Manage Firefox Browser Preferences on Windows Using a Policy

When your users type about:config into Firefox’s URL bar to change their browser preferences, they’re warned “Here be dragons.” To shield your users from this stressful situation and prevent them from experimenting on their own and causing instability in their browser, you can create a policy to enforce browser settings that fits your business needs.

You can use this policy to remotely apply browser settings to Windows systems running Firefox. The policy governs the use of Firefox, such as passwords, site and form history, data security by blocking autocomplete features, and the downloading experience. For general information on JumpCloud Policies, see Getting Started: Policies.

In this policy you can configure the following settings:

• Disable password manager - Control if Firefox stores credentials so they are populated the next time the user visits a website.
• Don’t allow users to create a master password - If a system is shared with multiple users, a master password encrypts all of an individual’s passwords for protection from the other users. Setting a master password prompts a user to enter it once for each Firefox session.
• Don’t allow passwords to be revealed in saved logins - If a master password is not set, then passwords can be unmasked in Password Manager and Settings. Disabling this option can make it difficult for users to recover a forgotten password.
• Don’t remember form and search history - After a user enters something into a form on a web page, control whether Firefox stores that previous search entry and makes it available to reuse.
• Disable private browsing - Private means Firefox doesn’t save a user’s browsing information, such as history and cookies. Use this setting to control whether users can browse and leave no trace of the sites they visit after they end the session.
• Ask where to save a file before downloading - When a user downloads a file, control whether Firefox asks the user where to save it. If this prompt is disabled, the file is automatically saved to the downloads folder.
• Change default download location for users - When a user downloads a file, you can specify where the file is saved without asking the user. If you set Ask where to save a file before downloading to Enabled, then the default location you specify here is ignored.

To create a policy to manage Firefox running on Windows:

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal: https://console.jumpcloud.com/login .
2. Go to Policies.
3. Click (+).
4. On the Configure New Policy page select Windows.
5. From the list, next to Mozilla Firefox Browser Preferences click configure.
6. On the New Policy panel, optionally enter a new name for the policy, or keep the default. Policy names must be unique.
7. Under Settings, select the options you want to disable or allow.
8. Click the System Groups tab. Optionally, select one or more system groups to apply this policy to. For system groups with multiple OS member types, the policy is applied only to the supported OS.
9. Click the System tab. Optionally, select one or more system groups to apply this policy to.
10. Click save policy.