5 release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
7 Note that things change at each release, so there may be new things not
8 covered here, or tools may need updating.
10 =head1 MAKING A CHECKLIST
12 If you are preparing to do a release, you can run the
13 F<Porting/make-rmg-checklist> script to generate a new version of this
14 document that starts with a checklist for your release.
16 This script is run as:
18 perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist \
19 --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.pod
21 You can also pass the C<--html> flag to generate an HTML document instead of
24 perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist --html \
25 --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.html
29 This document describes the series of tasks required - some automatic, some
30 manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a release
31 candidate, or final, numbered release of maint or blead.
33 The release process has traditionally been executed by the current
34 pumpking. Blead releases from 5.11.0 forward are made each month on the
35 20th by a non-pumpking release engineer. The release engineer roster
36 and schedule can be found in Porting/release_schedule.pod.
38 This document both helps as a check-list for the release engineer
39 and is a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated
42 The checklist of a typical release cycle is as follows:
44 (5.10.1 is released, and post-release actions have been done)
48 a few weeks before the release, a number of steps are performed,
49 including bumping the version to 5.10.2
51 ...a few weeks pass...
53 perl-5.10.2-RC1 is released
55 perl-5.10.2 is released
57 post-release actions are performed, including creating new
60 ... the cycle continues ...
64 Some of the tasks described below apply to all four types of
65 release of Perl. (blead, RC, final release of maint, final
66 release of blead). Some of these tasks apply only to a subset
67 of these release types. If a step does not apply to a given
68 type of release, you will see a notation to that effect at
69 the beginning of the step.
75 =item Release Candidate (RC)
77 A release candidate is an attempt to produce a tarball that is a close as
78 possible to the final release. Indeed, unless critical faults are found
79 during the RC testing, the final release will be identical to the RC
80 barring a few minor fixups (updating the release date in F<perlhist.pod>,
81 removing the RC status from F<patchlevel.h>, etc). If faults are found,
82 then the fixes should be put into a new release candidate, never directly
86 =item Stable/Maint release (MAINT).
88 A release with an even version number, and subversion number > 0, such as
91 At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
94 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
95 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
97 Note that for a maint release there are two versions of this guide to
98 consider: the one in the maint branch, and the one in blead. Which one to
99 use is a fine judgement. The blead one will be most up-to-date, while
100 it might describe some steps or new tools that aren't applicable to older
101 maint branches. It is probably best to review both versions of this
102 document, but to most closely follow the steps in the maint version.
104 =item A blead point release (BLEAD-POINT)
106 A release with an odd version number, such as 5.15.0 or 5.15.1.
108 This isn't for production, so it has less stability requirements than for
109 other release types, and isn't preceded by RC releases. Other than that,
110 it is similar to a MAINT release.
112 =item Blead final release (BLEAD-FINAL)
114 A release with an even version number, and subversion number == 0, such as
115 5.14.0. That is to say, it's the big new release once per year.
117 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
118 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps, even more than for MAINT.
126 Before you can make an official release of perl, there are a few
127 hoops you need to jump through:
129 =head3 PAUSE account with pumpkin status
131 Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
132 If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
134 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
136 Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: go to
137 L<https://pause.perl.org/pause/authenquery?ACTION=who_pumpkin> and check that
138 your PAUSE ID is listed there. If not, ask Andreas KE<0xf6>nig to add your ID
139 to the list of people allowed to upload something called perl. You can find
140 Andreas' email address at:
142 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=pause_04imprint
144 =head3 search.cpan.org pumpkin status
146 Make sure that search.cpan.org knows that you're allowed to upload
147 perl distros. Contact Graham Barr to make sure that you're on the right
150 =head3 rt.perl.org update access
152 Make sure you have permission to close tickets on L<http://rt.perl.org/>
153 so you can respond to bug report as necessary during your stint. If you
154 don't, make an account (if you don't have one) and contact the pumpking
155 with your username to get ticket-closing permission.
157 =head3 git checkout and commit bit
159 You will need a working C<git> installation, checkout of the perl
160 git repository and perl commit bit. For information about working
161 with perl and git, see F<pod/perlgit.pod>.
163 If you are not yet a perl committer, you won't be able to make a
164 release. Have a chat with whichever evil perl porter tried to talk
165 you into the idea in the first place to figure out the best way to
168 =head3 git clone of https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb
170 For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
171 sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
172 is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
174 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
176 You will need a quotation to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
178 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
180 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
181 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
182 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
183 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
185 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
187 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
189 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
191 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
192 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
193 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
195 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
196 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
197 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
199 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
201 Passing C<-u cpan> will probably be helpful, since it limits the search to
202 distributions with 'cpan' upstream source. (It's OK for blead upstream to
203 differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases usually come I<after> perl
206 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
207 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
208 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
209 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
210 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
211 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
213 For a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN
214 release appears to be ahead of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the
215 relevant porter to do so). (However, if this is a BLEAD-FINAL release or one of
216 the last BLEAD-POINT releases before it and hence blead is in some kind of
217 "code freeze" state (e.g. the sequence might be "contentious changes freeze",
218 then "user-visible changes freeze" and finally "full code freeze") then any
219 CPAN module updates must be subject to the same restrictions, so it may not be
220 possible to update all modules until after the BLEAD-FINAL release.) If blead
221 contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but sometimes
222 unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file has a
223 CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
225 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
226 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
227 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
228 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
229 have some extra changes.
231 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
237 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
241 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
242 directory to the original name.
246 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
247 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
251 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
252 entries in C<@IGNORABLE> in F<Porting/Maintainer.pl>, and anything that
253 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
258 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
259 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
260 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
261 into the repository anyway.
265 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
266 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
267 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
272 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
273 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
277 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
278 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
282 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
283 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
287 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
291 Run the tests for the package.
295 Run the tests in F<t/porting>.
299 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
303 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
307 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
311 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
312 may have to take more steps than listed above.
314 F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
315 above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
316 it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
317 of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
320 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
322 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
324 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
325 did it fail identically on $previous?
326 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
327 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
329 attempt to group failure causes
331 for each failure cause
332 is that a regression?
333 if yes, figure out how to fix it
334 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
336 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
337 should the existing behaviour stay?
338 yes - goto "regression"
339 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
340 (also, try to inform the module's author)
342 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
344 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
345 L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> and L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
346 for a summary. See also
347 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
350 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
353 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
355 =head3 monitor CPAN testers for failures
357 For any release except a BLEAD-POINT: Examine the relevant analysis report(s)
358 at http://analysis.cpantesters.org/beforemaintrelease to see how the impending
359 release is performing compared to previous releases with regard to building
360 and testing CPAN modules.
362 =head3 update perldelta
364 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
366 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
367 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
368 edit the whole document.
370 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
371 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
372 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
374 =head3 Bump the version number
376 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
379 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
381 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
382 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
383 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
384 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
385 bump the version further.
387 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
389 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
391 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
392 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
393 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
395 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
397 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
398 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
399 some of which need to be left unchanged.
400 See below in L<"update INSTALL"> for more details.
402 For the first RC release leading up to a BLEAD-FINAL release, update the
403 description of which releases are now "officially" supported in
404 F<pod/perlpolicy.pod>.
406 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
407 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
408 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
409 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
410 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
411 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
413 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
416 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
418 This might not cause any new changes.
420 You may also need to regen opcodes:
422 $ ./perl -Ilib regen/opcode.pl
424 You may have to add stub entries in C<%Module::CoreList::version>,
425 C<%Module::CoreList::deprecated> and C<%Module::CoreList::Utils::delta>.
426 If so, you must up their version numbers as well.
430 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
431 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
439 B<review the delta carefully>
441 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
443 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
444 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
445 previous version bump.
447 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
448 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
451 =head3 update INSTALL
453 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number.
454 The lines in F<INSTALL> about "is not binary compatible with" may require a
455 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with. These are
456 in the "Changes and Incompatibilities" and "Coexistence with earlier versions
459 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
460 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
461 I<not> binary compatible with.
463 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
464 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
465 release, this would be 5.13.11).
467 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
468 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2).
470 =head3 Check copyright years
472 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
474 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
476 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
477 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
478 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
480 =head3 Check more build configurations
482 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
483 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
489 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
493 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
501 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
502 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
504 =head3 update perlport
506 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
507 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
508 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
510 =head3 check a readonly build
512 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
513 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
514 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
515 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
517 =head2 Building a release - on the day
519 This section describes the actions required to make a release
520 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
522 =head3 re-check earlier actions
524 Review all the actions in the previous section,
525 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
528 =head3 create a release branch
530 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
531 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
532 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
533 those cases. Create the branch by running
535 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
537 =head3 build a clean perl
539 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
540 unpushed commits etc):
545 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
547 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
549 =head3 Check module versions
551 For each Perl release since the previous release of the current branch, check
552 for modules that have identical version numbers but different contents by
555 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl --tag=v5.X.YY
557 (This is done automatically by F<t/porting/cmp_version.t> for the previous
558 release of the current branch, but not for any releases from other branches.)
560 Any modules that fail will need a version bump, plus a nudge to the upstream
561 maintainer for 'cpan' upstream modules.
563 =head3 update Module::CoreList
565 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
567 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this
568 for every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
569 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
570 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
571 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
572 number as a CPAN release.)
574 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
575 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
576 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
579 The files to modify are: F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
580 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> and
581 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm>.
583 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
585 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
586 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
587 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
588 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
590 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
591 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
592 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
593 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
594 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
595 See this brief p5p thread:
597 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
599 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
600 update the RMG accordingly!
604 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
605 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
606 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
608 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
609 http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
611 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
615 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
617 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
621 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
623 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
624 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
625 Assuming all goes well, it will update
626 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
627 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
629 Check those files over carefully:
631 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
632 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
634 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
636 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
638 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
640 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version. You only
641 need to do this if you want to add notes about the changes included
642 with this version of Module::CoreList. Otherwise, its version bump
643 will be automatically filled in below in L<finalize perldelta>.
645 =for checklist skip RC
647 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released>
649 For any release except an RC: Update this version's entry in the C<%released>
650 hash with today's date.
652 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
654 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
655 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
656 cherry-pick it back).
658 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
659 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
660 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
661 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
663 =head4 Rebuild and test
665 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
666 ensure all tests are passing.
668 =head3 finalize perldelta
670 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
671 section, which can be generated with something like:
673 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
675 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
678 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
679 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
681 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
683 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
684 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
686 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
687 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
689 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
690 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
691 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
692 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
694 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
695 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
697 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
700 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
703 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
705 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
707 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
709 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
711 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
712 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
713 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
714 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
716 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
718 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
721 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
723 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
725 =head3 add recent perldeltas
727 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
728 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
729 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
730 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
731 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
732 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
734 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
736 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
738 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
739 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
740 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
741 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
742 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
744 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
748 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
752 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
754 =head3 build a clean perl
756 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
757 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
758 unpushed commits etc):
763 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
765 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
767 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
769 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
771 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
772 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
773 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
774 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
775 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
778 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
779 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
780 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
782 =head3 update perlhist.pod
784 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
786 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
788 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
789 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
790 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
792 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
793 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
794 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
796 Be sure to commit your changes:
798 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
800 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
802 =head3 update patchlevel.h
804 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
806 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
807 a final release, remove it. For example:
809 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
812 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
813 ,"uncommitted-changes"
816 Be sure to commit your change:
818 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
820 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
822 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
824 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
826 $ git status # any changes?
827 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
829 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
831 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
834 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
836 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
837 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
841 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
842 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
843 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
844 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
845 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
846 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
847 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
849 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
851 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
852 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
854 Then delete the temporary installation.
856 =head3 create the release tag
858 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
860 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
862 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
863 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
864 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
865 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
866 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
868 =head3 build the tarball
870 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
871 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
872 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
873 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
874 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
875 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
876 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
877 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
880 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
881 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
882 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
883 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
885 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
886 the tarball and directory name:
888 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
889 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
890 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
891 # git clean should not output anything!
892 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
894 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
895 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for the release itself
897 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
898 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
899 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
900 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
902 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
903 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
905 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
907 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
910 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
912 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
914 =head3 test the tarball
916 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
918 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
920 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
923 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine
925 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
926 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
927 and architectures. The #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org is a good place
928 to find willing victims.
930 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
932 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
934 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
936 # Or for a development release:
937 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all test
939 =head4 Run the test harness and install
941 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
944 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
947 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
949 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
950 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
953 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
954 which is why you should test from the tarball.
956 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
958 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
960 All tests successful.
963 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
965 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
966 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
967 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
968 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
969 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
972 cd installdir-5.10.0/
973 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
974 cd installdir-5.10.1/
975 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
978 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
980 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
987 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
989 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
990 has dependencies; for example:
992 CPAN> install Inline::C
995 Check that your perl can run this:
997 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
1001 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
1003 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
1007 Subject: test bug report
1008 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1014 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1015 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1016 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1018 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1019 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1020 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1021 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1023 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1025 =head3 monitor smokes
1027 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1028 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1030 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1031 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1033 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1034 back and fix things.
1036 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1037 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1038 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1039 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1040 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1041 and then hope for the best.
1043 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1045 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1046 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1047 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1049 https://pause.perl.org/
1051 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1053 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1054 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1055 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1056 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1057 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1058 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1059 cable modem. You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1060 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1061 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1062 on dromedary. I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1063 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1065 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1067 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1068 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1069 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1071 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1073 =head3 wait for indexing
1075 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1077 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1078 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1079 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1080 This is considered normal.
1082 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1084 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1086 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1088 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1090 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1093 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
1094 ,"uncommitted-changes"
1097 Be sure to commit your change:
1099 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1101 =head3 announce to p5p
1103 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1105 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1107 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1109 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1111 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1115 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1117 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1119 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1120 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1121 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1122 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1125 =head3 publish the release tag
1127 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1128 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1131 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1133 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1135 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1136 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1137 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1138 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1140 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1142 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1143 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1145 =for checklist skip RC
1147 =head3 Release schedule
1149 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1151 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1153 =for checklist skip RC
1155 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1157 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1159 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1162 =for checklist skip RC
1164 =head3 new perldelta
1166 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1168 Create a new perldelta.
1174 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1178 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1182 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1186 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1187 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1191 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1192 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1193 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1197 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1201 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1202 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1203 previous version bump.
1205 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1209 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1211 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1212 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1213 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1215 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1216 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1219 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1220 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1222 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1224 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1225 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1227 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1228 L<"Bump the version number">.
1230 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1231 ensure all version number references are correct.
1233 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1234 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1235 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1236 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1237 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1238 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1239 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1240 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1241 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1242 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1243 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1245 =head3 clean build and test
1247 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1249 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1250 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1251 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1252 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1259 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1263 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1264 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1265 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1266 cleaned up before the next release.
1270 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1271 update its exceptions database.
1277 Finally, push any commits done above.
1279 $ git push origin ....
1281 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1283 =head3 create maint branch
1285 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1287 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1288 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1289 the commit tagged as the current release.
1291 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1293 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1294 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1297 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1299 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1301 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1302 receive its changes.
1304 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1305 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1306 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1308 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1310 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1312 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1314 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1316 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1318 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1321 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod #for example
1322 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1324 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1325 rather than perldelta).
1327 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1329 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1331 Then rebuild various files:
1333 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1335 Finally, commit and push:
1337 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1338 $ git push origin ....
1340 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1342 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1344 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1345 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1349 =head3 bump RT version number
1351 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1352 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1353 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1354 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1356 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1358 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1359 perl.org> requesting this.
1363 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1364 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1366 Thanks for releasing perl!
1368 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1370 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1372 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1374 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1376 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1377 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1384 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1385 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1389 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1390 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1391 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1395 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1397 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1401 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1403 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1404 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1405 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1409 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1410 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1414 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1418 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1419 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1420 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1426 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1427 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1429 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1430 about blead's current version.
1434 Commit and push your changes.
1438 =head3 check tarball availability
1440 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1441 and is properly indexed:
1447 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1448 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1452 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1453 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1454 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1455 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1456 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1458 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1459 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1460 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1464 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1465 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1466 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1470 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1471 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1475 =for checklist skip RC
1477 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1479 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1481 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1482 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1483 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1485 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1486 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1487 mail Leo as last resort.
1489 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1491 =head3 update release manager's guide
1493 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1494 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1495 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1502 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1503 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.