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firefox-build-and-run

Build and run Firefox in a Docker container.

Initial target is ppc64le, but this should work for other architectures as well.

Getting started

The top-level run.sh script is used to build and run containers. Use ./run.sh --help to see a list of supported command-line options, a brief description for each, and the default value. More details are listed below.

In short, this Dockerfile and scripts will do the following:

  • Build a suitable environment for compiling Firefox.
  • Copy mozconfig (from mozconfigs/) and patches (from patches/) into the container.
  • Run the container with X11 authentication and socket files shared.
  • Copy the sources to a work directory, patch, and build.
  • Run Firefox from within the container as a non-root user.

Examples

  • Build Firefox using locally stored sources at changeset FIREFOX_107_0_1_RELEASE: ./run.sh -r FIREFOX_107_0_1_RELEASE -s "${HOME}/mozilla-unified-nonbootstrapped"

Command-line options

[-c|--container] name of Docker container

If the container does not exist then will be built.

[ -d|--debug] debug mode

This option will cause the container to drop to a shell if an error occurs or when firefox exist. It should only be used when developing or debugging scripts outside of the container.

[-D|--downloads] path of downloads directory shared with container

This is a directory where files will be downloaded to. The directory will be bind mounted to /home/firefox/Downloads within the container.

[-j|--jobs] number of concurrent build jobs to run

Building Firefox is resource-intensive. Consider the following when using the -jobs option manually:

  • CPU threads: In order to keep your computer responsive while building, keep at least one thread available for use by the OS and other apps that are running.

  • Memory: When building Firefox with many threads, it can be easy to run out of memory. This may trigger your OS's out-of-memory (OOM) killer and result in build jobs being terminated, which in turn will lead to confusing build errors. Assume that each build job may take from 1-2GB of memory.

Expect the build to take at least a couple of hours, even on a fairly high-end workstation (by 2022 standards).

[-p|--patches] alternative path to patches

Patches from patches/$(uname -m)/ are applied by default. The patches/ directory is copied recursively into the Docker image. If you wish to use an alternative set of patches, copy them to a directory somewhere under patches/ and point to it using the -patches option.

Patches are applied in lexicographical order. Those that do not depend on order are prefixed with 0000 followed by a hyphen before the patch name, like git format-patch output. Non-zero values may be used for patches that depend on the order in which they are applied.

Each sub-directory in patches/ should have a README.md file with information about the patches such as URLs from where they came.

[-r|--release] Firefox release (tag, bookmark, or commit) to build

This points to the changeset to use in the Firefox sources, e.g. mozilla-unified/. The build system will hg up to this changeset.

[-s|--src] path to cached Firefox sources, if desired (default: none, clone Firefox)

If this option is not set, then the build system will clone Firefox from upstream using clone_firefox.sh.

If this option is set, then the build system will bind mount the directory in the container, rsync it to the work directory, and then build it. The original source directory will not be modified.

The --src option should be used if you plan to build firefox often, for example if you're experimenting with patches or wish to stay up-to-date with recent tags. Cloning Firefox from upstream takes tens of minutes even at >100mbit/sec.

Python warning: Use clone_firefox.sh to clone firefox and avoid bootstrapping. Bootstrapping will set up a Python virtual environment which makes it difficult to copy the source code from one location to another. According to https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/build/buildsystem/python.html#deficiencies, "[i]f you attempt to copy an entire tree from one machine to another or from one directory to another, chances are the venv will fall apart."

References

... and other places to look for ideas