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 but as of Dec. 2015 the F<public_html> directories are not working.
172 If you use Dropbox, you can append "raw=1" as a parameter to their usual
173 sharing link to allow direct download (albeit with redirects).
175 =head3 git clone of https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb
177 For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
178 sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
179 is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
181 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
183 You will need a quotation to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
185 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
187 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
188 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
189 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
190 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
192 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
194 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
196 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
198 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
199 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
200 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
202 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
203 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
204 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
206 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
208 Passing C<-u cpan> will probably be helpful, since it limits the search to
209 distributions with 'cpan' upstream source. (It's OK for blead upstream to
210 differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases usually come I<after> perl
213 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
214 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
215 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
216 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
217 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
218 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
220 For a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN
221 release appears to be ahead of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the
222 relevant porter to do so). (However, if this is a BLEAD-FINAL release or one of
223 the last BLEAD-POINT releases before it and hence blead is in some kind of
224 "code freeze" state (e.g. the sequence might be "contentious changes freeze",
225 then "user-visible changes freeze" and finally "full code freeze") then any
226 CPAN module updates must be subject to the same restrictions, so it may not be
227 possible to update all modules until after the BLEAD-FINAL release.) If blead
228 contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but sometimes
229 unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file has a
230 CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
232 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
233 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
234 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
235 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
236 have some extra changes.
238 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
244 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
248 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
249 directory to the original name.
253 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
254 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
258 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
259 entries in C<@IGNORABLE> in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>, and anything that
260 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
265 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
266 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
267 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
268 into the repository anyway.
272 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
273 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
274 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
279 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
280 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
284 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
285 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
289 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
290 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
294 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
298 Run the tests for the package.
302 Run the tests in F<t/porting> (C<make test_porting>).
306 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
310 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
314 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
318 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
319 may have to take more steps than listed above.
321 F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
322 above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
323 it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
324 of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
327 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
329 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
331 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
332 did it fail identically on $previous?
333 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
334 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
336 attempt to group failure causes
338 for each failure cause
339 is that a regression?
340 if yes, figure out how to fix it
341 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
343 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
344 should the existing behaviour stay?
345 yes - goto "regression"
346 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
347 (also, try to inform the module's author)
349 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
351 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
352 L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> and L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
353 for a summary. See also
354 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
357 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
360 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
362 =head3 monitor CPAN testers for failures
364 For any release except a BLEAD-POINT: Examine the relevant analysis report(s)
365 at http://analysis.cpantesters.org/beforemaintrelease to see how the impending
366 release is performing compared to previous releases with regard to building
367 and testing CPAN modules.
369 =head3 update perldelta
371 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
373 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
374 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
375 edit the whole document.
377 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
378 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
379 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
381 =head3 Bump the version number
383 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
386 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
388 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
389 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
390 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
391 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
392 bump the version further.
394 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
396 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
398 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
399 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
400 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
402 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
404 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
405 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
406 some of which need to be left unchanged.
407 See below in L<"update INSTALL"> for more details.
409 For the first RC release leading up to a BLEAD-FINAL release, update the
410 description of which releases are now "officially" supported in
411 F<pod/perlpolicy.pod>.
413 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
414 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
415 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
416 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
417 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
418 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
420 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
423 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
425 This might not cause any new changes.
427 You may also need to regen opcodes:
429 $ ./perl -Ilib regen/opcode.pl
431 You may have to add stub entries in C<%Module::CoreList::version>,
432 C<%Module::CoreList::deprecated> and C<%Module::CoreList::Utils::delta>.
433 If so, you must up their version numbers as well.
437 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
438 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
446 B<review the delta carefully>
448 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
450 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
451 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
452 previous version bump.
454 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
455 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
458 =head3 update INSTALL
460 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number.
461 The lines in F<INSTALL> about "is not binary compatible with" may require a
462 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with. These are
463 in the "Changes and Incompatibilities" and "Coexistence with earlier versions
466 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
467 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
468 I<not> binary compatible with.
470 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
471 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
472 release, this would be 5.13.11).
474 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
475 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2). If the last release manager
476 followed instructions, this should have already been done after the last
477 blead release, so you may find nothing to do here.
479 =head3 Check copyright years
481 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
483 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
485 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
486 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
487 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
489 =head3 Check more build configurations
491 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
492 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
498 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
502 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
510 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
511 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
513 =head3 update perlport
515 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
516 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
517 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
519 =head3 check a readonly build
521 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
522 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
523 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
524 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
526 =head2 Building a release - on the day
528 This section describes the actions required to make a release
529 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
531 =head3 re-check earlier actions
533 Review all the actions in the previous section,
534 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
537 =head3 create a release branch
539 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
540 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
541 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
542 those cases. Create the branch by running
544 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
546 =head3 build a clean perl
548 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
549 unpushed commits etc):
554 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
556 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
558 =head3 Check module versions
560 For each Perl release since the previous release of the current branch, check
561 for modules that have identical version numbers but different contents by
564 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl --tag=v5.X.YY
566 (This is done automatically by F<t/porting/cmp_version.t> for the previous
567 release of the current branch, but not for any releases from other branches.)
569 Any modules that fail will need a version bump, plus a nudge to the upstream
570 maintainer for 'cpan' upstream modules.
572 =head3 update Module::CoreList
574 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
576 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this
577 for every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
578 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
579 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
580 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
581 number as a CPAN release.)
583 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
584 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
585 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
588 The files to modify are: F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
589 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> and
590 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm>.
592 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
594 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
595 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
596 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
597 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
599 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
600 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
601 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
602 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
603 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
604 See this brief p5p thread:
606 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
608 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
609 update the RMG accordingly!
613 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
614 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
615 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
617 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
618 http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
620 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
624 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
626 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
630 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
632 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
633 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
634 Assuming all goes well, it will update
635 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
636 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
638 Check those files over carefully:
640 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
641 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
643 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
645 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
647 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
649 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version. You only
650 need to do this if you want to add notes about the changes included
651 with this version of Module::CoreList. Otherwise, its version bump
652 will be automatically filled in below in L<finalize perldelta>.
654 =for checklist skip RC
656 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released>
658 For any release except an RC: Update this version's entry in the C<%released>
659 hash with today's date.
661 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
663 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
664 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
665 cherry-pick it back).
667 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
668 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
669 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
670 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
672 =head4 Rebuild and test
674 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
675 ensure all tests are passing.
677 =head3 finalize perldelta
679 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
680 section, which can be generated with something like:
682 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
684 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
687 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
688 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
690 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
692 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
693 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
695 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
696 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
698 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
699 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
700 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
701 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
703 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
704 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
706 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
709 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
712 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
714 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
716 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
718 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
720 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
721 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
722 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
723 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
725 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
727 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
730 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
732 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
734 =head3 add recent perldeltas
736 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
737 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
738 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
739 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
740 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
741 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
743 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
745 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
747 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
748 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
749 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
750 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
751 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
753 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
757 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
761 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
763 =head3 build a clean perl
765 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
766 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
767 unpushed commits etc):
772 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
774 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
776 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
778 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
780 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
781 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
782 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
783 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
784 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
787 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
788 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
789 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
791 =head3 update perlhist.pod
793 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
795 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
797 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
798 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
799 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
801 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
802 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
803 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
805 Be sure to commit your changes:
807 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
809 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
811 =head3 update patchlevel.h
813 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
815 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
816 a final release, remove it. For example:
818 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
821 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
822 ,"uncommitted-changes"
825 Be sure to commit your change:
827 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
829 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
831 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
833 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
835 $ git status # any changes?
836 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
838 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
840 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
843 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
845 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
846 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
850 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
851 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
852 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
853 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
854 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
855 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
856 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
858 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
860 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
861 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
863 Then delete the temporary installation.
865 =head3 create the release tag
867 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
869 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
871 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
872 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
873 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
874 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
875 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
877 =head3 build the tarball
879 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
880 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
881 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
882 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
883 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
884 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
885 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
886 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
889 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
890 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
891 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
892 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
894 B<IMPORTANT>: if you are on OS X, you must export C<COPYFILE_DISABLE=1>
895 to prevent OS X resource files from being included in your tarball. After
896 creating the tarball following the instructions below, inspect it to ensure
897 you don't have files like F<._foobar>.
899 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
900 the tarball and directory name:
902 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
903 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
904 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
905 # git clean should not output anything!
906 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
908 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
909 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for the release itself
911 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
912 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
913 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
914 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
916 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
917 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
919 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
921 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
924 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
926 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
928 =head3 test the tarball
930 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
932 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
934 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
937 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine and unpack it
939 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
940 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
943 =head4 Ask #p5p to test the tarball on different platforms
945 Once you've verified the tarball can be downloaded and unpacked,
946 ask the #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org for volunteers to test the
947 tarballs on whatever platforms they can.
949 If you're not confident in the tarball, you can defer this step until after
950 your own tarball testing, below.
952 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
954 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
956 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
958 # Or for a development release:
959 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all test
961 =head4 Run the test harness and install
963 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
966 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
969 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
971 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
972 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
975 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
976 which is why you should test from the tarball.
978 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
980 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
982 All tests successful.
985 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
987 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
988 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
989 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
990 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
991 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
994 cd installdir-5.10.0/
995 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
996 cd installdir-5.10.1/
997 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
1000 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
1002 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
1009 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
1011 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
1012 has dependencies; for example:
1014 CPAN> install Inline::C
1017 Check that your perl can run this:
1019 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
1023 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
1025 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
1029 Subject: test bug report
1030 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1036 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1037 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1038 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1040 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1041 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1042 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1043 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1045 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1047 =head3 monitor smokes
1049 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1050 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1052 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1053 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1055 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1056 back and fix things.
1058 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1059 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1060 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1061 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1062 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1063 and then hope for the best.
1065 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1067 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1068 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1069 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1071 https://pause.perl.org/
1073 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1075 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1076 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1077 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1078 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1079 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1080 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1083 B<Note:> as of Dec 2015, dromedary F<public_html> is not working so
1084 ignore the following paragraph until it is fixed.
1086 You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1087 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1088 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1091 I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1092 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1094 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1096 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1097 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1098 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1100 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1102 =head3 wait for indexing
1104 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1106 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1107 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1108 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1109 This is considered normal.
1111 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1113 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1115 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1117 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1119 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1122 #ifdef PERL_GIT_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES
1123 ,"uncommitted-changes"
1126 Be sure to commit your change:
1128 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1130 =head3 announce to p5p
1132 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1134 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1136 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1138 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1140 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1144 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1146 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1148 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1149 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1150 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1151 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1154 =head3 publish the release tag
1156 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1157 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1160 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1162 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1164 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1165 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1166 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1167 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1169 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1171 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1172 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1174 =for checklist skip RC
1176 =head3 Release schedule
1178 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1180 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1182 =for checklist skip RC
1184 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1186 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1188 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1191 =for checklist skip RC
1193 =head3 new perldelta
1195 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1197 Create a new perldelta.
1203 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1207 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1211 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1215 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1216 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1220 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1221 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1222 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1226 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1230 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1231 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1232 previous version bump.
1234 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1238 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1240 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1241 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1242 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1244 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1245 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1248 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1249 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1251 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1253 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1254 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1256 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1257 L<"Bump the version number">.
1259 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1260 ensure all version number references are correct.
1262 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1263 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1264 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1265 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1266 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1267 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1268 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1269 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1270 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1271 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1272 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1274 =head3 clean build and test
1276 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1278 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1279 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1280 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1281 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1288 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1292 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1293 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1294 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1295 cleaned up before the next release.
1299 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1300 update its exceptions database.
1306 Finally, push any commits done above.
1308 $ git push origin ....
1310 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1312 =head3 create maint branch
1314 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1316 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1317 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1318 the commit tagged as the current release.
1320 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1322 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1323 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1326 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1328 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1330 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1331 receive its changes.
1333 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1334 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1335 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1337 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1339 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1341 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1343 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1345 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1347 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1350 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod #for example
1351 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1353 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1354 rather than perldelta).
1356 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1358 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1360 Then rebuild various files:
1362 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1364 Finally, commit and push:
1366 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1367 $ git push origin ....
1369 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1371 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1373 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1374 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1378 =head3 bump RT version number
1380 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1381 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1382 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1383 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1385 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1387 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1388 perl.org> requesting this.
1392 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1393 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1395 Thanks for releasing perl!
1397 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1399 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1401 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1403 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1405 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1406 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1413 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1414 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1418 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1419 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1420 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1424 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1426 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1430 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1432 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1433 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1434 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1438 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1439 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1443 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1447 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1448 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1449 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1455 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1456 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1458 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1459 about blead's current version.
1463 Commit and push your changes.
1467 =head3 check tarball availability
1469 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1470 and is properly indexed:
1476 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1477 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1481 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1482 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1483 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1484 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1485 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1487 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1488 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1489 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1493 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1494 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1495 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1499 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1500 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1504 =for checklist skip RC
1506 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1508 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1510 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1511 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1512 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1514 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1515 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1516 mail Leo as last resort.
1518 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1520 =head3 update release manager's guide
1522 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1523 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1524 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1531 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1532 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.