Utilizing this .admx you will be able to manage every single aspect of Firefox with GPO.
You can find an adm file ready to be used for your GPO at the following link
At the same time, on Firefox you need to install this Addon Download:
https://addons.mozilla.org/it/firefox/addon/gpo-for-firefox/
This add-on allows to manage preferences from windows registry. You can then use Group Policies from Microsoft Active Directories to manage Firefox preferences.
To use this add-on you will need an additional adm file to define the registry keys that GPO for firefox add-on will read.
Currently the add-on will read its preferences from HKLM or HKCU \Software\Policies\Mozilla\LockPref for locked settings and HKLM or HKCU \Software\Policies\Mozilla\defaultPref for normal users preferences.
You can find an adm file ready to be used for your GPO at the following link
How this extension works: When Firefox is launched the main function reads registry and writes preferences. There is no registry observer to update preferences while Firefox is running. adm file is an administrative template that is used to build Group Policy Objects in Microsoft Active Directory. Loading this adm file allows administrator to centrally define registry setting and deploy them to groups of users and computers. Active Directory will then write the registry according to the location defined in the .adm file.
So this is a 2 step process. Use the .adm file to build a GPO that will write the registry settings for Firefox on end user computer, then use the extension to read these settings and write Firefox preferences.
The extension also contains a function that will disable the "Check for Update" menu item from Help Menu if "app.update.enabled" preference is set to false so you can keep all your computers to the same version of Firefox and make sure your environment is stable.
Since version 0.9.4 we removed the ability to hide this GPOFirefox from the extension list due to the Mozilla extension policy. Try to install this add-on at a location where the user doesn't have the rights to uninstall it (programs folder on Windows 7). Maybe we can bring this feature back in a future version, but for now we had to remove it to get a successful review by Mozilla.
The Right Thing for Windows Admins..
Perhaps some important notice:
The Plugin Itself is called gpofirefox@extensions.org.xpi.. When you want to distribute it to users you have to copy it to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\browser\
Than the Plugin is loaded for the user but not aktivated. To aktivate it automatically you have to set lockPref("extensions.autoDisableScopes", 0); in mozilla.cfg To tell the Browser to load the cfg you have to create a local-settings.js file with these values:
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0);
pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
For more information to this look at this good documentation:
http://www.mockbox.net/configmgr-sccm/174-install-and-configure-firefox-silently
After that you can administer firefox via reg keys.. aka group policy template.. But have a look, the template has some small minor bugs..
Here is an alternative interesting article:
http://it.websense.com/content/support/library/web/hosted/getting_started/apply_policy.aspx
