Release 20.06.2

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,6 +6,27 @@
 
 ***
 
+### Release 20.06.2
+
+- Firefox **77.0.1**
+  - **IMPORTANT**: Firefox multi-process mode is default now and therefore larger shared memory (`/dev/shm`) is required (see bellow)
+    - environment variable **MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S** is not set by default any more
+    - **containers with Firefox require larger shared memory** (`/dev/shm`) to run reliably
+      - at least **256MB** is recommended (default is just 64MB)
+      - use `docker run --shm-size=256m`
+        - or `shm_size: 256m` at service level in docker-compose files
+        - see [Firefox multi-process][that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess] in Wiki for description and instructions
+    - this fixes the [issue #7 (Firefox 77.0.1 scrambles pages)](https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/issues/7)
+    - Internet browsing should be **sand-boxed** now
+    - tag `singleprocess` introduced
+      - which is single-threaded, but
+      - please be aware that in **this** release (still Firefox **77.0.1**) webpages still will be scrambled (issue #7)
+      - it should be fixed by Mozilla in the next Firefox release
+- Other changes:
+  - default VNC resolution changed to 1360x768
+  - added some help comments into Dockerfile
+  - README updated
+
 ### Release 20.06.1
 
 - Quick mitigation of issue [#7 (Firefox 77.0.1 scrambles pages)](https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/issues/7)
@@ -260,8 +281,10 @@
 
 [this-docker]: https://hub.docker.com/r/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/
 [this-github]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus
-[this-wiki]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/wiki
 [this-base]: https://hub.docker.com/r/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce
+[this-wiki]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/wiki
+
+[that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess]: https://github.com/accetto/xubuntu-vnc/wiki/Firefox-multiprocess
 
 [accetto-github-ubuntu-vnc-xfce]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce
 [accetto-github-ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox

Dockerfile

@@ -1,7 +1,21 @@
-# ./hooks/build dev
-# ./hooks/build dfw
 # ./hooks/build nux
 # ./hooks/build nux --no-cache
+# ./hooks/build dfw
+# ./hooks/build dfw --no-cache
+# ./hooks/build dev
+# ./hooks/build dev --no-cache
+# ./hooks/build nux-singleprocess
+# ./hooks/build dfw-singleprocess
+# ./hooks/build dev-singleprocess
+
+### Build it locally like, for example:
+### ./utils/util-hdx.sh Dockerfile 2
+### Test it locally like, for example:
+### ./hooks/test nux
+### Result last line should be:
+### + exit 0
+### If 'exit 1' then adjust the version sticker variables in
+### ./hooks/env
 
 ARG BASETAG=latest
 
@@ -11,21 +25,21 @@ FROM accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce:${BASETAG} as stage-install
 USER 0
 
 ### 'apt-get clean' runs automatically
-# RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
-#         firefox \
-#     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+        firefox \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 ### Mitigating issue #7 (Firefox 77.0.1 scrambles pages) - rollback to version 76.0.1
 ### Alternatively install an explicit Firefox version
 ### http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/67.0.4/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-67.0.4.tar.bz2
-ENV \
-    FIREFOX_VERSION=76.0.1 \
-    FIREFOX_DISTRO=linux-x86_64 \
-    FIREFOX_PATH=/usr/lib/firefox
-RUN mkdir -p ${FIREFOX_PATH} \
-    && wget -qO- http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/${FIREFOX_VERSION}/${FIREFOX_DISTRO}/en-US/firefox-${FIREFOX_VERSION}.tar.bz2 \
-        | tar xvj -C /usr/lib/ \
-    && ln -s ${FIREFOX_PATH}/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
+# ENV \
+#     FIREFOX_VERSION=76.0.1 \
+#     FIREFOX_DISTRO=linux-x86_64 \
+#     FIREFOX_PATH=/usr/lib/firefox
+# RUN mkdir -p ${FIREFOX_PATH} \
+#     && wget -qO- http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/${FIREFOX_VERSION}/${FIREFOX_DISTRO}/en-US/firefox-${FIREFOX_VERSION}.tar.bz2 \
+#         | tar xvj -C /usr/lib/ \
+#     && ln -s ${FIREFOX_PATH}/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
 
 ### Alternatively install an explicit Firefox version
 ### http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/67.0.4/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-67.0.4.tar.bz2
@@ -103,7 +117,7 @@ ENV \
   VERSION_STICKER=${ARG_VERSION_STICKER} \
   VNC_BLACKLIST_THRESHOLD=${ARG_VNC_BLACKLIST_THRESHOLD:-20} \
   VNC_BLACKLIST_TIMEOUT=${ARG_VNC_BLACKLIST_TIMEOUT:-0} \
-  VNC_RESOLUTION=${ARG_VNC_RESOLUTION:-1024x768}
+  VNC_RESOLUTION=${ARG_VNC_RESOLUTION:-1360x768}
 
 ### Preconfigure Xfce
 COPY [ "./src/home/Desktop", "./Desktop/" ]

README.md

@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@
 
 ***
 
+**WARNING** about images with Firefox
+
+Starting from the release **20.06.2**, the single-process and multi-process modes of the Firefox browser have been swapped. The mainstream image tagged as `latest` run Firefox with **multi-process enabled** now. A new image tagged as `singleprocess` has been introduced. Be aware, that multi-process requires larger shared memory (`/dev/shm`). At least **256MB** is recommended. Please check the [Firefox multi-process][that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess] page in Wiki for more information and the instructions, how to set the shared memory size in different scenarios.
+
+***
+
 **Attention:** Resources for building images with default Firefox installation without configuration support can be found in its own GitHub repository [ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox][accetto-github-ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox]. Resources for building base images are in the GitHub repository [accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce][accetto-github-ubuntu-vnc-xfce].
 
 **This repository** contains resources for building a Docker image based on [Ubuntu][docker-ubuntu] with [Xfce][xfce] desktop environment, **VNC**/[noVNC][novnc] servers for headless use and the current [Firefox][firefox] web browser with pre-configuration support.
@@ -73,6 +79,11 @@ The image is regularly maintained and rebuilt. The history of notable changes is
     ![badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST][badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST]
     ![badge-github-commit-latest][badge-github-commit-latest]
 
+  - `singleprocess` is similar to `latest`, but it is built without the build argument **ARG_MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S**, so the Firefox multiprocess is **disabled**
+
+    ![badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST][badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST]
+    ![badge-github-commit-latest][badge-github-commit-latest]
+
 - **accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus-preferences**
 
     This image is not actually contained in the [Docker repository][accetto-docker], because it is intended to keep pre-configured user-specific **Firefox preferences**. Users can put their favorite preferences into the configuration files and build the image using the provided [Dockerfile-plus-preferences][this-dockerfile-plus-preferences]. The [HOWTO][this-wiki-howto] page in [Wiki][this-wiki] describes it in more details.
@@ -128,31 +139,32 @@ Examples can be found in [Wiki][this-wiki].
 
 ## Firefox multi-process
 
-Firefox multi-process (also known as **Electrolysis** or just **E10S**) causes in Docker container heavy crashing (**Gah. Your tab just crashed.**) and therefore it needs to be disabled.
+Firefox multi-process (also known as **Electrolysis** or just **E10S**) can cause heavy crashing in Docker containers (**Gah. Your tab just crashed.**) if there is not enough shared memory.
 
-In Firefox versions till **67.0.4** it could be done by setting the preferences **browser.tabs.remote.autostart** and **browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2** to **false**. However, Mozilla has removed this possibility since the Firefox version **68.0**.
+In Firefox versions till **76.0.1** it has been possible to disable multi-process by setting the environment variable **MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S**. However, in Firefox **77.0.1** it has caused ugly scrambling of almost all web pages, because they were not decompressed.
 
-Since than it can be done only by setting the following environment variable:
+Mozilla has fixed the problem in the next release, but they still plan to stop supporting the switch completely. That is why I've decided, that the mainstream image tagged as `latest` will use multi-process by default, even if it requires larger shared memory. On the positive side, performance should be higher and Internet browsing should be sand-boxed.
 
-```bash
-MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S
-```
+A new image tagged as `singleprocess` has been introduced. It can be used in scenarios, where increasing the shared memory size is not possible or not wanted.
+
+Please check the Wiki page [Firefox multi-process][that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess] for more information and the instructions, how the shared memory size can be set in different scenarios.
+
+### Setting shared memory size
 
-Therefore the image tagged `latest` sets this variable to **1** by using the build argument **ARG_MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S**.
+Instability of multi-process Firefox is caused by setting the shared memory size too low. Docker assigns only **64MB** by default. Testing on my computers has shown, that using at least **256MB** completely eliminates the problem. However, it could be different on your system.
 
-Note that any value will actually disable the multi-process feature, so the both following settings would have the same effect:
+The Wiki page [Firefox multi-process][that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess] describes several ways, how to increase the shared memory size. It's really simple, if you need it for a single container started from the command line.
+
+For example, the following container will have its shared memory size set to 256MB:
 
 ```bash
-MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S=1
-MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S=0
+docker run -d -P --shm-size=256m accetto/xubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus
 ```
 
-Building an image without the build argument **ARG_MOZ_FORCE_DISABLE_E10S** enables the Firefox multi-process feature.
-
-To check whether the Firefox multi-process is enabled or disabled, navigate the web browser to the following URL:
+You can check the current shared memory size by executing the following command inside the container:
 
 ```bash
-about:support
+df -h /dev/shm
 ```
 
 ## Running containers in background (detached)
@@ -288,6 +300,8 @@ Credit goes to all the countless people and companies who contribute to open sou
 [this-wiki-troubleshooting]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/wiki/Troubleshooting
 [this-wiki-faq]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/wiki/Frequently-asked-questions
 
+[that-wiki-firefox-multiprocess]: https://github.com/accetto/xubuntu-vnc/wiki/Firefox-multiprocess
+
 [this-dockerfile-plus-preferences]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/blob/master/Dockerfile-plus-preferences
 [this-dockerfile-plus-profile]: https://github.com/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus/blob/master/Dockerfile-plus-profile
 
@@ -358,6 +372,6 @@ Credit goes to all the countless people and companies who contribute to open sou
 
 <!-- latest tag badges -->
 
-[badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST]: https://badgen.net/badge/version%20sticker/ubuntu18.04.4-firefox76.0.1/blue
+[badge-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST]: https://badgen.net/badge/version%20sticker/ubuntu18.04.4-firefox77.0.1/blue
 
 [badge-github-commit-latest]: https://images.microbadger.com/badges/commit/accetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-firefox-plus.svg

hooks/env

@@ -11,28 +11,44 @@ BASETAG=""
 TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
 
 ### Warning! The values must be explicit strings (used by utils).
-VERSION_STICKER_LATEST="ubuntu18.04.4-firefox76.0.1"
+VERSION_STICKER_LATEST="ubuntu18.04.4-firefox77.0.1"
 
 VERSION_STICKER="${VERSION_STICKER_LATEST}"
 
 case "${DOCKER_TAG}" in
 
     latest)
         BASETAG="latest"
-        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
         ;;
 
     dev | dev-preferences | dev-profile)
         BASETAG="dev"
-        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
         ;;
 
     dfw | dfw-preferences | dfw-profile)
         BASETAG="dfw"
-        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
         ;;
 
     nux | nux-preferences | nux-profile)
+        BASETAG="nux"
+        ;;
+
+    singleprocess)
+        BASETAG="latest"
+        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
+        ;;
+
+    dev-singleprocess)
+        BASETAG="dev"
+        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
+        ;;
+
+    dfw-singleprocess)
+        BASETAG="dfw"
+        IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
+        ;;
+
+    nux-singleprocess)
         BASETAG="nux"
         IS_SINGLEPROCESS_BUILD=yes
         ;;