~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev : contents of doc/developers/releasing.txt at revision 4676.6.2

~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev : (revision 4676.6.2)

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::

Preconditions
-------------

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

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

Starting a cycle
----------------

To start a new release cycle:

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

#. Go to the series web page at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/2.0>

#. Create a new release at
<https://launchpad.net/bzr/2.0/+addrelease> and add
information about this release. We will not use it yet, but it
will be available for targeting or nominating bugs.

#. We create a new pqm-controlled branch for this release series, by
asking a Canonical sysadmin.
This branch means that from the first release beta or candidate onwards,
general development continues on the trunk, and only
specifically-targeted fixes go into the release branch.

#. Add milestones at <https://edge.launchpad.net/bzr/2.0/+addmilestone> to
that series for the beta release, release candidate and the final release,
and their expected dates.

#. Update the version number in the ``bzr`` script, and the
``bzrlib/__init__.py`` file.

#. 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 as RM you're supposed to send other metronome mails at your rythm.

Starting the release phase
--------------------------

When it's time to make the first beta release or release candidate:

#. Create a new milestone at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/2.0/+addmilestone>
for the beta release or release candidate.

#. Make a beta release or release candidate.

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

#. 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-1.14

#. Configure pqm-submit for this branch, with a section like this in
``~/.bazaar/locations.conf``::

[/home/mbp/bzr/prepare-1.14]
pqm_email = Canonical PQM <pqm@bazaar-vcs.org>
submit_branch = lp:bzr/2.0
public_branch = http://bazaar.example.com/prepare-2.0
submit_to = bazaar@lists.canonical.com
smtp_server = mail.example.com:25

Please see <http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/latest/developers/HACKING.html#an-overview-of-pqm>
for more details on PQM

#. In the release branch, update ``version_info`` in ``./bzrlib/__init__.py``.
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', 1)

For release candidates use::

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

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

#. To check that all bugs mentioned in ``./NEWS`` are actually marked as
closed in Launchpad, you can run ``tools/check-newsbugs.py``::

./tools/check-newsbugs.py NEWS

(But note there can be some false positives, and this script may be
flaky <https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/bzr/+bug/354985>. Don't let
this slow you down too much.)

#. 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 1.14."

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-1.14

#. Push those changes to a bzr reposistory that is public and accessible on
the Internet. PQM will pull from this repository 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 "(mbp) prepare 1.14"

#. 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

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.

Publishing the source tarball
-----------------------------

#. Go to the relevant milestone page in Launchpad.

#. 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.

Announcing the source freeze
----------------------------

#. Post to the ``bazaar`` list, saying that the source has been frozen.
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.

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.

#. 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``. As of today (2009-08-27) ``igc`` manually updates the
pretty version of it.

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

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

#. Make an announcement mail.

For release candidates or beta releases, this is sent to the ``bazaar``
list only to inform plugin authors and package or installer managers.

Once the installers are available, the mail can be sent to the
``bazaar-announce`` list too.

For final 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.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.
Bazaar is part of the GNU system <http://gnu.org/>.

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>>

Feel free to tweak this to your taste.

#. 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 beta releases, 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/Bazaar_(software)>`_ -- this should
be done for final releases but not for beta releases or 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.

You should also merge (not pull) the release branch into
``lp:~bzr/bzr/current``, so that branch contains the current released code
at any time.