1651130 - Add an "installer pieces" build project that compiles only installer related things: updater, Default Browser Agent, Background Update Agent

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Installer, enhancement)

Description

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

There are a number of bits relevant to the Install/Update team that are compiled code but not part of Firefox proper. Right now, those include:

1. the updater;
2. the Windows Default Browser Agent;
3. the Background Update Agent.

Building Firefox to work on those small pieces is a time consuming. (But sometimes necessary, since especially the updater shares code with Firefox proper.)

This ticket tracks adding an "update pieces" build project (like memory or tools/update-packaging) that builds those pieces separately.

Comment 1

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

I think I'll try to home this in tools/install-update-programs or similar.

Comment 2

[Chris AtLee [:catlee]]

Can these be made into dependencies of the main Firefox build, so that we don't need to rebuild components?

Comment 3

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

(In reply to Chris AtLee [:catlee] from comment #2)

Can these be made into dependencies of the main Firefox build, so that we don't need to rebuild components?

It might be possible, but it's really not worth the effort: the total time to build these components is ~2 minutes locally. You can see why it would be nice to be able to focus on these as a member of the Install/Update team, but there's only overhead for folks not focusing on these components.

Comment 4

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

Attachment: Bug 1651130 - Pre: Allow to version executables without widgeting. r?#build

Comment 5

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

Attachment: Bug 1651130 - Part 1: Extract NSS and "update programs" configuration. r?#build

This is just re-arranging the deckchairs in preparation for adding an
"update programs" build project. Here "update programs" refers to the
various standalone binaries we produce in order to update Firefox.
There's not strong conceptual coherence between them; rather, it's the
pieces that the Install/Update team generally work on.

Depends on D82642

Comment 6

[Nick Alexander :nalexander [he/him]]

Attachment: Bug 1651130 - Part 2: Add a new `tools/update-programs` build project. r?#build

Here "update programs" refers to the various standalone binaries we
produce in order to update Firefox. There's not strong conceptual
coherence between them; rather, it's the pieces that the
Install/Update team generally work on.

To use this build project, prepare a minimal mozconfig with
--enable-project=tools/update-programs. Depending on the mozconfig
options and host and target OS, some of the following will be built:

1. the maintenance service;
2. the updater binary;
3. the Windows Default Browser Agent;
4. the Background Update Agent.

Depends on D82643

Comment 7

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/be87ca66df9d
Part 1: Extract NSS and "update programs" configuration. r=froydnj
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/3adbd8782bf7
Part 2: Add a new `tools/update-programs` build project. r=froydnj

Comment 8

[Andreea Pavel [:apavel]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/be87ca66df9d
https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/3adbd8782bf7