136492 - [RFE] need method of centralized corporate browser policies

Status: VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 103545

(SeaMonkey :: Preferences, enhancement)

Description

[Tony Tovar]

I am still hoping that my organization will dump IE and standardize on Mozilla.
 A big issue preventing this, though, is the lack of corporate-type policies. 
We use the Internet Explorer Admin Kit (IEAK) to standarize the configuration of
all our IE rollouts, then use Windows Policies to keep control.  For instance:
- the default homepage is always our Intranet server
- HTTP access is always via our proxy-forwarding server
- ActiveX scripts marked as "safe" are *not* run automatically
- the default email handler is left as-is, i.e. Outlook Express is never activated

Is there anything comparable already in Mozilla, or anything planned?  I tried
doing a search for keywords "corporate" and "policies" but didn't find anything.

A simple way to implement this would be to add a prefs.js "override" feature. 
If, for instance, the network login copied a corporate.js file into the user's
Mozilla folder, any preferences in this file would take precedence over the same
options in the user's prefs.js file (and would be unalterable through the GUI).
 I wouldn't expect Mozilla to try to enforce the integrity of this file since
any adv. user would know to delete it; this could be enforced through OS
assignments instead.

Finally, are there command-line options for the Mozilla installer that would let
us do silent update-installs as part of the login process?

Comment 1

[Tony Tovar]

FYI - Here's a 4/5/02 opinion about this same idea,
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2860153,00.html

Comment 2

[Christopher Whitt]

Can't find dupes, so confirming for now.

Comment 3

[Tony Tovar]

I've just "discovered" the CCK project, http://www.mozilla.org/projects/cck/
The web-page says it was last updated June 14, 2002, but I find that hard to
believe since the docs talk about 40-bit vs 128-bit, and the need to support
ISPs with dial-up configuration.  There's also no contact person.  Anyone know
what happened to this?

Comment 4

[Jaon]

Though it's not the original idea behind this request, there is another
implication of this feature. I found this bug because I was going to request a
way for me to create a centralized preferences file, and then point Mozilla to
that file somewhere on the internet. That way, I'd have the same preferences on
all of the computers on which I use Mozilla. At home, at work, laptop on the
road, etc. It is annoying to constantly have to change the way I use Mozilla
depending on how I have the preferences set. I'd like to point the browser to
http://my-website/mozPrefs/preferences.pref, or whatever. If I create a junkmail
filter, a mail filter, set my tab behavior, etc, I'd like it to download that
configuration the next time I  start mozilla at work.

If this were set up, I'd also like to see security on this file, requiring me to
authenticate to it before I can use it or change options. That would keep others
from screwing with my configuration.

Is this even remotely likely?

Comment 5

[Tony Tovar]

There was a LOT of discussion about this on Slashdot today,
http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/03/01/19/2239259.shtml
but *ALAS* no mention of this RFE...

Comment 6

[Minh Nguyễn]

This might be of interest: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2244.txt

It's an RFC for something called the Application Configuration Access Protocol
(ACAP).

Comment 7

[Tony Tovar]

Some highlights from the /. discussion:

- one admin's notes for corporate-izing Mozilla
  http://www.alain.knaff.lu/howto/MozillaCustomization/

- current NS version of CCK
  http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/partners/cck.jsp

- Documentation for NS7 version of CCK
  http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/ns7/CCKDocs/pdf/cck_guide.pdf

Anyone know if this works with Mozilla (or even Phoenix)?  It looks like it
allows you to customize the distribution, but that doesn't allow you to manage
anything remotely (as I suggested in my initial posting).

Comment 8

[Tony Tovar]

Added a dependency on bug 124029 (roaming profiles) which would partly solve
this issue.

Comment 9

[Kim Scarborough]

Um... you probably should make this as blocked by bug 17048, not bug 124029.
Your problems will be partially solved whether or not roaming access is added
with donated money.

Comment 10

[Jason Clinton]

I submitted the question to Slashdot and I was quite disappointed by the reality
of how difficult it is to do this. Most of the responses involved how to copy
the Mozilla folder to other machines with some sort of install.bat. Other posts
were just completely off-topic. I'm really disappointed that the CCK project
only has a visible side at Netscape. It would be nice if Mozilla.org would make
a more public effort with the CCK. I second the motion to get this thing active.

Comment 11

[Ben Bucksch (:BenB)]

> A simple way to implement this would be to add a prefs.js "override" feature.

There is - netscape.cfg.

Comment 12

[Tony Tovar]

Kim,
Bug 17048 is old (Oct 1999)!  I don't have time to read all the comments on it
but -- starting at the most recent -- it sounds like bug 124029 is the sequel to
17048.  Also, what do you mean by "added with donated money"?

Ben,
Where is the "netscape.cfg" file documented?  I tried searching the NS7 CCK
documentation (which includes lots of info I haven't had time to digest yet) but
found no mention of the file.

Also, the following discussion on Mozillazine re of bug 107418 
  http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=2839
mentions the "user.js" overriding the "pref.js" file? Anyone know more?

Comment 13

[Tony Tovar]

Adding bug 147344 as a blocker (segment Mozilla profile-file into
roaming/non-roaming components)

Comment 14

[Ben Goodger (use ben at mozilla dot org for email)]

Mass reassign of my non-Firefox bugs to [e-mail]

Comment 15

[Nicolás Lichtmaier]

Dupe of bug 103545?

Comment 16

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 103545 ***

Comment 17

[Ben Bucksch (:BenB)]

verified dup

Comment 18

[Tony Tovar]

everybody, please transfer your votes to bug 103545 !