build-filezilla-client.md

Cross-compile FileZilla Client 3.65.x on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL1)

Guide is based on FileZilla at v3.65.0 and libfilezilla v0.44 (r40) in the SVN - all attempts will be made to keep guide relatively current. Some dependencies are version specific based on the SVN revision of FileZilla and libfilezilla - recommended to follow versions as noted.

• REQUIRES Windows 10 r1607 or higher
• The filezilla-project recommends Debian 11 (bullseye) for cross-compile so it will be used here.
• All parts of this guide assume that your Program Files (x86) folder is located on drive C:
  You may need to adjust certain paths in these guides as needed to accomodate differences.
• RECOMMENDED (but not required) to install a clean WSL userspace for this process.
  • Importing a clean userspace into WSL defaults that userspace to the root user. This means sudo and other permissions requirements are generally not encountered.
  • A TL;DR guide to installing a clean WSL userspace can be found here.
• This guide assumes you have knowledge of linux permissions and usage of sudo elevation as necessary.

Prepare Build Environment

(in Windows) Download and install NSIS from SourceForge
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nsis/files/NSIS%203/3.09/nsis-3.09-setup.exe/download

Launch WSL

Add 32bit architecture for compiling Windows shell extension:

dpkg --add-architecture i386

RECOMMENDED: Update the userspace prior to proceeding.

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

Install required packages:

apt-get install wget git subversion \
    gettext lzip automake autoconf autogen autopoint \
    libtool make pkg-config wx-common \
    mingw-w64 mingw-w64-tools

Install optional colormake package (better visibility of any compile errors):

apt-get install colormake

Setup some paths:

mkdir /sources && mkdir /builds && mkdir /builds/filezilla && mkdir /builds/filezilla/client64

Configure environment variables

optional: download helper script via wget from here to /sources folder and execute via . /sources/setenv-buildfz client64

export TPFX="/builds/filezilla/client64"
export THOST="x86_64-w64-mingw32"
export TBLD="x86_64-pc-linux"
export PATH="$TPFX/bin:$PATH"
export CPPFLAGS="-I$TPFX/include"
export LDFLAGS="-L$TPFX/lib"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="-L$TPFX/lib"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$TPFX/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"

Download/Unpack Sources

Change to /sources folder before continuing.

Dependencies

GMP

wget https://gmplib.org/download/gmp/gmp-6.3.0.tar.lz
tar xvf gmp-6.3.0.tar.lz

Nettle

wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/nettle/nettle-3.9.1.tar.gz
tar xvf nettle-3.9.1.tar.gz

zlib

wget http://zlib.net/zlib-1.3.tar.gz
tar xf zlib-1.3.tar.gz

gnuTLS

wget https://www.gnupg.org/ftp/gcrypt/gnutls/v3.8/gnutls-3.8.1.tar.xz
tar xvf gnutls-3.8.1.tar.xz

sqlite

wget https://www.sqlite.org/2023/sqlite-autoconf-3430000.tar.gz
tar xvf sqlite-autoconf-3430000.tar.gz

wxWidgets
(latest 3.2 branch stable):

wget https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets/releases/download/v3.2.2.svn co -r 10987 https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/libfilezilla/trunk libfilezillasvn co -r 10997 https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/FileZilla3/trunk filezilla1/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1.tar.bz2
tar xjvf wxWidgets-3.2.2.1.tar.bz2
mv wxWidgets-3.2.2.1 wxWidgets-3.2.x

(latest 3.2 branch development):

git clone --branch 3.2 --single-branch https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets.git wxWidgets-3.2.x

libfilezilla
(latest stable - 0.44.0 as of this guide against FileZilla v3.65.0):

svn co -r 10987 https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/libfilezilla/trunk libfilezilla

(latest development):

svn co https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/libfilezilla/trunk libfilezilla

FileZilla
(latest stable - 3.65.0 as of this guide against libfilezilla 0.44):

svn co -r 10997 https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/FileZilla3/trunk filezilla

(latest development):

svn co https://svn.filezilla-project.org/svn/FileZilla3/trunk filezilla

Build Dependencies

Most modern hardware is multi-core enabled. When running make parallel builds can speed up compilation. All make commands below assume usage of a parallel build via -jN parameter where N = totalCoresAvailable - 1.
Example (quad core): make -j3.

Change to /sources folder before continuing.

COMPILE GMP

cd gmp-6.3.0

CC_FOR_BUILD=gcc ./configure --host=$THOST --prefix="$TPFX" --disable-static --enable-shared --enable-fat CFLAGS="-Wno-attributes"

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE NETTLE

cd nettle-3.9.1

./configure --host=$THOST --prefix="$TPFX" --enable-shared --disable-static --enable-fat 

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE ZLIB

cd zlib-1.3

CHOST=$THOST SHAREDLIB=zlib1.dll IMPLIB=zlib1.dll.a ./configure --prefix="$TPFX" 

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE GNUTLS

cd gnutls-3.8.1

autoreconf -f -i

./configure \
--build=$TBLD \
--host=$THOST \
--prefix="$TPFX" \
--enable-shared \
--disable-static \
--without-p11-kit \
--with-included-libtasn1 \
--with-included-unistring \
--enable-local-libopts \
--disable-srp-authentication \
--disable-dtls-srtp-support \
--disable-heartbeat-support \
--disable-psk-authentication \
--disable-anon-authentication \
--disable-openssl-compatibility \
--without-tpm \
--without-brotli \
--disable-cxx \
--disable-guile \
--disable-doc \
--disable-maintainer-mode \
--disable-libdane \
--enable-threads=windows \
--disable-tools \
ARFLAGS="cr" \
CFLAGS="-Wno-unused-function -Wno-unused-variable -Wno-unused-macros"

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE SQLITE

cd sqlite-autoconf-3430000

./configure --host=$THOST --prefix="$TPFX" --enable-shared --disable-static --disable-dynamic-extensions LDFLAGS=

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE WXWIDGETS

cd wxWidgets-3.2.x

./configure --host=$THOST --build=$TBLD --prefix="$TPFX" --enable-shared --disable-gtktest --disable-sdltest --enable-vendor=mingw32 --disable-compat28

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE LIBFILEZILLA

As of v0.33 (r20) of libfilezilla, a compile error exists on MinGW due to libuuid not truly being an import library with libtool. It needs to be pulled in via gcc differently to successfully build. A .patch file is available here and must be applied before autoreconf. Visual here: https://github.com/thecarnie/make-filezilla/blob/main/patches/patch-libfilezilla-0.32-0.33.x-mingw-uuid.patch
No patch is needed for v0.34.0 and above.

cd libfilezilla

autoreconf -f -i
./configure --host=$THOST --build=$TBLD --prefix="$TPFX" --enable-shared --disable-static ARFLAGS=cr

make -jN && make install

cd ..

COMPILE FILEZILLA

Under WSL, path issues cause GCC's objdump to pull in too many DLLs for export. A .patch file is available here that resolves this issue against v3.55.1 and up of the code so that DLLs are properly dumped for linking, as well as collecting for the installer package. Patch must be applied before autoreconf. WARNING: verify patch against local file before applying - updates to filezilla source may affect patch. Visual here: https://github.com/thecarnie/make-filezilla/blob/main/patches/patch-filezilla-Makefile.am.patch

If you wish to make use of precompiled headers, the following patch is required to overcome MinGW GCC-10 dumpversion output readible by configure. A .patch file is available here that resolves this issue and allows configure to properly detect a valid compiler and use precompiled headers. Patch must be applied before autoreconf. WARNING: verify patch against local file before applying - updates to filezilla source may affect patch. Visual here: https://github.com/thecarnie/make-filezilla/blob/main/patches/patch-filezilla-configure.ac-mingw-pch.patch

cd filezilla

autoreconf -f -i
./configure --host=$THOST --build=$TBLD --prefix="$TPFX" --enable-shared --disable-static --with-pugixml=builtin --with-wx-config="$TPFX/bin/wx-config"

make -jN

If you get an error about missing Boost Regex required, run the steps below, then go back and re-run FileZilla configure and make steps.

apt-get install build-essential
wget https://boostorg.jfrog.io/artifactory/main/release/1.83.0/source/boost_1_83_0.tar.bz2
tar xjvf boost_1_83_0.tar.bz2
cd boost_1_83_0
echo "using gcc :  : x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ ;" > user-config.jam
./bootstrap.sh
./b2 --user-config=./user-config.jam --with-regex --prefix=$TPFX target-os=windows address-model=64 variant=release install

The FileZilla.exe should now be compiled. The following commands will cleanup debug symbols and package the installer.

optional: download helper script via wget from here to /sources folder and execute via . /sources/package-fz-installer

$THOST-strip /sources/filezilla/src/interface/.libs/filezilla.exe
$THOST-strip /sources/filezilla/src/putty/.libs/*.exe
$THOST-strip /sources/filezilla/src/fzshellext/64/.libs/libfzshellext-0.dll
$THOST-strip /sources/filezilla/src/fzshellext/32/.libs/libfzshellext-0.dll
$THOST-strip /sources/filezilla/data/dlls_gui/*.dll

cd /sources/filezilla/data
"/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/NSIS/makensis.exe" install.nsi

cp FileZilla_3*_setup.exe $TPFX/..

cd $TPFX/..

---

There should now be a FileZilla_3_setup.exe file available in the /builds/filezilla folder ready for installation on Windows.