~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev

Releasing Bazaar

================

This document describes the processes for making and announcing a Bazaar

release, and managing the release process.  This is just one phase of the 

`overall development cycle <cycle.html>`_, but it's the most complex part.

This document gives a checklist you can follow from start to end in one

go.

.. contents::

Preparing the tree for release

------------------------------

.. Was previously at http://bazaar-vcs.org/ReleaseChecklist

#. Make a local branch for preparing this release.  (Only for the first 

   release in a series, otherwise you should already have a branch.) ::

     bzr branch trunk prepare-1.6

#. Configure pqm-submit for this branch, with a section like this in

   ``~/.bazaar/locations.conf``::

	[/home/mbp/bzr/prepare-1.4]

	pqm_email = Canonical PQM <pqm@bazaar-vcs.org>

	submit_branch = http://bazaar-vcs.org/bzr/bzr.1.4

	submit_to = bazaar@lists.canonical.com

#. In the release branch, update  ``version_info`` in

   ``./bzrlib/__init__.py``.  Check the output of ``bzr --version``.

#. Add the date and release number to ``./NEWS``

#. Summarize into one or two paragraphs what's new in this release.

#. Commit these changes to the release branch, using a command like::

     bzr commit -m "Release 0.12rc1." 

   The diff before you commit will be something like::

     === modified file 'NEWS'

     --- NEWS        2008-09-17 23:09:18 +0000

     +++ NEWS        2008-09-23 16:14:54 +0000

     @@ -4,6 +4,23 @@

      .. contents::

     +bzr 1.7 2008-09-23

     +------------------

     +

     +This release includes many bug fixes and a few performance and feature

     +improvements.  ``bzr rm`` will now scan for missing files and remove them,

     +like how ``bzr add`` scans for unknown files and adds them. A bit more

     +polish has been applied to the stacking code. The b-tree indexing code has

     +been brought in, with an eye on using it in a future repository format.

     +There are only minor installer changes since bzr-1.7rc2.

     +

      bzr 1.7rc2 2008-09-17

      ---------------------

     === modified file 'bzrlib/__init__.py'

     --- bzrlib/__init__.py  2008-09-16 21:39:28 +0000

     +++ bzrlib/__init__.py  2008-09-23 16:14:54 +0000

     @@ -41,7 +41,7 @@

      # Python version 2.0 is (2, 0, 0, 'final', 0)."  Additionally we use a

      # releaselevel of 'dev' for unreleased under-development code.

     -version_info = (1, 7, 0, 'candidate', 2)

     +version_info = (1, 7, 0, 'final', 0)

      # API compatibility version: bzrlib is currently API compatible with 1.7.

#. Tag the new release::

     bzr tag bzr-1.12rc1 

#. Submit those changes to PQM for merge into the appropriate release

   branch::

     bzr push

     bzr pqm-submit -m "(mbp) prepare 1.6"

#. When PQM succeeds, pull down the master release branch.

Making the source tarball

-------------------------

#. Change into the source directory and run ::

     make dist

   This also makes a zip file, which is easier to access on Microsoft

   Windows.

#. Now we'll try expanding this tarball and running the test suite

   to check for packaging problems::

     make check-dist-tarball

Publishing the release

----------------------

Now you have the releasable product.  The next step is making it

available to the world.

#. In <https://launchpad.net/bzr/> click the "Release series" for this

   series, to take you to e.g. <https://launchpad.net/bzr/1.1>.  Then

   click "Register a release", and add information about this release.

#. Within that release, upload the source tarball and zipfile and the GPG

   signature.  Or, if you prefer, use the

   ``tools/packaging/lp-upload-release`` script to do this.

#. Link from http://bazaar-vcs.org/Download to the tarball and signature.

#. Announce on the `Bazaar home page <http://bazaar-vcs.org/>`_.

#. Check that the documentation for this release is available in 

   <http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org>.  It should be automatically build when the 

   branch is created, by a cron script ``update-bzr-docs`` on

   ``escudero``.

Announcing the release

----------------------

Now that the release is publicly available, tell people about it.

#. Make an announcement mail.

   For release candidates, this is sent to the ``bazaar-announce`` and

   ``bazaar`` lists.  For final releases, it should also be cc'd to 

   ``info-gnu@gnu.org``, ``python-announce-list@python.org``, 

   ``bug-directory@gnu.org``.  In both cases, it is good to set

   ``Reply-To: bazaar@lists.canonical.com``, so that people who reply to

   the announcement don't spam other lists.

   The announce mail will look something like this:

    | Subject: bzr x.yy released!

    | 

    | <<Summary paragraph from news>>

    |

    | The Bazaar team is happy to announce availability of a new 

    | release of the bzr adaptive version control system.

    |

    | Thanks to everyone who contributed patches, suggestions, and

    | feedback.

    | 

    | Bazaar is now available for download from 

    | http://bazaar-vcs.org/Download as a source tarball; packages 

    | for various systems will be available soon.

    | 

    | <<NEWS section from this release back to the last major release>>

#. Make an announcement through <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+announce>

#. Update the IRC channel topic. Use the ``/topic`` command to do this,

   ensuring the new topic text keeps the project name, web site link, etc.

#. Announce on http://freshmeat.net/projects/bzr/

   This should be done for both release candidates and final releases. If

   you do not have a Freshmeat account yet, ask one of the existing

   admins.

#. Update http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bzr -- this should be done for

   final releases but not for Release Candidates.

#. Update the python package index: <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/bzr> - best

   done by running ::

       python setup.py register

   Remember to check the results afterwards.

   To be able to register the release you must create an account on

   <http://pypi.python.org/pypi> and have one of the existing owners of

   the project add you to the group.

Merging the released code back to trunk

---------------------------------------

Merge the release branch back into the trunk.  Check that changes in NEWS

were merged into the right sections.  If it's not already done, advance

the version number in ``bzr`` and ``bzrlib/__init__.py``.  Submit this

back into pqm for bzr.dev.

See also

--------

 * `Packaging into the bzr PPA <ppa.html>`_ to make and publish Ubuntu

   packages.

 * `Bazaar Developer Document Catalog <index.html>`_

 * `Development cycles <cycle.html>`_: things that happen during the cycle

   before the actual release.

..

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