ProfileManager 1.0_beta1
ProfileManager is a standalone app that can be used to manage profiles for Firefox and other xulrunner apps. The profile manager which is built into Firefox is going away after 4.0, so this new app will be the best choice for managing profiles in future Firefox versions, but it works great with 4.0 and earlier versions as well, not to mention Thunderbird.
Some of its features:
- easy profile backup and restore
- ability to save/restore profiles to zip archives (which makes it easy to move them between machines)
- ability to manage multiple versions of Firefox, and associate profiles with specific Firefox versions
- allows user to launch any profile with any version of Firefox installed on his system, as shown in the graphic below
You can download a build of the 1.0_beta1 version from ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta1/. Myself and the others who have worked on this (principally Jeffrey Hammel and Mark Côté) would love feedback; feel free to leave comments or file a bugzilla bug if you find problems.
Note: by default, ProfileManager works with Firefox profiles. To use it with the profiles of a different xulrunner app, pass the name of the app to it as an argument, e.g., ‘profilemanager thunderbird’.
Great, but do you have MSVCR100.DLL packaged in there to make it run? I tried running it on Win7 but it requires the dll.
cuz84d
January 11, 2011 at 7:02 pm
you need the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package, for x86 its here: http://goo.gl/r5tyX
Gabriel
January 11, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Hi,
When I tried ‘profilemanager seamonkey’ I got ‘TypeError: this._appsData[this._app] is undefined’ (with thunderbird starts ok)
Gabriel
January 11, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Thanks for the problem report, I’ll look into it.
jagriffin
January 11, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Adding:
seamonkey: {name: ‘SeaMonkey’,
default_subdir: ‘Mozilla SeaMonkey’},
after Line 118 (or the TB-Section from _appData:) in the “ProfileManager.js will fix this issue, now the Beta 1 will work for me with current SeaMonkey-Nightly-Builds too.
Tobias Fischer
January 27, 2011 at 2:37 am
This looks really cool. I’d love to see a description field. Sometimes I want to document why I created a particular profile. (Name isn’t enough)
pspmikek
January 11, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Great! I use the profile manager very often (instance for web developing and one for minefield).
One of the problem of the old one is, that when I use another profile, close it and run firefox without -P the last used profile is used. Could you add an option that forces Firefox to use the default one, when no -P is given? Thanks.
Fabian
January 11, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Just a quick thought. How about integration firefox sync so you could sync your profiles?
Simon
January 11, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Where’s the source code for this?
Dan
January 12, 2011 at 1:50 am
Source is at http://hg.mozilla.org/automation/profilemanager/
jagriffin
January 12, 2011 at 10:36 am
It seems you package 10.6-only XULRunner with the Mac version of the app, so it doesn’t launch on 10.5.
Workaround:
$ arch -i386 /Applications/Minefield.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -app /Volumes/profilemanager-mac.dmg/ProfileManager.app/Contents/Resources/application.ini
Nickolay Ponomarev
January 12, 2011 at 2:21 am
Thanks for the tip.
jagriffin
January 12, 2011 at 10:27 am
Looks great, but how to get it to manage other xulrunner apps that have a completely different branding (appName & editor)?
For example an app that has a profile in:
~/.scenari/ch.3.7
If I copy the the ch.3.7 profile to ~/.mozilla then I get the “TypeError: this._appsData[this._app] is undefined” that Gabriel reported.
smonsarr
January 12, 2011 at 2:37 am
16 Mo for sources for a profile manager !
antistress
January 12, 2011 at 3:15 am
Feature Question:
Your ‘Backup’, will it (in future) include an option to exclude some ‘features’ like cache-dir, urlclassifier-, and safebrowsing-databases? This would be a fine and easy to implement space-safer.
Will there be versions for x86_64bit too?
If nothing else, it’s already better than what we have now. What remains to be seen is the bundeling with Fx/Tb/other xull-apps
yamaban
January 12, 2011 at 3:28 am
I doubt it will ever be bundled with Firefox; the intention is to have it available as a separate download for people who are interested. I can’t speak for Thunderbird or other xulrunner apps.
jagriffin
January 12, 2011 at 10:33 am
I was wondering if this kind of tool can handle the xpi installation too… if someone open an xpi file it open profilemanager and let you install the addon for one or multiple profile
Antoine Turmel (GeekShadow)
January 12, 2011 at 5:16 am
I’ve been thinking of that kind of feature. It may show up in a future release!
jagriffin
January 12, 2011 at 10:26 am
Cool (and not scary and complex
).
Filed an enhancement request and a bug.
Aleksej
January 12, 2011 at 7:08 am
Cheers so glad you have created a replacement.
SilverWave
January 12, 2011 at 10:11 am
I’m on OS X 10.6 and the profile manager application does not use the global menu bar at the top but has its own in the application window (akin to Windows and Linux).
Erunno
January 12, 2011 at 11:30 am
I’m a moderator on the MozillaZine forums. Our experience has been that moving a profile is a common user task, and that editing profiles.ini is very error prone for many users.
That is why http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_profile_folder documents how to move a profile using the profile manager. It relies upon the profile manager updating profiles.ini with the specified location when you create a profile. That doesn’t work with this utility as it creates a subdirectory with a different name instead. i.e. when I tell it to create a profile at C:\Users\eric\Profiles\Firefox\tanstaafl it created a b0myawu9.tanstaafl subdirectory there and updated profiles.ini to use it instead.
I also tried the copy command. It too created and used a subdirectory.
I realize the bug report states this is not a end user tool but Mozilla removing support for the profile manager and this utility being the only available substitute creates a real problem. Please consider either changing the behavior, adding a optional setting to enable the current behavior, or adding some menu command that updates profiles.ini to use a profile at the specified location.
Using a different location than the one specified adds no value for most testers (there are better ways to protect a profile and its not even an issue if you are the only one with access to the PC) and prevents this tool from being used to move a profile.
Tanstaafl
January 13, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Could you add ability to _sort_ profiles (i.e. move profiles up and down in list)? This could be implemented as up/down buttons and/or drag-n-drop ability.
Impossibility to change order of profiles is currently one of main lacks of built-in Profile Manager. Standalone profile manager makes this less important, but reordering feature would be nice anyway.
Thanks.
MT
January 14, 2011 at 10:41 am
[...] Download Profile Manager [...]
Portable Firefox Profile Manager For Multiple Firefox Versions
January 19, 2011 at 6:48 am
[...] exclusive at the Mozilla ftp server: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/. (via) google_ad_client = "pub-5406364303442190";/* 300×250, created 2/27/09 */google_ad_slot = [...]
Firefox Profile Manager To Be Removed Soon
January 19, 2011 at 11:09 am
[...] Profile Manager for Windows requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. Downloads are available exclusive at the Mozilla ftp server: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/. (via) [...]
Firefox Profile Manager To Be Removed Soon by Ekschi Technology
January 19, 2011 at 1:57 pm
[...] Profile Manager for Windows requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. Downloads are available exclusive at the Mozilla ftp server: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/. (via) [...]
Firefox Profile Manager To Be Removed Soon | Solution for Internet speed, connection, security all in one blog
January 19, 2011 at 6:32 pm
[...] Profile Manager for Windows requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. Downloads are available exclusive at the Mozilla ftp server: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/. (via) [...]
Firefox Profile Manager to be Removed Soon « WTI NewsBlog
January 20, 2011 at 9:22 am
It was suggested on the Mozillazine forums that I post my problem w/ ProfileManager here.
I installed ProfileManager & it didn’t find any profiles for any app. I tried arguments, but they didn’t work. I don’t know if I need more specific info about arguments. Profiles are in standard XP locations. FF & TB are in the default location, but not default directories. I do have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package installed.
I do use -profilemanager in program shortcuts due to having a bunch of profiles for each app, although I don’t usually switch profiles anymore.
Any suggestions?
XP SP3, FF 3.6.13, FF 4.0B9, TB 3.1.7
rocketman
January 21, 2011 at 9:23 am
For Firefox profiles, you should launch ProfileManager without any arguments at all; is that how you launched it?
jagriffin
January 21, 2011 at 10:50 am
That is correct. I launched ProfileManager without arguments & it didn’t find any profiles.
rocketman
January 21, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Backup and restore of the profiles to the same machine, another one or a new PC.
There are many files in the profiles that we truly don’t need to back up e.g. cache, history or mailbox_name.msf for Thunderbird : If they are 1 month old they have no use value.
If you plan to “not include” them (may be as an option) you give a value added service compared to a standard backup program that I’ll be forced to use for my other data. If you do not provide this option, I’ll use only the standard backup program for all data and the backup/restore part of your development is useless for me and many others and so a lost of time ! Please clarify.
Nigelle
January 22, 2011 at 7:08 am
To bundle or not to bundle ?
According Bugzilla@Mozilla – Bug 214675 Remove Profile Manager UI the functionality AND the coding will be suppressed from standard Firefox coding after 4.0. What about Thunderbird ? I read that your code also works with Thunderbird but with giving a parameters.
What is the best solution ? I have worked with Netscape, now I use Firefox AND Thunderbird because 2 separated programs with a common part of coding are easier to maintain than a unique big one. Do you have the same problem with the Firefox and Thunderbird ? Do you plan in the future to have 2 separately maintained branches ? If yes, it is more user friendly to bundle each branch (.exe + icon) with its corresponding program. If no, you cannot avoid “a separate download for people who are interested” i.e. all the people that have more than 1 profile…
Nigelle
January 22, 2011 at 7:41 am
I have the EXACT same problem as rocketman.
I have tried both version of the profilemanger list on the the ftp page and I have the visual c++2010 installed.
ProfileManger does not see any of my profiles for FF 3.6.13 or a Portable version of FF4.x.x.
Can you help us jagriffin
please!
thank you
B. Moore
January 24, 2011 at 1:33 am
Can you tell me what the path is to your profiles.ini for Firefox?
jagriffin
January 25, 2011 at 1:29 pm
C:\Documents and Settings\bgm\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
B. Moore
January 25, 2011 at 10:15 pm
scratch the 1st reply
C:\Documents and Settings\bgm\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
B. Moore
January 25, 2011 at 10:16 pm
new version released on the 27th still does not see my profiles.
B. Moore
January 28, 2011 at 12:33 am
I updated the Windows build so that it should show an error if it can’t see your profiles, telling you where it’s looking, which should hopefully help me fix the problem.
Re: the mac build, the problem is that xulrunner 2.0 does not support PPC. I’ll see if I can get it working optionally with xulrunner 1.9.2, which does support PPC.
jagriffin
January 28, 2011 at 11:17 am
oh and I don’t think you have what versions of OSX listed any where saying which can work with Profilemanager.
I can tell you it does not work with OSX 10.4.11 which makes sense I just can’t afford to buy a new mac.
B. Moore
January 24, 2011 at 1:40 am
I’ve updated the Mac build at ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta1/profilemanager-mac.dmg; I’d be curious if this fixes your problem.
jagriffin
January 27, 2011 at 10:44 am
Nope still does not work on my mac.
What the new version did was make it ABSOLUTELY clear that it will never work on my mac. The app icon in the .dmg now has a big white x meaning this app will only work on intel macs.
Mine is a old quicksilver g4 running 10.4.11
B. Moore
January 28, 2011 at 12:32 am
Does your program works with non standard location (not in the C: partition) of the profile ?
You have to be aware that in case of a Windows crash needing a reinstall with format of C:\ the Windows standard location for user’s data is erased. If you have not made a back up a few seconds before the crash there is a loss of data… In most of these cases other partitions are not harmed.
For this reason, presently most of the off the shelf PC configurations have 2 equal size partitions : C:\ for Windows, D:\ for user data. Starting with Vista if you have only C:\ partition you can shrink it (without destroying data) and create other partition(s).
It is time for Mozilla (Firefox, Thunderbird and others) to support several partitions with user data out of C:\ : this is a question of potential loss of data which is very important for the user.
Nigelle
January 25, 2011 at 7:26 am
The path to my profiles is C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
rocketman
January 25, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Thanks, I’ll try to reproduce the problem.
jagriffin
January 25, 2011 at 4:22 pm
I’ve updated the Windows build at ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta1/profilemanager-win32.zip; if it can’t find your profiles.ini, it should now generate an error message which tells you where it’s looking. Can you run this version and tell me what error it produces?
jagriffin
January 28, 2011 at 11:16 am
Here is my error message…
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3940/mozillaprofilemanagerer.jpg
B. Moore
January 28, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Thanks to both you and rocketman for sending me screenshots. I’ve updated the Windows build yet again at ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta1/profilemanager-win32.zip, do you mind downloading it and running it once more, this time passing it the -jsconsole option, and letting me know what errors it shows?
jagriffin
January 31, 2011 at 10:56 am
here is the new screenshot
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4444/mozillaprofilemanager2.jpg
B. Moore
January 31, 2011 at 7:10 pm
for 1.0_beta2 released 2/2/11 with the -jsconsole
i get same exact error I have got on every version.
only difference is there are zero entries in the error console until you close the first error window…..
B. Moore
February 7, 2011 at 9:15 pm
OK, here’s my error from the new build:
http://img155.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererror1.png/
rocketman
January 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I have a correction. My error image wasn’t done with the -jconsole option, so here are the images with it.
http://img12.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererror2.png/
http://img227.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererror2a.png/
rocketman
February 1, 2011 at 7:00 am
Here are my errors with beta 2.
http://img220.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererrorbeta.png
http://img87.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererrorbeta.png
rocketman
February 6, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Thanks; I’ve updated the beta2 builds for Mac and Win so that they should give a more specific error message on that failure, which should hopefully help me finally resolve this.
jagriffin
February 8, 2011 at 5:29 pm
here is my screenshot. I got 2 different error windows this time.
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/9900/profilemanagerbeta2scre.jpg
and the newest mac version is still saying it’s intel only.
B. Moore
February 8, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Here’s my error for the latest beta.
http://img59.imageshack.us/i/profilemanagererrorbeta.png
rocketman
February 9, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Okay, been running into a bit on an issue since Beta 1 (did install the beta 2 update). When an external application (such as Thunderbird) tries to open a link it tries to do so by starting Firefox again on the same profile thus I get the standard error that ‘Firefox is already running’.
El Guru
February 10, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Which OS are you running? Is Firefox already running when you click the link in Thunderbird, or not?
jagriffin
February 10, 2011 at 8:41 pm
[...] a stand-alone profile manager application, called ProfileManager. Developed by J. Griffin has been released as a Beta for Windows, Linux and Mac. This handy application allows you to easily manage (create, [...]
ProfileManager | Firefox Extension Guru's Blog
February 11, 2011 at 11:02 am
Hello, I’m from the Mozilla Italian translation and support team. After upgrading my Debian linux box to the new version (Squeeze), the fonts of Profilemanager 1.0beta2 have become blurred and the whole application seems unresponsive.
http://img831.imageshack.us/i/profilemanager.png/
Thanks
Simon
February 11, 2011 at 11:15 am
[...] There is a solution to this problem in the works called Profile Manager and you can read more about it on J Griffin’s blog. [...]
Mozilla Firefox Profiles Manager is Going Away : Theme Zoom Blog
February 24, 2011 at 2:48 am
There are currently no mobile version builds on offer. Will this change by release time for both Maemo and Android?
Mardeg
March 20, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Mobile Firefox is something of a different beast. Mark Côté has developed a profile tool for Fennec, see http://people.mozilla.com/~mcote/fennecpt/.
jagriffin
March 21, 2011 at 10:30 am
[JavaScript Application] getFile: invalid path; utils.js bug, posted at
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=643893
capture: http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6225/profilemanager1b2win32.png
fremea
March 22, 2011 at 1:56 pm
[...] There is a solution to this problem in the works called Profile Manager and you can read more about it on J Griffin’s blog. [...]
Mozilla Firefox Profiles Manager is Going Away
April 5, 2011 at 12:20 am
I just downloaded and installed what I believe is the current version of ProfileManager. Running it, I see the same error reported by others:
[Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80520001 (NS_ERROR_FILE_UNRECOGNIZED_PATH) [nsILocalFile.initWithPath]” nsresult: “0×80520001 (NS_ERROR_FILE_UNRECOGNIZED_PATH)” location: “JS frame :: chrome://profilemanager/content/utils.js :: getFile :: line 287″ data: no]
The ProfileManager window flashes on screen briefly then disappears.
The main OS in use is Windows XP SP3, though Win2K Pro SP4 qnd Ubuntu Linux 10.10 are available. The desktop machine has five physical drives.
I have a non-standard profile setup. I don’t care for where Mozilla code creates profiles by default under Windows. So I use ” -P” to access ProfileManager, and create profiles in specific desired locations to make management easier. I have multiple Mozilla products, with multiple profiles per product, and shift between them using appropriate “-p ” statements on the shortcuts that start them. (I occasionally use -no-remote to have more than one active at a time.)
My profiles.ini file lives in F:\Documents and Settings\Dennis McCunney.ARDA\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
F: is the XP boot drive. There are a dozen profiles defined in that profiles.ini file.
Profiles are all under D:\Mozilla\Profiles\\version\ D: is the principal data drive, shared across OSes.
Is there a way to tell ProfileManager where things live when it can’t find them?
I can understand the logic to wanting to pull the ProfileManager code out of FF and other Mozilla products, but there *has* to be a replacement for the functionality before it goes away.
While I’m certainly not a typical user, I’m hardly the only “power user” who uses Mozilla products so I *can* do things like that. If all I cared about was how fast the browser loaded, I’d still be using IE.
______
Dennis
DMcCunney
April 18, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Hey Dave,
Can you try the 1.0_beta2 builds and let me know if you still aren’t able to get it to run successfully?
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta2/
jagriffin
April 18, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I finally got it to run successfully.
rocketman
April 19, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Well hot dam the new 1.0_beta2 uploaded 3/30/11 finally worked for me!
Wish you would have mentioned it before today I could have given you the good news sooner.
B. Moore
April 18, 2011 at 8:11 pm
How do I get profile manager to see my portable firefox 4 profile.
I tried to add it manually but its doesn’t seem to recognize the portable version.
B. Moore
April 18, 2011 at 8:15 pm
What is your profiles.ini entry for the portable profile?
jagriffin
April 18, 2011 at 9:24 pm
the ini that the FF 4 portable uses is called: FirefoxPortable.ini
and in there the profile entry says:
LastProfileDirectory=C:\Documents and Settings\bgm\My Documents\Insync\bgm\appz\ff4\Data\profile
B. Moore
April 18, 2011 at 10:26 pm
[...] Eller läs mer från skaparen av Profile Manager http://jagriffin.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/profilemanager-1-0_beta1/ [...]
Hantera profiler i olika versioner av Firefox | Mynewsdesk Devcorner
May 21, 2011 at 5:31 am
Heads up: Fix the original post link. You link to beta1. I downloaded it and got an error message on trying to launch it. Going one level up on the ftp directory, I saw you have a beta2. I downloaded it, and it launched fine. From it, I launched one of my ff versions, with one of my profiles, chosen as I wanted, launched as I wanted.
Problem free. Error free. Win XP Pro, SP3; fully updated.
Fairly intuitive, more so using the application than trying to follow the screenshots. That’s usually the case.
But fix that link in the post, to reach the beta2 or to link one directory higher, please, since others might find it confusing too.
Finally, I’d not had need to use the ftp server before. I now have the ftp top level bookmarked, and a desktop shortcut. THANKS.
I bookmarked the blog. THANKS AGAIN.
fyi, reconstructing how I found the blog, a thread here,
http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla-labs-testpilot/browse_thread/thread/9092b13f905e8ace/4655f047f540d597#4655f047f540d597
linked to the mozillazine Profile manager article, and https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Profile_Manager
and somewhere along the way there was a blog link re developer status.
Those two resources also point to beta1; not beta2, and somebody with edit authority needs to redo the links.
eric z.
May 30, 2011 at 8:04 pm
any word on a stable release?
thanks again for taking the time to develop this app!
B. Moore
June 6, 2011 at 1:43 am
Look for a final 1.0 release sometime this month.
jagriffin
June 6, 2011 at 9:03 am
I tried running ProfileManager (1.0 final?) but ran into two problems:
1. It kept giving me the message that ProfileManager was already open but not responding and that I needed to end it or reboot in order to launch it again…Strangely, it wasn’t open and even rebooting didn’t fix the issue.
2. I had some existing profiles and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to import an existing profile into ProfileManager?
Dave Mackeyackey
June 10, 2011 at 4:33 pm
That’s strange, that usually means Profile Manager can’t find your profiles.ini. I assume you’re trying to use with Firefox, can you tell me where your profiles.ini is? See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profiles.ini_file for the usual locations where this can be found.
jagriffin
June 10, 2011 at 9:05 pm
I deleted profilemanager, including the folders in AppData and then reinstalled it. Now it is working fine. I’m not sure what happened before, but I can’t reproduce it now. I’ll let you know if it comes up again.
Dave Mackey
June 10, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Great program…
Makes working with Firefox profiles even EASIER than the built in manager… and handles different versions / installs of Firefox just as easily… which the previous manager did not (there have been extensions on and off that have helped yet also not so easily and as part of FF as they were extensions… came with other inherent barriers).
As FF is now starting to be updated more frequently (4 to 5 in how long compared to the past!) with features such as copying profiles and assigning any profile to any version of FF… along with ability to configure these… really very nice indeed!
I am also working with Thunderbird and have an issue where it is looking by default in the wrong directory for the .ini file.
Running profile manager with “Thunderbird” as the switch out the back gives the following message…
C:\Users\saige01\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Thunderbird\profiles.ini does not exist
My TB install is at
C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird
which seems to match the following
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profiles.ini_file
Am I using the wrong switch for TB or does something else need to be adjusted?
I’m running Profile Manager v1.0 – Build/201105111727, XULRunner/2.0
Cheers,
saige01
Saint
June 24, 2011 at 9:12 am
You found a bug! I’ll fix it, but in the meantime you can get it to work with Thunderbird by passing “thunderbird” (all lower case) to profilemanager, instead of “Thunderbird”.
jagriffin
June 24, 2011 at 11:21 am
Great. Works a treat, thank you!
Saint
June 27, 2011 at 7:01 pm
I never even succeeded to start or run it… I downloaded the manager for windows 32 and I use windows xp and have installed visual c++ files… I unpacked the manager and when I double click on it nothing happens at all, I checked the task manager and found it running in the back ground… Am I doing some thing wrong? How to install this manager? Thank you.
Jerod
August 22, 2011 at 8:42 pm
You didn’t mention which version you tried; can you try the latest at http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/utilities/profilemanager/1.0/ and see if the problem persists?
jagriffin
August 23, 2011 at 10:03 am
Thank you for your reply… This version works and looks very beautiful, I downloaded it to some folder on some partition I have and double clicked it and the manager started, the default is for firefox and I need it for thunderbird primarily…
I created a shortcut for profilemanager.exe and in shortcut’s properties I added thunderbird to the end of the path and when I click the short cut still the profile manager of firefox starts and not thunderbird.
Can you help me with this too please? Very appreciated.
/Jerod
Jerod
August 23, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Can you show me exactly what the shortcut is?
jagriffin
August 23, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Are you familiar with a freeware but not open source program: speedyfox?
A Google will get info. It seems to VACUUM the places [possibly other] Firefox SQLite database files, profile by profile. I think it does the VACUUM command on the other Firefox *.sql files too.
I read somewhere that newer Firefox/Aurora/Nightly releases now do database compaction within the browser. I do not know if this is the case. I know the SQLite Manager addon can do the VACUUM command but file by file, while the freeware utility goes profile by profile. If it is not reinventing the wheel, it is a functionality that your Profile Manager might add, so that you have it in open source for the Mozilla developer community.
If the Firefox browser itself, or other Mozilla products for which your Profile Manager works, do no database compaction, then it might be a more appealing project to add that functionality.
Out of nostalgia, I still have and occasionally use Firefox 3.6, for which support is being discontinued. It was not benchmarked, but using the speedyfox utility there subjectively seemed to noticeably speed up loading.
I used it on all of my profiles, and detected no corruption of files. Win XP, SP3. FF 3.6, stable release, Aurora and Nightly.
eric zaetsch
September 8, 2011 at 10:05 am
I’m using FirefoxPortable and it’s installed at a custom path. I get the following error when I try to run ProfileManager 1.0:
C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\eric\Anwendungsdaten\Mozilla\firefox\profiles.ini does not exist
Luckily I had a working ProfileManager instance on another notebook, so I copied the profiles.ini and edited it to reflect the correct paths. It’s now working, but if I didn’t have the working one on another system I wouldn’t have been able get this running. So maybe you can remove this check at the default location, that would certainly help people with installations of FirefoxPortable in the future.
Last but not least: Thanks for the great software!
Eric
September 14, 2011 at 7:20 pm
I have 2 PC on FF 6.0.2:
- laptop with Vista Basic with FF in Program files : no problems to find FF or profiles (that are not in default partition). FF start with default profile and I start others with profilemanager using a shortcut.
-fixed PC with XP SP3 with FF in D:\ partition (not in Program files !) : your program say “Default Firefox not found”, using “manage Firefox versions” I have added the path to FF but in “Firefox version: I see “the default version” (that does not exist !) and “start Firefox” is greyed and I have to click on the down arrow at the right to show the existing FF and select it to obtain the “start Firefox” button. I consider that this is a bug with a work around ! No problems to find profiles (that are not in default partition). As FF start with its old profile manager, I do not use presently profilemanager.
I think that profilemanager is not a good name because many programs have a profile that need to be managed and you may found in the future several different “profilemanager”s.
I have not yet tested the profilemanager with Thunderbird 6.0.2.
Nigelle
September 20, 2011 at 11:29 am
Now I have tested profilemanager with Thunderbird on my fixed PC using XP SP3.
It works but I have problems.
I created a short-cut : right click on an empty space of the board select : => new =>shortcut that opens a wizard enter full path of profilemanager.exe or go down in your directories till you reach it ok add thunderbird after a space ok correct the proposed name to avoid to have the same name as for FF !
Problems :
-I have the same icon for 2 shortcuts that I differentiate only by the name that has to include FF or TB ! Proposed solution : add icons that are modified (e.g. overwritten by a big P) versions of icons used by FF, TB or others.
-I use executables that are not in C:\program files. I have the message “Default Firefox not found” till I click “Manage Thunderbird version”, add manually the location(s) of Thunderbird.exe and choose one as default. Proposed solution : change the message to “Set it with Manage Thunderbird version”, include an automatic search of Thunderbird executables in the whole file system controlled by “Manage Thunderbird version” button, fill with the list of versions. If there is only 1 version available, it should be chosen as default.
Nigelle
September 25, 2011 at 3:53 am
Now I have tested profilemanager backup function with Thunderbird on my fixed PC using XP SP3.
I’ll NEVER us it as it is… Reasons are :
-I have no choice of the backup location ; It is done in C:\ partition which is the most UNSAFE location and lost in case of windows crash and format ! This give a false impression of safety. A good backup is done on external media USB disk or CD/DVD…
-It is a plain, identical copy of the original. A good backup (in my case the free-ware Cobian Backup) does not copy unneeded files or directories e.g. caches, temporary files, *.msf file for TB, etc.
As a backup program is needed for other data. A backup function in profile manager is useful only if it is strongly better than it. Presently it is strongly worst so my advice is to suppress it from the program.
Nigelle
September 25, 2011 at 6:25 am
Hi, congratulations on this tool.
I installed it on my ubuntu 11.10 and configured the 4 firefox channels.
Is there any way to launch a profile (and per extension the firefox linked version) by command line ?
something like “folder/profilemanager -P Aurora” for example.
Guillaume
October 21, 2011 at 12:09 am
I installed ProfileManager 1.0 a few weeks ago on my Desktop (Mac OS X 10.6) and ran it once without problems for testing purpose, then uninstalled by trashing the application only.
Now downloaded it again to test with Thunderbird profiles, running the following command line in Terminal :
/Applications/ProfileManager.app/Contents/MacOS/profilemanager-bin -Thunderbird
but the command did not launch PM and I got an error message.
Searching around I discovered a profile directory from the first start-up in user/Library/Application Support/ProfileManager/Profiles which I unfortunately deleted, as well as its preferences plist file and its cache. Ever since, whether PM is installed on my Desktop or in my Applications folder, when I try to launch PM by double-click on its icon, the PM icon in the Dock just bounces two or three times and nothing happens. In the Console I always get the same error message :
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] Error: Platform version ’7.0.1′ is not compatible with
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] minVersion >= 1.9
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] maxVersion <= 2.0
05/11/11 11:48:17 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[98] ([0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673]) Exited with exit code: 1
Any suggestion to get working the Profile Manager again would be appreciated.
Eckard
November 5, 2011 at 4:01 am
A few weeks ago I installed ProfileManager on my Desktop (MacOS X 10.6.8) just for test purpose, run it once without problem for Firefox by default and then uninstalled it (only the application).
Now downloaded PM again from
ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/utilities/profilemanager/1.0_beta1/
installed and tried to run it for Thunderbird profiles with the following command line in Terminal a first time :
/Applications/ProfileManager.app/Contents/MacOS/profilemanager-bin -Thunderbird
without success, but maybe I had not dragged the app into my Applications folder at this time. Then dragged PM into the App folder, ran the command again, to no avail.
Searching around, I found a PM profile folder from its first launch a few weeks ago in user/Library/Application Support/ProfileManager/ which unfortunately I trashed, as well as the PM preferences plist and the PM folder in Caches.
Uninstalled and reinstalled PM again. Now, whether the PM app is located on Desktop or in the Applications folder, each time I try to launch it by double-click, the PM icon bounces two or three times in my Dock and nothings happens. In the Console I get the following error message :
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] Error: Platform version ’7.0.1′ is not compatible with
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] minVersion >= 1.9
05/11/11 11:48:17 [0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673] maxVersion <= 2.0
05/11/11 11:48:17 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[98] ([0x0-0x6d06d].org.mozilla.profilemanager[673]) Exited with exit code: 1
Any suggestions to get ProfileManager working again will be appreciated.
Eckard
November 5, 2011 at 6:07 am
Can you try downloading and installing again? There was a glitch in the 1.0 version for a few hours on Friday.
jagriffin
November 5, 2011 at 1:29 pm
how come you don’t post when a new version is released?
B. Moore
November 5, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Thanks, Jonathan! ProfileManager works again!
Does anyone know which is the command line to run PM with Thundebird 7 profiles on Mac OS X?
Why can’t I see my reply on this blog after hitting the “Post comment” button?
Eckard
November 6, 2011 at 9:12 am
Has Mozilla removed support for the Profile Manager in Firefox?
I use shortcuts for up-to-date stable release, bets, Aurora, and Nightly, to have the ability to experiment.
I use each WinXP desktop shortcut with the parameter switches … -no-remote -P
I have seen that config posted on the web, and used it, without knowing what, really, those switches do.
However, each shortcut goes to the FF profile manager, still, today, and I can launch from there. Never does it auto launch w/o going through that interface, with the shortcuts.
I appreciate the new program and have used it. But Mozilla, it seems, has not abandoned it’s profile manager for Firefox, for those using shortcuts such as I do.
One thing I cannot say too strongly – messing with the default profile too much is a BAD idea.
On the top menu bar, the DELETE option, my presumption, now, is that you can delete auxiliary profiles you have created, but if you use that DELETE with the default profile things get problematic.
I wanted to reinstall and rearrange things, used the DELETE option wrongly, and lost the then present state of each and every profile. The history, bookmarks, addons, and open tabs. Not a big thing on reconfiguring, but if somebody messes up and loses a large bookmark structure, etc., they may cry.
Backup and be careful are always good watchwords.
Finally, I back up the profile stuff now to a removable USB half terabyte drive, with other backup there too. The one comment that if the installation is on C: then the backup should be elsewhere seems correct. If the drive crashes, or the controller goes taking the drive or part of the data with it, having backup on drive/another place is crucial. And if you have a USB HD drive for backup, between backups you might want to remove it and store it separately. If a thief takes the desktop station away, all attached drives go with it out the door. Detach, and store separately, the ideal being off-site.
eric z.
November 6, 2011 at 11:15 am
Is ProfileManager being actively maintained?
Saw no comment on a bug I opened months ago.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=647692
Michael Kaply
December 6, 2011 at 7:58 am
i recently downloaded profilemanager.mac.dmg 34816 KB 11/4/11 2:33:00 PM from ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/utilities/profilemanager/1.0/. when i try to open it i get this message . i’ve tried everything i can think of to get rid of this phantom application, including reinstalling my os [mac os 10.6.8], to no avail. it may be invisible, but it’s certainly persistent.
rcwolin
December 13, 2011 at 5:42 pm
addendum to above: the message i get is close profile manager – a copy of profilemanager is already open.
only one copy of profilemanager can be open at a time.
rcwolin
December 13, 2011 at 5:48 pm
It would be nice to be able to open profiles at other than the default location. Also move and rename profiles to be able to access older profile backups etc.
Robert
January 6, 2012 at 2:11 am