Need to delete or change history because of DNS change
The company I work for recently underwent a massive DNS change. Many of the urls that I have in bookmarks and history have changed - but only slightly and it is highly predictable.
The problem is that these 'old' names come up, redirect me (maybe) to the new site, and I waste time editing the url 1 by 1. The next time I search, it will likely bring up the 'wrong' url again because I referenced it.
Is there a way to do a mass change?
If there was a flat file, I would used sed:
sed -i 's/foobar.com/notfoobar.com/g'
But I don't see a thing like this on Linux FF v47.0. In my profile directory I see:
./ gmp/ safebrowsing/ ../ gmp-gmpopenh264/ saved-telemetry-pings/ addons.json gm_scripts/ search.json addons.sqlite healthreport/ search.json.mozlz4 blocklist.xml httpRequester/ search-metadata.json bookmarkbackups/ jetpack/ searchplugins/ _CACHE_CLEAN_ key3.db search.sqlite cert8.db localstore-1.rdf secmod.db cert_override.txt localstore.rdf serviceworker.txt chrome/ localstore-safe.rdf sessionCheckpoints.json compatibility.ini lock@ sessionstore-backups/ content-prefs.sqlite logins.json sessionstore.bak cookies.sqlite marionette.log sessionstore.bak-20140924083558 cookies.sqlite.orig mimeTypes.rdf signedInUser.json cookies.sqlite-shm minidumps/ signedInUserOAuthTokens.json cookies.sqlite-wal mozilla-media-cache/ signons.sqlite crashes/ notificationstore.json SiteSecurityServiceState.txt dactyl/ .parentlock storage/ datareporting/ permissions.sqlite times.json downloads.json permissions.sqlite-journal UnMHT/ extensions/ places.sqlite urlclassifier3.sqlite extensions.ini places.sqlite-shm urlclassifierkey3.txt extensions.json places.sqlite-wal urlclassifier.pset extensions.sqlite pluginreg.dat user.js extensions.sqlite-journal prefs-1.js user.js~ febeBUhistory.json* prefs-2.js weave/ febeExtensionData.json* prefs-3.js webapps/ febeIgnoreListData.json* prefs-4.js webappsstore.sqlite FEBEresults.html* prefs-5.js webappsstore.sqlite-shm febeUserDefinedBuData.json* prefs.js webappsstore.sqlite-wal formhistory.sqlite revocations.txt xulstore.json
Thanks,
Rick
All Replies (6)
Hi Rick, bookmarks and history are stored together in the
places.sqlite
database file. Firefox doesn't have an interface for bulk database edits, and I'm not sure I would trust a third party SQL editor to do it correctly.
For bookmarks, how many are we talking about? If it's a dozen, you can edit them by hand in the Library dialog ("Show All Bookmarks"). If that would be too slow, you could export to an HTML-format file (you will lose tags and possibly other metadata), edit, then re-import.
- Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks - keep a clean copy, and make an edit copy
- Create a safety backup in JSON format: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer
- Edit the HTML file, and test the resulting links by loading it in a tab and trying the modified links
- In the Library dialog, delete your existing bookmarks to avoid duplication after import
- Import Bookmarks from an HTML file
- In the Library dialog, move the bookmarks from the Imported... folder to their real locations
For history, it's probably easiest to delete history for foobar.com: in the Library dialog ("Show All History") use the search bar at the upper right to filter down to foobar.com, then select all relevant URLs and delete them.
Thanks for the quick reply.
History? Hundreds of entries. Years of history. ;)
Bookmarks aren't a problem because I can easily edit them.
When I export the bookmarks, does the history go with it?
See also this NirSoft utility:
I see that your directory listing show FEBE backup files like febeBUhistory.json
There are also files from older Firefox versions and files like numbered prefs-#.js that shouldn't be there at all.
extensions.sqlite (extensions.json) localstore.rdf (xulstore.json) sessionstore.bak (sessionstore-backups) search.json and search-metadata.json and search.sqlite (search-metadata.json)
Firefox may still be using these old files to rebuild the new file if you would remove the currently used file.
rbeldin said
When I export the bookmarks, does the history go with it?
No. Firefox doesn't have any import/export feature for history as far as I know.
I think the Nirsoft program mentioned earlier might have something for exporting, but I don't know about importing.
You can use FEBE to backup the history.