Profile Restoration Data Integrity Check Failure

Standard Restoration Does Not Guarantee SQLite Integrity

The standard Firefox profile restoration mechanism copies files at the filesystem level, which does not validate internal database structure. Corruption can occur during file operations, especially across different Firefox versions with incompatible schema changes.

Confirmed Verification Steps

1. Verify database structural integrity:

   sqlite3 places.sqlite "PRAGMA integrity_check;"

   Expected output: ok. Any other result indicates corruption.
2. Check referential integrity:

   sqlite3 places.sqlite "PRAGMA foreign_key_check;"

   Empty output means no foreign key violations.
3. Compare file hashes for bit-for-bit accuracy:

   sha256sum places.sqlite

   Compare against the backup source hash if available.
4. Verify profile metadata:
   • Confirm profile.lock does not exist
   • Check prefs.js modification timestamp reflects recent restoration
5. Test with Firefox in safe mode to bypass extensions:

   firefox -safe-mode

   This isolates profile issues from add-on conflicts.

Firefox Version Compatibility

Restoring a profile from a newer Firefox version to an older one may cause startup failures due to schema incompatibility. Always verify version compatibility before restoration.

Post-Restoration Optimization

After successful validation, consider running VACUUM to rebuild indexes and optimize the database:

sqlite3 places.sqlite "VACUUM;"

Note: VACUUM can be slow on large databases. Only run after confirming integrity_check passes.