Smarts WebConsole does not launch after Mozilla Firefox upgrade 52 and above

Products

• VMware Smart Assurance

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:


Smarts WebConsole applications fail on launch for Firefox 52 and above.

Environment

VMware Smart Assurance - SMARTS

Cause

Beginning with Firefox 52 (released March 2017), plug-in support is limited to Adobe Flash, and drops support for NPAPI, impacting plugins for Java, Silverlight, and other similar NPAPI based plugins.

 

Details on: https://java.com/en/download/help/firefox_java.xml

Resolution

Firefox 52 ESR 32-bit release

Mozilla offers an Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox specifically for use by organizations who need extended support for mass deployments. Only Mozilla Firefox 52 ESR 32-bit release will continue offering support for the standards-based plugin support technology required to launch Java Applets. To see if you are using an ESR release, check the Firefox menu item (Help -> About) and looking for the "ESR" identifier.

Mozilla maintains Firefox ESR Releases for approximately one year. Developers and users still relying on the Java plugin technology in the 32-bit Mozilla Firefox web browser should consider migrating to a different solution.

 

Alternatively, If you have problems accessing Java applications using Firefox, Oracle recommends using Internet Explorer (Windows) or Safari (Mac OS X) instead. Developers and System administrators looking for alternative ways to support Firefox users should see this blog regarding Launching Web Start applications.