I’ve wanted to install an extension from outside addons.mozilla.org, but Firefox didn’t let me do it
So I’ve did a small research and looks like there are 3 ways to sideload extensions, but all of them suck
- Using FF Developer Edition
In the Dev Edition you can set xpinstall.signatures.required to false in about:config, but the problem is that the Dev Edition isn’t as stable as standard FF
- Temporarily load the extension
In about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox you can temporarily sideload extensions, but they will be removed next time you open FF, which is annoying
- Modify FF code
Lastly, I found this script which modifies the FF code, but this can break things so I don’t want to use it
I’m really annoyed that Mozilla gets to decide which extensions I can install. So… what’s the best way to sideload extensions?
Edit: thanks everyone, I’m now using a FF fork (Librewolf) which lets me sideload extensions after disabling xpinstall.signatures.required
not exaclty an answer to you question … but just fyi you could also just create an AMO account (it’s free) and upload your addon for self distribution (to not have them appear on addons.mozilla.org) and then you can download and install them into stable version persistently.
sidenote: i think instead of nightly you can also use the unbranded builds to have a stable version which allows you to use xpinstall.signatures.required. ref. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Unbranded_Builds
Oh thanks, I didn’t know about unbranded builds
Also, regular FF stores settings and profiles in ~/.mozilla/firefox, do you know where unbranded builds of FF store them?
Edit: nvm someone else in this thread said to open about:profiles, and the path to profile folder is there
You can place the .xpi file in a special folder. On my linux system that is in /usr/lib/firefox/browser/extensions/. Which would be the system wide folder. There are others which only affect the current user thkugh.
The user folder is $profile_dir/extensions/. To open the profile directory you can type about:profile in you address bar and click on Open Directory besides Root Directory in the default profile section.
I agree that this is annoying and feels somewhat similar to apple’s locked down ecosystem.
Tbf the author writes:
This script is not well tested, like at all. This script might break things, possibly important things. You should probably take a backup of your Firefox profile before using it. You have been warned.
So it’s understandable that you might think it could break things.
Am I missing something or is it possible you’re talking about FF mobile? On PC I just drag the XPI over a FF window and the extension gets added. I just did it today, actually. No modifying needed.
