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is there a URL that I can use in a program I'm developing to automatically download the newest version of firefox for deployment?

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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In the company that I'm working for, it is key to update any software that we will be installing on our computer systems. We do have a lot of software, so I'm designing a piece of computer software very similar to "Ninite" (a software updater and silent installer) only specifically designed for my company.

Firefox is one of the software applications that we are very big on and I was wondering if there is a static URL that I can drop in to my software updater that always has the most recent build of firefox.

For example: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/FireFoxStandaloneInstaller.exe

In the company that I'm working for, it is key to update any software that we will be installing on our computer systems. We do have a lot of software, so I'm designing a piece of computer software very similar to "Ninite" (a software updater and silent installer) only specifically designed for my company. Firefox is one of the software applications that we are very big on and I was wondering if there is a static URL that I can drop in to my software updater that always has the most recent build of firefox. For example: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/FireFoxStandaloneInstaller.exe

All Replies (8)

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No, I think there is no way to find this in the support-forum. :-/ But I think you can contact Mozilla here: www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/contact.html

I hope i helped you with it, have a nice day/night! :-)

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You can consider a link the the .exe installer in this directory (or one of the other languages):

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Thanks cor-el, I actually thought of that... I had originally chosen:

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/19.0.1/win32/en-US/Firefox Setup 19.0.1.exe

but then I started looking at cnet. I took apart the source code of there website to find what appears to be an up-datable link. Although I'm still planning to contact Mozilla because I would rather have the software grab the most up to date on its own rather than the above link. But time will tell if the below link works.

http://dw.com.com/redir?edId=3&siteId=4&oId=3000-2356_4-10208565&ontId=2356_4&spi=cd58c5ffb02955185e8437498813782c&lop=link&tag=tdw_dltext&ltype=dl_dlnow&pid=13025011&mfgId=61635&merId=61635&pguid=UVTiFwoOYI0AACB4t-UAAAGH&ctype=dm;&cval=NONE;&destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.cnet.com%2F3001-2356_4-10208565.html%3Fspi%3Dcd58c5ffb02955185e8437498813782c

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I wouldn't be comfortable relying on CNET as a mirror for corporate installs. Consider storing the installer locally, similar to your WSUS server or other installers. You probably could create a script to check the "latest" folder linked above every 24 hours for a newer file. Would save on bandwidth, too.

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I agree, adding source code that checked the websites in my list on a weekly basis rather than continuously downloading would be a better choice. CNET was actually just the first website I stripped the code away from to get what appears to be an update-able link.

I guess I could always design my app as a two part system. The first part as utility that silently installs software such as: (firefox, avast, open office, etc) and then the second part similar to a WSUS server.

but, back to my original question, would you be able to point me in the right direction of a static link similar to below:

(my fake example link) http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/FireFoxStandaloneInstaller.exe

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would you be able to point me in the right direction of a static link similar to below

No, all the "direct" links I've ever seen include a version number. Also OS and language, but I assume you can default those. It's the version that's the problem.

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ya, everything can be defaulted. All the systems I have to look after are all the same "Windows 7 - 64bit".

Actually, I think your WSUS server idea was probably the best. This one I'll have to continue downloading the updates manually although, once installed firefox is really good at keeping up to date.

thank you very much for your help though, if anyone comes up with something, this message board will alert me.

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Note that the link that I posted above has /releases/latest/ in the file path and will thus always link to the directory with the latest version on the Mozilla server in contrary to the link that you posted with the version number (19.0.1) hard coded.