You can use the command line as follows with special arguments to start Mozilla firefox browser.
Firefox Start Browser From The Command Line
You can find out full path to firefox with the following type command:
type -a firefox
To open the browser, enter:
$ firefox
OR
$ /usr/bin/firefox
Firefox Open URL
To open URL in a new tab, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox --new-window http://www.cyberciti.biz/
To open URL in a new window, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox www.cyberciti.biz
Unix / Linux run Firefox from the command line
Linux Firefox open url in a new tab
You must run:
firefox --new-tab url
/usr/bin/firefox --new-tab https://www.nixcraft.com/
Firefox Search option
You can search words (term) with your default search engine, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox --search "term"
$ /usr/bin/firefox -search "linux add user to group"
Open Firefox Options / Preferences
To open Firefox options/preferences window, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox --preferences
Set Firefox As Default Browser
To set the Firefox app as the default browser, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox --setDefaultBrowser
How Do I Run Firefox Remotely On Server?
SSH is frequently used to tunnel insecure traffic over the Internet in a secure way. You can login to remote server using the ssh client:
$ ssh -X user@server42.nixcraft.com
To run firefox, enter:
$ /usr/bin/firefox &
$ /usr/bin/firefox www.cyberciti.biz
How to run Firefox from a remote server
You need terminal and Gnome/KDE GUI to work with the local desktop. However, if you need to run Firefox on a remote Linux server and get output on a local desktop, try the ssh command:
ssh -X vivek@server1.cyberciti.biz firefox www.cyberciti.biz
One can specify X display to use:
firefox --display=DISPLAY url
firefox --display=0.0 url
DISPLAY=some-desktop:0.0 firefox url
ssh -X vivek@server1.cyberciti.biz "firefox --display=0.0 www.cyberciti.biz"
How to find out all other Firefox command line options?
Run the following command and you can filter outputs using the grep command/egrep command:
firefox --help
firefox --help | grep search
Usage: firefox [ options ... ] [URL] where options include: X11 options --display=DISPLAY X display to use --sync Make X calls synchronous --g-fatal-warnings Make all warnings fatal Firefox options -h or --help Print this message. -v or --version Print Firefox version. -P <profile> Start with <profile>. --profile <path> Start with profile at <path>. --migration Start with migration wizard. --ProfileManager Start with ProfileManager. --no-remote Do not accept or send remote commands; implies --new-instance. --new-instance Open new instance, not a new window in running instance. --UILocale <locale> Start with <locale> resources as UI Locale. --safe-mode Disables extensions and themes for this session. -MOZ_LOG=<modules> Treated as MOZ_LOG=<modules> environment variable, overrides it. -MOZ_LOG_FILE=<file> Treated as MOZ_LOG_FILE=<file> environment variable, overrides it. If MOZ_LOG_FILE is not specified as an argument or as an environment variable, logging will be written to stdout. --headless Run without a GUI. --save-recordings Save recordings for all content processes to a directory. --browser Open a browser window. --new-window <url> Open <url> in a new window. --new-tab <url> Open <url> in a new tab. --private-window <url> Open <url> in a new private window. --preferences Open Preferences dialog. --screenshot [<path>] Save screenshot to <path> or in working directory. --window-size width[,height] Width and optionally height of screenshot. --search <term> Search <term> with your default search engine. --setDefaultBrowser Set this app as the default browser. --jsconsole Open the Browser Console. --jsdebugger Open the Browser Toolbox. --wait-for-jsdebugger Spin event loop until JS debugger connects. Enables debugging (some) application startup code paths. Only has an effect when `--jsdebugger` is also supplied. --devtools Open DevTools on initial load. --start-debugger-server [ws:][ <port> | <path> ] Start the debugger server on a TCP port or Unix domain socket path. Defaults to TCP port 6000. Use WebSocket protocol if ws: prefix is specified. --recording <file> Record drawing for a given URL. --recording-output <file> Specify destination file for a drawing recording. -g or --debug Start within debugger -d or --debugger Specify debugger to start with (eg, gdb or valgrind) -a or --debugger-args Specify arguments for debugger
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hello,
the shell comand “firefox” does only work if you start in from a e.g. gnome terminal, and gnome is running on this display.
what is the command if you want start friefox e.g on tty1 , where no desktop is running?
linux says ” error : no display specified”
How to specify the display ?
or does it only work when starting from tty7 (where the desktop is running) in this case i’m wondering about the advantage starting from a shell. because you could also click on the firefox button in front panel.
thx for advice
You need 2 command lines. (you do not need to be logged as root)
But first you need :
To get the X server installed = xserver-xorg
To get a graphical interface installed : Gnome or KDE or LXDE or XFCE or whatever you want…
To be located and log on in a TTY console
The first command line is to set the variable “DISPLAY” to “:0” by the following :
username@localhost:~$ export DISPLAY=:0
To verify your work has been done efficiently you may enter, to see the value of your variable :
username@localhost:~$ echo $DISPLAY
You should get :
:0
The second one by entering the program name you need to run, iceweasel for exemple :
username@localhost:~$ /usr/lib/iceweasel/firefox.bin http://www.debian.org &
NOTA : The sign “&” at the end gives you back the command line available.
…and it will start firefox on the web page http://www.debian.org in you graphical interface…
Have fun and thank you !!! So much !!!
My previous topic gives you how to start a graphical software in tty7 from a command line in tty console like tty1 to tty6.
It’s helpfull to run a software remotly.
You need to get you desktop environment started.
By I should know, it’s not possible to start a graphical software from the console without your desktop environment started.
If you want to navigate on the Internet by a command line software in text mode from the console, you should use “Lynx”
open -a /Applications/Firefox.app http://example.com is what I use from the Mac terminal
HI Vivek,
I removed firefor old version using yum command. And downloaded firefox 18 .tar.bz2.
Unzipped the tar file in /home/user/firefox.
[root@localhost firefox]# /usr/bin/firefox
bash: /usr/bin/firefox: No such file or directory
Is that any settings i need to do?
you need to install the package and then see the following is present
/usr/bin/firefox
Hey I was wondering if I could close a tab in terminal? i wanted to run a bash script that opened a particular window and close it. for example i have
#!/bin/bash
firefox http://www.google.com –new-window
now i’m stuck with an open window i want to close. Is there a way to do it in terminal?
Open new tab:
$ /usr/bin/firefox -new-window https://www.cyberciti.biz/
change new-window for new-tab
How to keep alive firefox from ssh command. actually i want to keep alive firefox & open tabs after vnc viewer off. i m using skype form vps vnc viewer & skype via http://www.plus.im. so i want to know how to keep alive that firefox pages.
thanks.
solve this problem with skype/vnc/ubuntu.
Dear Editor,
under Firefox Open URL, -new-window is used to open a new window and will not open a tab. Simple typo anyone could make. :)
#!/bin/bash
if ps aux | grep “midori” | grep -v grep ; then env DISPLAY=:0 midori ; fi
do nothing :(
How can i start firefox using exec command in php? i am using ubuntu.
if you want that the browser stay open when closing the executing terminal session you have to use the nohup command.
In my case:
worked fine.
how to open firefox in private window ..in linux pls help
could you help me figure out what settings might not be in place in my machine.
I run
export DISPLAY=:0.0
followed by firefox and I get error message saying,
Error: cannot open display: :0.0
How do I troubleshoot what might not be right in my machine?
Are you running this over ssh based session?
Yes, I am accessing server via PUTTY and trying those commands via linux terminal.
Thanks.
You need to enable X forwarding while using putty. See https://wiki.utdallas.edu/wiki/display/FAQ/X11+Forwarding+using+Xming+and+PuTTY
It is working fine now. Thanks Vivek! I really appreciate your help. Do you have any idea if we use similar approach for opening browsers to implement selenium automation in linux box? Just curious if you know. :)
How do i contaol firefox from cli
this is what I get
Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 keyUnable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
Error: cannot open display: :0
Are you running command from remote host? Try setting DISPLAY variable:
export DISPLAY=:0OR
export DISPLAY=:1
Is there a way to pull down a webpage via the firefox command line options and save to a file? I’d like to mimic all the environment of a browser, but still run it in headless mode so I don’t have to be in display mode. Also, yes I understand wget/curl/w3m/etc options like this, but wanted to see if the firefox command line option also exists.
Thanks,