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Firefox Sync doesn't sync "Multi-Account Containers" data
On my personal laptop, I have the Multi-Account Containers extension (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/) running smoothly. I'm currently on a public desktop computer , and I enabled Firefox Sync, which did a good job for passwords, bookmarks, etc, but it didn't sync any of my container info for the Multi-Account Containers add-on. I see the default containers: Personal, Work, Bank, Shopping. On my personal laptop, I have about a dozen containers. What's wrong?
Gekozen oplossing
Hi everyone. Today I logged into a computer and when I opened Firefox, I saw the word "New" on top of the Multi-Account Containers button on my toolbar. I clicked and it it said that Sync is now available for Containers!!!
Yahoo!
https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2020/02/06/multi-account-containers-sync/
Dit antwoord in context lezen 👍 1Alle antwoorden (16)
Hi tailonfire,
There is add-on support for the Multi-Account Containers which would sync containers across multiple devices called Containers Sync. However the add-on does not sync site settings at the moment.
From what I understand there isn't a feature to implement syncing of the Multi-Account Containers with Firefox sync.
Link to add-on : Containers Sync {link}
See also : Should custom containers be synced across devices? {link}
Hope this helps!
Hi Team.
RE: Firefox Multi-Account Containers v.6.1.1
I love the Multi-Account Containers for Firefox. It's an excellent extension. However there's not means of archiving, syncing or backup for all your fastidious work configuring your various websites to open within specific containers. If your local Firefox profile is lost, so is your hard work with container setup. We need means of backing up our container setup, either via some export / import utility or using Firefox Sync. Either is fine as this extension is a more advanced feature, but totally awesome! Thanks.
Apparently the team is working on adding the ability to sync multi-account container settings: https://github.com/mozilla/multi-account-containers/pull/1611
And I totally agree: the ability to sync (all!) container settings is crucial.
Bewerkt door Helge op
Hi Heige, Thank you for letting me know. This is good news. I hope that all extensions will also sync to our Firefox Sync account. For example, I'd love to have the additions/edits I've made to uBlock Origin to be synced to my Firefox Sync account.
Just seeing this:
I love the Multi-Account Containers for Firefox. It's an excellent extension. However there's not means of archiving, syncing or backup for all your fastidious work configuring your various websites to open within specific containers. If your local Firefox profile is lost, so is your hard work with container setup.
Firefox Sync is a sync tool, not a backup solution. Please back up your profile(s) occasionally if you fear losing configurations and work. They are so easy to copy and/or archive (.zip, .7z, etc.) and keep safe.
Hi crankygoat
Thanks for this tip. Is there a way to back up only the personalization I've done with this multi-account extension?
Bewerkt door tailonfire op
I would have to install an extension and see where that particular extension does its storage. It could be in the root of the profile folder, possible a special folder it creates for itself, etc. It seems less obvious than it used to be than any of the ways such things have been handled . It seems modern webextensions should use an indexeddb somewhere in the profile's /Storage folder. Which used to be browser-extension-storage. And was probably different several time before, in the history of how the now-legacy extensions were handled, and handled themselves.
For an easy one, as you seem to be asking specifically about uBlock Origin, you can export rules right from the extension itself, which would be the best way to go about that, as you can import your ruleset the same way. The intended uBlock method.
For multi-account containers, it's easy to find the extension itself, like most other extensions. You can even look it up in Troubleshooting Information (aka about:support). But in determining the storage, these do not seem to use GUIDs, but something random. I had for one install instance moz-extension+++aecff3f3-9fc0-4731-b046-3c8b622cb4f5^userContextId=xxxxxxxxxx Some extensions have more than one folder, one without ^userContextId=, and one (or more) with an ID.
Even looking into the database files is, so far for me, unenlightening. Backing up everything that is local storage for extensions (moz-extension+++...) would be a good bet. (The rest are probably site Form & Search history items, or and other things which use local storage not in cookies.)
Containers.json in the root of every Firefox profile folder (they were sure you were going to use this extension, apparently) contains only the description for the menu.
I personally like to back up a whole profile, as logins, bookmarks, and all are pretty important to me and i have not lost anything since before there was a Firefox (or the short-lived Phoenix, or Firebird branding...). You can pitch the crash report and other junk folders if they contain overmuch unimportant stuff, and cull old bookmark backups if size worries you. Keep one or two backups and toss anything older. Just a thought. :)
Not just uBlock Origin, but others. To give another example, dark-background-light-text-extension.
I'm reluctant to import an entire profile when on a fresh install/upgrade of an operating system. Why? Because I am concerned that my old profile might get in the way of a new Firefox version. Maybe my worry is irrational?
Bewerkt door tailonfire op
tl;dr : You don't have to import the whole profile. But it can't hurt. The backup is what is important. - Again, you would be looking to copy all the moz-extension+++... in the /Storage folders. Of course, i cannot guarantee where any extension, particularly legacy extensions, might store data. I don't know if even now that Firefox forces any particular compliance. It certainly makes it less obvious for an end-user with contemporary versions.
It's not entirely irrational to want to avoid a full profile, but if it is a problem, you can always simply use a different profile. The program itself is unaffected. I have never had an issue.
You can always compare the contents of an unused profile with that of your old or backup profile and discern the differences. In short, it will likely be different for everyone, and i couldn't offer any rules, except that "modern webextensions using local storage should probably have a folder /moz-extension+++... in the profile." (Until they change it again.)
There used to be extensions which did exactly these things, but they no longer work, and have been summarily banished from AMO. Someone would need to write an external program which can recognize and sort all these things, or... you can just zip up a copy of a profile occasionally, and then try to figure out which folder has the extension data you need for a restore if something breaks. You can always pull stuff out of a backup piecemeal. Just bookmarks. Or logins. Or data from one or all extensions. Preservation is key. Sorting can come later if necessary.
Maybe Mozilla will eventually support all the things in Sync. Which they should, if they are offering it, especially for extensions which they themselves offer also. No brainer, really, especially for a complex pile of settings like multiaccount containers. Maybe they will also extend the webextensions API. Maybe they might cause things to be labeled clearly for consumers, like, idk, having webextension data folders use the ID/GUID of the extension... I wouldn't count on any of it, including any cloud sync/backup, never mind Firefox's.
You can look at the containers.json file in the profile folder for basic container related data.
There is the about:debugging page (This Firefox) that allows to inspect an extension and inspect its storage in the Inspector.
Gekozen oplossing
Hi everyone. Today I logged into a computer and when I opened Firefox, I saw the word "New" on top of the Multi-Account Containers button on my toolbar. I clicked and it it said that Sync is now available for Containers!!!
Yahoo!
https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2020/02/06/multi-account-containers-sync/
Bewerkt door tailonfire op
I just hope that the extension is smart enough to know that I want my home laptop, the one with about a dozen containers to be the first syncing source, and not the computer I'm using at my school's computer lab (which doesn't have much customizations yet).
My concern stems from the fact that I saw the "New" while in the computer lab. I guess I'll see how it is when I get back home. No biggie.
I can confirm that the settings and site-assignments of multi-account containers are synchronized as of Firefox 73.0.
For those interested, here is a blog post I wrote about Firefox containers recently: https://helgeklein.com/blog/2020/01/firefox-containers-multiple-gmail-logins-through-privacy-isolation/
Helge said
I can confirm that the settings and site-assignments of multi-account containers are synchronized as of Firefox 73.0. For those interested, here is a blog post I wrote about Firefox containers recently: https://helgeklein.com/blog/2020/01/firefox-containers-multiple-gmail-logins-through-privacy-isolation/
Helge. I'm reading your blogpost. Thank you for the tip on the keyboard shortcut. Didn't know about Ctrl + . (period). I was resorting to the mouse to open a new tab in a container.
Bewerkt door tailonfire op
I just received the notification that Sync is now enabled for this app. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm excited already! :) Please allow me to extol the dev team for addressing this enhancement. Thank you!!
I know the new sync solved the problem for people here but sync isn't working for me at all. I enabled it for both my laptops and the containers aren't syncing at all.