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Firefox Sync Server

Posted: Mon, Jul 11, 2011 - 11:22pm
Type
Status
Concerning

Today I set up a Firefox Sync server.

I use Firefox on my computer at work and at home. I wish that there was a way to synchronize my browsing history and tabs and whatnot.

Well, it turns out there is. If you go to the Tools menu, you can set up sync.

But I was like "Dude there's no way I'm going to do that. I don't want my private data living up on some server for anyone to see."

Well, it turns out that:
1) The data is encrypted before it's sent to the server, but more importantly:
2) You can set up your own server!

Here's their instructions on setting up a sync server. Note that you also have to set up a registration server.

They wrote them as separate parts, and I'm sure that they have it nicely partitioned into separate databases and stuff, but I just created one database for the sync server, and then added the one extra table from the registration server instructions.

They act like it's very hard to set up the sync server, and they "strongly recommend" setting up the minimal sync server. I respectfully disagree.

1. Their instructions for the minimal server will leave you with a configuration in which apache can write to a directory that code is executed out of.
2. The regular server is quite easy to set up if you have any familiarity with webapps.
3. The minimal server doesn't do user registrations. Instead, it gives you a script to add users. However, I couldn't figure out how to instruct firefox to log in when I'd created my account with this script. I needed a "sync key" and I don't believe I was given one. By contrast, with the regular server, I created my account through the browser's interface and it totally gave me a sync key.

So, now I've got my very own sync server. I can sync my firefox with peace of mind.

And if you want to use my server, here's what to do:
In Firefox 4 or 5, go to Tools > Sync setup. Say you want to create a new account. Say you want to use a custom server. That server is: https://weave.pirateship.org/

Fill in your username and password and you are golden. Don't worry, I will not be able to read your information.

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