We all know Firefox comes pre-installed in Ubuntu. So, installing Firefox manually isn’t something you’ll hear or read online frequently. Well, you can manually download and install Firefox like you would when using Windows. This allows you to upgrade to the latest version without waiting for Ubuntu to update first.
Also, if you need to install older versions of Firefox, then this could come in handy as well. In this brief tutorial, I’m going to show you how to manually download and install Firefox in almost all versions of Ubuntu.
Objectives:
- Download and Install Firefox in Ubuntu
- Enjoy!
To get started, go and download the latest version of Firefox from here. Save the file. By default, it should get saved in your Downloads folder.
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Next, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file. Remember to specify the current version number. eg. firefox-xx.xx.tar.bz2
tar xjf ~/Downloads/firefox-12.0b4.tar.bz2
After extracting, move the extracted folder to the /opt/ directory.
sudo mv firefox/ /opt/firefox12
Next, rename the your current Firefox executable by running the commands below.
sudo mv /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-old
Finally, run the commands below to create a symbolic link to the newer version.
sudo ln -s /opt/firefox12/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
Now, try typing firefox in terminal or opening your Firefox launcher icon. You do not need to edit your current firefox launcher to use the newer version.
Enjoy!
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Hey,
I mistook some commands…
now it is saying, can not create symbolic link, file already exists…
what should I do?
Help…
This is the best! Thank you! Had to roll back my Firefox to 22.0 temporarily because of Selenium-webdriver’s current incompatibility with the latest update (23.0). Adapted this article to the new FF version and worked perfectly.
Thanks for this, much appreciated. Wanted the latest Firefox for a Mint 9 install (a distro which is no longer supported but it seems the only release that plays well with our Asus 1001HA). Now we can keep firefox safely updated. Cheers!
Further to my previous comment, I should point out I’m running Linux (Mint 9) fully installed on a USB flash drive, hence why I need the older, lighter distro. All latest Mint releases work just fine installed on a standard HDD on the Asus 1001HA.
Hi Liberian Geek, it worked like a charm for Firefox 27 on a Linux Mint 13 distro. Greetings from Balearic Islands!
Thanks a lot… Worked perfectly fine..
Thank you my friend. Worked for any edition.
Bravo!! From the Greece!!!!
Falto comentar que la carpeta firefox puede no estar en /etc/bin, en mi caso estaba en /etc/lib en un Ubuntu Linux, y que para terminar hace falta cerrar el firefox para que al reiniciar tome los cambios, todo OK, actualice de la version 4.0 a la version 33.0, un gran salto, gracias por el tutorial, nunca lo habia instalado de esta manera.
Thanks much – it took me a few tries to get my interpretation of the syntax correct, but it works like a “charm” – launched firefox and it opened with Session Manager showing all of my prior sessions with the option to select one.
Exactly what I was looking for…
Thanks very much
I have a dual boot with Ubuntu 10 and Ubuntu 12, is it possible to upgrade my fire fox on Ubuntu 10? or is it too old? I prefer how Ubuntu 10 operates, but I’d like to upgrade my fire fox.
umu@umu:~$ tar xjf ~/Downloads/firefox-45.0.tar.bz2
tar (child): /home/umu/Downloads/firefox-45.0.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
umu@umu:~$ tar xjf ~/Downloads/firefox-45.0.tar.bz2
tar (child): /home/umu/Downloads/firefox-45.0.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
what could be the problem with mine, it says “no such file or directory $ error is not recoverable”