5 release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
7 Note that things change at each release, so there may be new things not
8 covered here, or tools may need updating.
10 =head1 MAKING A CHECKLIST
12 If you are preparing to do a release, you can run the
13 F<Porting/make-rmg-checklist> script to generate a new version of this
14 document that starts with a checklist for your release.
16 This script is run as:
18 perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist \
19 --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.pod
21 You can also pass the C<--html> flag to generate an HTML document instead of
24 perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist --html \
25 --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.html
29 This document describes the series of tasks required - some automatic, some
30 manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a release
31 candidate, or final, numbered release of maint or blead.
33 The release process has traditionally been executed by the current
34 pumpking. Blead releases from 5.11.0 forward are made each month on the
35 20th by a non-pumpking release engineer. The release engineer roster
36 and schedule can be found in Porting/release_schedule.pod.
38 This document both helps as a check-list for the release engineer
39 and is a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated
42 The checklist of a typical release cycle is as follows:
44 (5.10.1 is released, and post-release actions have been done)
48 a few weeks before the release, a number of steps are performed,
49 including bumping the version to 5.10.2
51 ...a few weeks pass...
53 perl-5.10.2-RC1 is released
55 perl-5.10.2 is released
57 post-release actions are performed, including creating new
60 ... the cycle continues ...
64 Some of the tasks described below apply to all four types of
65 release of Perl. (blead, RC, final release of maint, final
66 release of blead). Some of these tasks apply only to a subset
67 of these release types. If a step does not apply to a given
68 type of release, you will see a notation to that effect at
69 the beginning of the step.
75 =item Release Candidate (RC)
77 A release candidate is an attempt to produce a tarball that is a close as
78 possible to the final release. Indeed, unless critical faults are found
79 during the RC testing, the final release will be identical to the RC
80 barring a few minor fixups (updating the release date in F<perlhist.pod>,
81 removing the RC status from F<patchlevel.h>, etc). If faults are found,
82 then the fixes should be put into a new release candidate, never directly
86 =item Stable/Maint release (MAINT).
88 A release with an even version number, and subversion number > 0, such as
91 At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
94 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
95 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
97 Note that for a maint release there are two versions of this guide to
98 consider: the one in the maint branch, and the one in blead. Which one to
99 use is a fine judgement. The blead one will be most up-to-date, while
100 it might describe some steps or new tools that aren't applicable to older
101 maint branches. It is probably best to review both versions of this
102 document, but to most closely follow the steps in the maint version.
104 =item A blead point release (BLEAD-POINT)
106 A release with an odd version number, such as 5.15.0 or 5.15.1.
108 This isn't for production, so it has less stability requirements than for
109 other release types, and isn't preceded by RC releases. Other than that,
110 it is similar to a MAINT release.
112 =item Blead final release (BLEAD-FINAL)
114 A release with an even version number, and subversion number == 0, such as
115 5.14.0. That is to say, it's the big new release once per year.
117 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
118 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps, even more than for MAINT.
126 Before you can make an official release of perl, there are a few
127 hoops you need to jump through:
129 =head3 PAUSE account with pumpkin status
131 Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
132 If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
134 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
136 Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: go to
137 L<https://pause.perl.org/pause/authenquery?ACTION=who_pumpkin> and check that
138 your PAUSE ID is listed there. If not, ask Andreas KE<0xf6>nig to add your ID
139 to the list of people allowed to upload something called perl. You can find
140 Andreas' email address at:
142 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=pause_04imprint
144 =head3 search.cpan.org pumpkin status
146 Make sure that search.cpan.org knows that you're allowed to upload
147 perl distros. Contact Graham Barr to make sure that you're on the right
150 =head3 rt.perl.org update access
152 Make sure you have permission to close tickets on L<http://rt.perl.org/>
153 so you can respond to bug report as necessary during your stint. If you
154 don't, make an account (if you don't have one) and contact the pumpking
155 with your username to get ticket-closing permission.
157 =head3 git checkout and commit bit
159 You will need a working C<git> installation, checkout of the perl
160 git repository and perl commit bit. For information about working
161 with perl and git, see F<pod/perlgit.pod>.
163 If you are not yet a perl committer, you won't be able to make a
164 release. Have a chat with whichever evil perl porter tried to talk
165 you into the idea in the first place to figure out the best way to
168 =head3 git clone of https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb
170 For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
171 sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
172 is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
174 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
176 You will need a quotation to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
178 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
180 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
181 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
182 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
183 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
185 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
187 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
189 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
191 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
192 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
193 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
195 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
196 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
197 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
199 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
201 Passing C<-u cpan> will probably be helpful, since it limits the search to
202 distributions with 'cpan' upstream source. (It's OK for blead upstream to
203 differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases usually come I<after> perl
206 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
207 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
208 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
209 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
210 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
211 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
213 For a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN
214 release appears to be ahead of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the
215 relevant porter to do so). (However, if this is a BLEAD-FINAL release or one of
216 the last BLEAD-POINT releases before it and hence blead is in some kind of
217 "code freeze" state (e.g. the sequence might be "contentious changes freeze",
218 then "user-visible changes freeze" and finally "full code freeze") then any
219 CPAN module updates must be subject to the same restrictions, so it may not be
220 possible to update all modules until after the BLEAD-FINAL release.) If blead
221 contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but sometimes
222 unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file has a
223 CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
225 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
226 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
227 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
228 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
229 have some extra changes.
231 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
237 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
241 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
242 directory to the original name.
246 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
247 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
251 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
252 entries in C<@IGNORABLE> in F<Porting/Maintainer.pl>, and anything that
253 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
258 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
259 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
260 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
261 into the repository anyway.
265 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
266 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
267 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
272 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
273 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
277 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
278 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
282 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
283 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
287 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
291 Run the tests for the package.
295 Run the tests in F<t/porting>.
299 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
303 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
307 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
311 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
312 may have to take more steps than listed above.
314 F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
315 above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
316 it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
317 of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
320 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
322 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
324 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
325 did it fail identically on $previous?
326 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
327 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
329 attempt to group failure causes
331 for each failure cause
332 is that a regression?
333 if yes, figure out how to fix it
334 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
336 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
337 should the existing behaviour stay?
338 yes - goto "regression"
339 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
340 (also, try to inform the module's author)
342 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
344 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
345 L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> and L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
346 for a summary. See also
347 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
350 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
353 =head3 update perldelta
355 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
357 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
358 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
359 edit the whole document.
361 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
362 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
363 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
365 =head3 Bump the version number
367 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
370 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
372 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
373 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
374 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
375 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
376 bump the version further.
378 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
380 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
382 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
383 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
384 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
386 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
388 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
389 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
390 some of which need to be left unchanged.
391 The line in F<INSTALL> about "is binary incompatible with" requires a
392 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with.
394 For the first RC release leading up to a BLEAD-FINAL release, update the
395 description of which releases are now "officially" supported in
396 F<pod/perlpolicy.pod>.
398 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
399 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
400 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
401 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
402 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
403 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
405 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
408 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
410 This might not cause any new changes.
412 You may also need to regen opcodes:
414 $ ./perl -Ilib regen/opcode.pl
416 You may have to add stub entries in C<%Module::CoreList::version>,
417 C<%Module::CoreList::deprecated> and C<%Module::CoreList::Utils::delta>.
418 If so, you must up their version numbers as well.
422 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
423 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
431 B<review the delta carefully>
433 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
435 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
436 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
437 previous version bump.
439 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
440 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
443 =head3 update INSTALL
445 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number;
446 in particular, the "Coexistence with earlier versions of perl 5" section.
448 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
449 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
450 I<not> binary compatible with.
452 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
453 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
454 release, this would be 5.13.11).
456 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
457 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2).
459 =head3 Check copyright years
461 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
463 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
465 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
466 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
467 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
469 =head3 Check more build configurations
471 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
472 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
478 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
482 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
490 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
491 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
493 =head3 update perlport
495 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
496 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
497 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
499 =head3 check a readonly build
501 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
502 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
503 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
504 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
506 =head2 Building a release - on the day
508 This section describes the actions required to make a release
509 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
511 =head3 re-check earlier actions
513 Review all the actions in the previous section,
514 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
517 =head3 create a release branch
519 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
520 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
521 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
522 those cases. Create the branch by running
524 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
526 =head3 build a clean perl
528 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
529 unpushed commits etc):
534 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
536 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
538 =head3 Check module versions
540 For each Perl release since the previous release of the current branch, check
541 for modules that have identical version numbers but different contents by
544 $ ./perl Porting/cmpVERSION.pl --tag=v5.X.YY
546 (This is done automatically by F<t/porting/cmp_version.t> for the previous
547 release of the current branch, but not for any releases from other branches.)
549 Any modules that fail will need a version bump, plus a nudge to the upstream
550 maintainer for 'cpan' upstream modules.
552 =head3 update Module::CoreList
554 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
556 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this
557 for every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
558 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
559 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
560 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
561 number as a CPAN release.)
563 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
564 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
565 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
568 The files to modify are: F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
569 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> and
570 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm>.
572 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
574 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
575 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
576 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
577 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
579 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
580 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
581 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
582 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
583 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
584 See this brief p5p thread:
586 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
588 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
589 update the RMG accordingly!
593 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
594 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
595 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
597 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
598 http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
600 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
604 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
606 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
610 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
612 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
613 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
614 Assuming all goes well, it will update
615 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
616 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
618 Check those files over carefully:
620 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
621 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
623 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
625 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
627 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
629 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version.
631 =for checklist skip RC
633 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released> and C<CAVEATS>
635 For any release except an RC:
641 Update this version's entry in the C<%released> hash with today's date.
645 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
647 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
648 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
649 cherry-pick it back).
651 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' \
652 dist/Module-CoreList/Changes \
653 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm \
654 dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
656 =head4 Rebuild and test
658 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to
659 ensure all tests are passing.
661 =head3 finalize perldelta
663 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
664 section, which can be generated with something like:
666 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
668 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is
671 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl \
672 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
674 For a MAINT release use something like this instead:
676 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl 5.020001 5.020002 \
677 --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
679 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
680 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
682 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
683 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
684 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
685 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
687 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
688 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
690 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
693 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > \
696 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
698 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
700 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
702 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
704 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
705 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
706 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
707 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
709 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
711 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
714 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
716 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
718 =head3 add recent perldeltas
720 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
721 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
722 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
723 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
724 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
725 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
727 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
729 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
731 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
732 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
733 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
734 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
735 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
737 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
741 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
745 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
747 =head3 build a clean perl
749 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
750 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
751 unpushed commits etc):
756 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
758 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
760 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
762 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
764 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
765 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
766 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
767 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
768 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
771 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
772 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
773 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
775 =head3 update perlhist.pod
777 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
779 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
781 List yourself in the left-hand column, and if this is the first release
782 that you've ever done, make sure that your name is listed in the section
783 entitled C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
785 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
786 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
787 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
789 Be sure to commit your changes:
791 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
793 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
795 =head3 update patchlevel.h
797 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
799 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
800 a final release, remove it. For example:
802 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
805 PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
807 Be sure to commit your change:
809 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
811 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
813 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
815 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
817 $ git status # any changes?
818 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
820 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
822 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
825 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
827 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
828 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
832 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
833 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
834 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
835 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
836 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
837 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
838 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
840 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
842 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
843 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
845 Then delete the temporary installation.
847 =head3 create the release tag
849 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
851 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
853 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
854 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
855 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
856 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
857 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
859 =head3 build the tarball
861 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
862 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
863 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
864 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
865 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
866 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
867 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
868 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
871 In order to produce the C<xz> tarball, XZ Utils are required. The C<xz>
872 utility is included with most modern UNIX-type operating systems and
873 is available for Cygwin. A Windows port is available from
874 L<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
876 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
877 the tarball and directory name:
879 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
880 $ make distclean # make sure distclean works
881 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
882 # git clean should not output anything!
883 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
885 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx -s RC1 # for a release candidate
886 $ perl Porting/makerel -bx # for a final release
888 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
889 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
890 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
891 C<tar.bz2> file. The C<-x> also produces a C<tar.xz> file.
893 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
894 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
896 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
898 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
901 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
903 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
905 =head3 test the tarball
907 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
909 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
911 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2 and .xz) to a web server somewhere you
914 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine
916 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
917 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
918 and architectures. The #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org is a good place
919 to find willing victims.
921 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
923 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
925 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
927 # Or for a development release:
928 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make all test
930 =head4 Run the test harness and install
932 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
935 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
938 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
940 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
941 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
944 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
945 which is why you should test from the tarball.
947 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
949 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
951 All tests successful.
954 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
956 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
957 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
958 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
959 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
960 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
963 cd installdir-5.10.0/
964 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
965 cd installdir-5.10.1/
966 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
969 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
971 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
978 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
980 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
981 has dependencies; for example:
983 CPAN> install Inline::C
986 Check that your perl can run this:
988 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
992 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
994 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
998 Subject: test bug report
999 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
1005 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
1006 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
1007 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
1009 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
1010 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
1011 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
1012 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
1014 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1016 =head3 monitor smokes
1018 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
1019 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
1021 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
1022 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
1024 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
1025 back and fix things.
1027 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
1028 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
1029 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
1030 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
1031 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
1032 and then hope for the best.
1034 =head3 upload to PAUSE
1036 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
1037 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1038 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1040 https://pause.perl.org/
1042 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1044 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1045 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1046 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1047 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1048 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1049 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1050 cable modem. You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1051 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1052 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1053 on dromedary. I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1054 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1056 Upload the .gz, .xz, and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1058 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1059 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1060 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1062 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1064 =head3 wait for indexing
1066 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1068 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1069 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1070 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1071 This is considered normal.
1073 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1075 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1077 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1079 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1081 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1084 PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
1086 Be sure to commit your change:
1088 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1090 =head3 announce to p5p
1092 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1094 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1096 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1098 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1100 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1104 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1106 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1108 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1109 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1110 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1111 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1114 =head3 publish the release tag
1116 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1117 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1120 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1122 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1124 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1125 You can include the customary link to the release announcement even before your
1126 message reaches the web-visible archives by looking for the X-List-Archive
1127 header in your message after receiving it back via perl5-porters.
1129 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1131 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1132 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1134 =for checklist skip RC
1136 =head3 Release schedule
1138 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1140 Tick the entry for your release in F<Porting/release_schedule.pod>.
1142 =for checklist skip RC
1144 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1146 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1148 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1151 =for checklist skip RC
1153 =head3 new perldelta
1155 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1157 Create a new perldelta.
1163 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1167 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1171 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1175 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1176 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1180 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1181 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1182 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1186 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1190 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1191 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1192 previous version bump.
1194 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1198 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1200 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1201 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1202 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1204 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1205 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1208 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1209 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1211 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1213 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1214 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1216 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1217 L<"Bump the version number">.
1219 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1220 ensure all version number references are correct.
1222 (Note: The version is NOT bumped immediately after a MAINT release in order
1223 to avoid confusion and wasted time arising from bug reports relating to
1224 "intermediate versions" such as 5.20.1-and-a-bit: If the report is caused
1225 by a bug that gets fixed in 5.20.2 and this intermediate version already
1226 calls itself 5.20.2 then much time can be wasted in figuring out why there
1227 is a failure from something that "should have been fixed". If the bump is
1228 late then there is a much smaller window of time for such confusing bug
1229 reports to arise. (The opposite problem -- trying to figure out why there
1230 *is* a bug in something calling itself 5.20.1 when in fact the bug was
1231 introduced later -- shouldn't arise for MAINT releases since they should,
1232 in theory, only contain bug fixes but never regressions.))
1234 =head3 clean build and test
1236 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1238 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1239 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1240 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1241 cause test failures. Problems should be resolved by doing one of the
1248 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1252 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1253 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1254 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1255 cleaned up before the next release.
1259 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1260 update its exceptions database.
1266 Finally, push any commits done above.
1268 $ git push origin ....
1270 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1272 =head3 create maint branch
1274 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1276 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1277 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1278 the commit tagged as the current release.
1280 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1282 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1283 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1286 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1288 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1290 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1291 receive its changes.
1293 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1294 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1295 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1297 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1299 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1301 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1303 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1305 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1307 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1310 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod # for example
1311 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1313 Don't forget to set the NAME correctly in the new file (e.g. perl5101delta
1314 rather than perldelta).
1316 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1318 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1320 Then rebuild various files:
1322 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1324 Finally, commit and push:
1326 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1327 $ git push origin ....
1329 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1331 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1333 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1334 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1338 =head3 bump RT version number
1340 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1341 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1342 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1343 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1345 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1347 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1348 perl.org> requesting this.
1352 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1353 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1355 Thanks for releasing perl!
1357 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1359 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1361 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1363 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1365 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1366 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1373 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1374 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1378 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1379 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1380 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1384 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1386 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1390 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1392 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and
1393 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1394 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1398 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1399 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1403 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1407 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1408 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1409 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1415 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList \
1416 -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1418 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1419 about blead's current version.
1423 Commit and push your changes.
1427 =head3 check tarball availability
1429 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1430 and is properly indexed:
1436 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1437 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1441 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1442 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1443 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1444 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1445 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1447 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1448 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1449 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1453 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1454 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1455 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1459 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1460 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1464 =for checklist skip RC
1466 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1468 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1470 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1471 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1472 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1474 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1475 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1476 mail Leo as last resort.
1478 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1480 =head3 update release manager's guide
1482 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1483 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1484 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1491 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1492 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.