Firefox ESR logo

Mozilla Firefox 38 Extended Support Release (ESR) is certified as a Windows-based client browser for Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and 12.2.

The certification with EBS 12.1 is pending; see below.

What is Mozilla Firefox ESR?

Mozilla offers an Extended Support Release based on an official release of Firefox for organizations that are unable to mass-deploy new consumer-oriented versions of Firefox every six weeks.  From the Mozilla ESR FAQ:

What does the Mozilla Firefox ESR life cycle look like? Releases will be maintained for approximately one year, with point releases containing security updates coinciding with regular Firefox releases. The ESR will also have a two cycle (12 week) overlap between the time of a new release and the end-of-life of the previous release to permit testing and certification prior to deploying a new version.

Maintenance of each ESR, through point releases, is limited to high-risk/high-impact security vulnerabilities and in rare cases may also include off-schedule releases that address live security vulnerabilities. Backports of any functional enhancements and/or stability fixes are not in scope.

At the end of the support period for an ESR version:

  • the release will reach its end-of-life
  • no further updates will be offered for that version
  • an update to the next version will be offered through the application update service

E-Business Suite to be certified with Firefox Extended Support Releases

New personal versions of Firefox are released roughly every six weeks.  It is impractical for us to certify these new personal versions of Firefox with the Oracle E-Business Suite because a given Firefox release is generally obsolete by the time we complete the certification.

From Firefox 10 and onwards, Oracle E-Business Suite is certified only with selected Firefox Extended Support Release versions. Oracle has no current plans to certify new Firefox personal releases with the E-Business Suite.

EBS patching policy for Firefox compatibility issues

Mozilla stresses their goal of ensuring that Firefox personal versions will continue to offer the same level of application compatibility as Firefox Extended Support Releases. 

Oracle E-Business Suite Development will issue new E-Business Suite patches or workarounds that can be reproduced with Firefox Extended Support Releases.  If you report compatibility issues with Firefox personal releases that cannot be reproduced with Firefox Extended Support Releases, your options are:

  1. Deploy a certified Firefox Extended Support Release version instead of the Firefox personal version
  2. Report the incompatibility between Firefox ESR and Firefox personal to Mozilla
  3. Use Internet Explorer (on Windows) or Safari (on Mac OS X) until Mozilla resolves the issue
EBS Compatibility with Firefox ESR security updates

Mozilla may release new updates to Firefox ESR versions to address high-risk/high-impact security issues.  These updates are considered to be certified with the E-Business Suite on the day that they’re released.  You do not need to wait for a certification from Oracle before deploying these new Firefox ESR security updates.

Certified desktop operating systems
  • Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows Vista SP2

References

Pending Certification

The certification of Firefox ESR 38 with Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1 is still in progress. An interoperability patch is required for this certification; this patch is being prepared. 

EBS 12.1 users should remain on Firefox ESR 31 for now. This certification will be announced in a separate blog article.

Oracle’s Revenue Recognition rules prohibit us from discussing certification and release dates, but you’re welcome to monitor or subscribe to this blog.

The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction.  It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract.   It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decision.  The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.