~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-vcs.org/developers/cycle.html>`_,
but it's the most complex part.
This document gives a checklist you can follow from start to end in one
go.

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.

Follow the document yourself and don't hesitate to create the missing
milestones for example (we tend to forget these ones a lot).

.. contents::


Preconditions
=============

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

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


At the start of a release cycle
===============================

To start a new release cycle:

#. If this is the first release for a given *x.y* then create a new
   series at <https://launchpad.net/bzr/+addseries>. There is one series
   for every *x.y* release.

#. If you made a new series, 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.

#. If you made a new series, add milestones at
   <https://edge.launchpad.net/bzr/x.y/+addmilestone> to that series for
   the beta release, release candidate and the final release, and their
   expected dates.

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

#. 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 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 (where
   x.y is the version to release). **Or use hydrazine for easy use**
   ``~/.bazaar/locations.conf``::

	[/home/mbp/bzr/prepare-x.y]
	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/prepare-x.y
	submit_to = bazaar@lists.canonical.com
	smtp_server = mail.example.com:25

    Please see <http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/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 ``NEWS`` about the new release,
   including its version number and the headings from
   ``NEWS-template.txt``.

#. 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>.

#. 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 release candidates use::

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

   For stable releases use::

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

#. Check the release number in ``./NEWS``

   Fill out the date and a description of the release under the existing
   header. If there isn't one, follow the above for using the NEWS
   template.

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

#. 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 will be many 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.)

#. 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 repository 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"

   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

   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.

   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 milestone 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.edge.launchpad.net/launchpad/+bug/586445>


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.


Kick off the next cycle
-----------------------

#. To let developers work on the next release, do
   `At the start of a release cycle` now.

#. 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>

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

#. Announce on the `Bazaar website <http://bazaar-vcs.org/>`_.
   This page is edited via the lp:bzr-website branch. (Changes
   pushed to this branch are refreshed by a cron job on escudero.)

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

#. 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.y.z 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
---------------------------------------

The rule is to keep ``NEWS`` sections sorted by date. You'll need to
review the merge and make sure that that is respected.

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.

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 release cycle` and follow the instructions from there.

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.

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, or
candidate, you're not finished yet. Another beta or candidate or
hopefully a final 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, candidate and final releases, but they should be
documented. If the instructions aren't clear enough, please fix them.


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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