Updating Mozilla Apps in a Linux Environment

This blog is about installing updated versions of Firefox and Thunderbird obtained direct from Mozilla in a personalised Linux environment. The methods described probably aren't suitable for organisational environments containing many systems and where updates are taken from the maintainers of your Linux distribution.


I've performed these updates manually for quite some time, and only got around to scripting the process recently.  In some ways this is a good thing because it allows the process you use to be designed, tested and corrected as necessary before you start implementing an automation script.

To save boring you, I'll divide this blog into multiple posts covering these areas...

• What existed on the system before I started applying updates to it
• What I wanted the update process to achieve
• What you get in an update pack downloaded from Mozilla
• Rolling back an update if necessary
• Automating the process - what I wanted to achieve
• Automating the process - additional actions
• Automating the process - using the script
• Current version of the script
• Future development

Steve
10 June 2015