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I upgraded my system from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to 22.04 LTS and I'm now facing this error on the GNOME Shell extensions webpage:

image showing the error

This was solved in previous versions, and I have tried these solutions:

However, they don't seem to work anymore.

How can I fix this?

BeastOfCaerbannog
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Vam
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    I wonder if it's because your Firefox is running in a Snap. The extension is known not to work in snaps. – muru Apr 22 '22 at 09:19
  • heads up, I have had a popup to complete a partial dist upgrade... and it wants to remove obsolete packages. gnome-tweaks is one of them. and 61 others. watch this space. yep 'tweaks' is gone. I only wanted that bar up the top to show the extensions in the top bar. does 22.04 come with replacements for all those tweaks? rhetorical question – pierrely Sep 16 '22 at 04:33

2 Answers2

64

Ubuntu 22.04 forces the Firefox Snap default for everyone, across every flavour. Starting from Ubuntu 22.04.3, the Snap version of Firefox works with the Gnome Extensions website simply installing the connector (sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell) and then install the Firefox add-on when prompted by the extensions.gnome.org website.

If you don't want or you can't use the connector, you can install Gnome Shell extensions manually as in this answer by vanadium, but you have also an alternative: the Extension Manager app has been made available starting from jammy release . It is a native tool for browsing, installing, and managing GNOME Shell Extensions written with GTK 4 and libadwaita.

Extension Manager Screenshot

It is available in Ubuntu universe repo but also as a flatpak app.

The tool supports (copy paste from the GitHub page):

  • Browsing and searching extensions from extensions.gnome.org
  • Installation and Removal
  • Enabling and Disabling
  • Updating in-app
  • Screenshots & Images
  • Ratings & Comments
  • Translations

You can install it running in a terminal sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager or following the instructions in the GitHub page

Lorenz Keel
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  • Extension Manager is also available as a Flatpak. Tested and working on Pop OS 22.04 – Andrew M. May 05 '22 at 15:45
  • Just tried the app, simple and effective, I recommend – adu May 18 '22 at 08:33
  • I installed Extension Manager, but the hamburger menu doesn't open. If I click on it, it sometimes freezes Extension Manager. It could be it happens because I am using a virtual machine on VirtualBox. – apaderno Jul 06 '22 at 08:08
  • Yay! Thank you. I had to run "gnome-shell-extension-prefs". – Chelmite Dec 07 '22 at 03:45
  • But surely Ubuntu does not rely on Firefox? Why not just remove it? I'd like to support Mozilla, but not if it breaks the system when alternatives like Brave exist? – volvox Jul 31 '23 at 04:55
  • OK I ran a snap remove firefox and my terminal started working again :D I'm happy with tilix though, but thought to mention for others. – volvox Jul 31 '23 at 04:57
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    The Snap version of Firefox does now include the native messaging support needed for the GNOME Shell Extensions. It's no longer necessary to remove the Snap version or to use other browsers or workarounds. See this AskUbuntu answer. – seanlano Oct 22 '23 at 22:03
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After the upgrade, your Firefox browser was changed to a snap version. One of the current issues with the snap version is that the Gnome Shell extensions website does not work.

Extension manager desktop application

Update: with Ubuntu 22.04, a new graphical tool was included in the standard Ubuntu software repositories, Extension Manager. Thus, it can now be very easily installed in Ubuntu 22.04 from Software Store, and offers a graphical desktop application that provides much of the functionality of the Gnome Shell extensions website. See the answer of Lorenz Keel for more details.

Download and manual installation

Gnome Shell extensions can be installed manually. While one can manually put the files in place to install it, the easiest and most fool-proof way is to use the gnome-extensions command line tool:

  1. Download the zip archive of the extension from the Gnome Shell Extensions website. You can do so by selecting your Gnome Shell version from the dropdown field next to "Download" (42 for Ubuntu 22.04). That will cause a second drop down to appear to select the version of the extension. Once you select that, download will proceed immediately.
  2. Find the downloaded archive in your file manager. By default, Firefox will download to the Downloads folder, but that can be set up differently.
  3. Once you see the downloaded file in your file manager, select "Open terminal here". That will open the terminal into that directory. Alternatively, open the terminal and use the cd command to change the directory, e.g. cd ~/Downloads to make the Downloads folder the current directory.
  4. Install the extension with the command 
    gnome-extensions install -f <name of downloaded zip file>.zip

Tip: Use tab completion. Type gnome-extTab to autocomplete the command name, then insTab to autocomplete "install", then the first few letters of the file name and Tab to autocomplete the file name.

To turn extensions on and of, install the Extensions tool: sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefs

vanadium
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  • I ended up using gnome-extensions, since I usually install Gnome Shell extension when I install Ubuntu on a virtual machine or a computer. After that, I don't install new extensions. – apaderno Jul 06 '22 at 08:16
  • Offline Install Success! Thanks. – Leo Lee Oct 10 '22 at 07:47