profiles.json snap firefox

[gobo7]

new install of 22.04.2. searches seem to indicate that profiles.json should be placed in /etc/firefox/policies when firefox is run in a snap. but this does not seem to be working. the .json only has "DisableAppUpdate": true as copied from an 18.04 box.

maybe this is not even needed with a snap firefox? my first time to mess with snaps. any suggestions?

thanks in advance,
gobo

oops, forgot. this is ff 113.0.2.

[claydoh]

profiles.ini? Or 'policies.json'?
Can't find information on a 'profiles.json' file for firefox.
What's it for?
Why do you think you need it?

I *think* this "DisableAppUpdate" setting may be something Windows-specific? I am not sure on this, but I think this option is/can be disabled at compile time in Linux, since updates are handled by the distros' packaging systems. This setting in a policies.json file has no effect on this, in Linux.
Maybe it used to?

if you want to disable automatic updates for some reason, you'd need to do so via the package management system.

For Snap:
snap list to find the correct name, then snap refresh --hold packagename.

[gobo7]

this is the first link i came on:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...g-policiesjson

under windows, linux and macos it has two functions. it allows the user to disable firefox autoupdates (remember, mozilla took the disable update feature away back like version 64.) the policy also kills off the nag box when you don't do an update. in this instance, i'm only using the disable update setting. there are quite a few others.

for some distributions, they use the firefox snap built by mozilla. i don't know what ubuntu does. this is my first encounter with snaps.

[gobo7]

this is what i expect to see. older version of kubuntu and firefox. this firefox is a mozilla binary running from /opt with the policies.json installed. so i don't know if firefox has stopped displaying that updates are restricted or if it is the result of running in a snap.

[claydoh]

Firefox in /opt would be something self "installed' from prebuilt, standalone binaries directly from Mozilla, or similar.


Nothing to do with Snap, it doesn't show this messaging/option anymore, as far as I can test.
The old UI had this no matter the OS, and had no effect in Linux as a distro's package manager provides updates, not Mozilla directly, as it does in Windows. I am not even sure a self-installed binary self-updates in Linux (I am probably wrong here, for sure). if it did, then such a file might be necessary.
For normal distro-installed and managed Firefox installs, this setting 'DisableAppUpdate' has no use or effect. Snap/flatpak/deb/rpm/whatever, it doesn't matter.
To control this, using the the packaging system tools is needed.

[gobo7]

under 18.04 with canonical firefox 105, the file goes in /usr/lib/firefox/distribution/policies.json (this is ubuntu specific.) two things occur, - about preferences shows browser is being managed by your organization and - the nag box about 105 being outdated does not show up. so the disableappupdate policy has the desired effect. as the nag box does not appear, the lack of auto-update seems to work as well. nothing done with the package manager. (to be certain, i am much better at getting firefox to do certain things and not so much with apt and apt-get.)

i did find one site, and on this i have more research, that snap packages do have the ability to self-update (their term) inside their environment.

you have spent some effort on this and i do appreciate your comments and your time. as i learn more about firefox in a snap, i'll have to update this for others.