Create Firefox policies in Windows Server 2008
- November 11th, 2009
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I used the following procedure to be able to create and manage Firefox via Windows Server 2008 Group Policies. I used a solution provided by FrontMotion (http://www.frontmotion.com). I used the Firefox Community Edition which is Firefox packaged as an msi for deployment from an Active Directory. Use it for deployment, but instead wanted to manage Firefox browser setting via a Group Policy.
I started on my Windows 2008 Server, by download the firefox.adm (Administrative Template) from http://www.frontmotion.com/Firefox/firefox.adm.
Then from the Group Policy Management, clicked on “Group Policy Objects” and then “Default Domain Policy,” since I wanted to implement these policies for the entire domain. From here, click on the “Settings” tab, and right mouse click in the “Settings” windows pane and select “Edit.” This will bring up the “Group Policy Management Editor.”
Click to expand “User Configuration”/”Policies.” Note: You put this in the “Computer Configuration” as well.
Right mouse click “Administrative Templates: Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the local machine.” and select “Add/Remove Templates.”
Click “Add” and navigate to where you saved the firefox.adm you download earlier to add the adm.
This will add the Firefox policies to “User Configuration”/”Policies”/”Administrative Templates”/”Classic Administrative Templates.”
From here, you can set your policies. Such “Cache” and “Proxy Settings.”
When you are done, exit out of the “Group Policy Management Editor.”
From “Group Policy Management”, you should be able refresh (right mouse and hit “Refresh”) the “Default Domain Policy.” I closed “Group Policy Management” and re-opened it.
Once refreshed, you be able to see the new policies under “Default Domain Policy”/”User Configuration”/”Administrative Templates”/”Firefox.”
Now the policies are set.
Onto the client. As I mentioned before, I did not use the FrontMotion solution to deploy Firefox. I just installed the msi download from FrontMotion (http://www.frontmotion.com/Firefox/download.php?fileid=3652). Then, to test my policies, I logged in as a domain user. All of my policies were set.