appears to be corrupt" error suggests an issue with the manifest.

more options

Thank you both for the quick answer!