firefox-build-debootstrap.md

Building Firefox in a chroot

Something I don't like is project with tons of build dependencies. They tend to stay and pollute the system. Something I don't like even more are containers.

Let's work with old school chroot.

Installing dependencies

sudo aptitude install debootstrap schroot

Installing an image

A recent version of Ubuntu is enough.

sudo debootstrap --variant=buildd arch=amd64 artful /srv/chroot/firefox-chroot http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

Configuring and starting the chroot

cat <<EOF > /etc/schroot/chroot.d/firefox.conf
[firefox]
description=Firefox
directory=/srv/chroot/firefox-chroot
users=user1
root-users=user1
type=directory
EOF

We need to enable write access to shared memory, else the build configuration tool will fail.

cat <<EOF >> /etc/schroot/default/fstab
/dev/shm        /dev/shm        none    rw,bind         0       0
EOF

Configuring the image

The list of sources is missing some lines, so we must add them before installing dependencies. Moreover, the Firefox bootstrap forget to install Clang.

cat <<EOF >> /srv/chroot/firefox-chroot/etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://fr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main restricted
deb http://fr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful universe
deb http://fr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates universe
EOF
sudo schroot -c firefox
apt-get update
apt-get install python clang
exit

## Starting the chroot

schroot -c firefox

Now you can follow the official build steps.