Deciphering Your Fx User Agent

permalink · 25-Dec-2006, 11:19 PM

Your Firefox User Agent or build ID contains a lot of information about your browser as well as your operating system. Here is break down on what is in your User Agent:

Mozilla/MozVer (Platform; Security; SubPlatform; Language; rv:Revision[; Extension]*) Gecko/GeckVer [Product/ProdVer]

Mozilla/MozVer ~ All Firefox build IDs start with Mozilla/5.0. Simply put this means the browser meets the standards to be Netscape 5 compatible. This was the first Mozilla based (never released) version of Netscape.

Platform ~ This is the operating system (but not the version). Possible values include:
Windows

Macintosh

X11 (Linux)

Security ~ This is the encryption strength of the browser:
U: Strong Security, 128-bit encryption (USA)

I: Weak Security, 40-bit encryption (International)

N: No Security, No encryption

SubPlatform ~ This is the version of the operating system.
Windows:
Win 3.11 - Windows 3.11

Win 95 - Windows 95

Win 98 - Windows 98

Win 9X - Windows ME

Win NT 4.0 - Windows NT 4.0

Win NT 5.0 - Windows 2000

Win NT 5.1 - Windows XP

Win NT 5.2 - Windows Server 2003 and XP Pro x64

Win NT 6.0 - Windows Vista

x11 Linux:
Linux [Version] Hardware

FreeBSD Hardware

NetBSD Hardware

SunOS sun4u

Macintosh:
PPC Mac OS X

PPC Mac OS X Mach-O

Intel Mac OS X

Language ~ standardized language identifier, Firefox is available in several different languages. The two common English language builds are:
en-US = English United States.

en-GB =English Great Britain.

rv:Revision ~ This is the version of Gecko, the browser engine.

Gecko/GeckoVer ~ This is the date in YYYYMMDD format the revision (or version) of Gecko was was compiled, not necessarily the date it was released

Product/ProdVer ~ The name and version of the product. Some of these include:
Deer Park/1.5

BonEcho/2.0.0.1

Firefox/1.5.0.9

Firefox/2.0.0.1

Gran Paradiso/3.0a1

Minefield/3.0a2

Below is the user agent as found via Help, About Mozilla Firefox for my current version of Firefox:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.2pre) Gecko/20061223 BonEcho/2.0.0.2pre

I am running a Mozilla product compilable with Netscape 5.0, on a Windows platform, with high 128-bit encryption USA security, on the Windows NT 5.1 (XP) subplatform, using an english-US language. My current build of Firefox is based on the 1.8.1.2pre revision of Gecko which was compiled on 12/23/2006. The product name is BonEcho (nightly build) and the version I am running is 2.0.0.2pre.

Now you can see how valuable your user agent/build ID is for troubleshooting, especially when people are not even sure what operating system they are using much less which version of Firefox.

25-Dec-2006, 11:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,703 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Deciphering Your Fx User Agent Your Firefox User Agent or build ID contains a lot of information about your browser as well as your operating system. Here is break down on what is in your User Agent: Mozilla/MozVer (Platform; Security; SubPlatform; Language; rv:Revision[; Extension]*) Gecko/GeckVer [Product/ProdVer] Mozilla/MozVer ~ All Firefox build IDs start with Mozilla/5.0. Simply put this means the browser meets the standards to be Netscape 5 compatible. This was the first Mozilla based (never released) version of Netscape. Platform ~ This is the operating system (but not the version). Possible values include: Windows Macintosh X11 (Linux) Security ~ This is the encryption strength of the browser: U: Strong Security, 128-bit encryption (USA) I: Weak Security, 40-bit encryption (International) N: No Security, No encryption SubPlatform ~ This is the version of the operating system. Windows: Win 3.11 - Windows 3.11 Win 95 - Windows 95 Win 98 - Windows 98 Win 9X - Windows ME Win NT 4.0 - Windows NT 4.0 Win NT 5.0 - Windows 2000 Win NT 5.1 - Windows XP Win NT 5.2 - Windows Server 2003 and XP Pro x64 Win NT 6.0 - Windows Vista x11 Linux: Linux [Version] Hardware FreeBSD Hardware NetBSD Hardware SunOS sun4u Macintosh: PPC Mac OS X PPC Mac OS X Mach-O Intel Mac OS X Language ~ standardized language identifier, Firefox is available in several different languages. The two common English language builds are: en-US = English United States. en-GB =English Great Britain. rv:Revision ~ This is the version of Gecko, the browser engine. Gecko/GeckoVer ~ This is the date in YYYYMMDD format the revision (or version) of Gecko was was compiled, not necessarily the date it was released Product/ProdVer ~ The name and version of the product. Some of these include: Deer Park/1.5 BonEcho/2.0.0.1 Firefox/1.5.0.9 Firefox/2.0.0.1 Gran Paradiso/3.0a1 Minefield/3.0a2 Below is the user agent as found via Help, About Mozilla Firefox for my current version of Firefox: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.2pre) Gecko/20061223 BonEcho/2.0.0.2pre I am running a Mozilla product compilable with Netscape 5.0, on a Windows platform, with high 128-bit encryption USA security, on the Windows NT 5.1 (XP) subplatform, using an english-US language. My current build of Firefox is based on the 1.8.1.2pre revision of Gecko which was compiled on 12/23/2006. The product name is BonEcho (nightly build) and the version I am running is 2.0.0.2pre. Now you can see how valuable your user agent/build ID is for troubleshooting, especially when people are not even sure what operating system they are using much less which version of Firefox.

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