~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev

Releasing Bazaar
================

This document describes the processes for making and announcing a Bazaar
release, and managing the release process.

We normally have one person acting as the release manager, who 
organizes development for the release and also actually makes the release
tarball and posts announcements.  It can be a different person from one
release to the next.

See also: `Bazaar Developer Document Catalog <index.html>`_.


.. contents::

General process
---------------

Our usual process is that one week before release we will make a release
branch from the trunk.  We do one commit to that branch to change the
version number to 'rc1', and advance the trunk version to 'dev' for the
next release.

We then publish and announce this release candidate according to the
process below.  We then have a week of general testing of the rc,
including some time for plugin authors to update their code for any
changes.

Normally no changes will be made on the release branch unless serious bugs
or regressions are found, and the release manager decides they should be
merged in.  After one week, the release branch's version number is updated
and it's published as the final release.  If regressions or serious
problems are discovered after the final release we may make an additional
point release from that branch.

The process or timing can vary if that seems appropriate in a particular
case but we try to release on a regular four week cycle.

The net effect is that the code gets some extra testing before release,
and the trunk is always open for general development.




Starting a Release
------------------

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 targetted bugs.  Ask people to nominate
   objectives, or point out any high-risk things that are best done early,
   or that interact with other changes.

#. Add a new "series" in Launchpad at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+addseries>.  There is one 
   series for every *x.y* release.


Weekly Metronome Mail
---------------------

Every week the release manager should send a mail to the Bazaar list
covering these points (as appropriate):

* Early communication about changing dependencies or defaults

* Reminder re lifecycle and where we're up to right now, in particular the 
  dates for the next release and/or candidate.

* Summary of recent successes and pending work.

* Reminder re release objectives

* Reminder re things needing attention, e.g. bug triage, reviews, testing of certain things, etc.


Preparing the tree for release
------------------------------

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

.. TODO: Still needs more clarity on what's in a RC versus a final
.. release?

This is the procedure for making a new bzr release:

#. If the release is the first candidate, make a new branch in PQM. 
   (Contact Robert Collins for this step).

   Register the branch at https://launchpad.net/products/bzr/+addbranch

#. 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``.  
   (This must match ``_script_version`` in the ``bzr`` script, but 
   that is updated at the start of the release cycle, and
   doesn't need to say if it's an rc or final release.)

   Run this command and check the output::

     ./bzr --version

#. Add the date and release number to ``./NEWS``, and a one-paragraph
   summary of changes 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        2006-10-23 13:11:17 +0000
       +++ NEWS        2006-10-23 22:50:50 +0000
       @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
       -IN DEVELOPMENT
       +bzr 0.12rc1  2006-10-23

          IMPROVEMENTS:


       === modified file 'bzrlib/__init__.py'
       --- bzrlib/__init__.py  2006-10-16 01:47:43 +0000
       +++ bzrlib/__init__.py  2006-10-23 22:49:46 +0000
       @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
        # Python version 2.0 is (2, 0, 0, 'final', 0)."  Additionally we use a
        # releaselevel of 'dev' for unreleased under-development code.

       -version_info = (0, 12, 0, 'dev', 0)
       +version_info = (0, 12, 0, 'candidate', 1)

        if version_info[3] == 'final':
            version_string = '%d.%d.%d' % version_info[:3]

#. 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

#. 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 the GPG signature.

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

#. Update http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/ to have a directory of documentation
   for this release.  (Controlled by the ``update-bzr-docs`` script on
   escudero, and also update the ``latest`` symlink in
   ``/srv/bazaar.canonical.com/doc/``.)

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


Announcing the release
----------------------

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

#. Announce to ``bazaar-announce`` and ``bazaar`` mailing lists. 
   The announce mail will look something like this:
   
    | Subject: bzr 0.11 release candidate 1
    | 
    | INTRO HERE. Mention the release number and date, and why the release. (i.e. release candidate for testing, final release of a version, backport/bugfix etc).
    | 
    | Tarballs:
    | http://bazaar-vcs.org/releases/src/bzr-VERSION.tar.gz
    | and GPG signature:
    | http://bazaar-vcs.org/releases/src/bzr-VERSION.tar.gz.sig
    | 
    | DESCRIBE-CHANGES-IN-OVERVIEW-HERE
    | 
    | DESCRIBE-when the next release will be (if there is another - i.e. this is a release candidate)
    | 
    | Many thanks to all the contributors to this release! I've included the
    | contents of NEWS for VERSION below:

   To generate the data from NEWS, just copy and paste the relevant news section and clean it up as appropriate. The main clean-up task is to confirm that all major changes are indeed covered. This can be done by running ``bzr log`` back to the point when the branch was opened and cross checking the changes against the NEWS entries.

   (RC announcements should remind plugin maintainers to update their plugins.)

     * For point releases (i.e. a release candidate, or an incremental fix
       to a released version) take everything in the relevant NEWS section.  For
       example, for 0.11rc2 take everything in NEWS from the bzr 0.11rc2 line to the bzr 0.11rc1 line further down.

     * For major releases (i.e. 0.11, 0.12 etc), take all the combined NEWS sections from within that version: for 0.11 take all of the 0.11 specific section, plus 0.11rc2, plus 0.11rc1 etc.

#. 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.

#. Package maintainers should update packages when they see the
   announcement.

#. For final releases, also send the announcement mail to
   info-gnu@gnu.org and python-announce-list@python.org.

#. Also send a GNU directory update to bug-directory@gnu.org.

#. 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.

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