Can't update Firefox

Question

I've downloaded an update for Firefox which is now in my Downloads folder. How do I get it from there to open and replace my existing version 20? I've tried double-clicking the download, but nothing happens. If I right-click the download, I can 'Open Containing Folder', but this just takes me to a TMP folder, containing other files & folders.

I'm new to Ubuntu, but in Windows and OS X, I just double-clicked the download and it would install the necessary stuff in all the right places.

Frustrated and getting off to a bad start...

What is the name of the file you've download ? Does it end by .deb, .tgz, ... Depending of the type of file, the manipulations will be different. — Benoit, Oct 21 '14 at 14:01
Ubuntu and most other Linux systems provide versions of packages, including Firefox - this should ensure the programs are virus free, and work properly on that system. On Ubuntu, you can use the Software Center to manage this - Ubuntu can also use PPA's (e.g. the Mozillateam PPAs - see also http://askubuntu.com/questions/35629/are-ppas-safe-to-add-to-my-system-and-what-are-some-red-flags-to-watch-out-fo/35636#35636. — Wilf, Oct 21 '14 at 14:44
"my existing version 20?" Sounds like you are using an old and probably unsupported release of Ubuntu. — xangua, Oct 21 '14 at 15:46
the actually version of firefox is 33.0 ! Just go to the dash, type "update" and start the program update. Lets do this program the work for you. — Julien Chau, Oct 21 '14 at 16:05
Brian depending on the type of file will depend on how to run it. The easiest method for someone to use wound be the software manager- you should be able to go into this and select update. If you'd like to perform the update through the terminal, try this: http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/upgrade-firefox-on-linux/. I have heard the latest update for Firefox via the store does not seem to work on some OS, so I'd suggest try your luck with the terminal! — DankyNanky, Oct 21 '14 at 20:43

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 03 '18 at 16:21

First: You need to remove the existing Firefox package.

Open a terminal. CtrlAltT.

Run it:

sudo -i
apt-get remove firefox

Then, download the latest Linux build of Firefox directly from Mozilla:

32 bits:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/63.0/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-63.0.tar.bz2

64 bits:

https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/63.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-63.0.tar.bz2

Move the downloaded file to /opt, extract it and change the permissions of the files:

sudo -i
mv /home/brian/Downloads/firefox-63.0.tar.bz2 /opt
cd /opt
tar -jxvf firefox-63.0.tar.bz2
chmod 755 /opt/firefox

Create a symbolic link and delete firefox-63.0.tar.bz2 from /opt. Don't forget to exit the root shell

ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
rm firefox-63.0.tar.bz2
exit

Can't update Firefox

1 Answers1