In early July, we added --enable-nodejs as an optional feature to
configure. This was a first step towards being able to use Node-based
JavaScript and CSS tooling (e.g. Babel, PostCSS, bundlers like Webpack,
etc.) as part of the regular build process. We plan to set --enable-nodejs
as the default on August 15th, thereby requiring Node to build Firefox by
default. It will be possible to disable this flag for several weeks. After
the transition period, there will be a hard requirement on Node to build
Firefox.
How will this affect me?
-
Developers who don’t have Node 8.11.0 or later installed will need to
get it:
-
Execute `mach bootstrap --no-system-changes`, and a Mozilla-private
copy of NodeJS will be installed in your home directory
(~/.mozbuild/node).
configure will always prefer that copy of Node to anything in
your $PATH.
-
This should just work for Mac, Windows, and key versions of Linux
(currently expected to be _at_least_ Ubuntu LTS 16.04, Debian 9.5
Stable/Stretch, and CentOS 7), including for Android targets. See below
for more details on other versions, OSes, and distributions.
-
If this causes a problem and you don’t have time to debug it now,
just add `ac_add_options --disable-nodejs` to your .mozconfig,
which will
buy ~4 weeks of time to debug this issue. Please DO file a bug in
Firefox Build System :: Bootstrap Configuration, and CC dm...@mozilla.org
<https://mzl.la/2OiVPNd]> so that we can look into the problem!
-
The version of Linux that I develop on wasn’t listed above! What should
I do?
-
Chances are reasonable that your version of Linux will just work. This
particularly applies to newer versions of the distributions above, but
likely applies to some other distributions as well.
-
Once `mach bootstrap --no-system-changes` (bug 1481693
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1481693>) lands in the
tree, people can start testing and updating our compatibility spreadsheet
<http://bit.ly/2ONtXC5>. I’ll post to dev-builds, dev-platform, and
firefox-dev when that happens.
-
If your OS version hasn’t been tested, please try running `mach
bootstrap --no-system-changes`, and if there’s a problem, please update the
spreadsheet and file a bug in Firefox Build System :: Bootstrap
Configuration, and CC <https://mzl.la/2OiVPNd]>dm...@mozilla.org.
Patches, of course, are gladly accepted.
-
If we made a mistake, and there’s a version that you think needs to be
in the “must works” list above, please file a bug in Firefox Build
System :: Bootstrap Configuration, and CC dm...@mozilla.org
<https://mzl.la/2OiVPNd]>
-
Maintainers of Firefox builds for OSes which ship Firefox
-
You’ll need to provide access to NodeJS 8.11.0 or newer in your $PATH
when building Firefox.
-
You can manage the installation any way you like (native package
managers seem like likely choices, and https://nodejs.org/en/download/
may prove useful)
-
We will accept patches for `mach bootstrap` if you wish to make this
method more broadly available. It may be worth basing patches on those
already in bug 1470332
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1470332>.
What does the current schedule look like?
-
Thursday, August 9 (mc=63): `mach bootstrap --no-system-changes` can now
install a Mozilla-private NodeJS toolchain in ~/.mozbuild (and
developers/distros can start testing the bootstrap support)
-
Weds, August 15 (mc=63, 8 days before soft freeze): --enable-nodejs
becomes the default for mozilla-central (distros or developers must install
node; those who have issues can set --disable-nodejs, which will be valid
until the early part of the 64 nightly cycle)
-
if high-risk/hard-to-fix problems found, we would simply revert this
change for 63
-
Make GO/NO-GO decision re riding trains
-
after discussion with relman, this seems not worthwhile, since
problems would most likely happen at or immediately after landing time.
-
Tues, September 11 (mc=64): nodejs becomes a hard dependency for Firefox
builds when --disable-nodejs is removed.
-
For those who want more detail about each of these steps, this work is
being driven as part of an Activity-Stream project with a more in-depth
roadmap
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nojeVR0ufKJMuiQD8KuV1TaFEmuDRJRweNsvGQcxR3Q>
Can I set up and check my machine/distro beforehand to avoid problems once
Node becomes a hard requirement?
-
Yes, PLEASE! When we land the `mach bootstrap --no-system-changes`
support for Node, we’ll post more detailed instructions on how to debug
issues ahead of time.
What about node_modules and npm/yarn packages?
-
No new packages from the npm or yarn registries are landing as part of
this patch.
-
In the immediate future, individual packages will be vendored in on a
case-by-case basis.
-
Immediately after NodeJS lands, and before we start landing packages
into the top-level node_modules, I’ll be drafting some straw-man policies
for packages and their dependencies (i.e., specific details on what sorts
of packages will be allowed, how we’ll handle security, licenses, etc).
I’ll be posting to the usual places (mozilla.dev.builds,
mozilla.dev.platform, firefox-dev) requesting comment and further
discussion.
What’s next for Node in the tree?
-
The first customer for this code is expected to be DevTools, who will
use a standalone version of Babel to transpile JSX to JS files as part of
the build (bug 1461714
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1461714>), so that
checking in JS build artifacts is no longer necessary. This will be a
first step in making risk-analysis / bug-finding / uplifting more efficient
for release engineers, sheriffs, and others.
-
Drafting, circulating, and iterating on the node_modules proposal
described above.
-
Landing an initial prototype of a single node_module with dependencies
(possibly PostCSS)
Where can I read a more detailed analysis as to why we’re doing this?
-
The detailed rationale, along with important tradeoffs and risks, are
described in Nick Alexander’s Intent-to-require document
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tOA2aeyjT93OoMv5tUMhAPOkf4rF_IJIHCAoJlwmDHI/edit?usp=sharing>,
which was posted for comment to dev-platform
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/mozilla.dev.platform/7sPFmewLoUg>
and dev-builds
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/mozilla.dev.builds/kuo6WycEcFk/jrdYydhHAQAJ>
in February. Note that a few parts of the document are out of date, and
I’ve attempted to annotate those parts as comments in the document.
There is still a problem/concern/issue that I think needs to be addressed
before the landing happens. What should I do?
-
For technical/process questions, feel free to respond to the mailing
list where you saw this question, email me directly, or ask in #go-node in
slack.
-
For bigger issues (eg “I don’t think this should land yet”, “there’s a
big problem that’s likely to affect one or more groups of people”), feel
free to reach out to one of: Dan Mosedale (me) <
https://mozillians.org/en-US/u/dmose/>, Greg Szorc (build module owner -
https://mozillians.org/en-US/u/gps/), or Kim Moir (engineering manager,
build and vcs - https://mozillians.org/en-US/u/kmoir/).
Thanks muchly to a bunch of folks who have helped make this happen; most
especially Nick Alexander and Greg Szorc, but also (in alphabetical order)
Alexander Poirot, Chris Karlof, Jason Laster, Kate Hudson, Kim Moir, Mike
Shal, and Tim Spurway. Apologies to anyone I’ve inadvertently forgotten!
Dan
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