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I have installed a stable release of firefox. Now I want to automatically update it to current beta release.
When I click on Check for update available under 'Help' menu, it always updates to current stable release and not the beta release.
Can we somehow tweak firefox stable release, such that it updates to current beta release?
Go to about:config and search for app.update.channel. Change this from release to beta.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Software_Update#Update_channels_-_Advanced has the answer:
Note that you cannot change channel using about:config. [...] Alternatively, you can edit the channel-prefs.js file with a text editor.
$ sudo vi /Applications/.../defaults/pref/channel-prefs.js
$ tail -1 /Applications/.../defaults/pref/channel-prefs.js
pref("app.update.channel", "beta");
That did the trick for me.
I got this to work by editing the channel-prefs.js file from the Firefox installation directory. For me the path was
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\defaults\pref\channel-prefs.js
Change
pref("app.update.channel", "release");
to
pref("app.update.channel", "beta");
If the tips above didn't work, all you need to do is manually download a Firefox beta from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html and install it. You won't lose your profile, if you have betas and stables running side by side they will use the exact same profiles (just not simultaneously). This beta version will continue updating until it gets to a stable version, and if it stays on stable versions, just download the latest beta there again. :)
(If you have the beta installed next to the stable and you don't want the stable, you can safely delete the stable version, just make sure you're not deleting the same profile data the beta would use.)
Switching between channels isn't supported anymore according to https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/837315#answer-203401
The right way now is simply to download the channel you want from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/channel/ (or from https://nightly.mozilla.org/ for nighties).
Nightly and aurora builds install into their own folder, and coexist well with a beta or release build.
Beta and release builds default to the same location, so you'll need to choose a custom install for beta versions and change the install location if you want both available at the same time - otherwise you can switch between the two by installing one over the top of the other.
See How can I install both Firefox 3.6 and Firefox 4 beta? if you need to run both versions at the same time, otherwise, if you already have a Firefox window open, from any channel, trying to run a new firefox process of any version acts as a remote for the existing one instead - ie, it will open a new window attached to the existing Firefox.
As always, back up your profile often if you run prerelease versions, and consider using a dedicated profile for testing. See https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles for more information about Firefox profiles, including how to perform backups, manage profiles, etc.
