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How To Install Firefox Using PowerShell

Table of Contents

Purpose of the Script

  • Automatically download and install the latest version of Firefox.
  • Uses Microsoft’s Winget GitHub. repository to locate the official installer.
  • Performs a silent installation for all users.
# GitHub API URL for the app manifest.
$apiUrl = "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox"

# Fetch version folders then filter only version folders.
$versions = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $apiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$versionFolders = $versions | Where-Object { $_.type -eq "dir" }

# Extract and sort version numbers to get the latest version.
$sortedVersions = $versionFolders | ForEach-Object { $_.name } | Sort-Object { [version]$_ } -Descending -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVersion = $sortedVersions[0]

Write-Host "Latest Firefox version: $latestVersion"

# Get contents of the latest version folder to find the .installer.yaml file.
$latestApiUrl = "$apiUrl/$latestVersion"
$latestFiles = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $latestApiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$installerFile = $latestFiles | Where-Object { $_.name -like "*.installer.yaml" }

# Download and parse YAML content to get the Url of the latest installer file.
$yamlUrl = $installerFile.download_url
$yamlContent = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $yamlUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$yamlString = $yamlContent -join "`n"
$installerUrls = [regex]::Matches($yamlString, "InstallerUrl:\s+(http[^\s]+)") | ForEach-Object { $_.Groups[1].Value }
$installerUrl = $installerUrls[0]

Write-Host "Downloading installer from: $installerUrl"

# Download the latest installer 
$webClient = [System.Net.WebClient]::new()
$webClient.DownloadFile($installerUrl, "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe")

# Start the install or update process.
Start-Process -FilePath "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -ArgumentList '/S /PreventRebootRequired=true' -Wait

# Cleanup.
Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "Firefox installation completed."

Step-by-Step Explanation

Below is a detailed explanation of what each part of the PowerShell script does. The script is designed to automatically install or update Firefox on Windows computers.

1. Define the API URL

$apiUrl = "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox"
  • Points to the Firefox manifest folder in the winget-pkgs GitHub repository.
  • This folder contains subfolders for each version.

2. Get the list of available versions

$versions = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $apiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$versionFolders = $versions | Where-Object { $_.type -eq "dir" }
  • Fetches all items in the folder (both files and folders).
  • Filters to only include directories, because each directory represents a Firefox version.
# Output
PS C:\> $versionFolders

name         : 3.0.10
path         : manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.10
sha          : f1f3b93f6174eca98c48eb776f25598db6f1c300
size         : 0
url          : https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.10?ref=master
html_url     : https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/tree/master/manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.10
git_url      : https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/git/trees/f1f3b93f6174eca98c48eb776f25598db6f1c300
download_url :
type         : dir
_links       : @{self=https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.10?ref=m
               aster; git=https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/git/trees/f1f3b93f6174eca98c48eb776f25598d
               b6f1c300; html=https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/tree/master/manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.10}
...

3. Extract and sort versions

$sortedVersions = $versionFolders | ForEach-Object { $_.name } | Sort-Object {[version]$_} -Descending -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVersion = $sortedVersions[0]
  • Extracts folder names (version numbers).
  • Sorts them as version objects (not strings) in descending order.
  • Picks the latest version (first in the sorted list).
# Output
PS C:\> $sortedVersions
140.0.4
140.0.2
140.0.1
140.0
139.0.4
139.0.1
139.0
138.0.4
138.0.3
...

4. Get the .installer.yaml file for the latest version

$latestApiUrl = "$apiUrl/$latestVersion"
$latestFiles = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $latestApiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$installerFile = $latestFiles | Where-Object { $_.name -like "*.installer.yaml" }
  • Looks inside the latest version folder.
  • Finds the *.installer.yaml file, which contains metadata about the installer (URLs, architecture, etc.).
# Output
PS C:\> $installerFile

name         : Mozilla.Firefox.installer.yaml
path         : manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/Mozilla.Firefox.installer.yaml
sha          : 1dd5773a97658250b530d0c924bd453a4822d7e2
size         : 1535
url          : https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/Mozilla.
               Firefox.installer.yaml?ref=master
html_url     : https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/blob/master/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/Mozilla.Firefox
               .installer.yaml
git_url      : https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/git/blobs/1dd5773a97658250b530d0c924bd453a4822d7e2
download_url : https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/master/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/Mozil
               la.Firefox.installer.yaml
type         : file
_links       : @{self=https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/M
               ozilla.Firefox.installer.yaml?ref=master; git=https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/git/blo
               bs/1dd5773a97658250b530d0c924bd453a4822d7e2; html=https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/blob/master/m
               anifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox/140.0.4/Mozilla.Firefox.installer.yaml}

5. Extract installer URLs from YAML to find the URL of the latest version

$yamlUrl = $installerFile.download_url
$yamlContent = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $yamlUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$yamlString = $yamlContent -join "`n"
$installerUrls = [regex]::Matches($yamlString, "InstallerUrl:\s+(http[^\s]+)") | ForEach-Object { $_.Groups[1].Value }
$installerUrl = $installerUrls[1]
  • Downloads the YAML file as raw text.
  • Extracts all InstallerUrl entries using regular expressions.
  • Picks the URL using an index number.
# Output
PS C:\> $installerUrl
https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/140.0.4/win64/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%20140.0.4.exe

6. Download the installer

$webClient = [System.Net.WebClient]::new()
$webClient.DownloadFile($installerUrl, "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe")
  • Downloads the installer to the Windows temp folder ($Env:Temp)

7. Install Firefox silently

Start-Process -FilePath "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -ArgumentList '/S /PreventRebootRequired=true' -Wait
  • Runs the installer in silent mode, no user interaction.

8. Clean up the installer and notify to user

Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Write-Host "Firefox installation completed."
  • Deletes the installer after installation to keep the system clean.
  • Outputs a message to confirm the installation status.

How to install using PowerShell

To install the app, simply open PowerShell as an administrator, copy the code snippets below, paste them into the PowerShell window, and press .

# GitHub API URL for the app manifest.
$apiUrl = "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-pkgs/contents/manifests/m/Mozilla/Firefox"

# Fetch version folders then filter only version folders.
$versions = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $apiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$versionFolders = $versions | Where-Object { $_.type -eq "dir" }

# Extract and sort version numbers to get the latest version.
$sortedVersions = $versionFolders | ForEach-Object { $_.name } | Sort-Object { [version]$_ } -Descending -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVersion = $sortedVersions[0]

Write-Host "Latest Firefox version: $latestVersion"

# Get contents of the latest version folder to find the .installer.yaml file.
$latestApiUrl = "$apiUrl/$latestVersion"
$latestFiles = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $latestApiUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$installerFile = $latestFiles | Where-Object { $_.name -like "*.installer.yaml" }

# Download and parse YAML content to get the Url of the latest installer file.
$yamlUrl = $installerFile.download_url
$yamlContent = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $yamlUrl -Headers @{ 'User-Agent' = 'PowerShell' }
$yamlString = $yamlContent -join "`n"
$installerUrls = [regex]::Matches($yamlString, "InstallerUrl:\s+(http[^\s]+)") | ForEach-Object { $_.Groups[1].Value }
$installerUrl = $installerUrls[0]

Write-Host "Downloading installer from: $installerUrl"

# Download the latest installer 
$webClient = [System.Net.WebClient]::new()
$webClient.DownloadFile($installerUrl, "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe")

# Start the install or update process.
Start-Process -FilePath "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -ArgumentList '/S /PreventRebootRequired=true' -Wait

# Cleanup.
Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\Firefox-latest.exe" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "Firefox installation completed."
E5mLT3UkiG2dYgWKavHEzyhE5

Installing using a PowerShell script

Alternatively, you can create a PowerShell script using the code snippet above. For instance, I’ve created and save a script at “C:\Scripts\install.ps1″.

TqBHojDIQrVvPhwE7pTTg5YGA

Next, open PowerShell (or Terminal) as an administrator and execute the PowerShell script using either the call operator or dot notation.

& "C:\Scripts\install.ps1"
# Output
PS C:\> & "C:\Scripts\install.ps1"
Latest Firefox version: 140.0.4
Downloading installer from: https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/140.0.4/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%20140.0.4.exe
Firefox installation completed.

PowerShell execution policy

In some cases, when trying to run a PowerShell script from the PowerShell console, you received this error message: “File cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system” or “The file is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system“
YBgwuyfTm5aDhpkiPEWgPXj3u

Root cause: The Windows PowerShell execution policy is designed to block untrusted scripts from impacting your Windows client environment. These policies act as security settings that define the trust level for scripts executed in PowerShell. On client operating systems, the default execution policy is set to Restricted, which stops Windows PowerShell commands and scripts from running.

To fix the issue, adjust the execution policy by running the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

You’ll encounter a security risk warning. Enter “A” when prompted to continue.

PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Execution Policy Change
The execution policy helps protect you from scripts that you do not trust. Changing the execution policy 
might expose you to the security risks described in the about_Execution_Policies help topic at
https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. Do you want to change the execution policy?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"): A
PS C:\>
PS C:\> Get-ExecutionPolicy
RemoteSigned

Read more: Details about the PowerShell execution policy.

Use Cases

  • Automated software deployment
  • Scheduled automatic updates
  • Silent install for non-technical users
  • Alternative to winget or manual downloads
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