Option -ProfileManager does not work without (bogus) -u
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mozilla Firefox |
New
|
Unknown
|
|||
| firefox (Ubuntu) |
Opinion
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
You need a secret extra option if you want to run the Firefox profile manager.
Steps to repro:
bash$ firefox -ProfileManager &
Expected outcome:
New Firefox instance displaying the Profile Manager dialog box
Actual outcome:
New Firefox browser window in your current default profile, existing Firefox instance if one was running
Workaround:
bash$ firefox -u bugger -ProfileManager &
The -u option is not visible e.g. in firefox --help output, but somehow it actually exists, and allows you to work around this problem (can't remember where I discovered it, Google no doubt?).
The -u option requires an argument (apparently, a profile name) but you can put anything there, it doesn't seem to matter.
I'm sorry if this is a duplicate, this problem has existed since basically forever but I was unable to find a report in Launchpad.
Historical proof:
* From 2009: http://
* From 2011: http://
* SuSE 2009: http://
* Win 2011: https:/
* Alternative workaround, haven't tried: http://
Possibly relevant upstream bugs:
* https:/
* https:/
* https:/
* https:/
If the intention is that -ProfileManager is not available, it should not be displayed in --help (but that would be a pity). If it is supported, it should work (duh).
bash$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS
Release: 12.04
bash$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
Installed: 24.0+build1-
Candidate: 24.0+build1-
Version table:
*** 24.0+build1-
500 http://
500 http://
100 /var/lib/
23.
500 http://
11.
500 http://
| description: | updated |
| Changed in firefox: | |
| importance: | Unknown → Wishlist |
| status: | Unknown → New |
| Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson) wrote | #9 |
| Changed in firefox (Ubuntu): | |
| status: | New → Opinion |
| Changed in firefox: | |
| status: | New → Unknown |
| Changed in firefox: | |
| status: | Unknown → New |
| Changed in firefox: | |
| importance: | Wishlist → Unknown |
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090630 Fedora/3.5-1.fc11 Firefox/3.5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686 (x86_64); en-US; rv:1.9.1.1) Gecko/20090715 Firefox/3.5.1
The -P (-ProfileManager) command line option to Firefox does not work on Linux as expected if Firefox is already running. A workaround is available.
Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Create two or more Firefox profiles and uncheck the "Don't ask at startup" option in Firefox Profile Manager.
2. Start a copy of Firefox with one profile.
3. Start a second copy of Firefox with "firefox -ProfileManager".
Actual Results:
The running copy of Firefox opens a new window with the defined home page using the original profile.
Expected Results:
A new copy of Firefox should start with the Profile Manager open, to choose or
create a new profile, or start with the profile specified on the command line,
if any.
Workaround: Using -no-remote along with -ProfileManager causes the Linux version to open Profile Manager; this is not necessary on Windows. The expected behavior is how Firefox already behaves on Windows. This issue seems specific to Linux. (Lacking a Mac, I was unable to test the Mac OS X build.)
Using -ProfileManager should start a new copy of Firefox regardless of whether -no-remote is given, as it does on Windows, since this is the behavior users will expect. Using -ProfileManager implies that the Profile Manager will actually be opened; requiring a second command line option to open it is confusing. At the very least, the Windows and Linux builds should handle this command line option the same way, to reduce user confusion.
For instance, it is possible for an unwary user to attempt to start a second profile using, e.g. firefox -P SecondProfile and think that the new profile is in use when the new window appears, when the new window is part of the originally opened profile. The unwary user could inadvertently compromise his own security if he wants to use multiple profiles to segregate his browsing activities, as many people do.