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How To Synchronize NoScript Across Multiple Computers

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:56 am
by Tom T.
This and the shortened version beneath are for Firefox 2.x only. For Firefox 3.x, see the Bookmarklet synchronization feature, FAQ, and other information.
For synchronizing the entire Firefox profile folder, regardless of version, see this guide.


(Note: This version of the Guide is intended for average home users, and is somewhat Windows-oriented. For advanced or cross-platform users, there is a shorter version of the guide below this version.)

When you make any changes or updates to NS, you can easily apply these changes to any other computer without having to enter them manually on each machine. For simplicity, let us call the most recently-changed machine Master, and all others Slave.
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To synchronize your whitelist and blacklist only: On Master, go to NoScript > Options > Whitelist > Export. Choose a suitable location (suggestion: your Shared folder, if the machines are networked, or a Flash drive, if not), and Save as a text file , e. g., "NS Whitelist.txt". Exit NS.

Then go to the same NS Whitelist tab in each of the other machines, click "Import", navigate to the appropriate destination (shared folder or flash drive), double-click the text file, click OK, and you are done.
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To synchronize *all* settings, configurations, version numbers, and everything else about NS, first navigate to your Firefox profile folder. Instructions to do so are here.

1) Open the folder.
2) Open the "extensions" folder.
3) Your NoScript folder is the one that starts with {73a6fe31.... Copy it to your shared folder or flash drive.
4) Go back up one level to the profile folder.
5) Locate the file "prefs.js". Right-click the file and click "Edit".
6) Scroll down the "user_pref" list (they're in alphabetical order) until you find the lines that begin with "user_pref("capability.policy.maonoscript". Copy and paste them to a text file on your chosen shared location. Then scroll down further to the entire block of lines that begin with "user_pref("noscript.....);" Copy and paste these to your text file also, leaving a few blank lines in between the two blocks as a reminder to keep them separate.

***ALL BROWSERS MUST BE CLOSED ON EACH SLAVE MACHINE BEFORE PROCEEDING.***

7) On each Slave machine, navigate to the Fx profile folder and open it.
8) Open its "extensions" folder. Copy or drag-and-drop the NoScript folder from the Master on your shared location to Slave. When prompted to overwrite, click "Yes to all".
9) Go back up one level to the profile folder.
10) Locate its file, "prefs.js". You might like to make a backup copy "just in case", e. g., by right-click-dragging it to your desktop or other location and clicking "Copy here".
11) As before, right-click the file "prefs.js" and "Edit."
12) From the Master text file that we created in Step (6), copy the lines "user_pref("capability.policy.maonoscript"..." and paste them over the corresponding entries on the Slave.
13) Similarly, copy and paste the block of lines "user_pref("noscript.....);" from the Master text file to the corresponding entries on Slave.
14) Save the prefs.js file on Slave.

Close up everything. Your NoScript configuration is now identical on each machine.

For the impatient cross-platform user

Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:34 am
by Charley M
To Synchronise **only your whitelist** (which includes your "Untrusted" list).

Use the IMPORT/EXPORT feature of NS

Step 1
EXPORT THE PREFERRED WHITELIST (WHICH INCLUDES "UNTRUSTED') TO WHERE YOU CAN UPLOAD IT TO MULTIPLE MACHINES
NS Options/Prefs > Whitelist tab, choose "Export" button at the bottom of the dialog, 'save as' a text file, OK out of dialog.

Step 2
IMPORT THE WHITELIST TEXT FILE SAVED IN STEP 1 TO ANY MACHINE
NS Options/Prefs > Whitelist tab, choose "Import" button at the bottom of the dialog, browse to the saved whitelist text file, select it, OK out of dialog.

To Synchronise **all** NS data (Version and configuration)

Manually replace NS folder and part of the Fx configuration file.
Care: you can break your Fx with manual file fiddling, so backup. You have been warned.

Step 1
COPY THE NS FOLDER FROM THE MACHINE WHOSE SETTINGS YOU WANT TO USE FOR ALL MACHINES
NS folder (titled {73a6fe31-595d-460b-a920-fcc0f8843232}) is in the Extensions folder, which is in the profile folder.

Step 2
MAKE A TEXT FILE OF THE NS ENTRIES FROM THE prefs.js FILE ON THAT SAME MACHINE
"prefs.js" is in your profile
Always make a backup of any file you are opening in an editor **before** you open it.
Use the "Open with" context menu command to open "prefs.js" in your text editor (not your browser) and copy/paste the blocks of lines that begin with "user_pref("capability.policy.maonoscript" and those that begin with "user_pref("noscript" into a new text document, keeping the two blocks separate.

Step 3
USE THE FOLDER AND FILE MADE IN STEPS 1 AND 2 TO UPDATE THE SAME NS FOLDER AND FILE ON ALL YOUR MACHINES

New bookmark-based synchronization feature

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:43 pm
by Giorgio Maone
NoScript 1.9.2 and above offer a new experimental feature: it optionally backups all your configuration data (preferences + permissions, both whitelist and blacklist) in a single bookmark placed in a [NoScript] bookmark folder.

This way you can replicate your NoScript setup across multiple computer just like you can do with your bookmarks, i.e. by using any of the available bookmark synchronization options such as Mozilla Wave or the XMarks extension.

Being experimental it is disabled by default, but can be enabled by checking NoScript Options|General|Backup NoScript configuration in a bookmark for easy
synchronization
. Use it at your own risk and report here any glitch.

Complete synchronization of Firefox and all add-ons at once

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:50 am
by Tom T.
Giorgio, many thanks for providing a built-in method for synchronizing NoScript settings among multiple machines, which has been requested by numerous users.

May I offer also a method, requiring no add-ons, for those (like myself) who would like to synchronize their entire Firefox browser settings, configurations, versions, and all extensions (including NoScript)? I have two machines, one used frequently and the other rarely, but the second one is periodically brought out to receive Microsoft patches, Anti-Virus and other security updates, as well as updates and settings changes for Fx and for NS and all other extensions. For this class of users, the following takes care of everything connected with Fx:

1) Close all browsers on all machines. On the updated machine, navigate to the Firefox profile folder.
2) Copy the profile folder to your shared location or drive, then open the folder.
3) On the machine(s) to be updated, navigate to the Firefox profile folder. Make a backup copy for safety, and store it conveniently, e. g. on your desktop. Open the actual folder in the Firefox location.
4) On the shared location or drive, copy all contents of the updated folder. Paste them over all contents of the receiving machine's folder, confirming "yes" if prompted to over-write.
5) Close up everything. The receiving machine will now have identical Fx version and settings, about:config changes if any, all extensions and versions of them, and settings in every extension, including NoScript.

For more information, see this article. Also, do not use this method if any of the machines is having any problems or conflicts. See the same article for tips on what to copy and what not to copy in such a case.

There is also an *UNOFFICIAL* shortcut, *NOT* documented or supported by Mozilla or by NoScript. Several friends who have multiple computers have been using this method for some time without problems, but *use at your own risk*.

1) As before, close all browsers and copy the most recent Firefox profile folder to the shared location.
2) On the receiving machine, *move* (not copy) the older profile to, e. g., your desktop. Don't delete it; keep it there as a backup until you're sure everything works.
3) Copy or move the updated profile into the (empty) location of the profile on the receiving machine.
4) On the receiving machine, change the name of the folder to match the name on the one that was removed.

The most accurate way to do this without errors (like confusing "O" for "0", etc.) is (in Windows) to right-click the receiving machine's old folder (on your desktop now), click "Properties", then copy the title in the box at the top. Similarly, right-click the updated folder that you copied into the Fx location, click "Properties", and paste the title that was copied, then click "OK". This has saved many people from typographical errors that would cause malfunctions if the Profile folder on the receiving machine had its name changed accidentally.