Install The Newest Firefox ppa with command "add-apt-repository" (9.10 & above)

**SilverWave** · January 9th, 2010

"I regularly use a package from the Ubuntu Daily Mozilla PPA. Unfortunately the PPA also contains snapshot builds of Firefox 3.5 and XulRunner 1.9.1, which I want to keep at their standard Ubuntu versions".

The Pinning Solution

To make apt-get upgrading as painless as possible set a lower Pin-Priority on the PPA, this will stop unwanted package versions from installing. Once set, packages from the ubuntu-mozilla-daily PPA will always lose in any contest with packages from other repositories, even if they have a higher version.

Create the file:

/etc/apt/preferences.d/ubuntu-mozilla-daily-pin-400

Add the following to the file:

Code:

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily
Pin-Priority: 400

The Rules

If the target release has not been specified then APT simply assigns priority 100 to all installed package versions and priority 500 to all uninstalled package versions.

APT then applies the following rules, listed in order of precedence, to determine which version of a package to install.

Never downgrade unless the priority of an available version exceeds 1000. ("Downgrading" is installing a less recent version of a package in place of a more recent version. Note that none of APT's default priorities exceeds 1000; such high priorities can only be set in the preferences file. Note also that downgrading a package can be risky.)
Install the highest priority version.
If two or more versions have the same priority, install the most recent one (that is, the one with the higher version number).
If two or more versions have the same priority and version number but either the packages differ in some of their metadata or the --reinstall option is given, install the uninstalled one. Details.

Before Pinning

apt-cache policy

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-security,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=PPA for Ubuntu Mozilla Security Team,c=main
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=PPA for Ubuntu Mozilla Daily Build Team,c=main
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/non-free Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Medibuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Medibuntu,c=non-free
     origin packages.medibuntu.org
 500 http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/free Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Medibuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Medibuntu,c=free
     origin packages.medibuntu.org
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-security,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-security,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-security,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-security,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=main
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-updates,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-updates,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-updates,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic-updates,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=main
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Translation-en_GB
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Translation-en_GB
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Translation-en_GB
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Translation-en_GB
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=main
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
Pinned packages:
:~$

apt-cache policy firefox-3.5

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.5
firefox-3.5:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.5.8~hg20100105r26710+nobinonly-0ubuntu2~umd1~karmic
  Version table:
     3.5.8~hg20100105r26710+nobinonly-0ubuntu2~umd1~karmic 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
:~$

Pinning

/etc/apt/preferences.d/ubuntu-mozilla-daily-pin-400

Code:

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily
Pin-Priority: 400

After Pinning

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.5
firefox-3.5:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Version table:
     3.5.8~hg20100105r26710+nobinonly-0ubuntu2~umd1~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
:~$

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-security,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=PPA for Ubuntu Mozilla Security Team,c=main
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=PPA for Ubuntu Mozilla Daily Build Team,c=main
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
[...]
 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
     release v=9.10,o=Ubuntu,a=karmic,n=karmic,l=Ubuntu,c=main
     origin gb.archive.ubuntu.com
Pinned packages:
:~$

Nice

Run "Update Manager" and check the section called "Other updates (LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily)" to confirm all is well.

__________________

Note that the name of the file you create can not contain a dot.

Based mainly on Pin down the official Firefox version in Ubuntu and the Linux man page for apt_preferences.
With bits from Firefox 3.6 and Thunderbird 3.0 on Karmic.

**SilverWave** · January 13th, 2010

APT Bug #505880

Bug Description

The APT preferences file does not work if its filename contains a dot.
/etc/apt/preferences.d/ubuntu-mozilla-daily-pin.400 < Nope!
/etc/apt/preferences.d/ubuntu-mozilla-daily-pin-400 < OK
Linux neon 2.6.31-17-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Thu Dec 10 17:01:44 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
__________________
Example that works:
/etc/apt/preferences.d/ubuntu-mozilla-daily-pin-400
Code:
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-ubuntu-mozilla-daily
Pin-Priority: 400
__________________
Notes:
The example at the link below didn't work for me:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/PPAs
Found the problem here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...3&postcount=35
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...7&postcount=36

Loïc Minier on 2010-01-11
summary: - apt_preferences APT preferences filename can not contain a dot.
+ Needs to document which files are considered below
+ /etc/apt/preferences.d

Loïc Minier on 2010-01-11
Changed in apt (Ubuntu): status: New → Triaged

Loïc Minier on 2010-01-11
Changed in apt (Ubuntu): importance: Undecided → Low

Loïc Minier on 2010-01-11
Changed in apt: status: New → Confirmed

Loïc Minier wrote on 2010-01-11: #1
This is correct; the code will skip files which start with a dot, or if it contains a character which is not alpha numeric or "-" or "_"; it will also only consider regular files for some reason (ignoring e.g. symbolic links and subdirs).
This is supposed to be some run-parts-alike filter mechanism to avoid reading editor backup files, or files leftover by the dpkg conffile mechanism.
However, this should be documented in the man page.
See the sources.list man page and the section on .list files for some example filenames (ignore the requirement of files ending in .list).

**SilverWave** · January 18th, 2010

Changes for the versions:
3.6~hg20100108r33503+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic

This change is not coming from a source that supports changelogs.

**SilverWave** · January 18th, 2010

Mozilla Developer News » Blog Archive » Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate updated http://bit.ly/8L9yYn

An update to the Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate is now available. This second release candidate is available for free download and has been issued as an automatic update to all Firefox 3.6 Beta and Release Candidate users.

**SilverWave** · January 21st, 2010

This is the latest 14:20 PM UK

firefox 3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)
firefox-3.5 3.5.8~hg20100121r26729+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)
firefox-3.6 3.6~hg20100119r33526+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (2010-01-20)
firefox-3.7 3.7~a1~hg20100121r37362+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)

xulrunner-1.9.1 1.9.1.8~hg20100121r26729+nobinonly-0ubuntu2~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)
xulrunner-1.9.2 1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)
xulrunner-1.9.3 1.9.3~a1~hg20100121r37362+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)

I was only offered xulrunner as an update:

xulrunner-1.9.2 1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (8 hours ago)

Looking at apt-cache policy for firefox-3.6

But my machine says latest is: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic

So I seem to be missing out on:

firefox-3.6 3.6~hg20100119r33526+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic Fabien Tassin (2010-01-20)

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.6
firefox-3.6:
  Installed: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Candidate: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Version table:
 *** 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

If I check apt-cache policy firefox instead:

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Version table:
     3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages

OK that is a little clearer, The package firefox is now pointing to a 3.6 package not 3.5. So that must be a change relating to the change from a release candidate to the real thing.

And because I have Pinned the UMD PPA to priority 400, it loses against 3.5.
Great, this is the behaviour that I wanted, although I did not expect it to manifest in exactly this way

That is a didn't want the Official Ubuntu Karmic 3.5 to be replaced by a daily build.

So I suppose that my next update from the dailies will be firefox-3.6 *something* odd as I did not get
3.6~hg20100119r33526

hmm... could it be because Firefox is 3.6~hg20100120r33527?

I'll wait for the next build and see.

Of course once an official Firefox 3.6 is available via the Ubuntu repositories that will be interesting.

================================================== ==============
[UPDATE 2010/01/21 UK 9:41PM]

OK I disabled the Pinning against UDM and allowed the updates after a refresh...
What happened was that the Official Ubuntu 3.5 was upgraded to 3.6 which I did not want.
So via Synaptic Package Manager I uninstalled 3.5 and 3.6 then reinstalled the Official Ubuntu 3.5 after turning off the UDM PPA.
Then, after once again enabling the UDM PPA, I installed 3.6.

So now I am back to having the Official Ubuntu Firefox 3.5 and a separate install of the daily 3.6.

Looking at the UDM builds the firefox package is marked as umd2 and firefox-3.6 as umd1.

Code:

firefox       3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic        Fabien Tassin  (8 hours ago)
firefox-3.6      3.6~hg20100119r33526+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic     Fabien Tassin  (2010-01-20)

This is my latest "apt-cache policy" info, with no pinning:

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.6
firefox-3.6:
  Installed: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Candidate: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Version table:
 *** 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.5
firefox-3.5:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic
  Version table:
     3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic
  Version table:
     3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
:~$

With Pinning

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.6
firefox-3.6:
  Installed: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Candidate: 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Version table:
 *** 3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox-3.5
firefox-3.5:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Version table:
     3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages

:~$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
  Installed: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Candidate: 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
  Version table:
     3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
 *** 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.5.3+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages

So Firefox-3.6 build 33523 is seen as the latest even though 33526 looks to be available. hmm interesting.
xulrunner-1.9.2 has updated to the latest build 33527.

Code:

:~$ apt-cache policy xulrunner-1.9.2
xulrunner-1.9.2:
  Installed: 1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Candidate: 1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic
  Version table:
 *** 1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic 0
        400 http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

**SilverWave** · January 21st, 2010

Firefox:

Changes for the versions:
3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
3.6~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd2~karmic

This change is not coming from a source that supports changelogs.

Firefox 3.6 Final Available (Note: upgrades existing the Official 3.5 if you haven't used Pinning as per previous posts).

Its Official.

The Mozilla Blog "Mozilla Delivers Firefox 3.6 to Millions of Users" http://bit.ly/8PRhuF

**SilverWave** · January 21st, 2010

Just tested this on a standard Karmic install and it still works fine

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

:~$ sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
firefox-3.6-branding xulrunner-1.9.2
Suggested packages:
firefox-3.6-gnome-support
The following NEW packages will be installed
firefox-3.6 firefox-3.6-branding xulrunner-1.9.2
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B/11.3MB of archives.
After this operation, 34.0MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Selecting previously deselected package xulrunner-1.9.2.
(Reading database ... 195129 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking xulrunner-1.9.2 (from .../xulrunner-1.9.2_1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package firefox-3.6-branding.
Unpacking firefox-3.6-branding (from .../firefox-3.6-branding_3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package firefox-3.6.
Unpacking firefox-3.6 (from .../firefox-3.6_3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic_amd64.deb) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
Setting up xulrunner-1.9.2 (1.9.2~hg20100120r33527+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic) ...

Setting up firefox-3.6-branding (3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic) ...
Setting up firefox-3.6 (3.6~hg20100117r33523+nobinonly-0ubuntu1~umd1~karmic) ...
Skipping profile in /etc/apparmor.d/disable: usr.bin.firefox-3.6
Please restart all running instances of firefox-3.6, or you will experience problems.

Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Processing triggers for menu ...
:~$