This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How to create a custom Firefox installation?

more options

I would like to install a custom version of Firefox on several computers. I would like to customize Firefox in the following ways:

- Set the default language to English. - Set the default search engine to Google, and set the language of Firefox's default search engine to English. - Open new tabs by default (instead of new windows). - Set the home page to a particular web site. - Pre-installed with a PDF viewer. - Pre-installed with a few additional plugins.

I'd like to create a single custom version of Firefox that I can distribute to these other computers, rather than doing all of the setup by hand. These machines will probably be Windows, but I am working from a Mac. I know how to do some of these on my own installation of Firefox (e.g., modifying the about:config file, modifying my Preferences) but don't know how to make something I can deploy.

How might I accomplish this?

I would like to install a custom version of Firefox on several computers. I would like to customize Firefox in the following ways: - Set the default language to English. - Set the default search engine to Google, and set the language of Firefox's default search engine to English. - Open new tabs by default (instead of new windows). - Set the home page to a particular web site. - Pre-installed with a PDF viewer. - Pre-installed with a few additional plugins. I'd like to create a single custom version of Firefox that I can distribute to these other computers, rather than doing all of the setup by hand. These machines will probably be Windows, but I am working from a Mac. I know how to do some of these on my own installation of Firefox (e.g., modifying the about:config file, modifying my Preferences) but don't know how to make something I can deploy. How might I accomplish this?

Saafara biñ tànn

Firefox by default already does almost all of these (Language, new tabs instead of windows, built in PDF reader, etc.) If you want to deploy additional settings, http://mike.kaply.com/cck2/ might be able to help.

Jàng tontu lii ci fi mu bokk 👍 0

All Replies (4)

more options

Saafara yiñ Tànn

Firefox by default already does almost all of these (Language, new tabs instead of windows, built in PDF reader, etc.) If you want to deploy additional settings, http://mike.kaply.com/cck2/ might be able to help.

more options

Thanks for the prompt response! I found the PDF reader IS a default; excellent news.

I experimented a little with CCK2. While I can set the home page, CCK2 doesn't have everything. Or rather, some solutions are not obvious:

1) The interface for setting the default search engine is buggy; I cannot seem to use Google in another language. 2) I cannot set the language of Firefox. 3) An option for toggling "new tabs by default" does not exist. I can only find it in my Mac's "Preferences Pane", not even in about:config.

I should clarify that Firefox will be installed on computers at a computer lab in a different country. Assume the national language of the country is NOT English (though the users will be using English Firefox). The ideal solution would package up a custom Firefox into a single file (with all the above modifications) that can be downloaded and installed. A less ideal solution would be a list of files need to be modified and their locations - along with instructions for modification.

more options

Please contact Mike Kaply for assistance with CCK2.

For the language issue, just make sure you use an English US build of Firefox: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

more options

Thanks! Upon toying around with CCK2 a bit, that turned out to be the solution I was looking for; it actually had everything I needed.

I also didn't realize that the variable for "new tabs by default" is browser.link.open_newwindow .