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Installation Instructions for Mozilla 1.8 Beta1

To avoid incompatibility problem with previous versions, the Mozilla installer will prompt you to delete the install directory if it is not empty. Answer NO if you put your profile or other personal files in the install directory, otherwise the files will be deleted. Users who put profiles in the default location are not affected.

See the profile FAQ for help on backing up your profiles.

This document outlines the system requirements, compatibility information and installation instructions for Mozilla 1.8 Beta1.

Linux

System Requirements

  • The following library versions (or compatible) are required: glibc 2.2.4, XFree86 3.3.x, GTK 1.2.x, Glib 1.2.x, Libstdc++ 2.9.0. Red Hat Linux 7.0, Debian 3.0, and SuSE 7.3 (or later) installations should work.
  • Intel pentium class processor (233 MHz or faster recommended)
  • 64 MB of RAM
  • 26 MB of free hard disk space

Installation Instructions

Note: It is recommended that you uninstall previous versions of Mozilla before installing Mozilla 1.7 RC 2. This will not delete your bookmarks, history, cookies and other information which is stored in your profile directory.

Note: You must run Mozilla at least once to complete autoregistration and for the compreg.dat file to be written to the installation directory. If a different user (other than the person who installed the product) runs the program first, a core dump will occur. (Bug 49345)

Note: These instructions use the bash shell. If you're not using bash, either use the bash shell or adjust the commands accordingly.

Installation with the Mozilla Installer

To install Mozilla by downloading the Mozilla installer, follow these steps:

  1. Create a directory named mozilla1.8a6 (mkdir mozilla1.8a6) and change to that directory (cd mozilla1.8a6).
  2. Click the link to download the installer file (called Mozilla -i686-pc-linux-gnu-installer.tar.gz).
  3. Change to the Mozilla directory (cd mozilla1.8a6) and decompress the archive with the following command:
    gunzip -dc moz*.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
    (This places the installer in a subdirectory of Mozilla named mozilla-installer.)
  4. Change to the mozilla-installer directory (cd mozilla-installer) and run the installer with the ./mozilla-installer command.
  5. Follow the instructions in the install wizard for installing Mozilla.
  6. To start Mozilla, change to the directory where you installed it and run the ./mozilla command.

Manual Installation With the tar.gz Archive

To install Mozilla by downloading the .tar.gz archive file:

  1. Create a directory named "mozilla1.8a6" (mkdir mozilla1.8a6) and change to that directory (cd mozilla1.8a6).
  2. Click the link to download the non-installer mozilla*.tar.gz file into the mozilla1.8a6 directory.
  3. Change to the mozilla directory (cd mozilla1.8a6) and decompress the file with the following command:
    gunzip -dc moz*.tar.gz | tar -xvf - (This creates a "mozilla" subdirectory under your mozilla1.8a6 directory.)
  4. Change to the mozilla directory (cd mozilla).
  5. Run Mozilla with the ./mozilla run script.

Multi-User Linux Installations

To install Mozilla for multiple users on Unix, install as normal, then create the following script in your Mozilla directory, make it executable (chmod u+x <scriptname>), and run it as a user with write privileges to the mozilla directory (e.g. root). Do not run this program as su[do] root. (Bug 52653) 

#!/bin/sh
dist_bin=`dirname $0`
MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=$dist_bin
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$dist_bin
export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME LD_LIBRARY_PATH
$dist_bin/regxpcom
$dist_bin/regchrome
touch $dist_bin/chrome/user-skins.rdf $dist_bin/chrome/user-locales.rdf

You should then be able to run that installation of Mozilla as any user who has permissions to access it.

Adding Mozilla to the GNOME Panel

  1. Click the GNOME Main Menu button, open the Panel menu, and then open the Add to Panel sub-menu and choose Launcher.
  2. Right click the icon for Mozilla on the Panel and enter the following command:

    directory_name/mozilla

    where directory_name is the name of the directory you downloaded Mozilla to.For example, the default directory that Mozilla suggests is /usr/local/mozilla.
  3. Type in a name for the icon, and type in a comment if you wish.
  4. Click the icon button and type in the following as the icon's location:

    directory_name/icons/mozicon50.xpm

    where directory_name is the directory where you installed Mozilla.For example, the default directory is /usr/local/mozilla/icons/mozicon50.xpm.

Installing RPM Builds

The Red Hat RPM builds are created to work with the default Red Hat 7.x and Red Hat 8.x installations. Using these RPMs on SuSE requires installation of the gdk-pixbuf package. (Bug 85218)

Uninstallation

  • Remove the mozilla1.8a6 directory where you installed Mozilla
  • Remove the ~/.mozilla directory, which contains profile information

Macintosh

System Requirements

  • Mac OS X or later (10.2 or later recommended)
  • PowerPC processor (266 MHz or faster recommended)
  • 64 MB RAM
  • 36 MB of free hard disk space

Installation Instructions (Mac OS X)

To install Mozilla by downloading the Mozilla disk image, follow these steps:

  1. Click the mozilla-mac-MachO.dmg.gz link to download it to your machine. By default, the file is downloaded to your desktop.
  2. Once you have downloaded the .dmg.gz file, drag it onto Stuffit Expander ( to decompress it (Stuffit Expander may launch and decompress the file automatically). If the disk image doesn't mount automatically, double-click on the .dmg file to mount it. If that fails, and the file does not look like a disk image file, do a "Show Info" on the file, and, in the "Open with application" category, choose Disk Copy. In Mac OS 10.2, you can use "Open with" from the context menu.
  3. Once the disk image mounts, open it, and drag the Mozilla icon onto your hard disk.
  4. We recommend that you copy it to the Applications folder.
  5. Now eject the disk image.
  6. If you like, you can drag Mozilla to your dock to have it easily accessible at all times. You might also wish to select Mozilla as your default browser in the Internet system preferences pane (under the Web tab).

Uninstallation Instructions

  1. Remove the application files in /Users/<yourusername>/Library/Mozilla (but leave the Profiles sub-folder).

  2. Remove the file "Mozilla Registry" from /Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences
  3. Remove Mozilla from the installed location. (i.e. /Applications)

Windows

System Requirements

  • Windows 95, 98, or 98SE, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
  • Intel pentium class processor (233 MHz or faster recommended)
  • 64 MB RAM
  • 26 MB of free hard disk space

Certain ATI video drivers are not compatible with Mozilla and may lead to crashes. If you are experiencing crashes try upgrading to the latest ATI driver. (Bug 101055)

Installation Instructions

Note: It is strongly recommended that you exit all programs before running the setup program. Also, you should temporarily disable virus detection software.

Installation with the Mozilla Installer

To install Mozilla by downloading the Mozilla installer, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Mozilla-win32-installer.exe link to download the file to your machine.
  2. Navigate to where you downloaded the file and double click the Mozilla program icon on your machine to begin the Setup program.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the setup program. The program starts automatically the first time.

Manual Installation With the .zip File

To install Mozilla by downloading the .zip file and installing manually, follow these steps:

  1. Click the mozilla-win32-talkback.zip link or the mozilla-win32.zip link to download the .zip file to your machine.
  2. Navigate to where you downloaded the file and double click the compressed file. Note: This step assumes you already have a recent version of WinZip installed, and that you know how to use it. If not, you can get WinZip and information about the program at www.winzip.com.
  3. Extract the .zip file to a directory such as C:\Program Files\Mozilla 1.7rc1 .
  4. To start Mozilla, navigate to the directory you extracted Mozilla to and double click the Mozilla.exe icon.

Uninstallation Instructions

  • If the Mozilla installer was used, simply go to Settings/Control Panel/Add Remove Programs and choose Mozilla 1.7rc1.
  • If the zip build was used then simply remove the mozilla1.8a6 directory where you installed Mozilla and remove the profile directory

Files Created or Used

Mozilla stores data associated with you in a place called a profile. Profiles contain your preferences, mail folders, history, cookies, address books and other important data. Here is a list of these files.

Directories
Cache Cache files (temporary internet files). Enter about:cache in the URL bar for more information.
chrome User defined styles and installed themes and applications
ImapMail IMAP mail
Mail Local Folders and POP3 mail
News Usenet Newsgroups
Files
somenumber.s Password data
somenumber.w Fill Form data
.autoreg
 XPCOM Auto Registration clue. Tells Mozilla to check for newly installed components the next time it launches.
appreg
registry.dat
registry
 Application Registry. Files where Mozilla keeps track of your profiles.
abook.mab Personal addressbook
bookmarks.html Bookmarks
cert7.db Client Certificate database
compreg.dat
 Mozilla XPCOM registry. Files where Mozilla keeps track of its components.
cookies.txt Cookies
hostperm.1 Cookie, Image and Popup permissions. Information stored in cookperm.txt in earlier versions.
history.dat URL history
history.mab Collected Address book
key3.db Key database
localstore.rdf Defines default windows settings. Saved persistent values. Info about toolbars, sizes, positions, etc
downloads.rdf Download history
training.dat Junk Mail filter training data
mimeTypes.rdf Defines recognized file mime types for the Helper App
panacea.dat Mail folder cache. Summary of certain fields in all the mail/news databases, mostly used to display the folder pane
panels.rdf Information about which panels that will be displayed in the sidebar
prefs.js All your settings. Enter about:config in the URL bar for more information.
pluginreg.dat All your registered plugins. Enter about:plugins in the URL bar for more information.
search.rdf Information about your search plugins in the sidebar
secmod.db Security module database
URL.tbl Excluded Fill Form data sites
user.js User settings which will be written into prefs.js after Mozilla is started
xpti.dat XPCOM typelib information catalog
XUL.mfl
XUL FastLoad File
XUL.mfasl
 XUL fast load file. Contains precompiled chrome and JavaScript.
Invalid.mfasl
Aborted.mfasl
 At some time Mozilla invalidated your XUL fast load file. These are the previous files. You can just delete them if you don't want to debug them.
mozver.dat
 (Windows) Stores component version
MozillaUninstall.exe
 (Windows) Uninstaller executable file
Other Files
*.msf Mail Summary Files. Contains summary of the mail folder. Located in the ImapMail and Mail directories.
msgFilterRules.dat Contains the Mail Filters for the current server. Located in the ImapMail and Mail directories.
*.rc Contains subscribe newsgroups for the current server. Located in the News directory.
hostinfo.dat Contains all the newsgroups available for the current server. Located in the News directory.

Profile Locations

The following lists typical profile locations:

Windows

On Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME (without log-in), the profile directory is typically
    C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\[Profile Name]\[random string].slt\

On Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME with log-in, the profile directory is typically
    C:\Windows\Profiles\[Log-in Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\[Profile Name]\[random string].slt\

On Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the profile directory is typically
    C:\Documents and Settings\[Log-in Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\[Profile Name]\[random string].slt\

Note: on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the Document and Settings directory is hidden twice. To access the directory, enable Windows Explorer to view System and Hidden directories and files.

Mac OS X

The profile location is typically:
    ~/Library/Mozilla/Profiles/[Profile Name]/[random string].slt/

Linux

The profile location is typically:
    ~/.mozilla/[Profile Name]/[random string].slt/