~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

<http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/developers/cycle.html>`_, (go re-read this

document to ensure it hasn't been updated since you last read it) but it's

the most complex part.

If you're doing your first release you can follow this document and read

each step explanation. It's also a good practice to read it for any release

to ensure you don't miss a step and to update it as the release process

evolves.

If you're helping the Release Manager (RM) for one reason or another, you

may notice that he didn't follow that document scrupulously. He may have

good reasons to do that but he may also have missed some parts.

.. contents::

Preconditions

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

#. PQM access rights (or you won't be able to land any change)

#. Download the pqm plugin and install it into your ``~/.bazaar/plugins``::

     bzr branch lp:bzr-pqm ~/.bazaar/plugins/pqm

#. Alternatively, you can download and install ``lp:hydrazine`` (the main

   difference is that hydrazine requires the branch to land to be hosted on

   launchpad).

What do we release

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

In this document, we're talking about source releases only, packages and

installers are built from this but we won't talk about them here.

Every release is part of a series, ``bzr-2.4.1`` is part of series ``2.4``.

We do two different kind of releases: the betas releases and the stable

releases for a given series.

For a given series, releases will be done to deliver new versions of bzr to

different kinds of users:

#. beta releases: named ``x.ybn`` where ``x.y`` is the series and ``n``

   starts at 1 and is incremented. These releases are targeted to beta

   testers who don't want to run from source but are interested in features

   or improvements.

#. stable releases: name ``x.y.z`` where ``x.y.`` is the series and ``z``

   starts at 1 and is incremented. These releases are targeted at people

   that want bugfixes only and no new features.

Differences in the release process between beta and stable release will be

mentioned when needed.

When do we relase ?

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

As of July 2011, we maintain four series (and one that is about to be EOLed).

Concurrently releasing them all at the same time makes it harder to shorten

the delay between the source availability and the package building longer

than necessary (we delay the official announcement until most of our users

can install the new release).

In order to continue to do time-based releases, we need to plan the

releases by series to minimize the collisions. In the end, it's the Release

Manager call to decide whether he prefers to do all releases at once

though, so the rules presented here are a conservative approach.

We want to respect the following rules:

#. as much as possible releases should not disturb development, and

   ongoing development should not disturb releases,

#. the most recent development series should release once a month during

   the beta period (see `Development cycles <cycle.html>`_ for more

   details),

#. the most recent stable series should release every other month (based

   on the amount of bug fixes, this can be shorter or longer depending on

   the bugs importance),

#. previous series should release on a regular basis without interfering

   with the most recent series with a decreasing order of priority (again

   this should be based on bugs importance and user feedback),

#. the death of a series should be planned ahead of time. 6 months should

   give enough time to our users to migrate to a more recent series. This

   doesn't mean we will make a release at the end of the series, just that

   before the end date we *could* possibly put out another release if

   there was a sufficiently important fix.  Beyond that date, we won't

   even land changes on that branch (unless something causes a miraculous

   resurrection.)

#. there should not be more than 2 releases in the same week (but the

   Release Manager is free to ignore this (get in touch with packagers

   though),

#. the series are aligned with Ubuntu releases for convenience since we

   create a new series every 6 months. This means that we support the

   stable series for 18 months. Note that we also propose the most recent

   stable series via the stable PPA but that the SRU processs allow us to

   reach a wider audience.

At the start of a series cycle

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

To start a new series cycle:

#. Create a new series ``x.y`` at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+addseries>.

#. Add milestones at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+addmilestone> to that

   series for the beta releases and the stable series mentioning their

   expected dates. Only the milestone associated to the next release in

   this series should be left active to avoid clutter when targeting bugs.

#. If you made a new series, you will need to create a new pqm-controlled

   branch for this release series. This branch will be used only from the

   first non-beta release onwards. It needs to be created by a Canonical

   sysadmin (ask the core devs for instructions or to do it for you).

#. Start a new release-notes file::

       cd doc/en/release-notes

       cp series-template.txt bzr-x.y.txt  # e.g. bzr-2.3.txt

       bzr add bzr-x.y.txt

#. Start a new whats-new file::

       cd doc/en/whats-new

       cp template.txt bzr-x.y.txt  # e.g. bzr-2.6.txt

       bzr add bzr-x.y.txt

At the start of a release cycle

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

To start a new release cycle:

#. Send mail to the list with the key dates, who will be the release

   manager, and the main themes or targeted bugs.  Ask people to nominate

   objectives, or point out any high-risk things that are best done early,

   or that interact with other changes. This is called the metronome mail

   and is described in `Development cycles <cycle.html>`_.

#. Make a local branch to prepare the release::

        bzr branch lp:bzr/x.y x.y-dev

   If you're doing your first beta release, branch from trunk::

       bzr branch lp:bzr x.y-dev

   Note that you will generally reuse the same branch for all releases in a

   given series.

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

   ``x.y`` is the series for your release). **Or use hydrazine for easier

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

	[/home/mbp/bzr/x.y-dev]

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

	submit_branch = http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr-pqm/bzr/x.y

	parent_branch = http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr-pqm/bzr/x.y

	public_branch = http://bazaar.example.com/x.y-dev

	submit_to = bazaar@lists.canonical.com

	smtp_server = mail.example.com:25

    Please see <http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/developers/HACKING.html#an-overview-of-pqm>

    for more details on PQM

#. Update the version number in the ``bzr`` script, and the

   ``bzrlib/__init__.py`` file::

       version_info = (x, y, z, 'dev', 0)

#. Add a new section at the top of the current release notes (in

   ``doc/en/release-notes``) about the new release, including its version

   number and the headings from ``release-template.txt``.

#. Update the "What's New" documents in ``doc/en/whats-new``.

#. Make sure a milestone exists for your release and that it is active,

   <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y> lists the existing milestones,

   <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.y.z/+edit> allows you to toggle the

   active flag.

#. Commit this and send it to PQM.

Doing a particular release

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

Update the source code

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

#. Check that there is a milestone for the release you're doing. If there

   is no milestone it indicates a process problem - make the milestone but

   also mail the list to raise this issue in our process. Milestones are

   found at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+milestone/x.y.z>.

#. Merge into your branch all previous stable series fixes that haven't been

   merged yet. For example, if you're releasing 2.5.x, make sure the fixes

   on 2.4, 2.3, etc have already been merged up::

     bzr merge lp:bzr/2.4

   and commit that merge in its own commit. This should happen only if the

   devs landing changes in previous releases forgot to merge them up. Since

   this can slow down the freeze, feel free to gently remind them about

   their duties ;) If you feel unsafe resolving the conflicts or it's too

   time consuming, contact the related devs and skip this merge.

#. In the release branch, update  ``version_info`` in ``./bzrlib/__init__.py``.

   Make sure the corresponding milestone exists.

   Double check that ./bzr ``_script_version`` matches ``version_info``. Check

   the output of ``./bzr --version``.

   For beta releases use::

       version_info = (2, 1, 0, 'beta', SERIAL)

   For instance 2.1b1::

       version_info = (2, 1, 0, 'beta', 1)

   For stable releases use::

       version_info = (2, 1, 2, 'final', 0)

#. Update the ``./doc/en/release-notes/`` section for this release.

   Check that all news entries related to this release have been added in

   the right section. For example, if you're releasing 2.5b2, the following

   command should display a a single chuk diff for the 2.5b2 release::

     bzr diff -rbzr-2.5b1.. doc/en/release-notes/bzr-2.5.txt

   Fill out the date and a description of the release under the existing

   header (the diff above will help you summarizing). If there isn't one,

   follow the instructions above for using the ``release-template.txt`` file

   and remind people that they should document their changes there ;)

   See *2.1.1* or similar for an example of what this looks like.

#. Add or check the summary of the release into the "What's New" document.

#. To check that all bugs mentioned in the release notes are actually

   marked as closed in Launchpad, you can run

   ``tools/check-newsbugs.py``::

     ./tools/check-newsbugs.py doc/en/release-notes/bzr-x.y.txt

   As of 2011-07-18, all bugs mentioned in the output of the script requires

   some sort of intervention (either changing the status if it's not 'Fix

   Released' or setting a different milestone if the bug hasn't been

   fixed). A few false positives may remain in the older series, don't let

   this slow you down too much. This script accepts options you may find

   useful, use ``./tools/check-newsbugs.py`` to display its usage (``-w``

   will open each bug in your browser for example).

#. For beta releases update the translation template::

     BZR_PLUGIN_PATH=-site make po/bzr.pot

   This is especially important for the final beta release which is

   when translations are frozen and translators are requested to make

   the translations.

#. For stable releases update the translations::

     bzr merge lp:~bzr-core/bzr/bzr-translations-export-x.y

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

     bzr commit -m "Release 2.3.1"

   The diff before you commit will be something like::

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

      --- bzrlib/__init__.py	2011-02-09 06:35:00 +0000

      +++ bzrlib/__init__.py	2011-03-10 10:24:47 +0000

      @@ -52,7 +52,7 @@

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

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

      -version_info = (2, 3, 1, 'dev', 0)

      +version_info = (2, 3, 1, 'final', 0)

       # API compatibility version

       api_minimum_version = (2, 3, 0)

      === modified file 'doc/en/release-notes/bzr-2.3.txt'

      --- doc/en/release-notes/bzr-2.3.txt	2011-03-09 08:30:16 +0000

      +++ doc/en/release-notes/bzr-2.3.txt	2011-03-10 10:40:47 +0000

      @@ -8,23 +8,10 @@

       bzr 2.3.1

       #########

      -:2.3.1: NOT RELEASED YET

      -

      -External Compatibility Breaks

      -*****************************

      -

      -.. These may require users to change the way they use Bazaar.

      -

      -New Features

      -************

      -

      -.. New commands, options, etc that users may wish to try out.

      -

      -Improvements

      -************

      -

      -.. Improvements to existing commands, especially improved performance 

      -   or memory usage, or better results.

      +:2.3.1: 2011-03-10

      +

      +This is a bugfix release. Upgrading is recommended for all users of earlier

      +2.3 releases.

       Bug Fixes

       *********

      === modified file 'doc/en/whats-new/whats-new-in-2.3.txt'

      --- doc/en/whats-new/whats-new-in-2.3.txt	2011-02-03 16:29:18 +0000

      +++ doc/en/whats-new/whats-new-in-2.3.txt	2011-03-10 11:10:36 +0000

      @@ -17,8 +17,13 @@

       improvements made to the core product, it highlights enhancements within the

       broader Bazaar world of potential interest to those upgrading.

      -Bazaar 2.3.0 is fully compatible both locally and on the network with 2.0 2.1,

      -and 2.2, and can read and write repositories generated by all previous

      +Bazaar 2.3.1 includes all the fixes in the un-released 2.0.7, 2.1.4 and 2.2.5

      +versions that weren't included in 2.3.0 and fixes some bugs on its own.

      +

      +See the :doc:`../release-notes/index` for details.

      +

      +Bazaar 2.3 is fully compatible both locally and on the network with 2.0, 2.1,

      +and 2.2. It can read and write repositories generated by all previous

       versions.

       Changed Behaviour

#. Tag the new release::

     bzr tag bzr-2.3.1

#. Push those changes to a bzr branch that is public and accessible on the

   Internet. PQM will pull from this branch when it attempts to merge your

   changes. Then submit those changes to PQM for merge into the appropriate

   release branch::

     bzr push

     bzr pqm-submit -m "(vila) Release 2.3.1 (Vincent Ladeuil)"

   Note that ``bzr push`` should mention updating one tag (which you just

   created). If it doesn't, double-check that you created (and pushed) this

   tag.

   Or with hydrazine::

     bzr lp-propose -m "Release 1.14" --approve lp:bzr/1.14

     feed-pqm bzr

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

Making the source tarball

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

#. Change into the source directory and run ::

     make dist

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

   to check for packaging problems::

     make check-dist-tarball | subunit2pyunit

   You may encounter failures while running the test suite caused by your

   locally installed plugins. Use your own judgment to decide if you can

   release with these failures. When in doubt, disable the faulty plugins

   one by one until you get no more failures. Alternatively, you can use

   ``BZR_DISABLE_PLUGINS`` or ``BZR_PLUGIN_PATH=-site`` to disable one or

   all plugins.

   Until <http://pad.lv/839461> is fixed, you may encounter issues if you

   cut a release for old stable branches (<= 2.2) and use a more recent

   OS/distro. If that's the case, check the bug status and use the following

   workaround if no fix is available::

     export TTPATH=<local branch of lp:testtools -r 0.9.2>

     export SUPATH=<local branch of lp:subunit -r 0.0.6>

     PYTHONPATH=$TTPATH:$SUPATH/python PATH=$SUPATH/filters:${PATH} BZR_PLUGIN_PATH=-site make check-dist-tarball PYTHON=python2.6 | subunit2pyunit

   Remember that PQM has just tested everything too, this step is

   particularly testing that the pyrex extensions, which are updated

   by your local pyrex version when you run make dist, are in good

   shape.

Publishing the source tarball

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

#. Go to the relevant <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y> series page in Launchpad.

#. Create a release of the milestone, and upload the source tarball and

   the GPG signature.  Or, if you prefer, use the

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

   this changes what the download widget on the Launchpad bzr home

   page shows, so don't stop the release process yet, or platform binary

   installers won't be made and the download list will stay very small!

   <https://bugs.launchpad.net/launchpad/+bug/586445>

Kick off the next cycle

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

From that point, there is no possible return, the tarball has been uploaded

so you can relax a bit.

You're still holding a "social" lock on the launchpad branch though. Until

your start the next cycle, nobody should land anything on this branch. If

they do, they either targeted the wrong branch or didn't update the news

file correctly, so the sooner the branch is opened again, the better.

This matters more for ``lp:bzr`` than for ``lp:bzr/x.y``, ``lp:bzr`` should

always be open for landing, so you should do `At the start of a release

cycle`_ as soon as possible (i.e. update the version number in ``bzr`` and

``bzrlib/__init__``, create/update the news files and create/update the

milestone for the next relase).

You may also need to do `At the start of a series cycle`_ if you're starting

a new series.

The final beta - branching and translations

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

A word of caution: the instructions above works well for all releases but

there is one special case that requires a bit more care: when you release

the *last* beta for a given ``x.y`` series (from trunk aka lp:bzr), you need

to setup *two* branches for the next cycle:

#. ``lp:bzr`` needs to be opened for the next *series* ``x.(y+1)``

#. ``lp:bzr/x.y`` needs to be opened for the next *release* ``x.y.0`` in the

   series. Since this is first real use of ``lp:bzr/x.y``, this is also the

   deadline for the PQM branch to be created.

Both are important as ``lp:bzr`` should remain open so any change can be

landed, ``lp:bzr/x.y`` on the other hand should be ready to receive bug

fixes.

``lp:bzr`` is generally more important as the bug fixes on ``lp:bzr/x.y``

won't be released sooner than a month from now whereas people may already

been waiting to land on ``lp:bzr``.

In a nutshell:

#. Create or update the ``x.y`` PQM branch based on whatever

   revision you want to release

#. Open ``lp:bzr`` for ``x.(y+1)``

#. Release ``x.y.0`` from ``lp:bzr/x.y``

#. Open ``lp:bzr/x.y`` for bug fixes

You also need to ensure Launchpad is set up to import/export

translations for the new branch and inform translators.

#. Push a branch::

     bzr push lp:~bzr-core/bzr/bzr-translations-export-x.y

#. On the translations series synchronization settings page

   <https://translations.launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+translations-settings>

   turn on ``Import template files`` then for exports click ``Choose a

   target branch`` and point it at the branch you just pushed.

#. E-mail translators to announce that the forthcoming stable release

   of bzr is ready for translations.  Send to

   ``translators@lists.launchpad.net`` and

   ``ubuntu-translators@lists.ubuntu.com``.

#. The series is now frozen for strings and API, see below for adding

   that to the announcement.

Announcing the source freeze

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

#. Post to the ``bazaar@lists.canonical.com`` and

   ``bzr-packagers@list.launchpad.net`` lists, saying that the source has

   been frozen. Be extra clear that this is only a *source* release targeted

   at packagers and installer builders (see

   <https://bugs.launchpad.net/launchpad/+bug/645084>).  This is the cue for

   platform maintainers and plugin authors to update their code.  This is

   done before the general public announcement of the release.

   The freeze announcement generally guess the date of the official public

   announcement, for the most recent stable series (the one supported by the

   installers and most of the distributions) it's generally a few days after

   the freeze. For older series supported only via SRUs for Ubuntu, we don't

   control the process as tightly so guessing the date is not appropriate.

   For the final beta release include in your announcement a notice of

   API and translation freezes nothing that public methods should not

   be removed or changed and strings should not be added or changed.

#. Pause for a few days. 

Publishing the release

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

There is normally a delay of a few days after the source freeze to allow

for binaries to be built on various platforms.  Once they have been built,

we have a releasable product.  The next step is to make it generally

available to the world.

#. Go to the release web page at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.y.z>

#. Announce on the `Bazaar website <http://bazaar.canonical.com/>`_.

   This page is edited via the lp:bzr-website branch. (Changes

   pushed to this branch are refreshed by a cron job on escudero.)

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

   <http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com>.  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 beta releases, this is sent to the ``bazaar@lists.canonical.com`` and

   ``bazaar-announce@lists.canonical.com`` lists.

   For stable releases (excluding SRUs which are for older stable releases),

   it should also be cc'd to ``info-gnu@gnu.org``,

   ``python-announce-list@python.org``, ``bug-directory@gnu.org``.

   In all 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.y.z released!

      The Bazaar team is happy to announce availability of a new

      release of the bzr adaptive version control system.

      Bazaar <http://bazaar.canonical.com/> is a Canonical project and part

      of the GNU project <http://gnu.org/> to produce a free operating

      system.

      <<Summary paragraph from news>>

      Thanks to everyone who contributed patches, suggestions, and

      feedback.

      Bazaar is now available for download from

      https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.y.z/ as a source tarball; packages

      for various systems will be available soon.

      <<release notes from this release back to the last major release>>

   Feel free to tweak this to your taste.

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

#. Announce on http://freecode.com/projects/bazaar-vcs

   This should be done for beta releases and stable releases. If you do not

   have a Freecode account yet, ask one of the existing admins.

   The purpose here is to point users to the latest stable release

   (i.e. SRUs are excluded) while still publishing announcements for beta

   releases.

   There are several kinds of modifications that could be done there via the

   ``Administration`` box in the lower right area of the page:

   * Edit the project: This is where most of the URLs proposed in the

     ``Links`` box are edited. This should rarely change except for the URLs

     related to the latest stable release.

   * New announcement: When doing a release, put the summary of the release

     (you can't embed URLs there, the moderation staff remove them). Users

     can still access the releases notes via the ``Release Notes`` URL in

     the ``Links`` box in the upper right area of the page. When doing the

     first stable release in a series, delete the ``Unstable installers``

     <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.ybn> and ``Unstable source tarball``

     <http://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.ybn/+download/bzr-x.ybn.tar.gz>

     links. Conversely, when creating the first beta in a development

     series, create these links again. Check all links when doing other

     kinds of release.

   * Set direct download: When releasing a new stable release, this should

     point to the corresponding launchpad page:

     <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/x.y.z/>

#. Update `<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazaar_(software)>`_ -- this should

   be done for the stable and beta releases.

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

   done by running ::

       python setup.py register

   Remember to check the results afterward -- this should be done for

   stable releases but not for beta releases nor SRUs.

   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.  The ``doc/en/release-notes``

changes should be merged into the right place because each release series

has its own release-notes file, but double-check.

If it's not already done, advance the version number in ``bzr`` and

``bzrlib/__init__.py``.  Submit this back into pqm for bzr.dev.

As soon as you change the version number in trunk, make sure you have

created the corresponding milestone to ensure the continuity in bug

targeting or nominating. Depending on the change, you may even have to

create a new series (if your change the major or minor release number), in

that case go to `At the start of a series cycle`_ and follow the

instructions from there.

Releases until the final one

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

Congratulations - you have made your first release.  Have a beer or fruit

juice - it's on the house! If it was a beta, you're not finished

yet. Another beta or hopefully a stable release is still to come.

The process is the same as for the first release. Goto `Doing a particular

release`_ and follow the instructions again. Some details change between

beta and stable releases, but they should be documented. If the instructions

aren't clear enough, please fix them.

Getting the release into Ubuntu

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

(Feel free to propose or add new sections here about what we should do to

get bzr into other places.)

For the currently-under-development release of Ubuntu, no special action

is needed: the release should be picked by Debian and synced from there into

Ubuntu.

Releases off stable bzr branches should go in to the ``-updates`` of the

Ubuntu release that originally contained that branch.  (Ubuntu Lucid had

bzr 2.2.0, so should get every 2.2.x update.)  This means going through

the `SRU (Stable Release Updates)

<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates>`__ process.   

Since September 2010, bzr has received approval by the technical

board for the `MicroReleaseExceptions

<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates/MicroReleaseExceptions>`__

category so that whole bugfix releases can more easily be

approved.

Progress on these realeases is tracked on the `SRU wiki

<http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/UbuntuStableReleaseUpdates>`_

page.

**After making a bzr stable-release release, nominate the most serious bug

for the appropriate Ubuntu release and subscribe the `ubuntu-sru` team.**

This requires a couple of tricks (please reconsider and tweak as things

evolves from one release to the other):

 * create a distro task with the ``Also affects distribution`` button and

   select ``bzr (Ubuntu)``.

 * change the *URL* to point to ``ubuntu/+source/bzr`` instead of ``bzr``

   (this is needed if you create the distro task but not if it exists

   already). You should now be able to click the ``Nominate for release``

   button and select the right Ubuntu release. As of September 2010, this

   means:

  * ``oneiric`` for the 2.4 series,

  * ``natty`` for the 2.3 series,

  * ``maverick`` for the 2.2 series,

  * ``lucid`` for the 2.1 series,

 * Subscribe the ``~ubuntu-sru`` team to the bug.

 * Add a comment targeted to ``~ubuntu-sru`` explaining the expectations

   (we are targeting running the test suite during the build which, as of

   September 2010, fails for known reasons that are currently addressed).

   Search for bugs tagged with ``sru`` for examples and don't forget to tag

   the bug you selected.

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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