3d ago

As a distro hopping Firefox enjoyer, is it possible to install and configure Firefox extensions through the command line after a fresh install?

I'm working on a suite of scripts that will enable me to hop Linux distros and get back to business as usual w/ minimal fuss. When I hop distros, I tend to back up my important stuff and blow everything else away so I can start with a clean slate. I have some scripts for updating my backups before the wipe and updating the system after the base install:

    
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Followed by other commands to install my favorite apps and configure my favorite desktop settings.

One thing that I haven't nailed down yet is restoring my Firefox add-ons through the command line. Searching the web, I'm not even sure this is feasible. I found this post from 2011 in the AskUbuntu forum, but I figure the answer might have changed since then.

I just want to remove as much friction as possible from the distro hopping process. I know I can store /home on a separate partition, but I prefer nice, clean installs followed by scripting in my config changes.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

23 comments

Any particular reason you don’t just sign in? Genuine question, and you could even create a dummy account that solely holds those extensions and anything else you would want to sync.
- I see two parts to OP's question in the title. The first part is installing the extensions and the second part is configuring them. Firefox Sync will automatically install your extensions on a new device, but in the extensions that I've tested, the extension settings will not carry over.
  
  Ahh, very interesting, and excellent point. Thank you for clarifying! I’ve pretty much just used simple extensions like Return YT Dislike and Grammarly, and the few extensions I use that I DO want settings to sync across devices for usually have a setting for it. That’s definitely good to know though, and I’ll keep that in mind for my tech support for the future!