Installing a Firefox Sync Server

Real-world use case

You want to sync your Firefox data without relying on Mozilla's servers: here's how to install your own Firefox Sync server.

Mozilla offers a performant, free "Sync" service on their own servers, but Mozilla also gives us the option to create our own personal sync server.
In this article, the personal Firefox Sync server is installed on Debian 7.

Introduction to Firefox Sync

A personal Firefox Sync server lets you back up your entire Firefox browser configuration via synchronizing the following items:

• Bookmarks
• Browsing history
• Preferences
• Passwords
• Pre-filled forms
• Recently opened tabs
• Add-ons

Your entire configuration will now stay with you, and your data is in your hands.
Handy if you have several devices (smartphone, laptop, desktop PC)!

Installing Firefox Sync

Downloading the prerequisites:

apt-get install python-dev mercurial sqlite3 python-virtualenv libssl-dev

Downloading the personal Firefox Sync server:

cd /var/www/
clone https://hg.mozilla.org/services/server-full
cd server-full
make build

Running a test to make sure everything works:

make test

Configuring Firefox Sync:

Head to the configuration file:

nano etc/sync.conf

The lines to change are:

[nodes]
fallback_node = http://your_dns_name:5000/

storage

sqluri = sqlite:////path/to/your_database/file_name.db

auth

sqluri = sqlite:////path/to/your_database/file_name.db

By default, the Firefox Sync server uses SQLite, but if you want to use MySQL, here's the procedure:

Installing MySQL:

apt-get insall mysql-server

Adding a database in MySQL:

# mysql -u root -p
mysql> create database ffsync;
mysql> grant all on sync.* to sync identified by 'my_password';
mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> exit;

Installing "mysql-python" in the server-full folder:

bin/easy_install Mysql-Python

Changing the configuration file for MySQL:

[nodes]
fallback_node = http://your_dns_name:5000/

storage

sqluri = mysql:////ffsync:my_password@localhost/ffsync

auth

sqluri = mysql:////ffsync:my_password@localhost/ffsync

End of the configuration file setup with MySQL.

In your configuration file, the following line allows user creation:
(As soon as your users are added, I recommend quickly setting it to "false".)

 [auth]
allow_new_users=true

Sending an email for Firefox Sync password recovery:

 [smtp]
host = localhost
port = 25
sender = [email protected]

Starting the Firefox Sync server:

bin/paster serve development.ini
==> Starting server in PID 29951.
==> serving on 0.0.0.0:5000 view at http://127.0.0.1:5000

The server is working! However, the task needs to be started manually.
Let's see how to automate the task with a system startup script.

Creating a group and a user to launch the script:

Creating a group to launch Firefox Sync:

groupadd sync

Creating a user in the "sync" group to launch Firefox Sync:

useradd -d /var/www/server-full -g sync -r -s /bin/bash firefox

Creating a log folder for firefox:

mkdir /var/log/firefox

Granting permissions on the "server-full" and "/var/log/firefox" folders:

chown -R firefox:sync /var/www/server-full && chown -R firefox:sync /var/log/firefox

Creating the Firefox Sync startup script:

nano /etc/init.d/ffsync.sh

Write the following in the file:

 #!/bin/bash
 
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          Mozilla Sync HomeServer
# Required-Start:    $syslog $network
# Required-Stop:     $syslog $network
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Mozilla Sync HomeServer initscript
# Description:       Mozilla Sync HomeServer
### END INIT INFO
MESSAGELOG=/var/log/firefox/sync-messages.log
PID=`pidof -x -o %PPID paster`
case "$1" in
  start)
    echo "Starting Mozilla Sync HomeServer"
    [ ! -d $MESSAGEDIR ] && mkdir -p $MESSAGEDIR
    su firefox -c "cd /var/www/server-full/ && bin/paster serve development.ini &>$MESSAGELOG &"
    ;;
  stop)
    echo "Stopping Mozilla Sync HomeServer"
    kill $PID &>/dev/null
    ;;
  restart)
    $0 stop
    $0 start
    ;;
  *)
    echo "usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}"
esac
exit 0

Making the script executable:

chmod +x ffsync.sh

Adding the script to system startup:

insserv ffsync.sh

To run a test, nothing beats a system reboot!
To make sure the startup is working:

netstat -tan
=> tcp  0  0 0.0.0.0:5000  0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN

Configuring the Firefox Sync client

On Windows, press the "ALT" key and, in the "tools" menu bar, click "set up sync":

Select "create a new account" (example):

That's it! Don't forget to disable user registration in the configuration file.
The logs will tell you about any problems that come up (/var/log/firefox/).
Enjoy your Firefox Sync server.

Conclusion

I've detailed here setting up a personal Firefox Sync server on Debian 7, with the choice between an SQLite or MySQL database, as well as creating a script to automatically start the service. Self-hosting your browser sync lets you keep control over your bookmarks, passwords, and history rather than depending on Mozilla's servers. Once the account is created on the client side, I recommend quickly disabling open registration for new users to secure the server.