Create and distribute Firefox customizations as an extension or autoconfig file

There may be situations where you may want to distribute a customized version of Firefox to others. Maybe you are admin of a network, webmaster who wants to make available a special Firefox version or want to create a special version of Firefox for friends and family that comes pre-equipped with some of the coolest extensions and customizations.

CCK2 Wizard -- CCK stands for Client Customization Kit -- is a free add-on for the browser that helps you create this customized version. The result is either an extension that users can install to make these modifications or an autoconfig file that needs to be put into the main Firefox directory so that it is picked up automatically.

Note: Two versions of CCK Wizard exist currently. CCK Wizard 1.x has been updated one last time today but won't receive any more updates. CCK2 Wizard 2.x is the new version that you should install.

A click on the extension icon after installation starts the process. You have options to create customizations from scratch or load a previous customization instead.

The extension displays all customization options in a single window. You click through each option displayed in the sidebar and make modifications as you see fit.

Here is a short list of modifications you can make:

1. Add add-ons that get installed.
2. Add search engines.
3. Add plugins.
4. Use CSS to hide or modify user interface elements.
5. Add bookmarks.
6. Modify or lock preferences such as disabling sync of Firefox updates.
7. Set the home page, welcome page and upgrade page, or hide them.
8. Add certificates
9. Set website permissions in advance.
10. Lock about:config

The list is far from complete and it will take some time to go through all menus CCK2 Wizard offers the first time. Once you have made all general modifications you need to decide whether to create an extension that contains all the customizations or an autoconfig file instead.

If you decide to create an extension you need to add a unique ID to it before you can do so. All other options such as the homepage and update url, icon, filename or description are optional.

If you have created an extension, you need to distribute it along with all the files and folders it creates. The extension gets installed just like any other add-on in Firefox and you should not run into any issues installing it.

The autoconfig file is provided as a zip which you need to extract to the Firefox main program folder (not profile folder) on the system you want it deployed.

Closing Words

CCK2 Wizard is an excellent extension for Firefox that makes it dead easy to distribute and deploy customized versions of Firefox. The customization options it provides are powerful and leaves little to be desired in this regard.