Firefox Profiles on Mac OS X
We've got a desktop PC running Windows XP, two media centers (one running XP, the other running Ubuntu v8.04), and a MacBook running Mac OS X v10.5.5. We use Firefox as our primary web browser on all three platforms. I've created a profile for both of us (and even a Guest profile) so that we can run Firefox with our own extensions and themes.
These profiles can be launched directly from the command line by passing Firefox additional parameters. For instance, firefox -p Christopher launches my profile; firefox -p Jennifer launches Jennifer. You can even tack on another parameter, -no-remote that allows multiple profiles to be launched at once.
In Windows, and with Linux (with the Gnome GUI, at least), you can create shortcuts to applications that include these parameters. So, on each computer we've got, I've created an icon for Jennifer's profile, and an icon for my own. Either can be launched, independent from the other.
You can't create shortcuts (that include command line parameters) in Mac OS X like you can in Windows and Linux environments, so how the hell do I create two separate icons in the dock that launch the same version of Firefox, with separate profiles, that can be run simultaneously?
I've come up with a way to open two instances of Firefox, simultaneously, running separate profiles, but it doesn't quite behave the way I'd like.
I've created two copies of Firefox in the Application folder (creatively named "Jennifer's Firefox" and "Christopher's Firefox"), and I've created a dock entry for each. I've also run the following command from the Terminal:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -profilemanagerThe command will launch the Firefox Profile Manger, where I've un-checked the "Don't ask at startup" box.
Now I've got two dock entries, and clicking on either one launches the Firefox Profile Manager. From there, we can select the desired profile and launch Firefox. With this instance open, we can click the other dock icon to re-launch the Profile Manger, then select the other profile and launch another instance of Firefox running the other profile.
We want to bypass the Profile Manger altogether though, because if I accidentally select Jennifer's profile using the Profile Manager after clicking on my dock icon, she won't be able to launch her profile using her icon until my sessions killed. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it is quite annoying!
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
These profiles can be launched directly from the command line by passing Firefox additional parameters. For instance, firefox -p Christopher launches my profile; firefox -p Jennifer launches Jennifer. You can even tack on another parameter, -no-remote that allows multiple profiles to be launched at once.
In Windows, and with Linux (with the Gnome GUI, at least), you can create shortcuts to applications that include these parameters. So, on each computer we've got, I've created an icon for Jennifer's profile, and an icon for my own. Either can be launched, independent from the other.
You can't create shortcuts (that include command line parameters) in Mac OS X like you can in Windows and Linux environments, so how the hell do I create two separate icons in the dock that launch the same version of Firefox, with separate profiles, that can be run simultaneously?
I've come up with a way to open two instances of Firefox, simultaneously, running separate profiles, but it doesn't quite behave the way I'd like.
I've created two copies of Firefox in the Application folder (creatively named "Jennifer's Firefox" and "Christopher's Firefox"), and I've created a dock entry for each. I've also run the following command from the Terminal:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -profilemanagerThe command will launch the Firefox Profile Manger, where I've un-checked the "Don't ask at startup" box.
Now I've got two dock entries, and clicking on either one launches the Firefox Profile Manager. From there, we can select the desired profile and launch Firefox. With this instance open, we can click the other dock icon to re-launch the Profile Manger, then select the other profile and launch another instance of Firefox running the other profile.
We want to bypass the Profile Manger altogether though, because if I accidentally select Jennifer's profile using the Profile Manager after clicking on my dock icon, she won't be able to launch her profile using her icon until my sessions killed. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it is quite annoying!
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!