Symlinking librewolf.overrides.cfg does not work #2840

jdw commented 2026年01月30日 16:48:20 +01:00

LibreWolf Version

147.0.2-1

Operating System

Fedora / RHEL

Installation Source / Package

Flatpak

Description

I am symlinking (using stow) my librewolf.overrides.cfg configuration file to the place where librewolf should be looking for it, but it does not have any effect. Below you can see its precies location as well as its contents.

If instead I copy the file to the exact same location, everything works fine. It would be great if I could symlink the configuration so I can have all my configuration files in one place.

Logs / Screenshots

Output of ls -al ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/:

total 16
drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 202 Jan 30 16:23 .
drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 74 Jan 29 18:09 ..
drwx------. 1 jdw jdw 20 Jan 29 18:09 ckzpdpp1.default
-rw-r--r--. 1 jdw jdw 62 Jan 29 18:09 installs.ini
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 jdw jdw 118 Jan 30 16:23 librewolf.overrides.cfg -> ../../../../Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg
drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 106 Jan 29 18:09 Profile Groups
-rw-r--r--. 1 jdw jdw 259 Jan 29 18:09 profiles.ini
drwx------. 1 jdw jdw 1702 Jan 30 16:29 vv47xb5z.default-default

Output of cat ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg

pref("places.history.enabled", false);
pref("browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.topsites", false);
pref("browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.section.highlights", false);
pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.openpage", false);
pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.topsites", false);
pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.history", false);
pref("browser.tabs.warnOnClose", false);
pref("browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab", false);
pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting.letterboxing", false);
pref("pdfjs.previousHandler.alwaysAskBeforeHandling", true);
pref("signon.rememberSignons", false);
pref("full-screen-api.warning.timeout", 0);
pref("browser.translations.automaticallyPopup", false);

### LibreWolf Version 147.0.2-1 ### Operating System Fedora / RHEL ### Installation Source / Package Flatpak ### Description I am symlinking (using [`stow`](https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/manual/stow.html)) my `librewolf.overrides.cfg` configuration file to the place where librewolf should be looking for it, but it does not have any effect. Below you can see its precies location as well as its contents. If instead I copy the file to the exact same location, everything works fine. It would be great if I could symlink the configuration so I can have all my configuration files in one place. ### Logs / Screenshots Output of `ls -al ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/`: ``` total 16 drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 202 Jan 30 16:23 . drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 74 Jan 29 18:09 .. drwx------. 1 jdw jdw 20 Jan 29 18:09 ckzpdpp1.default -rw-r--r--. 1 jdw jdw 62 Jan 29 18:09 installs.ini lrwxrwxrwx. 1 jdw jdw 118 Jan 30 16:23 librewolf.overrides.cfg -> ../../../../Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg drwxr-xr-x. 1 jdw jdw 106 Jan 29 18:09 Profile Groups -rw-r--r--. 1 jdw jdw 259 Jan 29 18:09 profiles.ini drwx------. 1 jdw jdw 1702 Jan 30 16:29 vv47xb5z.default-default ``` Output of `cat ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg` ``` pref("places.history.enabled", false); pref("browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.topsites", false); pref("browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.section.highlights", false); pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.openpage", false); pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.topsites", false); pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.history", false); pref("browser.tabs.warnOnClose", false); pref("browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab", false); pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting.letterboxing", false); pref("pdfjs.previousHandler.alwaysAskBeforeHandling", true); pref("signon.rememberSignons", false); pref("full-screen-api.warning.timeout", 0); pref("browser.translations.automaticallyPopup", false); ```

any1here commented 2026年01月30日 17:13:29 +01:00

Maybe because the flatpak does not have permissions to follow the symlink?

Maybe because the flatpak does not have permissions to follow the symlink?

jdw commented 2026年01月30日 17:28:51 +01:00

That is a good point. I now granted access to that location using

flatpak --user override --filesystem=~/Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf io.gitlab.librewolf-community

If I now enter the flatpak container using

flatpak run --command=bash io.gitlab.librewolf-community 

and I run

cat ~/Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg 

inside the flatpak container, it correctly outputs the contents of the file, but the configuration still has no effect.

That is a good point. I now granted access to that location using ``` flatpak --user override --filesystem=~/Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf io.gitlab.librewolf-community ``` If I now enter the flatpak container using ``` flatpak run --command=bash io.gitlab.librewolf-community ``` and I run ``` cat ~/Configuration/dotfiles/librewolf/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg ``` inside the flatpak container, it correctly outputs the contents of the file, but the configuration still has no effect.

any1here commented 2026年01月30日 17:32:02 +01:00

you could try manually setting autoadmin.global_config_url in about:config to the path you want to use

you could try manually setting `autoadmin.global_config_url` in `about:config` to the path you want to use

jdw commented 2026年03月06日 19:56:03 +01:00

Sorry for not reporting back in such a long time. I now set autoadmin.global_config_url to the absolute path of the file in my dotfiles folder, so I can manage my librewolf config together with my other configuration. Setting it to the symlinked file inside ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community did not work.

What's also curious to me is that the default value of autoadmin.global_config_url was file:///var/home/<user>/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg, i.e. the absolute path to where the file would be for a non-flatpak install but that a non-symlink file at ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg is read correctly nonetheless.

Anyway, thanks for your help!

Sorry for not reporting back in such a long time. I now set `autoadmin.global_config_url` to the absolute path of the file in my dotfiles folder, so I can manage my librewolf config together with my other configuration. Setting it to the symlinked file inside `~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community` did not work. What's also curious to me is that the default value of `autoadmin.global_config_url` was `file:///var/home/<user>/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg`, i.e. the absolute path to where the file would be for a non-flatpak install but that a non-symlink file at `~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/librewolf.overrides.cfg` is read correctly nonetheless. Anyway, thanks for your help!