Firefox proxy settings with OD users

That's a tcsh shell script; tcsh and bash and such are the command shells on Unix, and you're working at the Unix level here. Launch Terminal.app and then use the nano (or pico or emacs or...) text editor.

Now even more confused.....

Please go learn about the command shell. Whether or not you realized it when you purchased the box, you're running a Unix server, and sooner or later you'll need to know how to use the command shell. This whether to make a configuration change that the GUI doesn't allow for, or to debug something. The effort and the investment here spent learning about bash (and tcsh) and the shell (and a text editor such as nano, and shell commands including cd, ditto and chown shown in that script) will pay you back dividends.

As for using nano, here is a "hello world" example:

Launch Terminal.app.

The $ is the command prompt. You're not entering that in what I've shown here.

$ nano example.sh

Then enter the following text exactly as shown into the nano editor window:

#!/bin/bash
echo 'hello world'

Then press ^X to exit nano, answer Y (yes) to write the file, and accept the filename offered.

Then the following shows the file contents, makes the file executable, and executes it:

$ cat example.sh
#!/bin/bash
echo 'hello world'
$ chmod u+x example.sh
$ ./example.sh
hello world
$

To close the shell session, you can enter

$ exit

Yes. The shell is cryptic. It's also very powerful. There's a command line administration manual in the [Mac OS X Server documentation set|http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/documentation.html], and there are various introductions to bash and tcsh around the network.

FWIW, bash is the default shell for new installations and newly-created users, but tcsh is around and works nicely, too.

Hi JenniferH

+"How would one go about copying this prefs.js file to all of the other users...when we have 500+ users?"+

There are ways of doing this without resorting to the command line.

For example you could alter the relevant file and save it within the Application's config folder as already outlined. This changes the application itself. Firefox as an application is usually stored in /Applications. If you have ARD use the "Copy Items" option from the Manage Menu. Copy the application from the client mac you made the changes on (make this the mac that has ARD installed) to the same relevant place on all your clients.

Another possibility is to take one client workstation, configure it exactly as you want, make the change to Firefox then use SIU to create an nbi. Push this out from the Server. If all your macs are exactly the same or nearly the same models you may only need one image? If not you will need extra images for as many differing models you have. For example an nbi for a PPC iMac G5 would not install on an Intel iMac.

Another possibility is make the changes to the application and copy it to a shared resource/folder that everyone has access to. Send an email (or some other form of communication) to all concerned and get them to copy the application to their application's folder overwriting the existing application the next time they log-on. Depending on your environment you could even set it as a managed auto-mounting share? Maximum gain Minimum effort.

IMO the most expedient way may be to use ARD? If you don't have it consider purchasing it.

Tony

Tony, let me explain what I am trying to accomplish. I want to have all of our elementary students have a BookMark bar with established sites and a homepage to a certain site. We do have ARD. Safari was easy to configure with the manifests; however several of our sites do not work with Safari, thus the Firefox issue. Are these items also stored in the prefs.js file? When I follow your directions, I cannot get the bookmarks or home page to be correct. I am missing something. Sorry to be thick about this...I usually get it.

Right now I'm uncomfortable with the command line, but see where an introduction to it would be less intimidating and worthwhile.

Thanks again.

Jennifer,

You def will want to start exploring the command line if you are going to be working with OS X Server. While you can do most management tasks with the GUI the real advanced configuration stuff (which I would classify this as) really requires command line and at least basic UNIX knowledge.
At any rate the script I gave you indeed has to be created within the auspices of the terminal and requires some basic command line knowledge. The basic steps to solve your problem would be to first set up a set of firefox preferences (homepage, proxy settings, etc) the way you want them. Then you would copy the following file ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/*/prefs.js to someplace on your server.
Just to explain a couple of things in that path. The ~ represents the home directory of the current user. In this case the user where you set up Firefox. The * is a wildcard character since we have no way of knowing the actual name of your profile folder within Firefox.
You don't have to copy that prefs.js file to a user accesible place on your server or a share point, just a place you will be able to access. You would then open up the terminal and make sure you were in the same directory as the prefs.js file just copied to the server. You would do that by typing cd /PathtoDirectory where "PathtoDirectory" is the folder location. You would then create the script in the same folder. I like to use the pico editor, but as mentioned previously vi or nano will work just as well. So assuming you want to call the script FireFoxPreferences you would type pico FireFoxPreferences. Then oopy and paste the script into the terminal. Hit Ctrl-X to exit the editor selecting Y when asked if you want to write the file. Make the script executable by typing chmod u+x FireFoxPreferences The run the script by tying ./FireFoxPreferences
Now with all that being said - if you are at all uncomfortable with this or do not know what each is doing take time to understand what each command is doing first before you run it or you can end up causing some problems.

Hi JenniferH

I understand. What I think will work is this:

Launch Firefox on any client workstation that has it installed - preferably one with ARD installed. Configure the Bookmarks as you'd like them.

Quit out of Firefox. Navigate to /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/qmwbfgvk.default (the prefix won't be exactly this but you get the picture). Within this folder should be roughly 30 or so files.

Select them all (command+a or select all from the Edit Menu)
Copy them (command+c or select Copy from the Edit Menu)

Now take the whole of that Firefox folder to the trash.

Navigate to the Applications folder and find the Firefox application. Select it and Duplicate the application (command+d or select Duplicate from the File Menu). This will make a copy of the Firefox application which you can revert back to if it all goes wrong or, alternatively, delete if it all goes right. Control click or right click on the original application's icon. Select "Show Package Contents". Drill down through the Contents folder to the MacOS folder. Select the "defaults" folder. Within this folder you should see a "profile" folder.

Replace the items within this folder (command+v or Paste from the Edit Menu). If prompted to overwrite existing files select "Apply to All".

Now navigate back to /Users/Home/Library/Application Support and launch the Application. What should happen is a new Firefox folder is created with a new profile and a new whateveritis.default. This should contain the all the changes you've made. You should also see all the changes within the Interface itself.

If it's worked it's up to you how you decide to 'push' this out to all your clients. If you have ARD as already mentioned it should not take long.

It's understandable your reluctance to get involved with the command line at the stage you're at now. There's no need to rush into it either. However Mr Hoffman makes a good point because eventually you will need it.

Does this help?

Tony