Command Line Options

From MDC

You can use command line configuration options to bypass the Profile Manager and open a specific profile (if you have multiple profiles). You can also control how Mozilla application opens, which components open initially, and what the components do when they open. This page describes the commonly used options and how to use them.

Contents 1 How to use command options 1.1 Windows 1.2 Mac OS X 1.3 Linux 2 User Profile 2.1 -CreateProfile profile_name 2.2 -CreateProfile "profile_name profile_dir" 2.3 -ProfileManager or -P 2.4 -SelectProfile 2.5 -ProfileWizard 2.6 -P "profile_name" 2.7 -profile "/path/to/profile" 2.8 -no-remote 2.9 -migration 2.10 -installer 2.11 -resetPref preference 3 Browser 3.1 -browser 3.2 -url URL 3.3 -new-tab URL 3.4 -new-window URL 3.5 -search term 3.6 -preferences 3.7 -setDefaultBrowser 4 Mail/News 4.1 -mail 4.2 -mail mailto_URL 4.3 -news news_URL 4.4 -compose message_options 4.5 -addressbook 4.6 -options 4.7 -offline 4.8 -setDefaultMail 5 Calendar 5.1 -calendar 5.2 -subscribe URL or -url URL 5.3 -showdate date 6 Other Components 6.1 -editor URL or -edit URL 6.2 -jsconsole 6.3 -inspector URL 6.4 -venkman 6.5 -chat 7 Chrome 7.1 -chrome chrome_URL 7.2 -register chrome_URL 8 Add-on 8.1 -install-global-extension /path/to/extension 8.2 -install-global-theme /path/to/theme 8.3 -safe-mode 9 Locale 9.1 -UILocale locale 9.2 -contentLocale locale 10 Appearance 10.1 -height xxx 10.2 -width xxx 11 Startup 11.1 -turbo 11.2 -nosplash or -quiet 12 Remote Control 12.1 -remote remote_command 13 Miscellaneous 13.1 -console 13.2 -h or -help or -? 13.3 -v or -version 14 Other options need to be documented 15 Syntax Rules 16 References 17 Original Document Information

[edit] How to use command options

Here is an example of command line option to open the Firefox Profile Manager:

[edit] Windows

Select Run from Windows Start menu. Type:

firefox -P

[edit] Mac OS X

Go to Applications > Utilities. Open Terminal and type:

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS
./firefox-bin -P

[edit] Linux

Open Terminal and type:

cd Firefox installation directory
./firefox -P

[edit] User Profile

[edit] -CreateProfile profile_name

Create a new profile named profile_name, but do not start application. profile_name must not contain spaces ( ).

firefox -CreateProfile JoelUser

[edit] -CreateProfile "profile_name profile_dir"

Creates a new profile named profile_name in the profile_dir directory, but do not start application. Note profile_name and profile_dir are quoted together.

NOTE: profile_dir must not exist and you must not already have a profile called profile_name.

firefox -CreateProfile "JoelUser c:\internet\moz-profile"

[edit] -ProfileManager or -P

Start with Profile Manager. You must use an upper case P on Linux, as lower case invokes Purify mode (memory and leak detection). Other platforms accept both upper and lower case.

[edit] -SelectProfile

Start with the profile selection dialog. SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -ProfileWizard

Start with Profile Wizard. SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -P "profile_name"

Bypass Profile Manager and launch application with the profile named profile_name. Useful for dealing with multiple profiles. Note profile_name is case sensitive.

firefox -P "Joel User"

[edit] -profile "/path/to/profile"

Start with a profile with the given path. Firefox and Thunderbird only.

[edit] -no-remote

Allows multiple copies of application to be open at a time. Firefox and Thunderbird only.

firefox -no-remote -P "Another Profile"

[edit] -migration

Start with Import Wizard. Firefox and Thunderbird only.

[edit] -installer

Start with the Netscape 4.x migration window. SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -resetPref preference

Reset the specified preference (comma-separated) to the default value. SeaMonkey only.

seamonkey -resetPref browser.startup.homepage

[edit] Browser

[edit] -browser

Start with the browser component. Firefox and SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -url URL

Open URL with browser. -url can be omitted. Firefox and SeaMonkey only.

firefox www.mozilla.com

[edit] -new-tab URL

Open URL in a new tab. Firefox only.

[edit] -new-window URL

Open URL in a new tab or window, depend on the browser option. Firefox only.

[edit] -search term

Search term with your default search engine. Firefox only.

[edit] -preferences

Open Options/Preferences window. Firefox only.

[edit] -setDefaultBrowser

Set the application as the default browser. Firefox only.

[edit] Mail/News

[edit] -mail

Start with the mail client. Thunderbird and SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -mail mailto_URL

Start the Compose Message window for the given mailto_URL Thunderbird and SeaMonkey only.

thunderbird -mail mailto:me@isp.net?subject=hi

[edit] -news news_URL

Start with the news client. If news_URL (optional) is given, open the specified newsgroup. Thunderbird and SeaMonkey only.

thunderbird -news news://server/group

[edit] -compose message_options

Start with mail composer. See syntax rules. Thunderbird and SeaMonkey only.

thunderbird -compose "to=foo@nowhere.net"

[edit] -addressbook

Start with address book. Thunderbird and SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -options

Open Options/Preferences window. Thunderbird only.

[edit] -offline

Start with the offline mode. Thunderbird only.

[edit] -setDefaultMail

Set the application as the default email client. Thunderbird only.

[edit] Calendar

[edit] -calendar

Start with the calendar client. Sunbird only.

[edit] -subscribe URL or -url URL

Subscribe to the given URL. Sunbird only.

[edit] -showdate date

Show your schedule of the given date. Sunbird only.

sunbird -showdate 08/04/2008

[edit] Other Components

[edit] -editor URL or -edit URL

Start with editor (Composer) for the given URL (where URL is optional). SeaMonkey only.

seamonkey -edit www.mozilla.org

[edit] -jsconsole

Start application with the Error Console.

[edit] -inspector URL

Start with the DOM Inspector, if installed, and inspect the given URL (where URL is optional).

[edit] -venkman

Start with the JavaScript debugger, Venkman, if installed.

[edit] -chat

Start with the IRC client, ChatZilla, if installed.

[edit] Chrome

[edit] -chrome chrome_URL

Load the specified chrome.

firefox -chrome chrome://inspector/content

[edit] -register chrome_URL

Register the specified chrome, but do not start application.

[edit] Add-on

[edit] -install-global-extension /path/to/extension

Installs the extension into the application directory. The parameter is the path to the extension. You must have administrative privileges. Firefox and Thunderbird only.

[edit] -install-global-theme /path/to/theme

Same as above, but for themes. You must have administrative privileges. Firefox and Thunderbird only.

[edit] -safe-mode

Launches the application with all extensions disabled, for that launch only. (Extensions are not loaded, but are not permanently disabled in the Extension Manager data source). Firefox and Thunderbird only.

[edit] Locale

[edit] -UILocale locale

Start with locale resources as UI Locale.

firefox -UILocale en-US

[edit] -contentLocale locale

Start with locale resources as content Locale.

firefox -contentLocale en-US

[edit] Appearance

[edit] -height xxx

Set window height.

firefox -height 600

[edit] -width xxx

Set window width.

firefox -width 800

[edit] Startup

[edit] -turbo

Launch application in Quick Launch mode. SeaMonkey only.

[edit] -nosplash or -quiet

Suppresses display of the splash screen. To show splash screen, use the -splash command. Note the splash screen is disabled by default on some systems. SeaMonkey only.

[edit] Remote Control

[edit] -remote remote_command

Execute remote_command in an already running application process (see remote control). Unix/Linux only.

firefox -remote "openURL(www.mozilla.org, new-tab)"

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] -console

Start application with a debugging console.

[edit] -h or -help or -?

Print the list of all available command line options. Note that on Windows this only work with debug builds (bug 355889). This option is available only in command console.

[edit] -v or -version

Print application version. Note that on Windows this only work with debug builds (bug 355889).

[edit] Other options need to be documented

• -print-xpcom-dir
• -print-xpcom-dirlist
• -silent
• -osint
• -requestPending
• -kill
• -killAll
• -f
• -ftimeout
• -fwait
• -unsetDefaultMail
• -override
• -foreground
• GTK options
• X11 options

[edit] Syntax Rules

• Command parameters containing spaces must be enclosed in quotes; for example, "Joel User".
• Command actions are not case sensitive.
• Command parameters except profile names are not case sensitive.
• Blank spaces ( ) separate commands and parameters.
• Each message option follows the syntax field=value, for example:
  • to=foo@nowhere.net
  • subject=cool page
  • attachment=www.mozilla.org
  • attachment='file:///c:/test.txt'
  • body=check this page
• Multiple message options are separated by comma (,), for example: "to=foo@nowhere.net,subject=cool page" . Comma separators must not follow or precede spaces ( ). To assign multiple values to a field, enclose the values in single quotes ('), for example: "to='foo@nowhere.net,foo@foo.de',subject=cool page" .

[edit] References

• Chrome: Command Line
• Test Documentation for Command-line Features (mozilla.org)
• Command line arguments (Mozilla Support)
• toolkit/xre/nsAppRunner.cpp
• browser/components/nsBrowserContentHandler.js
• mail/components/nsMailDefaultHandler.js