Firefox 'portable' browsers - Mainline and ESR, 32- and 64-bit...

[mikewalsh]

(/03/12/22 - EDIT:- Given that modern, Woof-built Puppies are now beginning to come with PulseAudio built-in as standard, the portables have been re-jigged. Upon startup, the 'LAUNCH' script now checks to see if PulseAudio is present on the system; if it is, one set of libs are used.....if not, a different set of libs are employed. It's all automatic, so the user shouldn't need to concern themselves as to what audio system they're running.)

Morning, gang.

It struck me last night, it's been a while since I created any updated packages for these. So; I've 're-jigged', & built some new versions in my now 'standard' portable layout.

This is a further "re-work" of Fred's original FF-portable.

Fred's original simply placed a short script, called 'ff', inside the firefox directory. That script made use of the Firefox ability to specify the location of its profile directory, so Fred used this to create the Firefox profile inside the 'firefox' directory. This kept everything together in one place, and allowed the entire browser directory to be moved from one location to another.....hence, it became 'portable', no longer being tethered to a fixed, 'standard' location.

---

I was very taken by this whole idea. It was a concept I'd encountered years before in Windows XP, and one which I'd always wanted to get working in Puppy. That original release of Fred's 'showed the way', as it were, and set me on a path which still has no end in sight.....

My use of the 'LAUNCH' script first came about through helping a sweet old guy over at BleepingComputer, who'd made the switch to Puppy and wanted to have a 'shared' browser he could use with more than one Puppy/machine. So I used the then current Firefox ESR, basically using Fred's layout, but with the clearly labelled 'LAUNCH' script at the top 'level', pointing to the 'ff' script inside. (He admitted he wasn't very good with Linux, and he was so nice - and very polite with it - that I did what I could to make it easier for him). Hence the 'LAUNCH' script.....and by placing the entire thing on a suitably-formatted flash drive, it was totally portable, and he could plug it in & use it anywhere he wanted.

He was absolutely delighted with it, and I retained the concept, because I thought it was a better layout.

Since then, I've also added the ability to add a Menu entry from wherever the portable directory has been located. MenuAdd & MenuRemove scripts are self-explanatory, and the 'MenuReadMe' explains how to use them effectively. When the add/remove scripts are used, 'fixmenus' runs, followed by 'jwm -restart' (or better still, 'jwm-reload').....same as Puppy does when installing packages (which doesn't close anything you may have open.)

Fred's 'ff' script and my 'LAUNCH' script have been combined, along with now creating the 'profile' directory at the top 'level. With the 'extralibs' directory - for the PulseAudio emulation stuff - also now living at the top 'level', nothing extraneous remains within the firefox directory.

These should still update themselves as normal, using the built-in Firefox update mechanism.

---

Both 'mainline' Quantum, and ESR (Extended Support Release) versions are available, in both 32-bit and 64-bit varieties:-

• Firefox-portable32

• FirefoxESR-portable32

• Firefox-portable64

• FirefoxESR-portable64

For anyone who's interested, they can all be found here:-

https://mega.nz/folder/jepQRTRL#NomNB30HIUuC2CDYP7hTrA

.....within their respective folders. Just navigate through, and help yourselves to the one you want. Enjoy!

Mike.

[snoring_cat]

Ah, now I understand your definition of "portable". You are sym linking apps and libs into Puppy's system paths. I can see the benefits of this set up in certain circumstances.

Before I continue, I just want to say that my reply is only for inspiration, not to criticize in any way. It is the friendly Puppy way.

Cons
As for me, I prefer having profile data separate from the application. That way I can use Puppy's savefile encryption, and not need to worry about defining data/config paths for each application. Also, having an app like Firefox or Blender in a SFS file can save hundreds of MB. If there are many "portable" apps loaded, doing user data backups can be difficult. Applications might bebacked up with data, which can increase the backup size hundreds of MB. Finally, sometimes I have different versions of VirtualBox, LibreOffice, Blender, etc. which have features that work better in older/newer versions. It's easy to load/unload SFS files, AppImages, etc. on-the-fly.

Pros
Now back to the postives of the "portable" method. This "portable" method does have merit for "roaming" user data via USB stick sneaker nets. Your "portable" method I think would be more valuable if it was inside a mountable disk image container, using something like Veracrypt or LUKS. This locks down people having access to your bookmarks, passwords, etc. that are stored in a browser.

Possible Alternative
Data and Profiles Separated
Have any data that is to USB roa in a Veracrypt container
When mounting container, symlink things like /mnt/veracrypt/.config/Firefox to /root/.config/Firefox
In this way your data is always with you, and can be used on Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.

App SFS
wget from https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/download/thanks/
tar -xvjf firefox-92.0.tar.bz2
mkdir build/opt
mv firefox build/opt/
mksquashfs build/ firefox_X.X.X.sfs
mkdir -p build/usr/share/applications
cp /tmp/firefox.desktop build/usr/share/applications/

Other
One last thing. I noticed that the MenuReadMe included in your downloads says the following:
"...it will then restart "X"...."
I think it should say, "...it will then restart your window manager..." The reason being is that if X-Windows is restarted, sometimes things like opened documents aren't saved automatically. A jwm -reload or jwm -restart does not need to close apps.

[mikewalsh]

@snoring_cat :-

A-ha. A 'data security' enthusiast.

Well, as with everything in Linux, if you want to modify, feel free. I've never used encryption in my life, and have no intentions of starting now...

Mike.

[mikeslr]

@ snoring_cat. The following project is beyond my programing skills. But may give you some 'food for thought'.
Mike's LAUNCH script reads:
#!/bin/sh
#
# Launcher for 'portable' Firefox "Quantum" browser....
#
HERE="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")"
#
mkdir "$HERE/profile" 2> /dev/null
#
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$HERE/:$HERE/extralibs${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH} "$HERE/firefox64/firefox" "$@" -profile "$HERE/profile"

Among other things, what the above script does is create a profile folder --if one doesn't already exist-- or use the one and its contents if it does already exist.

It's fairly easy to provide an alternate LAUNCH script --say named SLAUNCH-- which has its own menu entry and a different profile; for example substitute "secured" for "profile" in the three places above. On occasion I've done that. What I can't do is:

Edit the LAUNCH script to create an encrypted profile folder if one doesn't already exist, and ask for and store a password; or ask for a password for an encrypted profile folder, decrypt such folder and use its contents if it already exists; adding some lines to remove/delete the decrypted folder once the password is typed; or perhaps after a short interval*. Obviously, you'd need an encrypt/decrypt application already on your system.

About Puppy's Save Encryption, unless you're using LUKS --I know you are already familiar with it-- you're using the encryption capabilities available if you choose to create a SaveFile formatted as Linux Ext2. Linux Ext2 partitions are prone to corruption. And, IIRC --never used it myself-- you're offered three levels of encryption of which only the strongest isn't easily hacked.

-=-=-=-
* My understanding is that the contents of the profile folder are read-into the application. Once that happens the decrypted folder would no longer be needed. But you'll probably also need some way to update the profile and/or change the password. At this point, I'm getting lost in the complexity.

[snoring_cat]

Are you supporting and writing the LAUNCH script being used for your "portable" versions? If not, my above post is kind of irrelevant, since it was going over ideas for future features and to fix a typo.

[mikewalsh]

Are you supporting and writing the LAUNCH script being used for your "portable" versions? If not, my above post is kind of irrelevant, since it was going over ideas for future features and to fix a typo.

Yes, I am.

I didn't come up with all the original content. As with so many things in Puppy, snippets of code get re-hashed, modified & re-used when they're found to work. Fredx181 was the one who started the ball rolling for all the recent (last couple of years or so) 'portable' browsers - and many other applications - that I've since produced.

Fred & I, and others, have bounced ideas, suggestions and other stuff off each other many times over the years. Many individuals have contributed bits & pieces over time, and, as I've said frequently in the past, while I will take credit for producing the packages as they are currently, I refuse to take credit for the work of others which has helped to hone many of those packages into what they are now. In so many ways, much of my stuff is a 'community' effort, at the end of the day.

On top of which, my own scripting skills are, like those of so many others, gradually getting better as time passes. 8 years ago, when I first started with Puppy, I couldn't have imagined I'd be doing a lot of the stuff I now take for granted. I'm happy to work together with a group of like-minded, similarly enthusiastic people. What I find somewhat unsettling is when a noob comes in and starts almost demanding that I begin to implement a), b) and c).....

I don't respond well to "pushy" individuals. I tend to "push" back. And, I'm sorry to say, I've always been anti-encryption. Those who try hard to 'conceal' themselves AND their data actually make themselves a more inviting target.....although I can't say as I really expect you to understand that.

"Security" enthusiasts frequently have trouble in seeing beyond the ends of their own noses, and become very blinkered in their outlook on life. "They're out to get me....." But.....each to their own. It's not MY place to tell others how to run their lives.

(*sigh...*)

Mike.

[xenial]

@mikewalsh

Hello mike,
Just a quick question,
I have a firefox sfs running on one of my pups and and update for firefox has become available.How do i perform the update without committing to a save.?

thanks

[mikewalsh]

@xenial :-

See, this is the reason I no longer produce browsers as SFS packages. A .pet, OR a 'portable', can re-write the base components in-situ. An SFS, by its nature, is 'read-only'. To update an SFS, you have to manually unpack it using

Code: Select all

unsquashfs

.....and move those contents to a temporary 'working' location. You then have to run the browser FROM that location, let the update mechanism do its thing, then re-build the SFS again.

This was never a problem with the Chromium-based browsers, given that the update mechanism doesn't work under Linux. I believe Phil B. has provided an updater for Chrome in Fossapup64, but this is of his own making; I haven't looked at this yet to see what it does. 'zilla-based browsers, however, update fine as a .pet or 'portable', just NOT as an SFS. An SFS involves extra work....and I've never used the 'unsquashfs' function, so I'm a bit hazy on how it works.

I don't believe it's summat you CAN script a 'one-size-fits-all' solution for, either, given that nearly every one of us tends to run their Puppy set-ups in a different way. (Perhaps it can be done, though it's a bit beyond me.....and it depends to a large extent on the individual system, how much RAM, how much storage, etc, etc. The 'unpacking' would be to a temporary location in /tmp, but that depends so much on how much RAM you have to play with; on a low-powered, low-resource system, you're asking a lot of it to do this.)

Sorry an' all that, mate.

Mike.

[xenial]

@mikewalsh
Excellent reply as always mike and thank you.

i did try one of you're portables which was my preferred way but for some reason i cannot get the bugger to fire up at all.I may try again at some point.

Don't be sorry mike you are always helpful with your guidance.

[keniv]

@mikewalsh
Hi Mike,
I'm using your Firefox ESR 32bit Portable in DpupStretch. The version is 91.2.0. Recently when I start it I get a notification of an update to version 91.6. There is no updater script in the version I currently have. I know your views on how long 32 bit browsers can be kept going but I wondered if you would consider producing an update for this. If this will involve you in a huge ammount of work then please ignore this request.

Regards,

Ken.

[xenial]

@mikewalsh
Hi Mike,
I'm using your Firefox ESR 32bit Portable in DpupStretch. The version is 91.2.0. Recently when I start it I get a notification of an update to version 91.6. There is no updater script in the version I currently have. I know your views on how long 32 bit browsers can be kept going but I wondered if you would consider producing an update for this. If this will involve you in a huge ammount of work then please ignore this request.

Regards,

Ken.

Hi ken.
firefox should update automagically.
HELP-ABOUT FIREFOX..

[keniv]

@xenial

Hi ken.
firefox should update automagically.

Had it in my head that you could not do this in a portable but this is obviously not the case as I've just done it. Thanks for that.
@mikewalsh
Hi Mike,
Please disregard my request in the last post.

Regards,

Ken.

[mikewalsh]

Afternoon, gang.

Following a post from JASpup earlier on, I did some experimenting.....and found it was perfectly possible to run the 'portables' as user 'spot' simply by swapping the 'LAUNCH' script for a modified version. So; since I know some of you definitely prefer to run browsers this way, attached to this post are modified 'run-as-spot' launch scripts for the Firefox-portables. (EDIT:- Please note; these simply have a 'fake' .gz appended to the end. Just delete the .gz from the end, and swap the script over as-is.)

These should work equally well for both Quantum & ESR variants.

It means, of course, that downloads/uploads will henceforth be confined to the 'spot' directory. To simplify moving stuff in & out of 'spot', along with changing ownership/permissions, the 'Spot2Root' utility provides an easy-to-use GUI.....normally launched from its icon in the tray 'notification area'. You can also 'switch off' the tray icon, if desired, and always run it from its Menu entry under Menu->Filesystem.

mikeslr posted about them here:- https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=118078
And you can obtain them here:- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Hope some of you find these useful.

Mike.

[bigphil]

Hi Mike,
I downloaded your 32bit Launch.gz from above post and attempted to extract it, However UExtract reported the attached error mesage..
I've tried it in DPup Stretch (where I want to use it) and Bionic64 with the same results.
Any ideas?

Regards

Phil

[Fat Tony]

@mikewalsh just wanted to say many thanks for all your time and work you put into creating these portables for us

[mikeslr]

Hi Mike,
I downloaded your 32bit Launch.gz from above post and attempted to extract it, However UExtract reported the attached error mesage..
I've tried it in DPup Stretch (where I want to use it) and Bionic64 with the same results.
Any ideas?

Regards

Phil

Hi bigphil,

Perhaps by now you've figured out that the '.gz' ending is false. The Forum only allows certain types of attachments; but it uses a file's ending as its criteria. Text files (.txt) and files without any ending aren't allowed. '.gz' files are. So to attach a script or a text file a false ending is added to it; frequently '.gz'. Just delete the false ending to use the script.

Usually the poster notes that a false ending was used with a note to delete it. But even MikeWalsh is human.

[mikewalsh]

@mikeslr :-

Good catch, Mike. I normally do explain about the 'fake .gz' ending, but as you say, I'm only human, same as the rest of you.....and I simply forgot on this occasion!

Mike.

[mikewalsh]

@mikewalsh just wanted to say many thanks for all your time and work you put into creating these portables for us

You're very welcome, Tony. Anything to make mine - and every other Puppian's! - lives a little easier...

Mike.

[bigphil]

When I read mikesirs post it kicked my brain into life, I do remember the need to put the fake .gz on the end of a text file.
It's probably an age related thing.
Anyway all sorted now, thanks for replies chaps.

Phil.

[Barkingmad]

Hello Mike

Do you still have any older versions of your Firefox portables?

I had one of your portables of the ESR version that had gradually updated itself to the low 90s, 91.xx I think, on my Taha install mainly for sites that need DRM as Firefox seems to be the last 32 bit support for that. I have just let it update to 101 and it seems to have broken the main video site that I have it for I am now trying to get back to where I was with what I need working if can find any of the older releases about.

What version is the the download available from your Mega site?

Many thanks if you can help at all.

Will

[fredx181]

... still have any older versions of your Firefox portables ?

Which version would you like it to be ?

[mikewalsh]

@Barkingmad :-

I do have a package of the previous ESR 91.9.1. It won't do you any good, though.

Google deprecated 32-bit Widevine back on the 31st May last year. They announced the planned deprecation more than 6 years ago, back in early 2016. It's not like the global community didn't have any notice of what was going on.

Widevine works on a client-server model. The client module is part of your browser. The server module is run by the website. The current, up-to-date server module now interacts only if the client module reports x86_64 architecture. If the client module reports x86 only (32-bit), the server module returns errors, and tells you your browser is no longer supported.

This will happen with any 32-bit Widevine client module, regardless of how old it may be.

Since I'm an avid sci-fi fan - especially Star Trek! - and NetFlix requires Widevine in order for you to watch anything at all, the number of 32-bit Puppies I run has dropped drastically. I run just 2 now; Xenialpup 7.5.....and a personally-customized re-master of Slacko 5.6.0, a long-standing favourite of mine.

Ye anciente, 32-bit Dell lappie gave up the ghost several weeks ago. Either the graphics chip, the display or the connector from one to the either. It had not really been able to run any reasonably up-to-date software for a long time.....and the P4 was so slow.

I'd been wanting to replace it for quite a while, so last month I finally bit the bullet, and treated myself to a refurbished Dell Latitude D630; Intel Core2Duo, 4 GB RAM, Nvidia GPU. 64-bit, so I could run all those 64-bit portable browsers, and 64-bit portable apps I've built in recent years. And 64-bit browsers means NetFlix.....

It's yet another way to "encourage" people to switch to 64-bit. Google have been pushing it for nearly 8 years....

(*shrug*)

Mike.

[mikeslr]

Hi Barkingmad,

As t'other Mike wrote, it's likely that an older version won't solve your problem. But if you would like to try, here's how to create a portable with any old version.

1. Suggest you Right-Click your current firefox portable, select Duplicate from the pop-up menu, and give the duplicate a name, e.g. firefox-101. [Keep it until the one you're building works].
2. You can download any 'old' version of firefox from this repo, https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/. For example, following the links will eventually get you to here, https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/rel ... 686/en-US/ for the last build of firefox 91, 32-bit.
3. UExtract the tar.gz. Within the extraction folder will be a firefox folder -perhaps named firefox32-- within which are files and folders. Within that folder you'll see files and folder, including a folder named 'browser' and another named 'defaults'. Whether named firefox or firefox32, that's the folder needed for a portable.
   3a. New Style: MikeWalsh revised how portables are structured. They now are structured like this:

   

   firefox-portable.png (24.56 KiB) Viewed 4305 times

Notice that there's a firefox32 folder, an extralibs folder and a profile folder next to the LAUNCH Script. Replace that firefox32 folder with the 'firefox' folder you extracted, renaming that folder to firefox32 if necessary.

It it doesn't launch at first, try re-naming the profile folder (perhaps to Qprofile). It may be that upgrading also upgraded addons that are incompatible with firefox-91.

3b. Old Style: The firefox folder you extracted IS your portable. But to keep it fully-portable you have to copy into it an extralibs folder you can get here, viewtopic.php?p=42470#p42470. That package also has a script named 'ff' for starting the firefox and keeping firefox's profile and the web-cache it downloads within its own folder. You also place it in the firefox folder. There is no Menu entry. You'll have to create one. And there's also the same question about whether the profile you last used with firefox-101 will work. In this style, the profile folder is located within the firefox32 folder.

[Barkingmad]

Hello Mikewalsh

Is there any way you could make that V.91.xx package available for a time? If not I'll try what Mikeslr suggests.

I am trying to use the Eurosport sports TV player and it was working on Sun in Firefox 91, then I succumbed to Firefox's nagging to update and now it isn't. They must not use the widevine tech but I know it doesn't work in Palemoon so I keep Firefox around for that.

Thanks for explanation as well, it's useful elsewhere.
Will

[mikewalsh]

@Barkingmad :-

Hi, Will. You can find the FFesr v91.9.1 tarball here, if you still want to try it:-

https://mega.nz/folder/SLhWSJZQ#8F3QGxfOghZPFRIbyFh4YA

Keep us posted as to what happens, please.

Mike.

[Barkingmad]

Hello Mike

Here's an update as requested and for reference if anyone else finds this.

As of 28-9-2022 Eurosport player in the UK plays 'on demand' video with Firefox ESR91.9.1 32bit.

Version 101.xx fails with an error something about failing to connect to the server. It also has other problems for me eg. locking up on close so I have resort to 'kill' so I'm not inclined to try it again just to get the exact text. STOP PRESS: Firefox update is now offering V.103 -- maybe that says something -- though I won't be taking it up just yet

Thanks again mike for finding that package of V.91 -- I'll try to keep it safe!!
Will

[Zedward]

I have trouble with Mike Walsh' portable Firefox.
I downloaded portable 32 bit Mainline one and it works fast and great!
But when I try to install it to Menu (to have ability use it as default), I always get error: "firefox is already running...". I delete .parenlock and .lock files, reboot etc. but only wiping all portable folder can help me.
The same situation with SeaMonkey... But Vivaldi run without errors.
Help me please: how can I add FireFox to menu without getting errors?
Thank you!

[mikeslr]

firefox_portable-0.64.pet

(13.45 KiB) Downloaded 98 times

Hi, Zedward, you can try creating menu listings using the attached Pet. But after installing you may have to edit one file.

The bash script named firefox_portable in /root/my-applications/bin has this argument:
exec /mnt/home/firefox64/LAUNCH "$@"
Edit that to read: exec /PATH-TO-YOUR-FIREFOX-FOLDER/NAME-OF-FOLDER/LAUNCH "$@"

You can use this as a template for any other portable web-browser. Just remember to provide an icon in /usr/share/pixmaps/, reference it in /usr/share/applications/...desktop and edit the names and text of the desktop files and the bash-scripts in /root/my-applications/bin.

[mikewalsh]

Evening, gang.

Following a heads-up from @wizard that all Woof-built Puppies are now coming with PulseAudio, OOTB - and a mention that, as things were, the 'old' portables were crashing on audio tabs - I've modified the 'LAUNCH' scripts to auto-detect whether PulseAudio is on the system or not:-

viewtopic.php?p=74396#p74396

All the Firefox 'portables' have had this treatment; mainline & ESR, in both 32- AND 64-bit. Just uploaded 'em about an hour ago. Have added a note to the top of post #1 to reflect this. Hope they work OK for you guys.

Enjoy.

Mike.

[Amol]

Hello mikewalsh !
THANKS !! Very great portable FF 32bit on DpupStretch 7.5.
INCREDIBLE it runs like a charm.EXCELLENT WORK !!
Amol