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 passes...
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 =for checklist skip RC
176 =head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
178 I<SKIP this step for RC>
180 For all except an RC release of perl, you will need a quotation
181 to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
183 =head2 Building a release - advance actions
185 The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
186 (BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
187 release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
188 but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
190 =head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
192 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
194 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
196 However, this only checks whether the version recorded in
197 F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> differs from the latest on CPAN. It doesn't tell you
198 if the code itself has diverged from CPAN.
200 You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
201 to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
202 be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
204 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
206 Passing C<-u cpan> (and maybe C<-u undef>) will probably be helpful, since
207 it limits the search to distributions with those upstream sources. (It's
208 OK for blead upstream to differ from CPAN because those dual-life releases
209 usually come I<after> perl is released.
211 See also the C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as
212 mentioned above). You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to
213 avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if
214 you made a local CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work,
215 but can provide a good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which
216 definitely haven't changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
218 For a BLEAD release with 'cpan' upstream, if a CPAN release appears to be ahead
219 of blead, then consider updating it (or asking the relevant porter to do so).
220 If blead contains edits to a 'cpan' upstream module, this is naughty but
221 sometimes unavoidable to keep blead tests passing. Make sure the affected file
222 has a CUSTOMIZED entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>. For 'undef' upstream,
223 you'll have to use your judgment for whether any delta should be ignored (like
224 'blead' upstream) or treated like a 'cpan' upstream and flagged. Ask around on
225 #p5p if you're not sure.
227 If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
228 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
229 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
230 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
231 have some extra changes.
233 =head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
239 Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
243 Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
244 directory to the original name.
248 Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
249 C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
253 Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
254 entries in C<@IGNORE> in F<Porting/Maintainer.pl>, and anything that
255 matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
260 Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
261 C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
262 restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
263 into the repository anyway.
267 For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
268 If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
269 Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
274 For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
275 C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
279 If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
280 C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
284 For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
285 bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
289 Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
293 Run the tests for the package.
297 Run the tests in F<t/porting>.
301 Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
305 Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
309 If everything is ok, commit the changes.
313 For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
314 may have to take more steps than listed above.
316 F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
317 above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
318 it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
319 of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
322 =head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
324 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
326 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
327 did it fail identically on $previous?
328 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
329 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
331 attempt to group failure causes
333 for each failure cause
334 is that a regression?
335 if yes, figure out how to fix it
336 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
338 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
339 should the existing behaviour stay?
340 yes - goto "regression"
341 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
342 (also, try to inform the module's author)
344 =head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
346 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
347 L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> and L<http://perl5.test-smoke.org/>
348 for a summary. See also
349 L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
352 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
355 =head3 update perldelta
357 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
359 Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
360 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
361 edit the whole document.
363 You won't be able to automatically fill in the "Updated Modules" section until
364 after Module::CoreList is updated (as described below in
365 L<"update Module::CoreList">).
367 =head3 Bump the version number
369 Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
372 Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
374 For a release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
375 before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
376 smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
377 subsequent release candidates and the final release, it is not necessary to
378 bump the version further.
380 There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
382 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
384 Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
385 so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
386 "this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
388 Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
390 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
391 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
392 some of which need to be left unchanged.
393 The line in F<INSTALL> about "is binary incompatible with" requires a
394 correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with.
396 When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
397 C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
398 you're releasing, unless you're absolutely sure the release you're about to
399 make is 100% binary compatible to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT
400 perl version, the C<PERL_API_*> constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim
401 to guarantee binary compatibility in maint branches.
403 After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
406 $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
408 This might not cause any new changes.
412 $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
413 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
421 B<review the delta carefully>
423 $ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
425 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
426 see if they look similar. See commit f7cf42bb69 for an example of a
427 previous version bump.
429 When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
430 (as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
433 =head3 update INSTALL
435 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number;
436 in particular, the "Coexistence with earlier versions of perl 5" section.
438 Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
439 The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
440 I<not> binary compatible with.
442 For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
443 release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
444 release, this would be 5.13.11).
446 For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
447 release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2).
449 =head3 Check copyright years
451 Check that the copyright years are up to date by running:
453 $ ./perl t/porting/copyright.t --now
455 Remedy any test failures by editing README or perl.c accordingly (search for
456 the "Copyright"). If updating perl.c, check if the file's own copyright date in
457 the C comment at the top needs updating, as well as the one printed by C<-v>.
459 =head3 Check more build configurations
461 Try running the full test suite against multiple Perl configurations. Here are
462 some sets of Configure flags you can try:
468 C<-Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize>
472 C<-Duserelocatableinc>
480 If you have multiple compilers on your machine, you might also consider
481 compiling with C<-Dcc=$other_compiler>.
483 =head3 update perlport
485 L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
486 indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
487 If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
489 =head3 check a readonly build
491 Even before other prep work, follow the steps in L<build the tarball> and test
492 it locally. Because a perl source tarballs sets many files read-only, it could
493 test differently than tests run from the repository. After you're sure
494 permissions aren't a problem, delete the generated directory and tarballs.
496 =head2 Building a release - on the day
498 This section describes the actions required to make a release
499 that are performed near to, or on the actual release day.
501 =head3 re-check earlier actions
503 Review all the actions in the previous section,
504 L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
507 =head3 create a release branch
509 For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
510 need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
511 BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
512 those cases. Create the branch by running
514 git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
516 =head3 build a clean perl
518 Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
519 unpushed commits etc):
524 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
526 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
528 =head3 update Module::CoreList
530 =head4 Bump Module::CoreList* $VERSIONs
532 If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this for
533 every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
534 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
535 It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
536 hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
537 number as a CPAN release.)
539 C<$Module::CoreList::TieHashDelta::VERSION> and
540 C<$Module::CoreList::Utils::VERSION> should always be equal to
541 C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>. If necessary, bump those two versions to match
544 =head4 Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
546 Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
547 from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
548 I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
549 maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
551 [ Note that the procedure for handling Module::CoreList in maint branches
552 is a bit complex, and the RMG currently don't describe a full and
553 workable approach. The main issue is keeping Module::CoreList
554 and its version number synchronised across all maint branches, blead and
555 CPAN, while having to bump its version number for every RC release.
556 See this brief p5p thread:
558 Message-ID: <20130311174402.GZ2294@iabyn.com>
560 If you can devise a workable system, feel free to try it out, and to
561 update the RMG accordingly!
565 F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
566 modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror and/or fall back
567 on HTTP::Tiny to fetch package metadata remotely.
569 (If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
570 http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
572 Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
576 Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
578 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
582 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
584 This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
585 badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
586 Assuming all goes well, it will update
587 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> and possibly
588 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod> and/or
589 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
591 Check those files over carefully:
593 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
594 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod
595 $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
597 =head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
599 Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file.
601 =head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
603 Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version.
605 =for checklist skip RC
607 =head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released> and C<CAVEATS>
609 In addition, if this is a final release (rather than a release candidate):
615 Update this version's entry in the C<%released> hash with today's date.
619 Make sure that the script has correctly updated the C<CAVEATS> section
620 (Note, the C<CAVEATS> section is in
621 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod>)
625 =head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
627 Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
628 (unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
629 cherry-pick it back).
631 $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' dist/Module-CoreList/Changes dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm
633 =head4 Rebuild and test
635 Build and test to get the changes into the currently built lib directory and to ensure
636 all tests are passing.
638 =head3 finalize perldelta
640 Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
641 section, which can be generated with something like:
643 $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
645 Fill in the "New/Updated Modules" sections now that Module::CoreList is updated:
647 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl --mode=update pod/perldelta.pod
649 Ideally, also fill in a summary of the major changes to each module for which
650 an entry has been added by F<corelist-perldelta.pl>.
652 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
653 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
654 with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
655 run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
657 $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
658 $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
660 Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
663 $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > /tmp/perldelta.html
665 Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
667 If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
669 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
671 =head3 remove stale perldeltas
673 For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
674 from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD-FINAL should have
675 now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
676 useless clutter. They can be removed using:
678 $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
680 For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
683 $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
685 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
687 =head3 add recent perldeltas
689 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in any recent perldeltas from
690 blead that have been added since the last release on this branch. This
691 should include any recent maint releases on branches older than your one,
692 but not newer. For example if you're producing a 5.14.x release, copy any
693 perldeltas from recent 5.10.x, 5.12.x etc maint releases, but not from
694 5.16.x or higher. Remember to
696 $ git add <file1> <file2> ...
698 =head3 update and commit perldelta files
700 If you have added or removed any perldelta files via the previous two
701 steps, then edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add/remove them from its table of
702 contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to propagate your changes there
703 into all the other files that mention them (including F<MANIFEST>). You'll
704 need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
706 Then build a clean perl and do a full test
710 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
714 Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
716 =head3 build a clean perl
718 If you skipped the previous step (adding/removing perldeltas),
719 again, make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
720 unpushed commits etc):
725 then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
727 $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
729 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL BLEAD-POINT
731 =head3 synchronise from blead's perlhist.pod
733 For the first RC for a MAINT release, copy in the latest
734 F<pod/perlhist.pod> from blead; this will include details of newer
735 releases in all branches. In theory, blead's version should be a strict
736 superset of the one in this branch, but it's probably safest to diff them
737 first to ensure that there's nothing in this branch that was forgotten
740 $ diff pod/perlhist.pod ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod
741 $ cp ..../blead/pod/perlhist.pod pod/
742 $ git commit -m 'sync perlhist from blead' pod/perlhist.pod
744 =for checklist skip RC
746 =head3 update perlhist.pod
748 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
750 Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
752 David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
754 Make sure that the correct pumpking is listed in the left-hand column, and
755 if this is the first release under the stewardship of a new pumpking, make
756 sure that his or her name is listed in the section entitled
757 C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
759 I<If you're making a BLEAD-FINAL release>, also update the "SELECTED
760 RELEASE SIZES" section with the output of
761 F<Porting/perlhist_calculate.pl>.
763 Be sure to commit your changes:
765 $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
767 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
769 =head3 update patchlevel.h
771 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
773 Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
774 a final release, remove it. For example:
776 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
779 PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
781 Be sure to commit your change:
783 $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
785 =head3 run makemeta to update META files
787 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/makemeta
789 Be sure to commit any changes (if applicable):
791 $ git status # any changes?
792 $ git commit -m 'Update META files' META.*
794 =head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
796 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
799 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
801 # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
802 $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
806 Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
807 C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
808 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
809 paths. Note that as they have been built from a git working
810 directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
811 commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
812 itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
814 This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
816 where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
817 and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
819 Then delete the temporary installation.
821 =head3 create the release tag
823 Create the tag identifying this release (e.g.):
825 $ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
827 It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
828 your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
829 wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
830 and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
831 and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
833 =head3 build the tarball
835 Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
836 C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
837 the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
838 or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
839 same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
840 first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
841 Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
842 people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
845 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
846 the tarball and directory name:
848 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
850 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
851 $ git status # and there's nothing lying around
853 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s RC1 # for a release candidate
854 $ perl Porting/makerel -b # for a final release
856 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
857 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them, then
858 tars it up as F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a
861 If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
862 your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
864 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
866 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
869 Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
871 $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
873 =head3 test the tarball
875 Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
877 =head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
879 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
882 =head4 Download the tarball to another machine
884 Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
885 you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
886 and architectures. The #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org is a good place
887 to find willing victims.
889 =head4 Check that F<Configure> works
891 Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
893 $ ./Configure -des && make all test
895 =head4 Run the test harness and install
897 Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
900 $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
903 =head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
905 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
906 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
909 Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
910 which is why you should test from the tarball.
912 =head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
914 $ ./perl utils/perlivp
916 All tests successful.
919 =head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
921 Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
922 release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
923 have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
924 for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
925 For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
928 cd installdir-5.10.0/
929 find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
930 cd installdir-5.10.1/
931 find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
934 =head4 Bootstrap the CPAN client
936 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
940 =head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN and test it
942 Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
943 has dependencies; for example:
948 Check that your perl can run this:
950 $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
954 =head4 Make sure that perlbug works
956 Test L<perlbug> with the following:
960 Subject: test bug report
961 Local perl administrator [yourself]:
967 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
968 Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
969 Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
971 and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
972 the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
973 delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
974 report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
976 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
978 =head3 monitor smokes
980 XXX This is probably irrelevant if working on a release branch, though
981 MAINT or RC might want to push a smoke branch and wait.
983 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
984 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
986 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
989 Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
990 long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
991 smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
992 releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
993 to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
994 and then hope for the best.
996 =head3 upload to PAUSE
998 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
999 If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
1000 a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
1002 https://pause.perl.org/
1004 (Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
1006 If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
1007 high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
1008 "GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
1009 new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
1010 eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
1011 15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
1012 cable modem. You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
1013 this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
1014 F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
1015 on dromedary. I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
1016 may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
1018 Upload both the .gz and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
1020 Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on CPAN.
1021 Check your authors directory www.cpan.org (the globally balanced "fast"
1022 mirror) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
1024 =for checklist skip RC BLEAD-POINT
1026 =head3 wait for indexing
1028 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and BLEAD-POINT>
1030 Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
1031 confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
1032 probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
1033 This is considered normal.
1035 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1037 =head3 disarm patchlevel.h
1039 I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
1041 Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
1043 static const char * const local_patches[] = {
1046 PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
1048 Be sure to commit your change:
1050 $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
1052 =head3 announce to p5p
1054 Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
1056 Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
1058 Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
1060 =head3 merge release branch back to blead
1062 Merge the (local) release branch back into master now, and delete it.
1066 git merge release-5.xx.yy
1068 git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
1070 Note: The merge will create a merge commit if other changes have been pushed
1071 to blead while you've been working on your release branch. Do NOT rebase your
1072 branch to avoid the merge commit (as you might normally do when merging a
1073 small branch into blead) since doing so will invalidate the tag that you
1076 =head3 publish the release tag
1078 Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE and pushed your changes
1079 to the Perl master repository, it's time to publish the tag you created
1082 $ git push origin tag v5.11.0
1084 =head3 update epigraphs.pod
1086 Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
1087 Your release announcement will probably not have reached the web-visible
1088 archives yet, so you won't be able to include the customary link to the
1089 release announcement yet.
1091 =head3 blog about your epigraph
1093 If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
1094 why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
1096 =for checklist skip RC
1098 =head3 Module::CoreList nagging
1100 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1102 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
1105 =for checklist skip RC
1107 =head3 new perldelta
1109 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
1111 Create a new perldelta.
1117 Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
1121 Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
1125 Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
1129 Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
1130 C<make test_porting>. (On Win32 use the appropriate make utility).
1134 If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
1135 run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
1136 Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
1140 When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
1144 At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
1145 see if they look similar. See commit ba03bc34a4 for an example of a
1146 previous version bump.
1148 =for checklist skip MAINT RC
1152 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and MAINT>
1154 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1155 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
1156 in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
1158 First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
1159 copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
1162 "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1163 + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
1165 Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
1167 Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
1168 in the remaining files and test and commit.
1170 If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
1171 L<"Bump the version number">.
1173 After bumping the version, follow the section L<"update INSTALL"> to
1174 ensure all version number references are correct.
1176 =head3 clean build and test
1178 Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
1180 In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
1181 from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
1182 However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
1183 cause test failures. Problems should resolved by doing one of the
1190 Replace placeholder text with correct text.
1194 If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
1195 array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
1196 containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
1197 cleaned up before the next release.
1201 Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
1202 update its exceptions database.
1208 Finally, push any commits done above.
1210 $ git push origin ....
1212 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1214 =head3 create maint branch
1216 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
1218 If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
1219 series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
1220 the commit tagged as the current release.
1222 Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
1224 $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
1225 $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
1228 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
1230 =head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
1232 Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
1233 receive its changes.
1235 $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
1236 ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1237 $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
1239 And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
1241 XXX Who are the sysadmins? Contact info?
1243 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
1245 =head3 copy perldelta.pod to blead
1247 I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
1249 Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into blead; for example:
1252 $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod # for example
1253 $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
1255 Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
1257 perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
1259 Then rebuild various files:
1261 $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
1263 Finally, commit and push:
1265 $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
1266 $ git push origin ....
1268 =for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
1270 =head3 copy perlhist.pod entries to blead
1272 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
1273 F<perlhist.pod> on blead. e.g.
1277 =head3 bump RT version number
1279 Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
1280 fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is to
1281 open up any ticket for modification and check the drop downs next to the
1282 C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
1284 Here, try this link: L<https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Modify.html?id=10000>
1286 If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
1287 perl.org> requesting this.
1291 I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
1292 much-needed rest and relaxation>.
1294 Thanks for releasing perl!
1296 =head2 Building a release - the day after
1298 =head3 link announcement in epigraphs.pod
1300 Add, to your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod>, a link to the release
1301 announcement in the web-visible mailing list archive. Commit it.
1303 =for checklist skip BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, RC
1305 =head3 update Module::CoreList
1307 I<After a BLEAD-POINT release only>
1309 After Module::CoreList has shipped to CPAN by the maintainer, update
1310 Module::CoreList in the source so that it reflects the new blead
1317 Update F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> to list the new DISTRIBUTION on CPAN,
1318 which should be identical to what is currently in blead.
1322 Bump the $VERSION in F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1323 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/TieHashDelta.pm> and
1324 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm>.
1328 If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
1330 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
1334 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
1336 This will update F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>,
1337 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod> and
1338 F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList/Utils.pm> as it did before,
1339 but this time adding new sections for the next BLEAD-POINT release.
1343 Add the new $Module::CoreList::VERSION to
1344 F<dist/Module-CoreList/Changes>.
1348 Update F<pod/perldelta.pod> to mention the upgrade to Module::CoreList.
1352 Remake perl to get your changed .pm files propagated into F<lib/> and
1353 then run at least the F<dist/Module-CoreList/t/*.t> tests and the
1354 test_porting makefile target to check that they're ok.
1360 $ ./perl -Ilib -MModule::CoreList -le 'print Module::CoreList->find_version($]) ? "ok" : "not ok"'
1362 and check that it outputs "ok" to prove that Module::CoreList now knows
1363 about blead's current version.
1367 Commit and push your changes.
1371 =head3 check tarball availability
1373 Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
1374 and is properly indexed:
1380 Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
1381 to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
1385 Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
1386 the new tarballs have appeared: There should be links in C</src/5.0>
1387 (which is accumulating all new versions), and (for BLEAD-FINAL and
1388 MAINT only) an appropriate mention in C</src/README.html> (which describes
1389 the latest versions in each stable branch, with links).
1391 The C</src/5.0> links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
1392 If they don't, or the C</src> description is inadequate,
1393 ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1397 Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
1398 have been correctly mirrored to the website.
1399 If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
1403 Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
1404 It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
1408 =for checklist skip RC
1410 =head3 update dev.perl.org
1412 I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
1414 In your C<perlweb> repository, link to the new release. For a new
1415 latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
1416 edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
1418 Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
1419 and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
1420 mail Leo as last resort.
1422 This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
1424 =head3 update release manager's guide
1426 Go over your notes from the release (you did take some, right?) and update
1427 F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod> with any fixes or information that
1428 will make life easier for the next release manager.
1435 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
1436 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.