Install.rdf
This page is part of the extension development documentation project.
Ask your questions in MozillaZine Forums. Also try browsing example code.
Note: development documentation is in process of being moved to Mozilla Development Center (MDC).
Firefox 0.9, Thunderbird 0.7, Nvu 0.? and all subsequent versions of these products use the Extension Manager ("EM"). In order to have your extension supported by it you have to package your extensions as described in "Packaging Firefox/Thunderbird Extensions" document at mozilla.org. This includes providing a valid install.rdf file.
Creating install.rdf using tools
You can use any of these tools:
- Extension developer's extension has Extension Builder functionality.
- Ted Mielczarek's webapp for install.rdf creation.
- Extenzilla - Windows-only install.rdf and XPI generator by Will Ryan (disscussion thread at MZ forums).
- Extensionmaker - A Tcl Starkit for windows, that generates an install.rdf. You need a tclkit runtime for Windows to start it (see [1]). It's currently beta.
Template
If you choose to manually create an "install.rdf" file, you can use the template below as a guide.
<?xml version="1.0"?> <RDF xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:em="http://www.mozilla.org/2004/em-rdf#"> <Description about="urn:mozilla:install-manifest"> <em:id>{XXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}</em:id> <em:name>Sample Extension</em:name> <em:version>1.0</em:version> <em:description>A sample extension with advanced features</em:description> <em:creator>Your Name Here</em:creator> <!-- optional items --> <em:contributor>A person who helped you</em:contributor> <em:contributor>Another one</em:contributor> <em:homepageURL>http://sampleextension.mozdev.org/</em:homepageURL> <em:optionsURL>chrome://sampleext/content/settings.xul</em:optionsURL> <em:aboutURL>chrome://sampleext/content/about.xul</em:aboutURL> <em:iconURL>chrome://sampleext/skin/mainicon.png</em:iconURL> <em:updateURL>http://sampleextension.mozdev.org/update.rdf</em:updateURL> <em:targetApplication> <!-- Firefox --> <Description> <em:id>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</em:id> <em:minVersion>0.9</em:minVersion> <em:maxVersion>1.0</em:maxVersion> </Description> </em:targetApplication> <!-- This is not needed for Firefox 1.1 and later. Only include this if you want to be compatible with older versions --> <em:file> <Description about="urn:mozilla:extension:file:sampleext.jar"> <em:package>content/</em:package> <!-- optional items --> <em:skin>skin/classic/</em:skin> <em:locale>locale/en-US/</em:locale> <em:locale>locale/ru-RU/</em:locale> </Description> </em:file> </Description> </RDF>
Target applications' GUIDs
Firefox | {ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384} |
Thunderbird | {3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6} |
Nvu | {136c295a-4a5a-41cf-bf24-5cee526720d5} |
Mozilla Suite | {86c18b42-e466-45a9-ae7a-9b95ba6f5640} |
"Seamonkey" | {92650c4d-4b8e-4d2a-b7eb-24ecf4f6b63a} |
Notes
- Mozilla Suite ignores install.rdf, but you ought to include corresponding targetApplication item in install.rdf if you support The Suite and are going to submit your extension to update.mozilla.org, see this thread. You still must include an install.js file if you support Mozilla Suite.
- A note on "Seamonkey".
Generating extension's GUID
You’ll have to generate a GUID for each extension you create and put it inside the <em:id> tag. You can either download MS guidgen (a GUID generator for Windows NT-based systems), use uuidgen (for *nix), use a web-based generator such as this and this, or open your IRC client, go to irc://irc.mozilla.org/#botbot and say 'botbot uuid'.
As Firefox/Thunderbird install each extension in a folder with name taken from <em:id> in install.rdf, some people (e.g. clav) are using human-readable strings as ID for their extensions. However, extensions with such IDs are reported to be rejected by update.mozilla.org, so you need to use a 'real' GUID for your extension if you're going to submit it to u.m.o. (discussion thread)
Extension versioning
As stated in the official documentation on mozilla.org, extension versions must be of form major.minor.release.build[+]. Old-style versions like 0.5pre are now invalid.