This morning, Adobe announced its roadmap to stop supporting Flash at the end of 2020. Working with Adobe and other browser vendors, Mozilla has prepared a roadmap for Flash support in Firefox, and guides for site authors to make their final transition away from Flash technology. By managing this transition carefully, announcing it years in advance, and providing options for transition, Mozilla will help make the web faster, safer, and better for everyone.
Firefox started blocking some Flash elements last summer. Microsoft Edge opted for click-to-run late last year as well. That mostly leaves Internet Explorer as the web’s last Flash hotbed. May 18, 2020 It’s year 2020, and, as announced by Adobe, the timeline for Flash’s end-of-life is nearing. Major browser vendors have also announced they will stop supporting Flash Player after December 2020. End of support means users will not be able to download Flash Player plugin from the Adobe website and no updates on security patches will be provided. If Firefox stops responding or if the Flash plugin hangs or stops working when playing Flash videos or games, try these solutions: Pause or stop Flash in other tabs. You may need to close those tabs. Explore Our Help Articles. Dig into the knowledge base, tips and tricks, troubleshooting, and so much more. Firefox Browser; Firefox Private Network. Oct 14, 2019 Mozilla Firefox is arguably the best browser available that combines strong privacy protection features, good security, active development, and regular updates. In this guide we will explain the different modifications and add-ons to achieve maximum privacy and security with Firefox.
To provide guidance for site authors and users that continue to rely on Flash, Mozilla has updated its published roadmap for Flash in Firefox. Starting next month, users will choose which websites are able to run the Flash plugin. Flash will be disabled by default for most users in 2019, and only users running the Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) will be able to continue using Flash through the final end-of-life at the end of 2020. In order to preserve user security, once Flash is no longer supported by Adobe security patches, no version of Firefox will load the plugin.
As part of improving Firefox performance and security this year, Firefox users will choose which sites may run the Flash plugin. This choice will give users the ability to keep using legacy sites that require Flash, while letting modern sites shine with blazingly fast HTML speed. This change was announced last year and will ship in Firefox next month. Firefox users will still have the opportunity to enable Flash on specific sites that require it. It is possible to test this behavior today by downloading Firefox beta and changing the Flash setting in the Firefox Add-ons manager. Because each browser implements this feature slightly differently, MDN Web Docs lists the differences in Flash activation among the major browsers as a guide for authors.
The Spellstone game has already migrated from Flash to HTML.
Over the years, Flash has helped bring the Web to greatness with innovations in media and animation, which ultimately have been added to the core web platform. The end of Flash offers an opportunity to bring legacy design and content in the Flash format into an new era using HTML and web technologies. If you are a site author currently using Flash to implement video, games, chat, file upload or clipboard access on your site, the web platform now has fast, secure, and reliable features which can do all of these tasks. Browser makers have prepared a guide to help website authors transition away from Flash to the open web. This transition guide, published through MDN Web Docs, provides documentation and links to open web APIs, libraries, and frameworks to help make updating to the web platform a great experience.
HTML is being rapidly adopted for web games. Image provided courtesy of Kongregate.
Game developers that formerly built games for Flash are quickly switching to HTML and seeing great results. Last week, Kongregate published data about the transition to HTML and the trends in game technologies used on their web gaming platform. Mozilla works closely with games publishers and developers to advance the state of games on the Web, and continues to develop technologies such as WebAssembly which allow developers to achieve near-native performance. For more information about building great web games, see MDN Web Docs.
This year, Firefox will become the fastest it has ever been. Reducing Flash usage now is an important part of making the web and Firefox better together, and will support the end of Flash in 2019 and 2020. The security and privacy features users have come to expect, combined with a new interface and added functionality, will streamline and modernize the browser experience for Firefox users.
***NOW UPDATED with Apple MacOS instructions, in addition to Microsoft Windows***
***Also updated with the solution to the mms.cfg file not working due to the UTF-8 bug***
You may have seen plenty of announcements over the past few years about Adobe Flash coming to the end of life. Various browser manufacturers announced they will disable Flash. Microsoft announced they will uninstall Flash from Windows using a Windows Update (although only the Flash that came automatically with Windows, NOT user-installed Flash). Apple completely disabled Flash in Safari. Below is the dreaded Flash End of Life logo that you will see once Flash is finally turned off:
Yes, I agree with Steve Jobs — Flash is buggy and not secure. However, there are many IT manufacturers out there that used Flash to build their management software interfaces. Some common examples are VMware vSphere, Horizon, and HPE CommandView. That management software is not going away, even though most of it is older. In fact, some of these Flash-managed devices will be there for the next 10 years. So, what can the desperate IT administrator do to manage his or her devices?
Adobe sends users for extended Flash support to a company called Harman. HPE charges money for older CommandView support. Do not pay any money to these companies to use Flash.
Table of Contents
Preparation
Firefox Flash Not Working
I am not recommending Chrome or Edge browsers for the below solution because they will auto-update and newer versions will not support Flash at all. Further, turning off auto-update in Chrome and Edge is difficult.
Here are 3 methods to get Flash running on your favorite website. Windows methods assume 64-bit Operating systems. If you want to try 32-bit Windows, the files are available, but the functionality has not been tested (although it will probably work). All the files talked about in these methods are downloadable below:
firefox-flash-end-solution-versions.zip_.pdf — Right click on the link and choose “Save Link As” or “Download Linked File As”. Save the file to your computer. Unhide file extensions. Remove _.pdf from the end of the name and Unzip/ExtractAll the file.
The file contains:
policies.json
Firefox Setup 78.6.0esr-64bit.exe
Firefox Setup 78.6.0esr-32bit.exe
Firefox 78.6.0esr.dmg
flash-eol-versions.zip_-1.pdf — Right click on the link and choose “Save Link As” or “Download Linked File As”. Save the file to your computer. Unhide file extensions. Remove _-1.pdf from the end of the name and Unzip/ExtractAll the file.
The file contains:
mms.cfg
Flash player for Firefox and Win7 – use this for Solution: install_flash_player.exe
Flash for Safari and Firefox – Mac: install_flash_player_osx.dmg
Flash for Opera and Chromium – Mac: install_flash_player_osx_ppapi.dmg
Flash Player for Chromium and Opera browsers: install_flash_player_ppapi.exe
Flash Player for IE active x: install_flash_player_ax.exe
Flash Player Beta 32 bit – May 14-2020: flashplayer_32_sa.exe flashplayer_32_sa.dmg
flash_player_32_0_admin_guide.pdf
Method 1 — Microsoft Windows, if you have Internet Explorer browser and Flash already installed
This method applies to many older Windows Operating systems like Server 2008, 2012, 2016 and Windows 7 and even older Windows 10. It assumes a 64-bit operating system.
- Do NOT upgrade Internet Explorer to the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Set Internet Explorer to be the default browser in Default Programs.
- Download the mms.cfg file.
- Open the mms.cfg file with Notepad.
- Edit the URL on the right of the Equals sign with an address of the Flash website or file that you need.
- Ex. AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- If you need additional websites, place them on the next lines, like in this example.
- AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- AllowListUrlPattern=http://testwebsite.com/
- AllowListUrlPattern=*://*.finallystopflash.com/
- Save mms.cfg file on the desktop.
- Important: if you did not use my file, but you are creating the file yourself, makes sure in Notepad Save As dialog, you select “All Files” as the type, and “UTF-8” as the Encoding.
- Copy the mms.cfg file into the following directory: C:WindowsSysWOW64MacromedFlash
- That disables Flash updates and allows to use Flash on specified websites.
- If you don’t see this directory, it means Flash is not installed and you need to use Method 2 instead.
- Restart the Internet Explorer browser.
- Go to your website.
- This will open Internet Explorer with Flash functional.
Method 2 — Microsoft Windows, if you don’t have Internet Explorer and/or Flash installed
This method applies to almost any Windows machine. It assumes a 64-bit operating system.
- If you already have another version of Firefox installed, uninstall it.
- Download the “Firefox Setup 78.6.0esr-64bit.exe” and “policies.json” files. This Firefox installer is the Enterprise version (what you need).
- Install Firefox ESR, but do NOT open it, or if it opens, close right away.
- In the “C:Program FilesMozilla Firefox” directory, create a folder called “distribution”
- Put “policies.json” file into the folder “distribution” — this disables automatic Firefox updates.
- Start Firefox ESR.
- Go to URL: about:policies
- Check that “DisableAppUpdate” policy is there and it says “True”.
- Set Firefox to be the default browser in Default Programs.
- Download “Flash player for Firefox and Win7 – use this for Solution: install_flash_player.exe” and “mms.cfg”.
- Double click on the install_flash_player.exe to install Flash for Firefox. Click all Next prompts.
- If you are prompted to choose “Update Flash Player Preferences”, select “Never Check for Updates”.
- Open mms.cfg file with Notepad
- Edit the URL on the right of the Equals sign with an address of the Flash website or file that you need.
- Ex. AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- If you need additional websites, place them on the next lines, like in these examples:
- AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- AllowListUrlPattern=http://testwebsite.com/
- AllowListUrlPattern=*://*.finallystopflash.com/
- Save mms.cfg file on the desktop.
- Important: if you did not use my file, but you are creating the file yourself, makes sure in Notepad Save As dialog, you select “All Files” as the type, and “UTF-8” as the Encoding.
- Copy the “mms.cfg” file into the following directory: C:WindowsSysWOW64MacromedFlash
- That disables Flash updates and allows to use Flash on specified websites.
- Restart Firefox ESR.
- When going to the flash website you specified, click on the big logo in the middle, then “Allow”.
Method 3 — Apple MacOS
This method applies to almost any MacOS version.
- If you already have another version of Firefox installed, uninstall it.
- Download “Firefox 78.6.0esr.dmg” and “policies.json” files. This Firefox ESR for Mac installer is the Enterprise version (what you need).
- Open the DMG file. Drag the Firefox ESR icon to the Applications folder, which installs it on the Mac. Do NOT open Firefox ESR yet.
- Open the Terminal application.
- Type the following and press Enter (start typing from xattr).
- xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Firefox.app
- This allows Firefox customization without corrupting the application.
- xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Firefox.app
- Go to the Applications folder.
- Right click on the Firefox.app application and select “Show Package Contents”.
- Go to Contents>Resources folder and when there create a folder called “distribution”.
- Put “policies.json” file into the folder “distribution” — this disables automatic Firefox updates.
- Start Firefox ESR.
- Go to URL: about:policies
- Check that “DisableAppUpdate” policy is there and it says “True”.
- Download “Flash for Safari and Firefox – Mac: install_flash_player_osx.dmg” and “mms.cfg”.
- Double click on the install_flash_player_osx.dmg to mount the disk. Double click the installer to install Flash for Firefox.
- When asked to choose on “Update Flash Player Preferences”, select “Never Check for Updates (not recommended)”.
- Place the mms.cfg file on the Desktop. Open mms.cfg file with TextEdit.
- Edit the URL on the right of the Equals sign with an address of the Flash website or file that you need.
- Ex. AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- If you need additional websites, place them on the next lines, like in these examples:
- AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost/admin/
- AllowListUrlPattern=http://testwebsite.com/
- AllowListUrlPattern=*://*.finallystopflash.com/
Firefox Flash Download
- Save mms.cfg file to the Desktop. Copy the mms.cfg file.
- Paste the “mms.cfg” file into the following directory:
- /Library/Application Support/Macromedia/ (Mac Hard Drive>Library>Application Support>Macromedia)
- If there is already an existing mms.cfg file in there, Replace it.
- That disables Flash updates and allows to use Flash on specified websites.
- Restart Firefox ESR for Mac.
- When going to the flash website you specified, click on the big logo in the middle, then “Allow”.
References