Note that things change at each release, so there may be new things not
covered here, or tools may need updating.
+=head1 MAKING A CHECKLIST
+
+If you are preparing to do a release, you can run the
+F<Porting/make-rmg-checklist> script to generate a new version of this
+document that starts with a checklist for your release.
+
+This script is run as:
+
+ perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist \
+ --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.pod
+
+You can also pass the C<--html> flag to generate an HTML document instead of
+POD.
+
+ perl Porting/make-rmg-checklist --html \
+ --type [BLEAD-POINT or MAINT or ...] > /tmp/rmg.html
=head1 SYNOPSIS
and is a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated
or distributed.
-The outline of a typical release cycle is as follows:
+The checklist of a typical release cycle is as follows:
(5.10.1 is released, and post-release actions have been done)
=back
+=for checklist begin
=head2 Prerequisites
Before you can make an official release of perl, there are a few
hoops you need to jump through:
-=over 4
-
-=item PAUSE account
+=head3 PAUSE account with pumpkin status
Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=pause_04imprint
-=item search.cpan.org
+=head3 search.cpan.org pumpkin status
Make sure that search.cpan.org knows that you're allowed to upload
perl distros. Contact Graham Barr to make sure that you're on the right
list.
-=item CPAN mirror
-
-Some release engineering steps require a full mirror of the CPAN.
-Work to fall back to using a remote mirror via HTTP is incomplete
-but ongoing. (No, a minicpan mirror is not sufficient)
-
-=item git checkout and commit bit
+=head3 git checkout and commit bit
You will need a working C<git> installation, checkout of the perl
git repository and perl commit bit. For information about working
you into the idea in the first place to figure out the best way to
resolve the issue.
+=for checklist skip RC
-=item Quotation for release announcement epigraph
+=head3 Quotation for release announcement epigraph
I<SKIP this step for RC>
For all except an RC release of perl, you will need a quotation
to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
-
-=back
-
-
=head2 Building a release - advance actions
The work of building a release candidate for a numbered release of
(also, try to inform the module's author)
-=head3 smoking
+=head3 monitor smoke tests for failures
Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix. See
L<http://doc.procura.nl/smoke/index.html> for a summary. See also
fix.
-=head3 perldelta
+=head3 update perldelta
Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
=head3 Check more build configurations
-Check some more build configurations. The check that setuid builds and
-installs is for < 5.11.0 only.
+Check some more build configurations.
$ sh Configure -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y -Uinstallusrbinperl \
- -Duseshrplib -Dd_dosuid
+ -Duseshrplib -Dusesitecustomize
$ make
- $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd` make test # or similar for useshrplib
-
- $ make suidperl
- $ su -c 'make install'
- $ ls -l .../bin/sperl
- -rws--x--x 1 root root 69974 2009-08-22 21:55 .../bin/sperl
-
-(Then delete the installation directory.)
+ $ make test
XXX think of other configurations that need testing.
=head3 finalize perldelta
Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
-section. You can generate a list of contributors with checkAUTHORS.pl.
-For example:
-
- $ git log --pretty=fuller v5.13.${last}..HEAD | \
- perl Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl --who -
-
-Look at the previous L<perldelta> for how to write the opening
-paragraph of the Acknowledgements section. To get the amount of
-changed files and number of lines use this command:
-
- $ git diff --shortstat v5.13.${last}..HEAD | \
- ./perl -Ilib -nE 'my ($files, $insert, $delete) = /(\d+)/ga; say "$files files and ", $insert + $delete, " lines changed"'
+section, which can be generated with something like:
-Making sure to round off the number of lines changed.
+ $ perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; update the "Known Problems" section
Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
formatting, e.g.
- $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > /tmp/perldelta.html
+ $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > /tmp/perldelta.html
Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
+
+=head3 remove stale perldeltas
+
+For the first RC release that is ONLY for a BLEAD-FINAL, the perldeltas
+from the BLEAD-POINT releases since the previous BLEAD_FINAL should have
+now been consolidated into the current perldelta, and hence are now just
+useless clutter. They can be removed using:
+
+ $ git rm <file1> <file2> ...
+
+For example, for RC0 of 5.16.0:
+
+ $ cd pod
+ $ git rm perldelta515*.pod
+
+All mention to them should also be removed. Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to remove
+them from its table of contents, then run F<Porting/pod_rules.pl> to
+propagate your changes there into all the other files that mention them
+(including F<MANIFEST>). You'll need to C<git add> the files that it changes.
+
+Then build a clean perl and do a full test
+
+ $ git status
+ $ git clean -dxf
+ $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des
+ $ make
+ $ make test
+
+Once all tests pass, commit your changes.
=head3 build a clean perl
-Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
+If you skipped the previous step (removing the stale perldeltas)
+make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
unpushed commits etc):
$ git status
$ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
-
=head3 update Module::CoreList
Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
$ make
-If this not the first update for this version (e.g. if it was updated
+If this is not the first update for this version (e.g. if it was updated
when the version number was originally bumped), first edit
F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> to delete the existing
entries for this version from the C<%released> and C<%version> hashes:
$ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
-If necessary, bump C<$VERSION> (there's no need to do this for
+=head4 Bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION>
+
+If necessary, bump C<$Module::CoreList::VERSION> (there's no need to do this for
every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
+It may also happen that C<Module::CoreList> has been modified in blead, and
+hence has a new version number already. (But make sure it is not the same
+number as a CPAN release.)
Edit the version number in the new C<< 'Module::CoreList' => 'X.YZ' >>
entry, as that is likely to reflect the previous version number.
+=head4 Bump version in Module::CoreList F<Changes>
+
Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes>
file.
+=head4 Add Module::CoreList version bump to perldelta
+
Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version.
-You should also add the version you're about to release to the
-L<Module::CoreList/CAVEATS> section which enumerates the perl releases
-that Module::CoreList covers.
+=for checklist skip RC
+
+=head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::release> and C<CAVEATS>
In addition, if this is a final release (rather than a release candidate):
=back
+=head4 Commit Module::CoreList changes
+
Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
(unless this is for MAINT; in which case commit it to blead first, then
cherry-pick it back).
$ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
-
-=head3 check MANIFEST
-
-Check that the manifest is sorted and correct:
-
- $ make distclean
- $ git clean -xdf # This shouldn't be necessary if distclean is correct
- $ perl Porting/manicheck
-
-If manicheck turns up anything wrong, update MANIFEST and begin this step again.
-
- $ ./configure -des -Dusedevel
- $ make test_porting
- $ git commit -m 'Update MANIFEST' MANIFEST
-
+=for checklist skip RC
=head3 update perlhist.pod
$ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
=head3 update patchlevel.h
=head3 build the tarball
+Before you run the following, you might want to install 7-Zip (the
+C<p7zip-full> package under Debian or the C<p7zip> port on MacPorts) or
+the AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> package under Debian,
+or the C<advancecomp> port on macports - 7-Zip on Windows is the
+same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the smallest files
+first time). These compress about 5% smaller than gzip and bzip2.
+Over the lifetime of your distribution this will save a lot of
+people a small amount of download time and disk space, which adds
+up.
+
Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
the tarball and directory name:
XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
here
-Optionally, you might want to compress your tarball more. Unix F<gzip>
-doesn't actually produce the smallest possible DEFLATE output. If you have the
-AdvanceCOMP suite (e.g. the C<advancecomp> port on macports), you can run
-
- $ advdef -z -4 ../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz
-
-which will probably shrink your tarball by about 5%. Over the lifetime of
-your distribution this will save a lot of people a small amount of download
-time and disk space, which adds up.
-
-(7-Zip on Windows is the same code as AdvanceCOMP, so Windows users get the
-smallest files first time)
-
-
Finally, clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
$ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
=head3 test the tarball
-=over 4
+Once you have a tarball it's time to test the tarball (not the repository).
-=item *
+=head4 Copy the tarball to a web server
Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
have access to.
-=item *
+=head4 Download the tarball to another machine
Download the tarball to some other machine. For a release candidate,
you really want to test your tarball on two or more different platforms
and architectures. The #p5p IRC channel on irc.perl.org is a good place
to find willing victims.
-=item *
+=head4 Check that F<Configure> works
Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
$ ./Configure -des && make all test
-=item *
+=head4 Run the test harness and install
Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
$ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
$ cd /install/path
-=item *
+=head4 Check C<perl -v> and C<perl -V>
Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
which is why you should test from the tarball.
-=item *
-
-Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility:
+=head4 Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility
$ ./perl utils/perlivp
...
All tests successful.
$
-=item *
+=head4 Compare the installed paths to the last release
Compare the pathnames of all installed files with those of the previous
release (i.e. against the last installed tarball on this branch which you
find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
diff -u /tmp/f[12]
-=item *
+=head4 Test the CPAN client
Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
command-line tools available for CPAN to function correctly without
Perl alternatives like LWP installed. Cygwin is an obvious choice.)
-=item *
+=head4 Install the Inline module and test it
Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
has dependencies; for example:
42
$
-=item *
+=head4 Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client
Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client on the clean install:
that you don't end up with its various F<bin/cpan*> programs being found on
the PATH before those of the Perl that you're trying to test.)
-=item *
-
-Install an XS module, for example:
+=head4 Install the DBI module with CPANPLUS
CPAN Terminal> i DBI
CPAN Terminal> quit
$ bin/perl -MDBI -e 1
$
-=item *
+=head4 Make sure that perlbug works
-Check that the L<perlbug> utility works. Try the following:
+Test L<perlbug> with the following:
$ bin/perlbug
...
delete the file, and try it again, this time actually submitting the bug
report. Check that it shows up, then remember to close it!
-=back
-
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
=head3 monitor smokes
Upload both the .gz and .bz2 versions of the tarball.
-Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
-confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
-probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
-This is considered normal.
-
Do not proceed any further until you are sure that your tarballs are on
CPAN. Check your authors directory on one of the "fast" CPAN mirrors
(e.g., cpan.hexten.net
or cpan.cpantesters.org) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
+=for checklist skip RC
+
+=head3 wait for indexing
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
+
+Wait until you receive notification emails from the PAUSE indexer
+confirming that your uploads have been received. IMPORTANT -- you will
+probably get an email that indexing has failed, due to module permissions.
+This is considered normal.
+
=head3 publish tag
$ git push origin tag v5.11.0
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT
=head3 disarm patchlevel.h
Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
+Use the template at Porting/release_announcement_template.txt
=head3 update epigraphs.pod
Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
+Your release announcement will probably not have reached the web-visible
+archives yet, so you won't be able to include the customary link to the
+release announcement yet.
+
+=head3 blog about your epigraph
+If you have a blog, please consider writing an entry in your blog explaining
+why you chose that particular quote for your epigraph.
+
+=for checklist skip RC
=head3 Module::CoreList nagging
Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
to CPAN.
+=for checklist skip RC
=head3 new perldelta
Create a new perldelta.
-B<Note>: currently, the buildtoc below must be run in a I<built> perl source
-directory, as at least one of the pod files it expects to find is
-autogenerated: perluniprops.pod. But you can't build perl if you've added
-the new perldelta file and not updated toc. So, make sure you have a built
-perl (with a pod/perluniprops.pod file) now, I<before> continuing.
-
-First, update the F<pod/.gitignore> file to ignore the next
-release's generated F<pod/perlNNNdelta.pod> file rather than this release's
-one which we are about to set in stone (where NNN is the perl version number
-without the dots. i.e. 5135 for 5.13.5).
-
- $ (edit pod/.gitignore )
- $ git add pod/.gitignore
+=over 4
-Then, move the existing F<pod/perldelta.pod> to F<pod/perlNNNdelta.pod>,
-and edit the moved delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta> to
-C<perlNNNdelta>. For example, assuming you just released 5.10.1, and are
-about to create the 5.10.2 perldelta:
+=item *
- $ rm pod/perl5101delta.pod # remove the auto-generated file, if any
- $ git mv pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod
- $ (edit pod/perl5101delta.pod to retitle)
- $ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
+Confirm that you have a clean checkout with no local changes.
-Then create a new empty perldelta.pod file for the new release; see
-F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>. You should be able to do this by
-just copying in a skeleton template and then doing a quick fix up of the
-version numbers. Then commit the move and the new file.
+=item *
- $ cp -i Porting/perldelta_template.pod pod/perldelta.pod
- $ (edit pod/perldelta.pod)
- $ git add pod/perldelta.pod
- $ git commit -m 'create perldelta for 5.10.2'
+Run F<Porting/new-perldelta.pl>
-=head3 update perldelta TOC and references
+=item *
-Now you need to update various tables of contents related to perldelta,
-most of which can be generated automatically.
+Run the C<git add> commands it outputs to add new and modified files.
-Edit F<pod.lst>: add the new entry for the perlNNNdelta file for the
-current version (the file that will be symlinked to perldelta).
+=item *
-Manually create a temporary link to the new delta file; normally this is
-done from the Makefile, but the Makefile is updated by buildtoc, and
-buildtoc won't run without the file there:
+Verify that the build still works, by running C<./Configure> and
+C<make test_porting>. (On Win32, run C<nmake> and
+C<nmake test TEST_FILES="porting\*.t ..\lib\diagnostics.t">.)
- $ ln -s perldelta.pod pod/perl5102delta.pod
+=item *
-Run C<perl pod/buildtoc --build-all> to update the F<perldelta> version in
-the following files:
+If F<t/porting/podcheck.t> spots errors in the new F<pod/perldelta.pod>,
+run C<./perl -MTestInit t/porting/podcheck.t | less> for more detail.
+Skip to the end of its test output to see the options it offers you.
- MANIFEST
- Makefile.SH
- pod/perl.pod
- vms/descrip_mms.template
- win32/Makefile
- win32/makefile.mk
- win32/pod.mak
+=item *
-Finally, commit:
+When C<make test_porting> passes, commit the new perldelta.
- $ git commit -a -m 'update TOC for perlNNNdelta'
+=back
At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
-see if they look similar. See commit dd885b5 for an example of a
+see if they look similar. See commit e3c71926d3 for an example of a
previous version bump.
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
=head3 bump version
series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then bump the version in the blead branch
in git, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
-First, add a new feature bundle to F<lib/feature.pm>, initially by just
-copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION; e.g.
+First, add a new feature bundle to F<regen/feature.pl>, initially by just
+copying the exiting entry, and bump the file's $VERSION (after the __END__
+marker); e.g.
"5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
+ "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
+Run F<regen/feature.pl> to propagate the changes to F<lib/feature.pm>.
+
Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
in the remaining files and test and commit.
+=head3 clean build and test
+
+Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
+
+In particular, F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> is intentionally exempted
+from podchecker tests, to avoid false positives about placeholder text.
+However, once it's copied to F<pod/perldelta.pod> the contents can now
+cause test failures. Problems should resolved by doing one of the
+following:
+
+=over
+
+=item 1
+
+Replace placeholder text with correct text.
+
+=item 2
+
+If the problem is from a broken placeholder link, you can add it to the
+array C<@perldelta_ignore_links> in F<t/porting/podcheck.t>. Lines
+containing such links should be marked with C<XXX> so that they get
+cleaned up before the next release.
+
+=item 3
+
+Following the instructions output by F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to
+update its exceptions database.
+
+=back
+
=head3 push commits
Finally, push any commits done above.
$ git push origin ....
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
=head3 create maint branch
$ git push origin -u maint-5.12
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT MAINT RC
+
=head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
+=for checklist skip BLEAD-POINT RC
=head3 copy perldelta.pod to other branches
$ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod # for example
$ git add pod/perl5101delta.pod
-Edit F<pod.lst> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
+Edit F<pod/perl.pod> to add an entry for the file, e.g.:
perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
=head3 bump RT version number
-Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is
-in the RT fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. If not, send an
-email to C<perlbug-admin at perl.org> requesting this.
+Log into http://rt.perl.org/ and check whether the new version is in the RT
+fields C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In>. The easiest way to determine this is
+to go to L<https://rt.perl.org/rt3/Search/Build.html> and click on the drop
+downs next to the C<Perl Version> and C<Fixed In> labels.
+
+If the new version is not listed there, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at
+perl.org> requesting this.
=head3 Relax!
=head2 Building a release - the day after
+=head3 link announcement in epigraphs.pod
+
+Add, to your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod>, a link to the release
+announcement in the web-visible mailing list archive. Commit it.
+
=head3 check tarball availability
Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
=back
+=for checklist skip RC
=head3 update dev.perl.org
-I<This step ONLY for BLEAD-POINT and MAINT>
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
-Ask Leo Lapworth to update L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>.
+Ask Leo Lapworth to update the front page of L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/> to
+link to this new release. If you're feeling ambitious, you can fork
+L<https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb> and edit the
+F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html> file, then make a pull request.
+=for checklist end
=head1 SOURCE
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff