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This document describes the processes for making and announcing a Bazaar
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release, and managing the release process. This is just one phase of the
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`overall development cycle <http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/developers/cycle.html>`_,
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but it's the most complex part.
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This document gives a checklist you can follow from start to end in one
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If you're helping the Release Manager (RM) for one reason or another, you
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may notice that he didn't follow that document scrupulously. He may have
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good reasons to do that but he may also have missed some parts.
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Follow the document yourself and don't hesitate to create the missing
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milestones for example (we tend to forget these ones a lot).
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#. Download the pqm plugin and install it into your ``~/.bazaar/plugins``::
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bzr branch lp:bzr-pqm ~/.bazaar/plugins/pqm
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To start a new release cycle:
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#. Create a new series at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+addseries>. There is one
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series for every *x.y* release.
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#. Go to the series web page at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y>
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#. Create a new release at
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<https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+addrelease> and add
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information about this release. We will not use it yet, but it
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will be available for targeting or nominating bugs.
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#. We create a new pqm-controlled branch for this release series, by
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asking a Canonical sysadmin.
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This branch means that from the first release beta or candidate onwards,
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general development continues on the trunk, and only
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specifically-targeted fixes go into the release branch.
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#. Add milestones at <https://edge.launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+addmilestone> to
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that series for the beta release, release candidate and the final release,
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and their expected dates.
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#. Update the version number in the ``bzr`` script, and the
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``bzrlib/__init__.py`` file. Make sure there is always a corresponding
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milestone when you change that version number.
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#. Add a new section at the top of ``NEWS`` about the new release,
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including its version number and the headings from
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``NEWS-template.txt``.
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#. Send mail to the list with the key dates, who will be the release
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manager, and the main themes or targeted bugs. Ask people to nominate
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objectives, or point out any high-risk things that are best done early,
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or that interact with other changes. This is called the metronome mail
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and is described in `Development cycles <cycle.html>`_.
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#. Make a local branch for preparing this release. (Only for the first
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release in a series, otherwise you should already have a branch.) ::
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bzr branch trunk prepare-1.14
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#. Configure pqm-submit for this branch, with a section like this (where
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x.y is the version to release).
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``~/.bazaar/locations.conf``::
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[/home/mbp/bzr/prepare-x.y]
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pqm_email = Canonical PQM <pqm@bazaar-vcs.org>
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submit_branch = http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr-pqm/bzr/x.y
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parent_branch = http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr-pqm/bzr/x.y
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public_branch = http://bazaar.example.com/prepare-x.y
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submit_to = bazaar@lists.canonical.com
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smtp_server = mail.example.com:25
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Please see <http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/developers/HACKING.html#an-overview-of-pqm>
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for more details on PQM
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#. In the release branch, update ``version_info`` in ``./bzrlib/__init__.py``.
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Make sure the corresponding milestone exists.
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Double check that ./bzr ``_script_version`` matches ``version_info``. Check
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the output of ``bzr --version``.
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For beta releases use::
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version_info = (2, 1, 0, 'beta', 1)
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For release candidates use::
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version_info = (2, 0, 1, 'candidate', 1)
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Starting the release phase
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--------------------------
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#. Create a new milestone at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+addmilestone>
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for the beta release or release candidate if you haven't already.
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#. Add the date and release number to ``./NEWS``
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Depending on whether you're doing a beta or a bugfix release, you'll
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have to create a NEWS section for your release in the right
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place. Most of the time, the new section is at the top of the file
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(look what have been done for the various 2.0x and 2.1.0bx releases).
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The rule is to keep the sections sorted by date. You'll need to be
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cautious when merging back to trunk to respect that.
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#. To check that all bugs mentioned in ``./NEWS`` are actually marked as
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closed in Launchpad, you can run ``tools/check-newsbugs.py``::
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./tools/check-newsbugs.py NEWS
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(But note there can be some false positives, and this script may be
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flaky <https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/bzr/+bug/354985>. Don't let
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this slow you down too much.)
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#. Summarize into one or two paragraphs what's new in this release.
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#. Commit these changes to the release branch, using a command like::
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bzr commit -m "Release 1.14."
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The diff before you commit will be something like::
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=== modified file 'NEWS'
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--- NEWS 2008-09-17 23:09:18 +0000
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+++ NEWS 2008-09-23 16:14:54 +0000
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+This release includes many bug fixes and a few performance and feature
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+improvements. ``bzr rm`` will now scan for missing files and remove them,
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+like how ``bzr add`` scans for unknown files and adds them. A bit more
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+polish has been applied to the stacking code. The b-tree indexing code has
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+been brought in, with an eye on using it in a future repository format.
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+There are only minor installer changes since bzr-1.7rc2.
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bzr 1.7rc2 2008-09-17
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---------------------
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=== modified file 'bzrlib/__init__.py'
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--- bzrlib/__init__.py 2008-09-16 21:39:28 +0000
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+++ bzrlib/__init__.py 2008-09-23 16:14:54 +0000
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# Python version 2.0 is (2, 0, 0, 'final', 0)." Additionally we use a
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# releaselevel of 'dev' for unreleased under-development code.
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-version_info = (1, 7, 0, 'candidate', 2)
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+version_info = (1, 7, 0, 'final', 0)
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# API compatibility version: bzrlib is currently API compatible with 1.7.
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#. Tag the new release::
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#. Push those changes to a bzr reposistory that is public and accessible on
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the Internet. PQM will pull from this repository when it attempts to merge
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your changes. Then submit those changes to PQM for merge into the
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appropriate release branch::
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bzr pqm-submit -m "(mbp) prepare 1.14"
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#. When PQM succeeds, pull down the master release branch.
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Making the source tarball
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-------------------------
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#. Change into the source directory and run ::
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#. Now we'll try expanding this tarball and running the test suite
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to check for packaging problems::
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make check-dist-tarball
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You may encounter failures while running the test suite caused
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by your locally installed plugins. Use your own judgment to
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decide if you can release with these failures. When in doubt,
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disable the faulty plugins one by one until you get no more
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Publishing the source tarball
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-----------------------------
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#. Go to the relevant milestone page in Launchpad.
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#. Within that release, upload the source tarball and the GPG
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signature. Or, if you prefer, use the
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``tools/packaging/lp-upload-release`` script to do this.
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Announcing the source freeze
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----------------------------
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#. Post to the ``bazaar`` list, saying that the source has been frozen.
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This is the cue for platform maintainers and plugin authors to update
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their code. This is done before the general public announcement of the
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Publishing the release
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----------------------
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There is normally a delay of a few days after the source freeze to allow
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for binaries to be built on various platforms. Once they have been built,
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we have a releasable product. The next step is to make it generally
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available to the world.
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#. Within that release, upload the source tarball and zipfile and the GPG
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signature. Or, if you prefer, use the
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``tools/packaging/lp-upload-release`` script to do this.
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#. Link from http://bazaar-vcs.org/SourceDownloads to the tarball and
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#. Announce on the `Bazaar website <http://bazaar-vcs.org/>`_.
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This page is edited via the lp:bzr-website branch. (Changes
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pushed to this branch are refreshed by a cron job on escudero.)
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#. Announce on the `Bazaar wiki <http://bazaar-vcs.org/Welcome>`_.
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#. Check that the documentation for this release is available in
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<http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org>. It should be automatically build when the
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branch is created, by a cron script ``update-bzr-docs`` on
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``escudero``. As of today (2009-08-27) ``igc`` manually updates the
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pretty version of it.
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Announcing the release
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----------------------
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Now that the release is publicly available, tell people about it.
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#. Make an announcement mail.
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For release candidates or beta releases, this is sent to the ``bazaar``
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list only to inform plugin authors and package or installer managers.
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Once the installers are available, the mail can be sent to the
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``bazaar-announce`` list too.
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For final releases, it should also be cc'd to ``info-gnu@gnu.org``,
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``python-announce-list@python.org``, ``bug-directory@gnu.org``.
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In all cases, it is good to set ``Reply-To: bazaar@lists.canonical.com``,
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so that people who reply to the announcement don't spam other lists.
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The announce mail will look something like this::
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Subject: bzr x.yy released!
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<<Summary paragraph from news>>
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The Bazaar team is happy to announce availability of a new
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release of the bzr adaptive version control system.
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Bazaar is part of the GNU system <http://gnu.org/>.
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Thanks to everyone who contributed patches, suggestions, and
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Bazaar is now available for download from
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http://bazaar-vcs.org/Download as a source tarball; packages
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for various systems will be available soon.
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<<NEWS section from this release back to the last major release>>
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Feel free to tweak this to your taste.
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#. Make an announcement through <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+announce>
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#. Update the IRC channel topic. Use the ``/topic`` command to do this,
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ensuring the new topic text keeps the project name, web site link, etc.
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#. Announce on http://freshmeat.net/projects/bzr/
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This should be done for beta releases, release candidates and final
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releases. If you do not have a Freshmeat account yet, ask one of the
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#. Update `<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazaar_(software)>`_ -- this should
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be done for final releases but not for beta releases or Release Candidates.
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#. Update the python package index: <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/bzr> - best
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python setup.py register
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Remember to check the results afterwards.
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To be able to register the release you must create an account on
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<http://pypi.python.org/pypi> and have one of the existing owners of
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the project add you to the group.
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Merging the released code back to trunk
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---------------------------------------
321
Merge the release branch back into the trunk. Check that changes in NEWS
322
were merged into the right sections. If it's not already done, advance
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the version number in ``bzr`` and ``bzrlib/__init__.py``. Submit this
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back into pqm for bzr.dev.
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As soon as you change the version number in trunk, make sure you have
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created the corresponding milestone to ensure the continuity in bug
328
targeting or nominating. Depending on the change, you may even have to
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create a new series (if your change the major or minor release number), in
330
that case go to `Starting a cycle` and follow the instructions from there.
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You should also merge (not pull) the release branch into
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``lp:~bzr/bzr/current``, so that branch contains the current released code
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Releases until the final one
337
----------------------------
339
Congratulations - you have made your first release. Have a beer
340
or fruit juice - it's on the house! If it was a beta, or
341
candidate, you're not finished yet. Another beta or candidate or
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hopefully a final release is still to come.
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The process is the same as for the first release. Goto `Starting the
345
release phase`_ and follow the instructions again. Some details change
346
between beta, candidate and final releases, but they should be
347
documented. If the instructions aren't clear enough, please fix them.
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* `Packaging into the bzr PPA <ppa.html>`_ to make and publish Ubuntu
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* `Bazaar Developer Document Catalog <index.html>`_
356
* `Development cycles <cycle.html>`_: things that happen during the cycle
357
before the actual release.
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vim: filetype=rst textwidth=74 ai shiftwidth=4