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 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.
642 =for checklist skip RC
644 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released>
646 For any release except an RC: Update this version's entry in the C<%released>
647 hash with today's date.
649 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
651 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
652 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
653 cherry-pick it back).
655 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
656 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
657 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
658 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
660 =head4 Rebuild and test
662 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
663 ensure all tests are passing.
665 =head3 finalize perldelta
667 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
668 section, which can be generated with something like:
670 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
672 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
675 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
676 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
678 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
680 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
681 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
683 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
684 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
686 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
687 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
688 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
689 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
691 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
692 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
694 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
697 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
700 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
702 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
704 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
706 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
708 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
709 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
710 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
711 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
713 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
715 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
718 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
720 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
722 =head3 add recent perldeltas
724 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
725 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
726 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
727 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
728 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
729 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
731 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
733 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
735 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
736 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
737 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
738 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
739 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
741 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
745 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
749 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
751 =head3 build a clean perl
753 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
754 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
755 unpushed commits etc):
760 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
762 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
764 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
766 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
768 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
769 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
770 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
771 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
772 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
775 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
776 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
777 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
779 =head3 update perlhist.pod
781 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
783 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
785 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
786 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
787 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
789 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
790 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
791 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
793 Be sure to commit your changes:
795 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
797 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
799 =head3 update patchlevel.h
801 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
803 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
804 a final release, remove it. For example:
806 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
809 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
810 ,"uncommitted-changes"
813 Be sure to commit your change:
815 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
817 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
819 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
821 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
823 $ git status # any changes?
824 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
826 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
828 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
831 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
833 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
834 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
838 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
839 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
840 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
841 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
842 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
843 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
844 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
846 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
848 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
849 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
851 Then delete the temporary installation.
853 =head3 create the release tag
855 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
857 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
859 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
860 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
861 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
862 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
863 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
865 =head3 build the tarball
867 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
868 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
869 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
870 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
871 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
872 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
873 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
874 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
877 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
878 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
879 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
880 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
882 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
883 the tarball and directory name:
885 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
886 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
887 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
888 # git clean should not output anything!
889 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
891 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
892 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for the release itself
894 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
895 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
896 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
897 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
899 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
900 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
902 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
904 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
907 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
909 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
911 =head3 test the tarball
913 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
915 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
917 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
920 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine
922 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
923 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
924 and architectures. The #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org is a good place
925 to find willing victims.
927 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
929 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
931 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
933 # Or for a development release:
934 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all test
936 =head4 Run the test harness and install
938 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
941 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
944 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
946 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
947 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
950 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
951 which is why you should test from the tarball.
953 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
955 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
957 All tests successful.
960 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
962 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
963 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
964 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
965 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
966 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
969 cd installdir-5.10.0/
970 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
971 cd installdir-5.10.1/
972 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
975 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
977 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
984 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
986 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
987 has dependencies; for example:
989 CPAN> install Inline::C
992 Check that your perl can run this:
994 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
998 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
1000 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
1004 Subject: test bug report
1005 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1011 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1012 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1013 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1015 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1016 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1017 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1018 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1020 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1022 =head3 monitor smokes
1024 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1025 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1027 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1028 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1030 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1031 back and fix things.
1033 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1034 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1035 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1036 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1037 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1038 and then hope for the best.
1040 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1042 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1043 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1044 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1046 https://pause.perl.org/
1048 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1050 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1051 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1052 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1053 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1054 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1055 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1056 cable modem. You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1057 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1058 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1059 on dromedary. I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1060 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1062 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1064 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1065 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1066 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1068 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1070 =head3 wait for indexing
1072 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1074 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1075 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1076 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1077 This is considered normal.
1079 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1081 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1083 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1085 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1087 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1090 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
1091 ,"uncommitted-changes"
1094 Be sure to commit your change:
1096 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1098 =head3 announce to p5p
1100 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1102 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1104 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1106 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1108 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1112 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1114 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1116 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1117 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1118 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1119 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1122 =head3 publish the release tag
1124 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1125 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1128 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1130 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1132 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1133 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1134 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1135 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1137 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1139 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1140 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1142 =for checklist skip RC
1144 =head3 Release schedule
1146 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1148 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1150 =for checklist skip RC
1152 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1154 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1156 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1159 =for checklist skip RC
1161 =head3 new perldelta
1163 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1165 Create a new perldelta.
1171 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1175 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1179 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1183 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1184 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1188 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1189 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1190 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1194 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1198 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1199 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1200 previous version bump.
1202 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1206 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1208 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1209 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1210 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1212 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1213 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1216 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1217 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1219 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1221 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1222 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1224 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1225 L<"Bump the version number">.
1227 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1228 ensure all version number references are correct.
1230 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1231 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1232 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1233 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1234 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1235 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1236 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1237 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1238 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1239 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1240 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1242 =head3 clean build and test
1244 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1246 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1247 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1248 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1249 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1256 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1260 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1261 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1262 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1263 cleaned up before the next release.
1267 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1268 update its exceptions database.
1274 Finally, push any commits done above.
1276 $ git push origin ....
1278 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1280 =head3 create maint branch
1282 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1284 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1285 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1286 the commit tagged as the current release.
1288 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1290 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1291 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1294 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1296 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1298 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1299 receive its changes.
1301 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1302 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1303 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1305 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1307 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1309 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1311 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1313 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1315 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1318 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod # for example
1319 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1321 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1322 rather than perldelta).
1324 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1326 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1328 Then rebuild various files:
1330 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1332 Finally, commit and push:
1334 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1335 $ git push origin ....
1337 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1339 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1341 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1342 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1346 =head3 bump RT version number
1348 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1349 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1350 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1351 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1353 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1355 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1356 perl.org> requesting this.
1360 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1361 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1363 Thanks for releasing perl!
1365 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1367 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1369 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1371 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1373 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1374 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1381 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1382 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1386 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1387 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1388 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1392 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1394 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1398 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1400 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1401 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1402 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1406 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1407 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1411 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1415 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1416 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1417 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1423 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1424 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1426 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1427 about blead's current version.
1431 Commit and push your changes.
1435 =head3 check tarball availability
1437 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1438 and is properly indexed:
1444 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1445 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1449 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1450 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1451 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1452 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1453 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1455 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1456 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1457 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1461 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1462 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1463 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1467 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1468 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1472 =for checklist skip RC
1474 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1476 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1478 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1479 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1480 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1482 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1483 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1484 mail Leo as last resort.
1486 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1488 =head3 update release manager's guide
1490 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1491 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1492 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1499 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1500 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.