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 rt.perl.org update access
146 Make sure you have permission to close tickets on L<http://rt.perl.org/>
147 so you can respond to bug report as necessary during your stint. If you
148 don't, make an account (if you don't have one) and contact the pumpking
149 with your username to get ticket-closing permission.
151 =head3 git checkout and commit bit
153 You will need a working C<git> installation, checkout of the perl
154 git repository and perl commit bit. For information about working
155 with perl and git, see F<pod/perlgit.pod>.
157 If you are not yet a perl committer, you won't be able to make a
158 release. Have a chat with whichever evil perl porter tried to talk
159 you into the idea in the first place to figure out the best way to
162 =head3 web-based file share
164 You will need to be able to share tarballs with #p5p members for
165 pre-release testing, and you may wish to upload to PAUSE via URL.
166 Make sure you have a way of sharing files, such as a web server or
167 file-sharing service.
169 Porters have access to the "dromedary" server (users.perl5.git.perl.org),
170 which has a F<public_html> directory to share files with.
171 (L<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~username/perl-5.xx.y.tar.gz>)
173 If you use Dropbox, you can append "raw=1" as a parameter to their usual
174 sharing link to allow direct download (albeit with redirects).
176 =head3 git clone of L<https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>
178 For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
179 sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
180 is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
182 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
184 You will need a quotation to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
186 =head3 Install the previous version of perl
188 During the testing phase of the release you have created, you will be
189 asked to compare the installed files with a previous install. Save yourself
190 some time on release day, and have a (clean) install of the previous
193 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
195 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
196 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
197 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
198 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
200 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
202 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
204 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
206 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
207 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
208 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
210 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
211 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
212 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
214 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
216 Passing C<-u cpan> will probably be helpful, since it limits the search to
217 distributions with 'cpan' upstream source. (It's OK for blead upstream to
218 differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases usually come I<after> perl
221 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
222 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
223 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
224 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
225 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
226 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
228 For a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN
229 release appears to be ahead of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the
230 relevant porter to do so). (However, if this is a BLEAD-FINAL release or one of
231 the last BLEAD-POINT releases before it and hence blead is in some kind of
232 "code freeze" state (e.g. the sequence might be "contentious changes freeze",
233 then "user-visible changes freeze" and finally "full code freeze") then any
234 CPAN module updates must be subject to the same restrictions, so it may not be
235 possible to update all modules until after the BLEAD-FINAL release.) If blead
236 contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but sometimes
237 unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file has a
238 CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
240 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
241 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
242 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
243 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
244 have some extra changes.
246 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpanE<sol> distro
248 In most cases, once a new version of a distribution shipped with core has been
249 uploaded to CPAN, the core version thereof can be synchronized automatically
250 with the program F<Porting/sync-with-cpan>. (But see the comments at the
251 beginning of that program. In particular, it has not yet been exercised on
252 Windows as much as it has on Unix-like platforms.)
254 If, however, F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> does not provide good results, follow
261 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
265 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
266 directory to the original name.
270 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
271 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
275 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
276 entries in C<@IGNORABLE> in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>, and anything that
277 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
282 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
283 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
284 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
285 into the repository anyway.
289 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
290 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@IGNORABLE>.
291 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
296 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
297 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
301 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
302 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
306 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
307 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
311 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
315 Run the tests for the package.
319 Run the tests in F<t/porting> (C<make test_porting>).
323 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
327 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
331 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
335 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
336 may have to take more steps than listed above.
338 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
340 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
342 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
343 did it fail identically on $previous?
344 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
345 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
347 attempt to group failure causes
349 for each failure cause
350 is that a regression?
351 if yes, figure out how to fix it
352 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
354 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
355 should the existing behaviour stay?
356 yes - goto "regression"
357 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
358 (also, try to inform the module's author)
360 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
362 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
363 L<http://smoke.procura.nl/index.html>, L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
364 and L<http://perl.develop-help.com> for a summary. See also
365 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
368 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
371 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
373 =head3 monitor CPAN testers for failures
375 For any release except a BLEAD-POINT: Examine the relevant analysis report(s)
376 at L<http://analysis.cpantesters.org/beforemaintrelease> to see how the
377 impending release is performing compared to previous releases with
378 regard to building and testing CPAN modules.
380 That page accepts a query parameter, C<pair> that takes a pair of
381 colon-delimited versions to use for comparison. For example:
383 L<http://analysis.cpantesters.org/beforemaintrelease?pair=5.20.2:5.22.0%20RC1>
385 =head3 update perldelta
387 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
389 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
390 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
391 edit the whole document.
393 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
394 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
395 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
397 =head3 Bump the version number
399 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
402 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
404 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
405 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
406 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
407 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
408 bump the version further.
410 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
412 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
414 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
415 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
416 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
418 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
420 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
421 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
422 some of which need to be left unchanged.
423 See below in L<"update INSTALL"> for more details.
425 For the first RC release leading up to a BLEAD-FINAL release, update the
426 description of which releases are now "officially" supported in
427 F<pod/perlpolicy.pod>.
429 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
430 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
431 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
432 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
433 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
434 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
436 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
439 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
441 This might not cause any new changes.
443 You may also need to regen opcodes:
445 $ ./perl -Ilib regen/opcode.pl
449 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
450 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
454 Do note that at this stage, porting tests will fail. They will continue
455 to fail until you've updated Module::CoreList, as described below.
461 B<review the delta carefully>
463 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
465 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
466 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
467 previous version bump.
469 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
470 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
473 =head3 update INSTALL
475 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number.
476 The lines in F<INSTALL> about "is not binary compatible with" may require a
477 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with. These are
478 in the "Changes and Incompatibilities" and "Coexistence with earlier versions
481 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
482 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
483 I<not> binary compatible with.
485 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
486 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
487 release, this would be 5.13.11).
489 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
490 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2). If the last release manager
491 followed instructions, this should have already been done after the last
492 blead release, so you may find nothing to do here.
494 =head3 Check copyright years
496 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
498 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
500 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
501 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
502 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
504 =head3 Check more build configurations
506 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
507 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
513 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
517 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
525 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
526 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
528 =head3 update perlport
530 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
531 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
532 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
534 =head3 check a readonly build
536 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
537 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
538 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
539 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
541 =head2 Building a release - on the day
543 This section describes the actions required to make a release
544 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
546 =head3 re-check earlier actions
548 Review all the actions in the previous section,
549 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
552 =head3 create a release branch
554 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
555 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
556 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
557 those cases. Create the branch by running
559 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
561 =head3 build a clean perl
563 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
564 unpushed commits etc):
569 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
571 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
573 =head3 Check module versions
575 For each Perl release since the previous release of the current branch, check
576 for modules that have identical version numbers but different contents by
579 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl --tag=v5.X.YY
581 (This is done automatically by F<t/porting/cmp_version.t> for the previous
582 release of the current branch, but not for any releases from other branches.)
584 Any modules that fail will need a version bump, plus a nudge to the upstream
585 maintainer for 'cpan' upstream modules.
587 =head3 update Module::CoreList
589 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
591 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this
592 for every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
593 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
594 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
595 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
596 number as a CPAN release.)
598 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
599 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
600 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
603 The files to modify are:
609 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>
613 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>
617 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm>
621 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
623 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
624 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
625 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
626 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
628 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
629 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
630 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
631 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
632 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
633 See this brief p5p thread:
635 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
637 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
638 update the RMG accordingly!
642 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
643 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
644 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
646 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
647 L<http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN>)
649 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
653 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
655 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
659 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
661 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
662 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
663 Assuming all goes well, it will update
664 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
665 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
667 Check those files over carefully:
669 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
670 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
672 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
674 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
675 This file is F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
677 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
679 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version. You only
680 need to do this if you want to add notes about the changes included
681 with this version of Module::CoreList. Otherwise, its version bump
682 will be automatically filled in below in L<finalize perldelta>.
684 =for checklist skip RC
686 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released>
688 For any release except an RC: Update this version's entry in the C<%released>
689 hash with today's date.
691 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
693 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
694 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
695 cherry-pick it back).
697 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
698 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
699 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
700 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
702 =head4 Rebuild and test
704 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
705 ensure all tests are passing.
707 =head3 finalize perldelta
709 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
710 section, which can be generated with something like:
712 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
714 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
717 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
718 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
720 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
722 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
723 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
725 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
726 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
728 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
729 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
730 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
731 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
733 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
734 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
736 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
739 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
742 Another good HTML preview option is L<http://search.cpan.org/pod2html>
744 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
746 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
748 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
750 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
751 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
752 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
753 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
755 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
757 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
760 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
762 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
764 =head3 add recent perldeltas
766 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
767 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
768 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
769 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
770 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
771 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
773 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
775 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
777 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
778 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
779 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
780 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
781 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
783 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
787 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
791 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
793 =head3 build a clean perl
795 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
796 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
797 unpushed commits etc):
802 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
804 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
806 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
808 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
810 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
811 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
812 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
813 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to examine the
814 changes first, to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was
815 forgotten from blead. An easy way to do that is with C<< git checkout -p >>,
816 to selectively apply any changes from the blead version to your current
820 $ git checkout -p origin/blead pod/perlhist.pod
821 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
823 =head3 update perlhist.pod
825 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
827 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
829 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
830 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
831 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
833 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
834 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
835 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
837 Be sure to commit your changes:
839 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
841 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
843 =head3 update patchlevel.h
845 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
847 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
848 a final release, remove it. For example:
850 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
853 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
854 ,"uncommitted-changes"
857 Be sure to commit your change:
859 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
861 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
863 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
865 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
867 $ git status # any changes?
868 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
870 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
872 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
875 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
877 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
878 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
882 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
883 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
884 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
885 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
886 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
887 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
888 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
890 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
892 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
893 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
895 Then delete the temporary installation.
897 =head3 create the release tag
899 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
901 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
903 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
904 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
905 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
906 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
907 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
909 =head3 build the tarball
911 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
912 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
913 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
914 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
915 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
916 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
917 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
918 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
921 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
922 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
923 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
924 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
926 B<IMPORTANT>: if you are on OS X, you must export C<COPYFILE_DISABLE=1>
927 to prevent OS X resource files from being included in your tarball. After
928 creating the tarball following the instructions below, inspect it to ensure
929 you don't have files like F<._foobar>.
931 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
932 the tarball and directory name:
934 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
935 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
936 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
937 # git clean should not output anything!
938 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
940 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
941 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for the release itself
943 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
944 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
945 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
946 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
948 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
949 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
951 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
953 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
956 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
958 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
960 =head3 test the tarball
962 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
964 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
966 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
969 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine and unpack it
971 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
972 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
975 =head4 Ask #p5p to test the tarball on different platforms
977 Once you've verified the tarball can be downloaded and unpacked,
978 ask the #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org for volunteers to test the
979 tarballs on whatever platforms they can.
981 If you're not confident in the tarball, you can defer this step until after
982 your own tarball testing, below.
984 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
986 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
988 $ ./Configure -des && make all minitest test
990 # Or for a development release:
991 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all minitest test
993 =head4 Run the test harness and install
995 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
998 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
1001 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
1003 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
1004 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
1007 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
1008 which is why you should test from the tarball.
1010 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
1012 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
1014 All tests successful.
1017 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
1019 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
1020 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
1021 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
1022 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
1023 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
1026 cd installdir-5.10.0/
1027 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
1028 cd installdir-5.10.1/
1029 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
1032 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
1034 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
1041 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
1043 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
1044 has dependencies; for example:
1046 CPAN> install Inline::C
1049 Check that your perl can run this:
1051 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
1055 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
1057 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
1061 Subject: test bug report
1062 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1068 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1069 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1070 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1072 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1073 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1074 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1075 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1077 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1079 =head3 monitor smokes
1081 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1082 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1084 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1085 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1087 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1088 back and fix things.
1090 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1091 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1092 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1093 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1094 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1095 and then hope for the best.
1097 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1099 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1100 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1101 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1103 https://pause.perl.org/
1105 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1107 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1108 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1109 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1110 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1111 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1112 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1115 You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1116 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1117 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1120 I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1121 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1123 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1125 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1126 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1127 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1129 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1131 =head3 wait for indexing
1133 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1135 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1136 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1137 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1138 This is considered normal.
1140 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1142 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1144 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1146 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1148 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1151 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
1152 ,"uncommitted-changes"
1155 Be sure to commit your change:
1157 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1159 =head3 announce to p5p
1161 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1163 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1165 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1167 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1169 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1173 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1175 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1177 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1178 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1179 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1180 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1183 =head3 publish the release tag
1185 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1186 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1189 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1191 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1193 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1194 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1195 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1196 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1198 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1200 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1201 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1203 =for checklist skip RC
1205 =head3 Release schedule
1207 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1209 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1211 =for checklist skip RC
1213 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1215 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1217 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1220 =for checklist skip RC
1222 =head3 new perldelta
1224 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1226 Create a new perldelta.
1232 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1236 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1240 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1244 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1245 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1249 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1250 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1251 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1255 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1259 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1260 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1261 previous version bump.
1263 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1267 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1269 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1270 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1271 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1273 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1274 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1277 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1278 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1280 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1282 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1283 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1285 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1286 L<"Bump the version number">.
1288 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1289 ensure all version number references are correct.
1291 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1292 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1293 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1294 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1295 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1296 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1297 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1298 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1299 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1300 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1301 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1303 =head3 clean build and test
1305 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1307 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1308 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1309 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1310 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1317 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1321 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1322 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1323 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1324 cleaned up before the next release.
1328 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1329 update its exceptions database.
1335 Finally, push any commits done above.
1337 $ git push origin ....
1339 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1341 =head3 create maint branch
1343 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1345 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1346 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1347 the commit tagged as the current release.
1349 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1351 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1352 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1355 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1357 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1359 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1360 receive its changes.
1362 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1363 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1364 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1366 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1368 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1370 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1372 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1374 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1376 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1379 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod #for example
1380 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1382 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1383 rather than perldelta).
1385 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1387 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1389 Then rebuild various files:
1391 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1393 Finally, commit and push:
1395 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1396 $ git push origin ....
1398 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1400 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1402 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1403 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1409 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1410 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1412 Thanks for releasing perl!
1414 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1416 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1418 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1420 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1422 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1423 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1430 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1431 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1435 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1436 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1437 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1441 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1443 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1447 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1449 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1450 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1451 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1455 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1456 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1460 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1464 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1465 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1466 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1472 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1473 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1475 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1476 about blead's current version.
1480 Commit and push your changes.
1484 =head3 check tarball availability
1486 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1487 and is properly indexed:
1493 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1494 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1498 Check F</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1499 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in F</src/5.0>
1500 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1501 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in F</src/README.html> (which describes
1502 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1504 The F</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1505 If they don't, or the F</src> description is inadequate,
1506 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1510 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the F</src> updates
1511 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1512 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1516 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1517 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1521 =for checklist skip RC
1523 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1525 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1527 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1528 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1529 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1531 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1532 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1533 mail Leo as last resort.
1535 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1537 =head3 update release manager's guide
1539 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1540 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1541 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1548 L<http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html>,
1549 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.