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 web-based file share
170 You will need to be able to share tarballs with #p5p members for
171 pre-release testing, and you may wish to upload to PAUSE via URL.
172 Make sure you have a way of sharing files, such as a web server or
173 file-sharing service.
175 Porters have access to the "dromedary" server (users.perl5.git.perl.org),
176 but as of Dec. 2015 the F<public_html> directories are not working.
178 If you use Dropbox, you can append "raw=1" as a parameter to their usual
179 sharing link to allow direct download (albeit with redirects).
181 =head3 git clone of https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb
183 For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
184 sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
185 is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
187 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
189 You will need a quotation to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
191 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
193 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
194 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
195 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
196 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
198 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
200 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
202 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
204 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
205 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
206 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
208 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
209 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
210 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
212 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
214 Passing C<-u cpan> will probably be helpful, since it limits the search to
215 distributions with 'cpan' upstream source. (It's OK for blead upstream to
216 differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases usually come I<after> perl
219 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
220 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
221 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
222 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
223 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
224 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
226 For a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN
227 release appears to be ahead of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the
228 relevant porter to do so). (However, if this is a BLEAD-FINAL release or one of
229 the last BLEAD-POINT releases before it and hence blead is in some kind of
230 "code freeze" state (e.g. the sequence might be "contentious changes freeze",
231 then "user-visible changes freeze" and finally "full code freeze") then any
232 CPAN module updates must be subject to the same restrictions, so it may not be
233 possible to update all modules until after the BLEAD-FINAL release.) If blead
234 contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but sometimes
235 unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file has a
236 CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
238 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
239 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
240 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
241 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
242 have some extra changes.
244 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
250 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
254 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
255 directory to the original name.
259 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
260 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
264 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
265 entries in C<@IGNORABLE> in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>, and anything that
266 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
271 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
272 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
273 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
274 into the repository anyway.
278 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
279 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
280 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
285 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
286 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
290 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
291 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
295 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
296 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
300 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
304 Run the tests for the package.
308 Run the tests in F<t/porting> (C<make test_porting>).
312 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
316 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
320 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
324 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
325 may have to take more steps than listed above.
327 F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
328 above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
329 it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
330 of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
333 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
335 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
337 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
338 did it fail identically on $previous?
339 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
340 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
342 attempt to group failure causes
344 for each failure cause
345 is that a regression?
346 if yes, figure out how to fix it
347 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
349 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
350 should the existing behaviour stay?
351 yes - goto "regression"
352 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
353 (also, try to inform the module's author)
355 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
357 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
358 L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> and L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
359 for a summary. See also
360 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
363 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
366 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
368 =head3 monitor CPAN testers for failures
370 For any release except a BLEAD-POINT: Examine the relevant analysis report(s)
371 at http://analysis.cpantesters.org/beforemaintrelease to see how the impending
372 release is performing compared to previous releases with regard to building
373 and testing CPAN modules.
375 =head3 update perldelta
377 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
379 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
380 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
381 edit the whole document.
383 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
384 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
385 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
387 =head3 Bump the version number
389 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
392 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
394 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
395 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
396 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
397 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
398 bump the version further.
400 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
402 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
404 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
405 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
406 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
408 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
410 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
411 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
412 some of which need to be left unchanged.
413 See below in L<"update INSTALL"> for more details.
415 For the first RC release leading up to a BLEAD-FINAL release, update the
416 description of which releases are now "officially" supported in
417 F<pod/perlpolicy.pod>.
419 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
420 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
421 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
422 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
423 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
424 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
426 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
429 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
431 This might not cause any new changes.
433 You may also need to regen opcodes:
435 $ ./perl -Ilib regen/opcode.pl
437 You may have to add stub entries in C<%Module::CoreList::version>,
438 C<%Module::CoreList::deprecated> and C<%Module::CoreList::Utils::delta>.
439 If so, you must up their version numbers as well.
443 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
444 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
452 B<review the delta carefully>
454 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
456 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
457 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
458 previous version bump.
460 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
461 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
464 =head3 update INSTALL
466 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number.
467 The lines in F<INSTALL> about "is not binary compatible with" may require a
468 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with. These are
469 in the "Changes and Incompatibilities" and "Coexistence with earlier versions
472 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
473 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
474 I<not> binary compatible with.
476 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
477 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
478 release, this would be 5.13.11).
480 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
481 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2). If the last release manager
482 followed instructions, this should have already been done after the last
483 blead release, so you may find nothing to do here.
485 =head3 Check copyright years
487 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
489 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
491 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
492 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
493 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
495 =head3 Check more build configurations
497 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
498 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
504 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
508 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
516 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
517 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
519 =head3 update perlport
521 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
522 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
523 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
525 =head3 check a readonly build
527 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
528 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
529 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
530 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
532 =head2 Building a release - on the day
534 This section describes the actions required to make a release
535 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
537 =head3 re-check earlier actions
539 Review all the actions in the previous section,
540 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
543 =head3 create a release branch
545 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
546 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
547 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
548 those cases. Create the branch by running
550 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
552 =head3 build a clean perl
554 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
555 unpushed commits etc):
560 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
562 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
564 =head3 Check module versions
566 For each Perl release since the previous release of the current branch, check
567 for modules that have identical version numbers but different contents by
570 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl --tag=v5.X.YY
572 (This is done automatically by F<t/porting/cmp_version.t> for the previous
573 release of the current branch, but not for any releases from other branches.)
575 Any modules that fail will need a version bump, plus a nudge to the upstream
576 maintainer for 'cpan' upstream modules.
578 =head3 update Module::CoreList
580 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
582 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this
583 for every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
584 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
585 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
586 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
587 number as a CPAN release.)
589 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
590 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
591 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
594 The files to modify are: F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
595 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> and
596 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm>.
598 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
600 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
601 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
602 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
603 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
605 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
606 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
607 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
608 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
609 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
610 See this brief p5p thread:
612 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
614 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
615 update the RMG accordingly!
619 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
620 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
621 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
623 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
624 http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
626 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
630 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
632 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
636 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
638 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
639 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
640 Assuming all goes well, it will update
641 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
642 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
644 Check those files over carefully:
646 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
647 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
649 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
651 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
653 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
655 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version. You only
656 need to do this if you want to add notes about the changes included
657 with this version of Module::CoreList. Otherwise, its version bump
658 will be automatically filled in below in L<finalize perldelta>.
660 =for checklist skip RC
662 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released>
664 For any release except an RC: Update this version's entry in the C<%released>
665 hash with today's date.
667 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
669 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
670 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
671 cherry-pick it back).
673 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
674 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
675 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
676 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
678 =head4 Rebuild and test
680 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
681 ensure all tests are passing.
683 =head3 finalize perldelta
685 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
686 section, which can be generated with something like:
688 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
690 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
693 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
694 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
696 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
698 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
699 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
701 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
702 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
704 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
705 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
706 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
707 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
709 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
710 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
712 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
715 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
718 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
720 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
722 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
724 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
726 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
727 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
728 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
729 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
731 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
733 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
736 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
738 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
740 =head3 add recent perldeltas
742 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
743 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
744 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
745 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
746 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
747 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
749 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
751 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
753 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
754 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
755 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
756 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
757 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
759 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
763 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
767 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
769 =head3 build a clean perl
771 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
772 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
773 unpushed commits etc):
778 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
780 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
782 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
784 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
786 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
787 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
788 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
789 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
790 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
793 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
794 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
795 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
797 =head3 update perlhist.pod
799 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
801 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
803 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
804 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
805 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
807 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
808 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
809 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
811 Be sure to commit your changes:
813 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
815 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
817 =head3 update patchlevel.h
819 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
821 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
822 a final release, remove it. For example:
824 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
827 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
828 ,"uncommitted-changes"
831 Be sure to commit your change:
833 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
835 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
837 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
839 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
841 $ git status # any changes?
842 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
844 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
846 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
849 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
851 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
852 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
856 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
857 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
858 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
859 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
860 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
861 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
862 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
864 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
866 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
867 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
869 Then delete the temporary installation.
871 =head3 create the release tag
873 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
875 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
877 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
878 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
879 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
880 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
881 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
883 =head3 build the tarball
885 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
886 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
887 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
888 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
889 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
890 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
891 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
892 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
895 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
896 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
897 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
898 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
900 B<IMPORTANT>: if you are on OS X, you must export C<COPYFILE_DISABLE=1>
901 to prevent OS X resource files from being included in your tarball. After
902 creating the tarball following the instructions below, inspect it to ensure
903 you don't have files like F<._foobar>.
905 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
906 the tarball and directory name:
908 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
909 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
910 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
911 # git clean should not output anything!
912 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
914 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
915 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for the release itself
917 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
918 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
919 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
920 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
922 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
923 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
925 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
927 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
930 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
932 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
934 =head3 test the tarball
936 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
938 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
940 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
943 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine and unpack it
945 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
946 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
949 =head4 Ask #p5p to test the tarball on different platforms
951 Once you've verified the tarball can be downloaded and unpacked,
952 ask the #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org for volunteers to test the
953 tarballs on whatever platforms they can.
955 If you're not confident in the tarball, you can defer this step until after
956 your own tarball testing, below.
958 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
960 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
962 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
964 # Or for a development release:
965 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all test
967 =head4 Run the test harness and install
969 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
972 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
975 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
977 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
978 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
981 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
982 which is why you should test from the tarball.
984 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
986 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
988 All tests successful.
991 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
993 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
994 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
995 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
996 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
997 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
1000 cd installdir-5.10.0/
1001 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
1002 cd installdir-5.10.1/
1003 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
1006 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
1008 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
1015 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
1017 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
1018 has dependencies; for example:
1020 CPAN> install Inline::C
1023 Check that your perl can run this:
1025 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
1029 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
1031 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
1035 Subject: test bug report
1036 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1042 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1043 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1044 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1046 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1047 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1048 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1049 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1051 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1053 =head3 monitor smokes
1055 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1056 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1058 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1059 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1061 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1062 back and fix things.
1064 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1065 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1066 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1067 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1068 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1069 and then hope for the best.
1071 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1073 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1074 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1075 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1077 https://pause.perl.org/
1079 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1081 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1082 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1083 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1084 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1085 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1086 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1089 B<Note:> as of Dec 2015, dromedary F<public_html> is not working so
1090 ignore the following paragraph until it is fixed.
1092 You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1093 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1094 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1097 I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1098 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1100 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1102 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1103 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1104 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1106 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1108 =head3 wait for indexing
1110 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1112 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1113 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1114 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1115 This is considered normal.
1117 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1119 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1121 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1123 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1125 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1128 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
1129 ,"uncommitted-changes"
1132 Be sure to commit your change:
1134 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1136 =head3 announce to p5p
1138 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1140 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1142 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1144 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1146 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1150 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1152 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1154 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1155 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1156 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1157 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1160 =head3 publish the release tag
1162 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1163 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1166 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1168 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1170 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1171 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1172 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1173 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1175 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1177 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1178 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1180 =for checklist skip RC
1182 =head3 Release schedule
1184 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1186 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1188 =for checklist skip RC
1190 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1192 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1194 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1197 =for checklist skip RC
1199 =head3 new perldelta
1201 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1203 Create a new perldelta.
1209 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1213 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1217 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1221 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1222 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1226 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1227 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1228 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1232 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1236 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1237 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1238 previous version bump.
1240 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1244 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1246 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1247 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1248 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1250 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1251 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1254 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1255 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1257 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1259 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1260 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1262 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1263 L<"Bump the version number">.
1265 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1266 ensure all version number references are correct.
1268 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1269 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1270 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1271 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1272 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1273 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1274 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1275 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1276 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1277 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1278 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1280 =head3 clean build and test
1282 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1284 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1285 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1286 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1287 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1294 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1298 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1299 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1300 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1301 cleaned up before the next release.
1305 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1306 update its exceptions database.
1312 Finally, push any commits done above.
1314 $ git push origin ....
1316 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1318 =head3 create maint branch
1320 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1322 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1323 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1324 the commit tagged as the current release.
1326 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1328 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1329 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1332 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1334 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1336 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1337 receive its changes.
1339 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1340 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1341 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1343 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1345 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1347 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1349 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1351 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1353 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1356 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod #for example
1357 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1359 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1360 rather than perldelta).
1362 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1364 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1366 Then rebuild various files:
1368 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1370 Finally, commit and push:
1372 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1373 $ git push origin ....
1375 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1377 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1379 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1380 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1384 =head3 bump RT version number
1386 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1387 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1388 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1389 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1391 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1393 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1394 perl.org> requesting this.
1398 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1399 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1401 Thanks for releasing perl!
1403 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1405 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1407 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1409 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1411 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1412 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1419 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1420 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1424 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1425 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1426 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1430 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1432 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1436 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1438 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1439 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1440 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1444 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1445 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1449 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1453 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1454 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1455 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1461 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1462 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1464 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1465 about blead's current version.
1469 Commit and push your changes.
1473 =head3 check tarball availability
1475 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1476 and is properly indexed:
1482 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1483 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1487 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1488 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1489 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1490 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1491 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1493 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1494 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1495 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1499 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1500 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1501 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1505 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1506 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1510 =for checklist skip RC
1512 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1514 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1516 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1517 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1518 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1520 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1521 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1522 mail Leo as last resort.
1524 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1526 =head3 update release manager's guide
1528 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1529 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1530 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1537 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1538 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.