nixpkgs-mozilla

Gathering nix efforts in one repository.

Current packages

servo (https://github.com/servo/servo)
gecko (https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev)
firefox-dev-bin (Firefox Developer Edition <https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/>)
VidyoDesktop ()

Rust overlay

NOTE: Nix overlays only works on up-to-date versions of NixOS/nixpkgs, starting from 17.03.

A nixpkgs overlay is provided to contains all of the latest rust releases.

To use the rust overlay run the ./rust-overlay-install.sh command. It will link the current ./rust-overlay.nix into your ~/.config/nixpkgs/overlays folder.

Once this is done, use nix-env -iA nixpkgs.latest.rustChannels.nightly.rust for example. Replace the nixpkgs. prefix with nixos. on NixOS.

Using in nix expressions

Example of using in `shell.nix`:

let
  moz_overlay = import (builtins.fetchTarball https://github.com/mozilla/nixpkgs-mozilla/archive/master.tar.gz);
  nixpkgs = import <nixpkgs> { overlays = [ moz_overlay ]; };
in
  with nixpkgs;
  stdenv.mkDerivation {
    name = "moz_overlay_shell";
    buildInputs = [
      nixpkgs.latest.rustChannels.nightly.rust
      ];
  }

Or to retrieve a specific nightly version:

let
  moz_overlay = import (builtins.fetchTarball https://github.com/mozilla/nixpkgs-mozilla/archive/master.tar.gz);
  nixpkgs = import <nixpkgs> { overlays = [ moz_overlay ]; };
in
  with nixpkgs;
  stdenv.mkDerivation {
    name = "moz_overlay_shell";
    buildInputs = [
      (nixpkgs.rustChannelOf { date = "2018-04-11"; channel = "nightly"; }).rust
      ];
  }

Gecko Development Environment

The firefox-overlay.nix provides a development environment to build Firefox from its sources, also known as Gecko.

To build Gecko from its sources, it is best to have a local checkout of Gecko, and to build it with a nix-shell. You can checkout Gecko, either using mercurial, or git.

Once you have finished the checkout gecko, you should enter the nix-shell using the gecko.<arch>.<cc> attribute of the release.nix file provided in this repository.

The <arch> attribute is either x86_64-linux or i686-linux. The first one would create a native toolchain for compiling on x64, while the second one would give a native toolchain for compiling on x86. Note that due to the size of the compilation units on x86, the compilation might not be able to complete, but some sub part of Gecko, such as SpiderMonkey would compile fine.

The <cc> attribute is either gcc or clang, or any specific version of the compiler available in the compiler-overlay.nix file which is repeated in release.nix. This compiler would only be used for compiling Gecko, and the rest of the toolchain is compiled against the default stdenv of the architecture.

When first enterring the nix-shell, the toolchain will pull and build all the dependencies necessary to build Gecko, this includes might take some time. This work will not be necessary the second time, unless you use a different toolchain or architecture.

~/$ cd mozilla-central
~/mozilla-central$ nix-shell ../nixpkgs-mozilla/release.nix -A gecko.x86_64-linux.gcc --pure
  ... pull the rust compiler
  ... compile the toolchain
[~/mozilla-central] python ./mach build
  ... build firefox desktop
[~/mozilla-central] python ./mach run
  ... run firefox

When enterring the nix-shell, the MOZCONFIG environment variable is set to a local file, named .mozconfig.nix-shell, created each time you enter the nix-shell. You can create your own .mozconfig file which extends the default one, with your own options.

~/mozilla-central$ nix-shell ../nixpkgs-mozilla/release.nix -A gecko.x86_64-linux.gcc --pure
[~/mozilla-central] cat .mozconfig
# Import current nix-shell config.
. .mozconfig.nix-shell

ac_add_options --enable-js-shell
ac_add_options --disable-tests
[~/mozilla-central] export MOZCONFIG=$(pwd)/.mozconfig
[~/mozilla-central] python ./mach build

To avoid repeating your-self, you can also rely on the NIX_SHELL_HOOK environment variable, to reset the MOZCONFIG environment variable for you.

~/mozilla-central$ export NIX_SHELL_HOOK="export MOZCONFIG=$(pwd)/.mozconfig;"
~/mozilla-central$ nix-shell ../nixpkgs-mozilla/release.nix -A gecko.x86_64-linux.gcc --pure
[~/mozilla-central] python ./mach build

TODO