The configuration file cannot be read on Mac Sierra, ESR 54
Mac OS Sierra
Firefox ESR 52.4.0 (64-bit)
# cd /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/defaults/pref/
# ls -lah
total 16
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 teacher admin 136B Sep 29 10:05 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root admin 149B Sep 29 10:33 autoconfig.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 teacher admin 241B Sep 21 09:12 channel-prefs.js
#cat autoconfig.js
// Any comment. You must start the file with a comment!
pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0);
# cd ../../../
# ls
Info.plist Library MacOS PkgInfo Resources _CodeSignature
# cd MacOS/
# ls -lah
total 307384
drwxr-xr-x@ 19 teacher admin 646B Sep 29 10:32 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 8 teacher admin 272B Sep 21 10:06 ..
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 139M Sep 21 10:06 XUL
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 crashreporter.app
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 59K Sep 29 10:31 firefox
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 59K Sep 21 10:06 firefox-bin
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 937K Sep 21 10:06 libfreebl3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 120K Sep 21 10:06 liblgpllibs.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 3.1M Sep 21 10:06 libmozavcodec.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 419K Sep 21 10:06 libmozavutil.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 257K Sep 21 10:06 libmozglue.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 4.3M Sep 21 10:06 libnss3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 910K Sep 21 10:06 libnssckbi.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 299K Sep 21 10:06 libnssdbm3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 46K Sep 21 10:06 libplugin_child_interpose.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 448K Sep 21 10:06 libsoftokn3.dylib
-rwxrwxr-x 1 teacher admin 1.5K Sep 29 08:55 mozilla.cfg
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 plugin-container.app
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 updater.app
# cat mozilla.cfg
// Any comment. You must start the file with a comment!
Try starting Firefox with a new user:
Configuration Error: Failed to read the configuration file. Please contact your system administrator.
Thanks for any help!
/Kent
<pre>
Mac OS Sierra
Firefox ESR 52.4.0 (64-bit)
# cd /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/defaults/pref/
# ls -lah
total 16
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 teacher admin 136B Sep 29 10:05 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root admin 149B Sep 29 10:33 autoconfig.js
-rw-r--r--@ 1 teacher admin 241B Sep 21 09:12 channel-prefs.js
#cat autoconfig.js
// Any comment. You must start the file with a comment!
pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0);
# cd ../../../
# ls
Info.plist Library MacOS PkgInfo Resources _CodeSignature
# cd MacOS/
# ls -lah
total 307384
drwxr-xr-x@ 19 teacher admin 646B Sep 29 10:32 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 8 teacher admin 272B Sep 21 10:06 ..
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 139M Sep 21 10:06 XUL
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 crashreporter.app
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 59K Sep 29 10:31 firefox
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 59K Sep 21 10:06 firefox-bin
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 937K Sep 21 10:06 libfreebl3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 120K Sep 21 10:06 liblgpllibs.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 3.1M Sep 21 10:06 libmozavcodec.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 419K Sep 21 10:06 libmozavutil.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 257K Sep 21 10:06 libmozglue.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 4.3M Sep 21 10:06 libnss3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 910K Sep 21 10:06 libnssckbi.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 299K Sep 21 10:06 libnssdbm3.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 46K Sep 21 10:06 libplugin_child_interpose.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 teacher admin 448K Sep 21 10:06 libsoftokn3.dylib
-rwxrwxr-x 1 teacher admin 1.5K Sep 29 08:55 mozilla.cfg
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 plugin-container.app
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 teacher admin 102B Sep 21 10:05 updater.app
# cat mozilla.cfg
// Any comment. You must start the file with a comment!
</pre>
Try starting Firefox with a new user:
Configuration Error: Failed to read the configuration file. Please contact your system administrator.
Thanks for any help!
/Kent
Modified by KentW
Chosen solution
You need to look further down to "Changes Over Time" to find the "Mac Directory Change" section where you will find the path I posted.
Read this answer in context 👍 2Mac Directory Change Due to Apple's stricter approach to software signing, as of about version 35 or so configuration files should now be placed relative to /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources (so mozilla.cfg should go there, and autoconfig.js under /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/defaults/pref.)
All Replies (4)
mozilla.cfg needs to be in this folder on Mac:
- /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources
cor-el said
mozilla.cfg needs to be in this folder on Mac:
- /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources
I'm unable to test this at the moment, but can you document it for me? According to the "Deploying Firefox in an enterprise environment" document at https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox/Enterprise_deployment:
Create a .cfg file in the Firefox program directory. By convention, mozilla.cfg, but it can be any file name really.
which I take to mean the directory that contains "firefox.bin", as Step 1 in that same document says:
Find the Firefox program directory where the Firefox executable is located. For example, in Windows this is typically either C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox or C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox in macOS it is typically /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS
Thanks!
/Kent
Chosen Solution
You need to look further down to "Changes Over Time" to find the "Mac Directory Change" section where you will find the path I posted.
Mac Directory Change Due to Apple's stricter approach to software signing, as of about version 35 or so configuration files should now be placed relative to /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources (so mozilla.cfg should go there, and autoconfig.js under /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/defaults/pref.)
Perfect! Thank you very much!