Deploy Firefox Using SCCM | MSI Installer Enterprise Guide

In this article, I will show you how to deploy Firefox using SCCM. We will download the Firefox MSI installer, create an application in ConfigMgr and deploy it to computers.

Application deployment with Configuration Manager is easy and interesting. Configuration Manager supports several deployment types for applications. Normally, the application is either an executable file (.exe) or an MSI installer (.msi). Both these deployment types are supported by ConfigMgr.

There are multiple methods that you can use to deploy Firefox using SCCM to your enterprise computers. For example, you can use Microsoft Intune to deploy Firefox to endpoints. You can deploy Firefox using Configuration Manager, and you can even update Firefox to the newest version.

In this article, I will show you how to download Firefox MSI installer and deploy it with Configuration Manager. This guide should help anyone who wants to deploy Firefox in their organization. I will be covering both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox deployment using SCCM.

Firefox is a popular browser and some of its competitors include Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Firefox has built in Phishing and Malware Protection and many secure features that other browsers have. You can use the following guides to deploy other browsers using SCCM and Intune.

Recommended Article: How to Import Firefox Administrative Templates into Intune

There are two ways to deploy Firefox using SCCM; use the enterprise MSI installer provided by Mozilla or download the Firefox offline installer, which is an executable file. Between the two, I favor the Firefox MSI installer because it makes Configuration Manager deployment easier overall.

1. Download Firefox MSI Installer

Let’s download the Firefox MSI installer from the official website. Firefox Enterprise offers MSI installers per locale, per cpu architecture (32 and 64 bit) and per channel to help system administrators customize and deploy Firefox in their environments. To download the latest version of Firefox browser MSI installer, browse to the following link: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/enterprise/#download

Download Firefox MSI Installer
Download Firefox MSI Installer

On the Enterprise downloads page of Mozilla site, the Firefox browser is available for following OS: Windows 64-Bit, macOS and Windows 32-bit. If your setup has got computers running both 32-bit and 64-bit OS, you can download both the installers. If you have computers running 64-bit OS only, download the 64-bit MSI installer.

Let me tell you that the MSI installer that you download for Firefox is a full installer. I will be downloading both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox installers. After you download the firefox MSI installers, copy it over to Sources folder or a folder where you store all your applications for packaging purpose.

In addition to downloading the Firefox installers, you may download the application icon for Firefox. We will use this icon to associate with the Firefox application in SCCM. The icon will appear along with Firefox application in Software Center.

Also Read: How to Set up Software Center Notifications Logo in SCCM

Download Firefox Application Icon
Download Firefox Application Icon

2. Create Firefox Application in SCCM

To create or add new Firefox application in SCCM, follow the below steps.

  • Launch SCCM console.
  • Navigate to Software Library > Overview > Application Management > Applications.
  • Right click Applications and click Create Application.
Create Firefox Application in SCCM
Create Firefox Application in SCCM

In the General page, ensure the type of application type as Windows Installer (*.msi file). As an example, I will package 64-bit Firefox application. Specify the Firefox 64-bit MSI installer path and click Next.

Create Firefox Application in SCCM
Create Firefox Application in SCCM

The Configuration Manager reads the application information from Firefox Windows Installer file. We see the product code is populated from the Firefox msi setup file including the install and uninstall commands. Click Next.

Firefox Application Import Information
Firefox Application Import Information

In the General Information page, specify the details of the Firefox application. The setup command is automatically read from msi installer, so you don’t need to enter anything for installation program. Set the application installation behavior to Install for System. Click Next.

Specify Firefox Application Details
Specify Firefox Application Details

Review the Firefox application settings on Summary page and click Next.

Create Firefox Application in SCCM
Create Firefox Application in SCCM

On the Completion window, click Close. Using the create application wizard, we created a new application in SCCM which is Firefox.

Create Firefox Application in SCCM
Create Firefox Application in SCCM

You should find the new Firefox application listed under Applications in the SCCM console. Let’s assign an icon to the Firefox browser application. To specify the icon for Firefox application, right-click the application and select Properties. In the Firefox app properties window, click Software Center tab. At the bottom, click on Browse and select the Firefox icon and click Apply and OK.

Specify icon for Firefox Application
Specify icon for Firefox Application

3. Package both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox Application

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I will be packaging both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox application in SCCM. This is a required when you have mix of 32-bit and 64-bit OS running in your setup.

Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

To add 64-bit firefox application in SCCM, go to Software Library > Overview > Application Management > Applications. Right click Applications and click Create Application.

On the General page, click Manually specify the application information. Click Next.

Manually specify the application
Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

On the General info page, add application details and click Next.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap11
Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

On the Software Center page, click Browse and add Firefox icon. Click Next.

Add Firefox icon
Add Firefox icon

On the Deployment Types page, click Add button.

Add New Deployment Type
Add New Deployment Type

Next you will see Create Deployment Type wizard. On the General page, select Windows Installer (*.msi file) as Application type. Specify the path to 64-bit Firefox .msi installer and click Next.

The information will be read and imported from .msi installer.

Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM
Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

Click Next.

Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM
Add 64-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

It is important to define Requirements here because we want Firefox 64-bit to install only on 64-bit OS. Hence, on the Requirements page, click Add button.

On the Create Requirement box, select the following.

  • Category – Device
  • Condition – Operating System
  • Rule type – Value
  • Operator – One of
  • Expand Windows 10 and select All Windows 10 (64-bit).

Click OK and Next.

Operating System Requirement
Specify Operating System Requirement

On the Completion window, click Close.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap17

Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

Let’s add 32-bit Firefox application in SCCM now. The steps are very much similar to what we did for adding 64-bit firefox application. However, we will add a new deployment type and requirement type will change here. On the Deployment Types, click Add button.

Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM
Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

Specify the path to 32-bit Firefox MSI installer. Click Next.

Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM
Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

Click Next.

Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM
Add 32-bit Firefox Application in SCCM

On the Requirements page, click Add. On the Create Requirement box, select the following.

  • Category – Device
  • Condition – Operating System
  • Rule type – Value
  • Operator – One of
  • Expand Windows 10 and select All Windows 10 (32-bit).

Click OK and Next.

Specify OS requirement type
Specify OS requirement type

We have successfully added both 32-bit and 64-bit Firefox deployments. Click Next.

Firefox Deployment using SCCM
Firefox Deployment using SCCM

Finally, on the Completion page, click Close.

Firefox Deployment using SCCM
Firefox Deployment using SCCM

4. Deploy Firefox using SCCM

We will now deploy Firefox using SCCM to a device collection. You can also create a device collection and include a set of devices for testing the application deployment.

You can refer to the below guides to create device collections in SCCM based on operating systems.

To deploy the Firefox application in SCCM console, go to Software Library > Application Management > Application. Right-click Mozilla Firefox application and select Deploy.

Deploy Firefox using SCCM
Deploy Firefox using SCCM

On the General page, click Browse and select a device collection for which you want to deploy Firefox application. Click Next.

Specify Device Collection
Specify Device Collection

On the Content page, click Add button and select the distribution point servers. Click Next.

distribute the application to SCCM distribution points
Distribute the application to SCCM distribution points

On the Deployment Settings, select Action as Install and Purpose as Available. Refer to the following article to understand the differences between SCCM application available vs. required. Click Next.

Select Deployment Settings
Select Deployment Settings

Click Next.

Firefox Browser Deployment with SCCM
Firefox Browser Deployment with SCCM

On the User Experience page, click Next.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap29

Click Close.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap30

5. Test Firefox Application Installation on Client Computers

In this section, we will verify if the Firefox browser installs fine on the client computers. Log in to a client computer, and launch the Software center. Click on the Applications tab and select Firefox application.

On the Firefox application details page, click Install. The Firefox application is now downloaded from the local distribution point server for installation. You can review the Firefox application installation progress using AppEnforce.log. To know the location of this file and other files, refer to the SCCM Log files.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap31

Surprisingly, the Firefox application installs fine on the computer but shows as failed as per Software Center. This is a bug with Firefox installer, and it has been already reported over here. There is a workaround mentioned in that link.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap32

Matched exit code 0 to a Success entry in the exit codes table confirms that the Firefox application has been installed successfully. The uninstall command that we specified during application packaging should work fine.

Deploy Firefox MSI Installer Using SCCM Snap33

I hope Mozilla fixes this bug in their next Firefox release so that you see the right app installation status in SCCM software center.

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8 Comments

  1. Would changing the detection method to registry and using the registry key that is created in HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Mozilla{version number} be a valid option since that key shows the version number and installation information?

  2. Avatar photo Michael Brockington says:

    The Firefox app shows failed because although the MSI package installs the product, the MSI product code is not detected. Change the detection rule to look at the file location/version and it will register as installed. I believe this is a Firefox Mozilla installer issue.

  3. If you are adding firefox to a task sequence for a new image. Do you need to put it under Application or Packages? What is the difference between these 2 locations? Is Applications for Software Center and Packages for task sequences? I’m new to SCCM so I’m learning as I go. Any help would be appreciated it.

    1. You can package Firefox as application and add the same in your task sequence. Packages are easy to create but Applications provide more advantages than packages.

  4. hello. after installing by sccm, the firefox cannot access any link. show only blank page. please help

  5. You can fix the problem easily. Change the detection Methode to file based an look at the version number of Firefox.exe.

    Since firebox publish an MSI installer this error exists ;(

  6. Avatar photo Jeffrey Rhodes says:

    How would you go updating an already installed Firefox with a new version?

    1. Update works at the same way, you can create an automated upgrade application. You need the old application and than superseded it with the new version

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