4 release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
6 XXX as of Jul 2009, this file is still a work-in-progress - DAPM
10 This document describes the series of tasks required - some automatic, some
11 manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a snaphot,
12 release candidate, or final release.
14 The release process is primarily executed by the current pumpking.
16 This document both helps as a check-list for the pumpking and is
17 a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated or
20 The outline of a release cycle is as follows:
22 (5.10.1 is released, and post-release action have been done)
26 an occasional snapshot is released, that still identifies itself as
31 a few weeks before the release, a number of steps are performed,
32 including bumping the version to 5.10.2
34 perl-5.10.2-RC1 is released
36 perl-5.10.2 is released
38 post-release actions are performed, including creating new
41 ... the cycle continues ...
46 =head2 Building a snapshot
48 A snapshot is intended to encourage in-depth testing from time-to-time,
49 for example after a key point in the stabilisation of a branch. It
50 requires less steps than a full release, and the version number of perl in
51 the tarball will usually still be the old one.
57 As there are no regular smokes [ XXX yet - please fix?] find out about the
58 state of VMS. If it's bad, think again.
67 and commit it if it's changed.
71 Check that the manifest is sorted and correct:
74 $ perl Porting/manisort
75 $ perl Porting/manicheck
79 If this is a release candidate or final release, add an entry to
80 F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the current date, e.g.
84 Make sure the correct pumpking is listed, and if this your first time,
85 append your name to C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
89 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs.
93 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
94 the tarball and directory name:
96 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
97 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
99 $ perl Porting/makerel -s `git describe` # for a snapshot
100 $ perl Porting/makerel -s RC1 # for a release candidate
101 $ perl Porting/makerel # for a final release
103 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
104 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them,
105 adds DOS line endings to some, then tars it up as
106 F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>.
108 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
113 Copy the tarball to a web server somewhere you have access to.
117 Download the tarball to some other machine (for a release candidate, to two or
118 more servers: IRC is good for this).
122 Check that C<./Configure -des && make all test> works in one place.
126 Check that C<./Configure ... && make all test_harness install> works.
130 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
131 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
132 paths. Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
133 which is why you should test from the tarball.
137 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install.
142 XXX pick something new; this is now bundled
146 Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client.
150 Install an XS module.
154 If all is well, announce the snaphot to p5p. (For a release candidate,
155 instead follow the further steps described later.)
159 =head2 Actions prior to the first release candidate
161 A week or two before the first release candidate, there are some additional
162 tasks you should perform (actually, some of these should be done regularly
163 anyway, but they definitely need doing now):
169 Check F<Maintainers.pl> for consistency; both these commands should
172 perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani
173 perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani lib/ ext/
177 Ensure that dual-life CPAN modules are synchronised with CPAN. Basically,
180 ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
182 to see any inconsistencies between the core and CPAN versions of distros,
183 then fix the core, or cajole CPAN authors as appropriate. See also the
184 C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail. You'll probably want to use the
185 C<-c cachedir> option to avoid repeated CPAN downloads.
187 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
189 ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
193 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
195 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
196 did it fail identically on $previous?
197 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
198 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
200 attempt to group failure causes
202 for each failure cause
203 is that a regression?
204 if yes, figure out how to fix it
205 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
207 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
208 should the existing behaviour stay?
209 yes - goto "regression"
210 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
211 (also, try to inform the module's author)
215 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix.
219 Run F<Porting/cmpVERSION.pl> to compare the current source tree with the
220 previous version to check for for modules that have identical version
221 numbers but different contents, e.g.:
223 $ cd ~/some-perl-root
224 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -xd ~/my_perl-tarballs/perl-5.10.0 .
226 then bump the version numbers of any non-dual-life modules that have
227 changed since the previous release, but which still have the old version
228 number. If there is more than one maintenance branch (e.g. 5.8.x, 5.10.x),
229 then compare against both.
231 Note that some of the files listed may be generated (e.g. copied from ext/
232 to lib/, or a script like lib/lib_pm.PL is run to produce lib/lib.pm);
233 make sure you edit the correct file!
235 Once all version numbers have been bumped, re-run the checks.
237 Then run again without the -x option, to check that dual-life modules are
243 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
248 Bump the perl version number (e.g. from 5.10.0 to 5.10.1).
250 There is a tool to semi-automate this process. It works in two stages.
251 First, it generates a list of suggested changes, which you review and
252 edit; then you feed this list back and it applies the edits. So, first
253 scan the source dir looking for likely candidates:
255 $ Porting/bump-perl-version -s 5.10.0 5.10.1 > /tmp/scan
257 This produces a file containing a list of suggested edits, eg:
261 89: -MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.0 for NetWare"
262 +MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.1 for NetWare"
264 i.e. in the file F<NetWare/Makefile>, line 89 would be changed as shown.
265 Review the file carefully, and delete any -/+ line pairs that you don't
266 want changing. Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0'
267 or whatever, so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change
268 text like "this was fixed in 5.10.0"! Then run:
270 $ Porting/bump-perl-version -u < /tmp/scan
272 which will update all the files shown; then commit the changes.
274 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
275 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
276 some of which need to be left. Also note that this tool currently only
277 performs a single change per line, so in particular, this line in
278 README.vms needs special handling:
280 rename perl-5^.10^.1.dir perl-5_10_1.dir
284 Update the F<Changes> file to contain the git log command which would show
285 all the changes in this release. You will need assume the existence of a
286 not-yet created tag for the forthcoming release; e.g.
288 git log ... perl-5.10.0..perl5.12.0
290 Due to warts in the perforce-to-git migration, some branches require extra
291 exclusions to avoid other branches being pulled in. Make sure you have the
292 correct incantation: replace the not-yet-created tag with C<HEAD> and see
293 if git log produces roughly the right number of commits across roughly the
298 Check some more build configurations, e.g.
300 -Duseshrplib -Dd_dosuid
303 Check that setuid installs works (for < 5.11.0 only).
304 XXX any other configs?
308 Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
309 If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
311 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
313 Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: goto
314 https://pause.perl.org/, login, then select 'upload file to CPAN'; there
315 should be a "For pumpkings only: Send a CC" tickbox. If not, ask Andreas
316 to add your ID to the list of people allowed to upload something called
321 Update F<AUTHORS>, using the C<Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl> script, and if
322 necessary, update the script to include new alias mappings.
324 XXX This script is currently broken (7/2009). It needs updating to work
325 with git and a lack of Changes files.
329 =head2 Building a release candidate
331 (At this point you should already have performed the actions described in
332 L</"Actions prior to the first release candidate">.)
338 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
339 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; and run through pod and spell
340 checkers. [XXX show how]
344 Update patchlevel.h to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is a
345 final release, remove it. [ XXX how now?? see 34813 for old way ]
349 Update C<Module::Corelist>.
350 [XXX add how: presumably Porting/corelist.pl ]
351 but we need to fix that:
352 it has been holding perforce revisions for releases, but we can't know
353 hashes in advance for git. We need to agree a plan to move to git tags]
357 Follow the instructions in the section L</"Building a snapshot">, then
358 carry on with the extra steps that follow here.
362 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
363 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
365 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
371 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
373 XXX check whether need to upload .bz2,.meta, .readme too?
378 Mail p5p to announce it, with a quote you prepared earlier.
382 Wait 24 hours or so, then post the announcement to use.perl.org.
387 =head2 Making a final release
389 At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
392 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
393 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
399 Follow the same steps as for making a release candidate, then
403 Ask Jarkko to update http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html and
404 Rafael to update http://dev.perl.org/perl5/
409 create a tag [XXX and branches and stuff?]
414 [ XXX disarm any patchlevel.h stuff ??? ]
418 Create a new empty perlNNNdelta.pod file for the current release + 1;
419 see F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>.
420 [ XXX Perhaps we should have an empty template file we can copy in. ]
422 In addition, edit F<pod.lst>, adding the new entry as 'D', and unmark previous
423 entry as 'D', then run C<perl pod/buildtoc --build-all> to update the
429 vms/descrip_mms.template
431 (F<vms/descrip_mms.template> still needs a manual edit to bump the
432 C<perldelta.pod> entry - it would be good for someone to figure out the fix.)
434 and change perlNNNdelta references to the new version in these files
442 Also, edit the previous delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta>
445 These two lists of files probably aren't exhaustive; do a recursive grep
446 on the previous filename to look for suitable candidates.
448 (see 16410843ea for an example).
452 If this was major release, bump the version, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0
453 [ XXX probably more complex stuff to do, including perldelta,
458 Copy the perlNNNdelta.pod for this release into the other branches, and
459 remember to update these files on those branches too:
464 vms/descrip_mms.template
467 (see fc5be80860 for an example).
471 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
472 F<perlhist.pod> on other branches; typically the RC* and final entries,
475 5.8.9-RC1 2008-Nov-10
476 5.8.9-RC2 2008-Dec-06
484 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
485 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.