wiki:ReleaseProcedure

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Version 8 (modified by Peter, 16 years ago) (diff)
--

Publishing a release
1. Minor release procedure
  1. Creating a release branch
  2. Rolling a release
2. Patch release procedure

Publishing a release

These instructions cover how to release minor and patch releases in a project that uses trac/subversion for revision control and project management. How to release major releases is not covered yet since we have not done that (with the exception of the first release). Release numbering follows the normal convention of major.minor.patch and the APR (see http://apr.apache.org/versioning.html) guidelines for releases are used.

The main development is performed in the trunk branch of the repository. A new release branch is created for each minor release from the trunk and patch releases are snapshots of the minor release branch. This implies that patch work is performed in the minor release branch, and changes made release branch is transferred to the trunk every time a new patch release is made. Remember, patch work should be limited to bug fixes and important fixes only leaving development of new features and designs to the trunk branch.

Releases should only be performed by an appointed member of the team, the Release Manager, and merges should be performed by a Merge Manager. Of course, one team member can be both managers, thus becoming the Release and Merge Manager.

Minor release procedure

This section describes what to do when publishing a minor release.

Creating a release branch

Once people agree that a new release branch should be made, the Release Manager creates it with the following procedure (substitute A.B with the version you are preparing, e.g. 0.3, or 1.0):

Update copyright statements with command:
```
svndigest --copyright --no-report
```
Examine the updates and commit changes with svn ci -m "updating copyright statements". For this step svndigest is obviously needed.

Create a new minor branch using a one liner like

svn copy http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/tags/A.B \
    http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/branches/A.B-stable \
    -m "New minor version A.B branch"

Prepare the trunk for the next minor release
1. Update version number in configure.ac. Locate and change the below line
```
AC_INIT([yat],[preA.[B+1]],[jari.at.thep.lu.se])
```
2. Add an entry in NEWS
```
version A.[B+1] (released DATE)
```
  The date is set when version A.[B+1] is released.
3. Add an entry in ChangeLog
```
version A.[B+1]:
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/log/branches/A.B-stable?rev=HEAD&stop_rev=M+1
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/query?milestone=A.[B+1]&order=id
```
4. Update version number in line
```
This directory contains the A.B release of yat 
```
5. Commit changes to the repository, svn ci -m "Changes for future release A.[B+1]"
Prepare the minor branch for the upcoming release
1. Check out the new minor branch
```
svn co http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/branches/A.B-stable A.B
```
2. Update version number in configure.ac. Locate and change the below line
```
AC_INIT([yat],[preA.B],[jari.at.thep.lu.se])
```
3. Commit changes to the repository, svn ci -m "Changes for future release A.B"

Rolling a release

Make sure that all commits are performed into the minor branch, such as bumping version number(s) (configure.ac), acknowledge contributions (THANKS), update files NEWS and ChangeLog.
1. Update version number in configure.ac. Locate and change the below line
```
AC_INIT([yat],[A.B],[jari.at.thep.lu.se])
```
2. Update THANKS. Remember, ego and vanity is the currency of open source projects. Well, there are other reasons for open source projects but THANKS is for boosting people's ego.
3. Set the date for the new release in NEWS.
```
version A.B (released 26 June 2007)
```
  Make sure that the items in NEWS cover the new features of the release.
4. Finalize the links to trac in ChangeLog
```
version A.B:
        - http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/log/branches/0.6-stable?action=stop_on_copy&rev=N&stop_rev=M&mode=follow_copy
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/query?milestone=A.B&order=id
```
  where M should be current HEAD+2 (2 more commits are needed before release).
5. Commit changes to the repository, svn ci -m "Preparing release A.B"
Needless to say, make sure that the program is in a state to be released; make sure that all the tests pass, test the distribution package, and perform all other release tests you think is appropriate:
```
./bootstrap
./configure
make
make check
make distcheck
```

Create a tag using a one liner like

svn copy http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/trunk \
    http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/tags/A.B \
    -m "Tagging version A.B"

Update the version list in Trac using the trac-admin tool. Remember to set the date.

Create a distribution package:

svn co http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/tags/A.B A.B_dist
cd A.B_dist
./bootstrap
./configure
make dist

Attach the new package to the DownloadPage. Remove A.B_dist directory.

Prepare the minor branch for the first patch release
1. Check out the new minor branch
```
svn co http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/branches/A.B-stable A.B
```
2. Update version number in configure.ac. Locate and change the below line
```
AC_INIT([yat],[preA.B.1],[jari.at.thep.lu.se])
```
3. Add an entry in NEWS
```
version A.B.1 (released DATE)
```
  The date is set when version A.B.1 is released.
4. Add an entry in ChangeLog
```
version A.B.1:
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/log/trunk?rev=[M+1]&stop_rev=HEAD
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/query?milestone=A.B.1&order=id
```
5. Commit changes to the repository, svn ci -m "Changes for future release A.B.1"
Update DownloadPage and WikiStart
1. Update the section Latest stable release to reflect the new version, that is
  - Change the version number
  - Update the package link to the new version
  - Update link to NEWS file to source:tags/A.B/NEWS
2. In section yat latest release update link to [source:tags/A.B/NEWS NEWS] and modify the svn command to
```
svn checkout http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/tags/A.B yat-A.B
```
3. In section yat stable update link to [milestone:A.B.1 A.B.1] and modify the svn command to
```
svn checkout http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/yat/branches/A.B-stable yat-A.B
```
4. In section yat devel update link to [milestone:A.B+1 A.B+1].
5. On WikiStart update links [source:tags/A.B/NEWS NEWS].
6. Generate documentation to new version of yat, and update link on WikiStart.
Close the milestone associated with the release and replace head with appropriate revision. Add a new milestone as needed (with log link).

Patch release procedure

This section describes what to do when publishing a patch release A.B.C.

Make sure that all commits are performed into to the branch, such as bumping version number(s) (configure.ac), acknowledge contributions (THANKS), update files NEWS and ChangeLog.
1. Update version number in configure.ac. Locate and change the below line
```
AC_INIT([yat],[A.B.C],[jari.at.thep.lu.se])
```
2. Update THANKS.
3. Set the date for the new release in NEWS
```
version A.B.C (released 27 June 2007)
```
  Make sure that the items in NEWS cover all important bug fixes of the release.
4. Finalize the links to trac in ChangeLog
```
version A.B.C:
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/log/branches/A.B-stable?rev=N&stop_rev=M
	- http://trac.thep.lu.se/trac/yat/query?milestone=A.B.C&order=id
```
  where N is given by
```
$ svn update
N-2
```
  and M should have been set at previous release.
5. Commit changes to the repository, svn ci -m "Preparing release A.B.C"
Update copyright statements with command:
```
svndigest --copyright --no-report
```
Examine the updates and commit changes with svn ci -m "updating copyright statements". For this step svndigest is obviously needed.
Needless to say, make sure that the program is in a state to be released; make sure that all the tests pass, test the distribution package, and perform all other release tests you think is appropriate:
```
./bootstrap
./configure
make
make check
make distcheck
```