To use FireWatir, you need to install two things: the firewatir gem and an extension to firewater called JSSH (JavaScript SHell).

There are three steps involved in installing FireWatir:

1) Install the FireWatir Gem

If you are behind a proxy/firewall, see this page on how to still use ruby gems.

Windows

gem install firewatir

Linux/Mac

sudo gem install firewatir

You may need to first update rubygems using this command:

sudo gem update --system

3) Install the JSSH Firefox Extension

The correct extension depends on your platform and your version of Firefox.

Production FireWatir

Platform	Firefox 2.0	Firefox 3.0
Windows	install	install
Mac	install	install
Linux	install	install

For Windows user who are installing XPI for Firefox 3.0 make sure you have also installed "Redistributed package for VS 2005 SP1". Thanks to "Ryan Huynh" for figuring out this requirement. You can get the package from here

Experimental Support for Concurrent Testing (unsupported)

In addition to the above add-ons, there is a patched extension that some people are using with a patched version of FireWatir. This version supports driving multiple browsers concurrently, using multiple profiles. It is not compatible with production FireWatir.

Find out more about this here

Platform	Firefox 2.0	Firefox 3.0
Windows	install
Mac	install
Linux	install

Advanced Users: Compiling JSSH

There are instructions on how to compile JSSH here and here.

3) Ensure Firefox settings are correct

Certain firefox settings need to be changed to ensure FireWatir functions correctly. These instructions can be followed to get the Firefox#attach command to work.

1. Make sure that pop ups are allowed in Firefox. You can allow all popups, or only for certain sites that you are testing.

1. Make sure that Firefox opens a new window instead of a new tab when a link is clicked.

4) (Optional) Run FireWatir unit tests

With Watir/FireWatir 1.6, the unit tests cannot be run out of the gem directory

1. Start Firefox manually if you are using Mac OSX.
2. Go to gem install directory in ruby installation.
3. Go to Firewatir gem directory and then to unit tests directory.
4. Run the mozilla_all_tests.rb unit test cases.
5. If you encounter problems, ensure your firefox settings are correct (see above) or check the FireWatir Troubleshooting page.