For most people, SCCM or whatever is really just pushing the installer and issuing the commands. For example, I use WPKG. The payload is the same, you're just shipping with FedEx versus UPS.
Also, I don't think many bother to replicate Mozilla's upgrade servers and re-point their clients. Mozilla doesn't provide upgrade-only packages, so each new release is a clean install/upgrade over the existing environment. The user-profile is upgraded upon first-run of the new executable. As of last week, Firefox RR and ESR diverged more significantly than the noted plugin support. 52 ESR only receives security and bugfixes while 53+ will presumably get new features, but at the time, 52 ESR and 52 RR were pretty much identical (minus plugin support). Lastly, play with CCK2. We find it easier to incorporate Prefs there rather than use Autoconfig directly (though necessary for Thunderbird configuration). Also, I think it handles bookmarks, and some other modifications that you mentioned. Mike's articles on Autoconfig and Add-on Scopes are still valuable information for configuration, though it's more difficult to include and automatically enable extensions now. I don't include any extensions (with Firefox), so my understanding there is probably a bit out of date. https://mike.kaply.com/2012/03/16/customizing-firefox-autoconfig-files/ https://mike.kaply.com/2012/02/21/understanding-add-on-scopes/ -Kris Kris Lou k...@themusiclink.net On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Copus, Scott <scott.co...@wku.edu> wrote: > Thanks Ryan! That sounds simple enough. I've never used the INI > deployment so I'll start looking into that. And I'll start looking at CCK2 > to see what holes it could fill for us. > > Have you been able to configure everything you want via autoconfig? If > not, then what and how are you handling it? > > Do you use SCCM to push *upgrades*? Any issues with this process? > Besides Firefox upgrading the user's browser profile on next launch, what > kind of other things go on behind the scenes that's worth mentioning that > could cause issues? > > > > Is the codebase all the same between Firefox normal vs. ESR with respect > to the same versions? For example are all these enterprise deployment > features (INI file, etc) in the normal Firefox too? Is there any > separation of functionality? I guess one exception would be FF 52 normal > vs. ESR would be that plugin support got dropped in normal but not in ESR > yet. (just curious) > > Thanks! > > -- > Scott Copus, Lab Systems Engineer > Academic Technology | Western Kentucky University > http://www.wku.edu/it/labs > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kasper, Ryan V [mailto:ryan.v.kas...@lmco.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 5:43 PM > To: Copus, Scott <scott.co...@wku.edu>; Enterprise@mozilla.org > Cc: Jeremy Moskowitz <jere...@policypak.com>; Kaply Consulting ( > consult...@kaply.com) <consult...@kaply.com> > Subject: RE: Firefox deployment/configuration/update guides? > > Hi Scott, > > So for getting it installed... We use MS Configuration Manager 2012. We > run the executable downloaded from Mozilla with the /INI command line > parameter: > /INI=<path to source>\ff_setup.ini > > Our ff_setup.ini file contains: > [Install] > ;Use with /INI=<full path to configuration ini file> on cmdline > DesktopShortcut=false > TaskbarShortcut=false > QuickLaunchShortcut=false > MaintenanceService=false > > I believe /INI assumes silent mode... Got this from > https://wiki.mozilla.org/Installer:Command_Line_Arguments > > We keep our prefs in a cfg file out under the Firefox installation > directory (Autoconfig - http://mike.kaply.com/2012/03/ > 16/customizing-firefox-autoconfig-files/). To configure Firefox to honor > this file populate "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla > Firefox\defaults\pref\local-settings.js" with: > pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0); > pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg.txt"); > > Copy your mozilla.cfg.txt out under the root (C:\Program Files > (x86)\Mozilla Firefox) and populate with (just some example prefs - proxy, > disable WebGL and Updates): > defaultPref("network.proxy.autoconfig_url", "http://proxy.example.com/";); > defaultPref("network.proxy.type", 2); > lockPref("webgl.disabled", true); > lockPref("app.update.auto", false); > lockPref("app.update.mode", 0); > lockPref("app.update.enabled", false); > > If you want the same experience customizing Firefox that you see available > in Chrome with GPO - consider PolicyPak - https://www.policypak.com/... > If you want something in the middle (between Autoconfig and PolicyPak) Mike > Kaply's CCK2 is a great option - https://mike.kaply.com/cck2/. We use > Autoconfig... > > I hope that helps get you started! > > Thanks, > Ryan Kasper > Lockheed Martin Software Distribution > ryan.v.kas...@lmco.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Enterprise [mailto:enterprise-boun...@mozilla.org] On Behalf Of > Copus, Scott > Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 3:37 PM > To: Enterprise@mozilla.org > Subject: EXTERNAL: [Mozilla Enterprise] Firefox > deployment/configuration/update > guides? > > Hi all, > > FYI, I'm a noob with respect to Firefox ESR/Enterprise and this mailing > list. So please bear with me as I try to learn how to manage Firefox in > the enterprise hopefully the 'proper' way compared to the way we've always > handled it in our environment. > > My background is an admin for classroom podium computers and computer labs > at my university. In an educational setting we try to offer as much as we > can to faculty, staff, and students for maximum teaching potential and user > choice. We've always included the most recent versions both Firefox and > Chrome consumer browsers baked in our images (mainly because I think the > enterprise versions didn't exist when we first started down this path). In > our environment we run Windows 7/10, domain-joined, don't use roaming > profiles, and customize the Windows default user profile via sysprep's > audit mode. We also use a disk reboot-to-restore product called Deep > Freeze which basically means that every user login is a "new/fresh" login > after every boot or restart. We've always customized all the browsers and > let these customizations be part of the aforementioned default user profile > that then propagate into the new user's Windows profile. However, I'd like > to get away from doing it this > way and deploy the additional browsers as silent install packages after > Windows has been deployed. > > Most of our browser customizations involve making the user experience as > best as possible given our static "locked" lab environment. We disable > first-run items, reminders or annoyances and anything date-based like > scheduled tasks and such that that like to periodically 'clean up' things > (including disabling Firefox's "it looks like you haven't started Firefox > in a while"), etc. We also customize home pages, bookmarks, popup blocker > exception site lists, etc. depending on the department or situation that's > requesting it. For Firefox, some of this is done in a scripted fashion > during initial deployment while other things are handled via group > policy/GPO (either login scripts that modify browser profile files that > contain such settings or just overwriting them with a server copy). > > Recently I've learned that with the Chrome browser I don't need to go this > route of duplicating an entire browser profile anymore. Chrome seems to > support configuring all or most of the settings I need customizing using > either GPOs and/or a 'master preferences' file. These settings get picked > at user's first launch of the browser and a fresh browser's profile gets > built around it. > > So I'm looking to do the same thing above with Firefox. I'm sure it can > be done. I'd like to get away our 'big' 15-20MB Firefox default user > profile just to replicate the custom settings we want. But there's a lot > of old or outdated information out there and I don't know where to start. > For example, some tips are specific to older versions since things like > file paths/names and preference names change over time. > > Can anyone point me to any good guides/pages that cover these enterprise > management tasks that would still be relative to the most recent versions > of Firefox? > - initial deployment of Firefox > - deploying a baseline Firefox config for new users > - maintaining configuration or avoiding configuration drift (i.e. > default or enforced policies/settings) > - controlled updates of the browser and all its other components > (including having a relatively recent malware/phishing database, CRLs, etc. > on the local drive) > - anything specific to a 'lab' environment (since it can have special > circumstances that are different than normal enterprise user management) > > Are Firefox version upgrades (major, minor, and security updates) > typically handled via just deploying the latest EXE over any previous > versions? > > Is there anyone here who doesn't let Firefox upgrade itself but rather use > your software deployment or patching system like > Altiris/SCCM/LANDESK/Zendesk handle it? What's the general technique? Is > there anything to watch out for? > > Any comments on the virtualization of Firefox such as with App-V? > > Sorry for the long post. I appreciate any tips or advice even if it's to > answer just one of my questions. Thanks! ;) > > -- > Scott Copus, Lab Systems Engineer > Academic Technology | Western Kentucky University > http://www.wku.edu/it/labs > > > _______________________________________________ > Enterprise mailing list > Enterprise@mozilla.org > https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/enterprise > > To unsubscribe from this list, please visit https://mail.mozilla.org/ > listinfo/enterprise or send an email to enterprise-requ...@mozilla.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe" > _______________________________________________ > Enterprise mailing list > Enterprise@mozilla.org > https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/enterprise > > To unsubscribe from this list, please visit https://mail.mozilla.org/ > listinfo/enterprise or send an email to enterprise-requ...@mozilla.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe" >
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