XULRunner 1.9 Release Notes

XULRunner 1.9 is a stable release of the Mozilla XULRunner application framework. It replaces version 1.8.0.4; all users should upgrade. It provides facilities for launching standalone XUL applications and embedding APIs which can be used to render web pages within native and Java applications. XULRunner 1.9 is built from the same source code snapshot as Firefox 3.

Current Version

The current version of XULRunner is 1.9.0.17, matching Firefox 3.0.17

Detailed release notes can be found here.

System Requirements

Before installing, make sure your computer meets the system requirements. The system requirements for XULRunner are the same as the system requirements for Firefox.

Installing XULRunner

Mozilla provides XULRunner for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, in English:

• Download XULRunner for Windows
• Download XULRunner for Mac OS X
• Download XULRunner for Linux

Windows

• Unpack the ZIP file to a new directory using an archive tool (7zip is recommended). The following directory is recommended: C:\Program Files\Mozilla XULRunner\1.9 .
• To register XULRunner with the system, open a command prompt and run xulrunner.exe --register-global (to register for all users) or xulrunner.exe --register-user (to register for one user only).

Mac OS X

• Open the .pkg file within the installer and follow the directions.

Linux

• Unpack the tarball to a new directory using tar -xjf xulrunner-1.9.0.17.en-US.linux-i686.tar.bz2. The following directory is recommended: /opt/xulrunner/1.9 .
• Register XULRunner with the system by running xulrunner --register-global (to install for all users, must be run as root) or xulrunner --register-user (to install for one user only).

Uninstalling XULRunner

Linux

• From a command prompt, run xulrunner --unregister-global or xulrunner --unregister-user to unregister XULRunner just as you registered it during installation.
• Remove the XULRunner directory.

Windows

• From a command prompt, run xulrunner.exe --unregister-global or xulrunner.exe --unregister-user to unregister XULRunner just as you registered it during installation.
• Remove the XULRunner directory.

Mac OS X

If you have multiple versions of XULRunner installed on Mac OS X, it is not possible to uninstall only one version.

• To remove all installed versions of XULRunner, remove the /Library/Frameworks/XUL.framework directory.

Installing XUL Applications

XUL applications can be obtained from various sources, and are typically packaged as a ZIP archive with the extension .xulapp or .xpi. Sample applications are available from the Mozilla Developer Center.

• Save the application archive to your desktop or another convenient place.

Windows

Run the following command from the Start Menu -> Run or from a command prompt:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla XULRunner\1.9\xulrunner\xulrunner.exe" --install-app "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\myapplication.xpi"

The application will be installed to C:\Program Files\VendorName\ApplicationName

Mac OS X

Run the following command in a command prompt:

/Library/Frameworks/XUL.framework/xulrunner-bin --install-app ~/Desktop/myapplication.xpi

The application will be installed to /Applications/Vendor/ApplicationName

Linux

Run the following command in a command prompt:

/opt/xulrunner/1.9/xulrunner/xulrunner --install-app ~/Desktop/myapplication.xpi

The application will be installed to /usr/lib/vendor/applicationname

Known Issues

• Firewall software may identify all XUL applications as the same application.
• On Microsoft Windows XP, all XUL applications may wind up being grouped together in the taskbar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is installing XULRunner so painful? Why isn't there a nice installer?

Because nobody has written that code yet! Additional features for installing and deploying XULRunner and applications based on XULRunner will be available in future releases.

I'm writing a XUL application, how can I deploy that application to my users?

Right now Mozilla recommends that XULRunner should be deployed privately with each application. See Deploying XULRunner for more information.

Where is the source code?

Here.

Where is the SDK?

Here.

I think I've found a bug, how do I report it?

bugzilla.mozilla.org is used to track bugs in all Mozilla products. Please search to make sure that your bug has not already been reported.

How can I help?

If you want to help with XULRunner but don't know where to start, visit the XULRunner:Community page and ask questions on the newsgroups or the IRC channel.