'./profiles.ini' not automatic?

[markfilipak]

1, I downloaded the tarball and extracted it to
'/media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/' <<== 'sf_D' is a (shared) directory in the Win10 Host.

2, I then copied my existing profile
'/home/mark/.moonchild productions/pale moon/1oyhyp4u.default'
'/home/mark/.moonchild productions/pale moon/profiles.ini'
to
'/media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/1oyhyp4u.default'
'/media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/profiles.ini'
Here is 'profiles.ini'

Code: Select all

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

[Profile0]
Name=mark
IsRelative=1
Path=1oyhyp4u.default
Default=1

[Profile1]
Name=mark
IsRelative=1
Path=1oyhyp4u.default

3, I then renamed
'/home/mark/.moonchild productions/pale moon/'
to
'/home/mark/.moonchild productions/-pale moon/'

4, I then changed to
'/home/mark/.moonchild productions/'
and launched
'palemoon --ProfileManager'
the profile was not opened.
Here's what I got:

Code: Select all

mark@mark-VirtualBox /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon $ palemoon --ProfileManager
1558990600344 DeferredSave.extensions.json  WARN  Write failed: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
1558990600346 addons.xpi-utils  WARN  Failed to save XPI database: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
console.error: PushService: 
  stateChangeProcessEnqueue: Error transitioning state
  UnknownError
console.error: 
  Could not write session state file: /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/sessionstore.js
  Message: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/sessionstore.js.tmp (Operation not permitted)
console.error: 
  Could not write session state file: /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/sessionstore.js
  Message: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/sessionstore.js.tmp (Operation not permitted)
1558990609578 addons.xpi-utils  WARN  Error: XPI database modified after shutdown began (resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm -> resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProviderUtils.js:432:17) JS Stack trace: saveChanges@XPIProviderUtils.js:432:17 < XPIDB_shutdown@XPIProviderUtils.js:1008:9 < XPI_shutdown@XPIProvider.jsm:2241:18 < _startProvider/AMProviderShutdown/<@AddonManager.jsm:753:21 < Promise@Promise-backend.js:386:5 < AMProviderShutdown@AddonManager.jsm:751:16 < trigger@AsyncShutdown.jsm:719:23 < _wait@AsyncShutdown.jsm:866:7 < wait@AsyncShutdown.jsm:850:28 < AddonManagerInternal.shutdownManager<@AddonManager.jsm:1123:15
1558990609604 DeferredSave.extensions.json  WARN  Write failed: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
1558990609604 addons.xpi-utils  WARN  Failed to save XPI database: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
1558990609604 addons.xpi-utils  ERROR Flush of XPI database failed: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
1558990609606 addons.manager  WARN  Failure during shutdown of XPIProvider: Unix error 1 during operation open on file /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon/extensions.json.tmp (Operation not permitted) ((unknown module)) No traceback available
mark@mark-VirtualBox /media/sf_D/Linux Palemoon $

... If you examine my 'profile.ini' you will see that
'[Profile0]'
and
'[Profile1]'
are the same. I do that to force PM to prompt me -- it prevents PM from immediately fully opening when the Linux VM runs. I know I could remove PM from applications that automatically run on Linux boot, but I prefer to do it this way.

I expected PM to default to './profiles.ini' (in it's own directory) and was surprised when it didn't.

What do you suggest I do? Any suggestions are welcome.

Best Regards, Mark.

[therube]

I do that to force PM to prompt me -- it prevents PM from immediately fully opening when the Linux VM runs.

Is this alone enough to accomplish the above?
An outside action that attempts to open your browser should bring up Profile Manager, affording you the option to quit out of that action.

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

On the Windows end, AFAIK, profiles.ini must be found at %APPDATA%/Roaming/{mozilla based product} [on a per User {login} basis].
(I'm not aware that it can be anywhere else.)


KB: profiles.ini
You don't necessarily need to use profiles.ini - at all.
You can use the -profile switch to point to a specific location that holds your Profile folder.

(On Windows) if profiles.ini does not exist, running palemoon.exe -profilemanager does bring up (an empty) Profile Manager, allowing you to at that point create a Profile.


Other then that, I haven't quite gotten my head around what you're trying to accomplish by all of this?
So just what is it you're trying to do?

[markfilipak]

I do that to force PM to prompt me -- it prevents PM from immediately fully opening when the Linux VM runs.

Is this alone enough to accomplish the above?

Yes.

An outside action that attempts to open your browser should bring up Profile Manager, affording you the option to quit out of that action.

Yes, that also happens, for example, if I click a link in an email without first having launched PM.

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0

On the Windows end, AFAIK, profiles.ini must be found at %APPDATA%/Roaming/{mozilla based product} [on a per User {login} basis].
(I'm not aware that it can be anywhere else.)

I'm not using Windows. PM is running in Linux -- note the directory paths I used.

KB: profiles.ini
You don't necessarily need to use profiles.ini - at all.
You can use the -profile switch to point to a specific location that holds your Profile folder.

That's not easily done in Linux. It generally requires a script, then, if PM is to be launched (just to the profile manager or whatever), the startup list needs to be altered and that's not easily done in Linux -- in fact, I don't know how to add a script to the startup list because that list is prebuilt with only check boxes to indicate whether one of the members of the prebuilt list is to be included -- yes, Linux is primative and, yes, it's laughable that Linux fans say that Linux is great because "Linux is so configurable".

(On Windows) if profiles.ini does not exist, running palemoon.exe -profilemanager does bring up (an empty) Profile Manager, allowing you to at that point create a Profile.

I don't want to create a new profile and Profile Manager has no function to use an existing profile -- there's no such choice. Essentially, if PM doesn't find a 'profiles.ini', there's nothing in the choices and there's no way to point PM to a 'profiles.ini'.

Other then that, I haven't quite gotten my head around what you're trying to accomplish by all of this?
So just what is it you're trying to do?

I'm trying to get PM to use an existing 'profile.ini' (not an existing profile body) that's located in the same directory that contains the 'palemoon' executable -- seems to me that this should be a requirement for a portable version. Instead, PM snatched up the 'profiles.ini' located in my /home/ directory and that's not portable because if I copy the portable PM to a thumb drive, my /home/ directory won't be there.

PS: I think that what's needed is a 'Preferences' setting that allows the user to tell PM where to find the 'profiles.ini' file, but no such setting currently exists. In ay event, a portable version of PM should look in it's own directory.

[Nigaikaze]

PM is running in Linux -- note the directory paths I used.

So you're not actually running the true portable version, you're running the Linux version of Pale Moon and trying to turn it into a portable version. That's probably why there was some confusion here, since you posted in the support forum for the portable version instead of the Linux version.

AFAIK, there currently is no Linux equivalent of the Windows portable version, so I'm not sure you can accomplish what you're trying to accomplish on Linux without modifying the source and recompiling or some other similar serious workarounds.

[markfilipak]

PM is running in Linux -- note the directory paths I used.

So you're not actually running the true portable version, you're running the Linux version of Pale Moon and trying to turn it into a portable version. That's probably why there was some confusion here, since you posted in the support forum for the portable version instead of the Linux version.

The instructions on 'palemoon.org' implies that the Linux version is portable, that all I need do is unpack the tarball somewhere and run it. Well, guess what. The Linux version is not portable. But it could easily be made portable. All that's needed is a 'Preferences' setting that allows the user to point PM to the 'profiles.ini' file which PM then uses in future launches.

AFAIK, there currently is no Linux equivalent of the Windows portable version, so I'm not sure you can accomplish what you're trying to accomplish on Linux without modifying the source and recompiling or some other similar serious workarounds.

I'm sorry to say that you appear to correct. Oh, well. I will not run PM in Windows (portable or otherwise) because I will not allow Windows access to the Internet.

[Moonchild]

Don't try to share Linux and Windows versions of the profile.

It's as simple as that. File systems and paths have a different structure on the operating systems, and this is NOT directly compatible; neither is the data stored in it which includes various things specific to the platform, graphics handling, and more -- not just in the .ini files in use, but also in other files, your browsing history, various databases, preferences, toolbar storage and session formats, etc. etc. etc.

If you want to share data between Linux and Windows, then use Pale Moon Sync.

Of note: if you have used this "shared" setup on your profiles, you now extremely likely have various types of data corruption. I recommend you toss the profile and start with a fresh one on both operating systems.

[markfilipak]

Don't try to share Linux and Windows versions of the profile.

I'm not. It's purely Linux.

[adesh]

Few things:

• Errors you posted indicate some sort of access error - "Operation not permitted"

• You don't need duplicate profile block in profiles.ini to stop Pale Moon from "launching fully" - StartWithLastProfile=0 does that.

• You want ProfileManager functionality as well as portable setup, which is kind of conflicting -- portable version is supposed to have its own profile hardcoded and no managing of profiles.

• On Windows also, You don't run portable version by the generic "palemoon.exe", rather a special binary "palemoon-portable.exe" which internally calls the former with proper arguments and environment set.

So, if you want a portable kind of setup, I can suggest the following:

1. In the folder where you extracted, create a folder to hold the profile, let's say profile_data
2. In the same folder, create a new file to launch Pale Moon with the desired profile:
   Let's call it "palemoon-launcher.sh"

   Code: Select all

   #!/bin/sh
   dirpath=$(dirname "$0")
   /full/path/to/palemoon --no-remote --profile "$dirpath"/profile_data
   

3. Make the script executable:

   Code: Select all

   chmod +x palemoon-launcher.sh

4. Now, launch Pale Moon using:

   Code: Select all

   ./palemoon-launcher.sh

   and it will start the browser with the profile defined above.
   You can also add the above script to your startup sequence.
5. You can even copy the whole folder to some other Linux system and run it there, like truly portable.

And regarding your post title, "profiles.ini" is not automatic, it is hardcoded in the browser's binary.

[markfilipak]

Few things:

• Errors you posted indicate some sort of access error - "Operation not permitted"

Hmmm... A permissions problem in the directory shared with the Host (Win10, in this case). That could be a tough nut to crack.

• You don't need duplicate profile block in profiles.ini to stop Pale Moon from "launching fully" - StartWithLastProfile=0 does that.

Yeah, I know... I vaguely remember some sort of issue with that approach that prompted me to devise my duplicate profile workaround.

• You want ProfileManager functionality as well as portable setup, which is kind of conflicting -- portable version is supposed to have its own profile hardcoded and no managing of profiles.

If nothing else works, I'll eliminate the profile altogether and simply launch PM from the menu system ...no big matter, there.

And regarding your post title, "profiles.ini" is not automatic, it is hardcoded in the browser's binary.

Sure, that's obvious -- actually it's './profiles.ini'. But it could be made soft and 'Preferences...'-able -- enhancement request to MC(?)

I have an idea: Instead of putting PM in the shared directory, I'll burn a virtual CD and permanently mount it in the virtual machine. That way, VBox is handling both ends and permissions may become moot. I'll post back with results.

...OH, WAIT.... That won't help. There's still the issue of PM looking for 'profiles.ini' in '~/'. That's a show stopper.

I guess I'll have to write a script that forces PM to use a profile in './' and I'll have to live without ProfileManager.

[Isengrim]

Sure, that's obvious -- actually it's './profiles.ini'. But it could be made soft and 'Preferences...'-able -- enhancement request to MC(?)

It's been asked before, but this is not possible. Preferences are defined in the profile, and the browser has to start looking somewhere for profiles to use.

[markfilipak]

Sure, that's obvious -- actually it's './profiles.ini'. But it could be made soft and 'Preferences...'-able -- enhancement request to MC(?)

It's been asked before, but this is not possible. Preferences are defined in the profile, and the browser has to start looking somewhere for profiles to use.

Okay, well, why doesn't PM start the search for 'profiles.ini' by looking in its own directory?

[Moonchild]

Okay, well, why doesn't PM start the search for 'profiles.ini' by looking in its own directory?

Because that is not where this data belongs.
Its own directory would be a location for application files, not user data. It would also remove the ability to use the individual user accounts of users on the system, which is where user-specific data should be stored.

[markfilipak]

Okay, well, why doesn't PM start the search for 'profiles.ini' by looking in its own directory?

Because that is not where this data belongs.

Who says so!

Its own directory would be a location for application files, not user data.

Wow, man. The German police must be really obnoxious. I don't want to get you in trouble, MC.

It would also remove the ability to use the individual user accounts of users on the system, which is where user-specific data should be stored.

Individual user accounts? For a portable browser? Huh?

[Moonchild]

Who says so!

Tons of documents and general use and best practices.

Wow, man. The German police must be really obnoxious. I don't want to get you in trouble, MC.

*sigh* Don't make this personal. You're doing a good job enough as it is already making me unwilling to try and help you, without going there.

Individual user accounts? For a portable browser? Huh?

I was speaking in general terms that are valid for all applications.
Do you think the portable version of Pale Moon is essentially different from the desktop version? No it is not. It is the very same binaries, but packaged in a different way and using -profile to point to a specific profile location.
Using -profile also means that profiles.ini is not used, so why you are bringing this up in context of a portable browser, I don't even know.

[markfilipak]

Is there some path relative to './palemoon' (on the same external drive) where it will find 'protiles.ini' on startup?

[New Tobin Paradigm]

Not if you are using it in a "portable" way, as noted it uses -profile command line argument. On a normal startup it looks for %appdata%\[vendor]\[application] on Windows (and ~/.[vendor]/[application] for appdata on Linux).

There is no way to change this. None.

[markfilipak]

Not if you are using it in a "portable" way, as noted it uses -profile command line argument. On a normal startup it looks for %appdata%\[vendor]\[application] on Windows (and ~/.[vendor]/[application] for appdata on Linux).

There is no way to change this. None.

Ah, I see. Thus, I must use a script that submits a command line. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that, Tobin.

[markfilipak]

Wow, man. The German police must be really obnoxious. I don't want to get you in trouble, MC.

*sigh* Don't make this personal.

I intended it to make you laugh. I meant no offense.

[Moonchild]

Off-topic:

I intended it to make you laugh. I meant no offense.

Please use the appropriate indicators like smileys or tags next time? It's very difficult to distinguish one intent from the other without them on a forum. And people have been dead earnest when making such remarks lately, unfortunately.

[gggirlgeek]

Found this post when I was updating my "stand-alone" version of Palemoon in Win7.

Symbolic links are your friend! I use all mozilla-based products this way because I like having multiple profiles and I also like portable browsers on a separate partition for my multi-OS system. I also do this with some other programs like VLC. (I am slowly converting to the Portableapps format but the launcher-style makes it a pain to use multiple profiles. Symbolic links are easier on my own computers.) For security, I also like being prompted by the profile manager before external apps open my browser.

I simply create a symbolic link to the "Pale moon" folder that contains "Profiles" in %userprofile%/AppData/Moonchild Productions/ (same with %userprofile%/AppData/Mozilla/.) For example: "C:/Users/Me/Moonchild Productions/Pale moon/". My real Pale Moon folder is in "P:/Portable/Pale moon/userdata/Pale Moon/."

This can be done in Linux as well of course. In Windows I use free "Link Shell Extension" to quickly create symbolic links.