Where is the data located (to manually copy between two installs)

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#1

Where does Memex store its data (on Firefox)?

I know it’s somewhere in the Firefox profile, but I would need to know more specifically.

The reason I’m asking is because I just reinstalled my system (changed NixOS for Manjaro) and have a fresh install, but access to the old home directory.

I don’t want to copy the whole Firefox profile, as it includes a lot of cruft that accumulated during the years, but would want to get the data from Memex. And no, I don’t have a Memex backup – the backup helper did not work on NixOS, which is part of the reason I switched Linux distros.

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#2

I haven’t checked yet if that works but this seems to be promising: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/8w5ho5/are_all_extensions_stored_in_extensions_subfolder/

#3

Thanks, that was a good start! :smile_cat:

So I searched for worldbrain in my Firefox profile directory and found the following:

  • extensions/info@worldbrain.io.xpi – which I suspect is the plugin itself
  • browser-extension-data/info@worldbrain.io/storage.js.migrated – that seems to be a 1.6 MiB JSON file, so it might just be it what I’m looking for
  • storage/default/https+++worldbrain-1057.firebaseapp.com/idb/ and especially the file 3547115956fbiDreegbaarsoetLSolc.sqlite – which seems like it could be about offline storage, but for some reason the only data stored in it is the URL https://worldbrain-1057.firebaseapp.com which is a dead link
  • storage/default/https+++community.worldbrain.io/cache/ and especially the file caches.sqlite – which seem to be a cache of some sorts, but only mentions https://community.worldbrain.io and https://*.crisp.chat so again, nothing interesting for me

Is it safe to assume that if I simply copy the browser-extension-data/info@worldbrain.io/storage.js.migrated into my new Firefox profile, it would work?

Same question, if I concatenate it with the existing one using cat?

Or is there an importer implemented that I can use it for this?

A further oddity is that my new Firefox profile does not have a browser-extension-data folder in it (yet?)… hmmm

#4

I am not sure if the process you outlined will work - I have never tried it.

That you’re missing the firefox profile folder might just be because its new and has no extensions?

#5

I am not sure if the process you outlined will work - I have never tried it.

But do you have an idea where your app stores what or is that too much in the power of the browser to follow?

That you’re missing the firefox profile folder might just be because its new and has no extensions?

I already installed Memex, Tree Style Tab, Privacy Badger, Plasma integration, and Nextcloud Passwords, so some extensions are already here and being used. Could it be the folder moved in new versions of Firefox?

Hmmm, an alternative idea might be to set up a new user account on my laptop, completely recreate the whole Firefox profile there, export data in Memex and import it into my actual user account.

#6

But do you have an idea where your app stores what or is that too much in the power of the browser to follow?

Its very much in the browsers implementation on where that data is stored. It may be that that even differs from OS to OS, and version to version. Haven’t been keeping up on that one recently. @Martin may have some hints there because he experimented with a similar case just last week.

I already installed Memex, Tree Style Tab, Privacy Badger, Plasma integration, and Nextcloud Passwords, so some extensions are already here and being used.

I assume some of these download your data again from somewhere else? What about the nextcloud data, was it copied from one directory to another or was it refetched from the cloud?

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#7

In the end I just went for the temporary user idea and it worked. This is what I did:

  1. create a new user on the system
  2. log into that new user and start Firefox, so it sets up the profile and install Memex plugin and Memex Backup Helper
  3. close Firefox and copy over all the contents of the old (backup) profile folder into the new one
  4. start Memex Backup Helper, start Firefox, in Memex settings start a backup
  5. close Firefox and copy/move the Memex backup folder to my default user and change the ownership of that folder accordingly
  6. log out of new user and log into my default user
  7. start Memex Backup Helper, start Firefox, and in Memex settings resume the backup
  8. (remove new user and its home directory, as they are not needed anymore)

Regarding the Nextcloud Passwords data, I think it just pulls it from the server every time you ask it.

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#8

Wow great it worked. Thanks for the detailed guide for other users to use!