Hello; my first post. Is it there any way to upload FF portable into a hosting service and run it up there?. Any idea or suggestion?
If this is possible, may I use also the extensions of my choice? (I'm thinking in POW for instance). Thanks!
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Newbie question about hosts
December 8, 2007 - 4:07pm
#1
Newbie question about hosts
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Could you explain/give an example of how this would work?
I'm not sure what your asking for.
e.g. Get onto the internet with IE, to the site, run FFP from there inside an IE window??? I'm not sure I get it
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
That's it. I upload the program, execute it and use it like a "web interface". I've heard about some scripts that can be submmited to the host folders and then used there. Somehow like a proxy as well, but with the lovely features of FF.
I'm sorry being that newbie...
I can't sign.
But, But, But,
I still don't get it. If you can already get to the host site using IE [or FF] why would you then want to launch a browser within a browser? Why not just run FF or FFP in the first place?
Still confused
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
Let's say I'm under extreme censorship, I can't install programs, parental and boss control, no usb drive, no cd, nothing but the awful IE. Then I'd like to open my 'up there' FF, request a download from anywhwre and keep it in the host server until I get home. Even better if I can use my custom extensions.
'Hosted browser' we can call it, if you please.
I can't sign.
Okay,
I guess I understand what you're after.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the answer is no.
Sorry
[Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see how this could be realistically implemented]
Tim
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
Awright, let's wait for others to think. Thanks for your interest Tim Clark.
I can't sign.
The question is how do you connect to the host computer.
If you can use a remote console program (e.g. VNC) you could connect to and control your home computer, doing whatever browsing you need, downloading files onto your home PC's drive.
If you can connect with SSH, you'd end up with a console session to the host, but there are console (text-only) web browsers that might work for you. There are command line downloaders (e.g. wget) and even bitTorrent. Or with ssh you might be able to set up a tunnel or socks proxy.
There's the possibility of running java apps in an IE browser; for example, there is a java vnc client. You could also consider a java app that would control a browser at the host. I don't know of one, but it might work.
The thing is, in a locked down environment, you might not be able to run vncplayer or ssh any more than you can run other programs from your USB drive. You might still be able to run IE, or a java applet inside the browser, but even that can be restricted.
The IT folks might be watching network traffic and figure out that you are connecting to your home computer or another one that you can control. They could block that connection, and then where would you be? You could initiate a cat & mouse game, but that could get boring.
If you are using VNC player to control your home computer, you may load a trojan or virus onto your home computer, but that won't affect the drive or network from which you are connecting. So it may be that they won't care much about vnc (or Remote Desktop or that sort of program). Unless they have a thing about your full attention; I could see some employers not wanting their employees spending all their time browsing gambling sites or downloading movies when they should be doing actual work.
I'm not sure how much PortableApps should support folks trying to get around firewalls and locked down computers. While some firewalls are there because the admins like to control other people, there are frequently other reasons that make much more sense, at least to the owner of the network. (I do know that sometimes the firewall gets in the way of doing real work, so I'm not entirely unsympathetic.)
The firewall is running on "their" computer and network; if it were "your" computer or network, wouldn't you want the people using it to comply with your rules?
Is there a chance you could get permission to do what you want, so you don't have to be furtive about it?
MC
The main point I want to reach is to have my browser in the hosting service, retrieving files at the hosting's speed. Not FF in an usb but in 4gb in the net. I thought portable applications might work in that case, sorry if this doesn't match the forum.
I had thought about vnc client, but most interesting is web interfaces. You talk about console web browsers, that's almost what I'm looking for. Please paste me some links. Bu my idea is to make FF show his lovely interface.
I doubt if FF can be uploaded, like php scripts for running forums. The way I'd connect to the host is to be considered later, I honestly think.
Maybe I should ask: wich are the requirements to run portable FF in a host? (should it be apache...)
Low knowledge round here, please remember.
I can't sign.
A web server probably has functionality that can do what you want. For example, an Apache server running PHP can fetch other pages, pass them along to the browser; it can also fetch files from other internet servers and save them locally (if permissions are set up that way).
But about the only way to run FF on the server the way you are talking about is to use some sort of remote desktop or VNC or X. The java VNC running in IE might be your best bet.
MC
You insist much about VNC, I'll google. What's it X? I'd never heard about it.
Last post, I don't want to annoy nobody.
Thank you all for your patience.
I can't sign.
Being a specialist in this area (hosting), I may claim that it is impossible to do what you want. Installing applications (like FFP) is not allowed by hosting providers.
Well, true, and running a GUI or windowing interface on a server can make it less secure.
The OP sounded like he had his own host somewhere, or perhaps was using his home computer. If he is careful, he can do it without reducing security a huge amount.
But you are right, most shared hosting providers wouldn't want that sort of thing running on their machines or on their networks.
MC
First, I'd like to apologize if I seem to be reviving an old thread. I was searching for something entirely different and stumbled upon this topic.
I have no idea how workable this would be with a program as large as Firefox Portable. However, in the past I have had success executing and working with multi-file applications (programs that are made up of more than single, self-contained executables) on a remote computer. The total space occupied by any one of these applications was no more than 4 megabytes, though. (FFPE is incredibly large compared to that.) This may or may not work for you, but I strongly recommended that you use your own server to do it.
If you set up a WebDAV directory on a server (free hosts rarely provide this method of access), you should be able to connect to it using a remote computer and double-click any program to execute it as if it were on the workstation's hard disk. Mind you, even if the network connection between the server and the workstation is sufficiently fast to allow relatively responsive use of Firefox, I doubt it will work unless you are able to map the WebDAV (or, at the very least, the FirefoxPortable) directory to a drive letter. This may not be possible if you're using a locked-down machine. Also, the network administrators at my high school were such control freaks that attempting to run any *.exe file not part of Windows or on the whitelist would cause the system to log you off. (Thank god I'm in college now.) The workstation you're using probably won't do that, but my point is that it may have some form of protection against executing certain programs.
This should be obvious, but I'll say it anyway. Simply running FFPE from a WebDAV directory will not inherently provide the proxy function you were seeking. However, like all browsers, Firefox can be setup to use a proxy for web access. If you followed my recommendation and used a machine of your own for the WebDAV hosting, it wouldn't be too hard to also run a proxy server.
If you are able to get FFPE to run from a WebDAV directory, I'd love to know. Shoot me an e-mail at the address listed in the Staff section of my website. Best of luck getting this to work.
Her song leaves the other side in flight for their lives now;
They are not long for the world.
No one leaves; line up for inevitable wipeout.
All you've done - now it's what you deserve.
Machinae Supremacy ~ Laser Speed Force
Did anyone mention GOPC? It offers a free service (crippleware, but still functional) that is very much like what the OP is asking about. I won't go into the specifics, or give a link.
It does require a thin client, which does use a lot of Open Source stuff. I'm not sure whether the compilation would qualify as Open Source. On the other hand, it does show how it might be accomplished.
MC
GOPC uses the NX remote desktop client. If you're thinking about using it, you may as well just set up VNC on your own computer and use that. Of course, if you're behind a router or firewall over which you have no control, this is probably not an option, and GOPC may be something you'd want to consider. If you do have control over allowing incoming connections to your computer, though, GOPC is pretty much pointless, since they don't give you much control over the OS.
If you try what I explained in my previous post and find that it doesn't work fast enough or at all, and you're running Windows, I'd suggest trying RDC. For me, it has always worked faster than VNC.
Her song leaves the other side in flight for their lives now;
They are not long for the world.
No one leaves; line up for inevitable wipeout.
All you've done - now it's what you deserve.
Machinae Supremacy ~ Laser Speed Force
I guess my question would be whether running the X-server on the remote machine, with some optimized compression techniques, might be more responsive than the VNC model, in which the X-server runs on the host computer and the VNC client on the remote machine is connected to it.
I think RDC is a bit closer in theory to the X-server than the VNC method.
Either way does what the OP is talking about, but not exactly the way the OP wants...
MC