release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
-As of August 2009, this file is mostly complete, although it is missing
-some detail on doing a major release (e.g. 5.10.0 -> 5.12.0). Note that
-things change at each release, so there may be new things not covered
-here, or tools may need updating.
+Note that things change at each release, so there may be new things not
+covered here, or tools may need updating.
+
=head1 SYNOPSIS
This document describes the series of tasks required - some automatic, some
-manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a snaphot,
-release candidate, or final, numbered release of maint or blead.
+manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a release
+candidate, or final, numbered release of maint or blead.
The release process has traditionally been executed by the current
pumpking. Blead releases from 5.11.0 forward are made each month on the
...time passes...
- an occasional snapshot is released, that still identifies itself as
- 5.10.1
-
- ...time passes...
-
a few weeks before the release, a number of steps are performed,
including bumping the version to 5.10.2
... the cycle continues ...
+
=head1 DETAILS
-Some of the tasks described below apply to all four types of
-release of Perl. (snapshot, RC, final release of maint, final
+Some of the tasks described below apply to all four types of
+release of Perl. (blead, RC, final release of maint, final
release of blead). Some of these tasks apply only to a subset
of these release types. If a step does not apply to a given
type of release, you will see a notation to that effect at
the beginning of the step.
+
=head2 Release types
=over 4
-=item Snapshot
-
-A snapshot is intended to encourage in-depth testing from time-to-time,
-for example after a key point in the stabilisation of a branch. It
-requires fewer steps than a full release, and the version number of perl in
-the tarball will usually be the same as that of the previous release.
-
=item Release Candidate (RC)
A release candidate is an attempt to produce a tarball that is a close as
then the fixes should be put into a new release candidate, never directly
into a final release.
-=item Stable/Maint release
+
+=item Stable/Maint release (MAINT).
+
+A release with an even version number, and subversion number > 0, such as
+5.14.1 or 5.14.2.
At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
changes since.
It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
-=item Blead release
+=item A blead point release (BLEAD-POINT)
+
+A release with an odd version number, such as 5.15.0 or 5.15.1.
+
+This isn't for production, so it has less stability requirements than for
+other release types, and isn't preceded by RC releases. Other than that,
+it is similar to a MAINT release.
+
+=item Blead final release (BLEAD-FINAL)
+
+A release with an even version number, and subversion number == 0, such as
+5.14.0. That is to say, it's the big new release once per year.
It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
-with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
+with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps, even more than for MAINT.
=back
+
=head2 Prerequisites
Before you can make an official release of perl, there are a few
=item PAUSE account
-I<SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-
Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
=item Quotation for release announcement epigraph
-I<SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT and RC>
+I<SKIP this step for RC>
-For a numbered blead or maint release of perl, you will need a quotation
-to use as an epigraph to your release announcement. (There's no harm
-in having one for a snapshot, but it's not required).
+For all except an RC release of perl, you will need a quotation
+to use as an epigraph to your release announcement.
=back
Some of the following steps should be done regularly, but all I<must> be
done in the run up to a release.
-=over 4
-=item *
-
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
Ensure that dual-life CPAN modules are synchronised with CPAN. Basically,
run the following:
$ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
-If you are making a maint release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
+If you are making a MAINT release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
have some extra changes.
-=item *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
(also, try to inform the module's author)
-=item *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 smoking
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
L<http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports/> which has
the raw reports.
-=item *
-
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-
Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
fix.
-=item *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 perldelta
Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
edit the whole document.
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 Bump the version number
-Bump the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
+Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
-For a blead release, this can happen on the day of the release. For a
+For a BLEAD-POINT release, this can happen on the day of the release. For a
release candidate for a stable perl, this should happen a week or two
before the first release candidate to allow sufficient time for testing and
smoking with the target version built into the perl executable. For
rename perl-5^.10^.1.dir perl-5_10_1.dir
-When doing a blead release, also make sure the C<PERL_API_*> constants in
-F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version you're releasing, unless you're
+When doing a BLEAD-POINT or BLEAD-FINAL release, also make sure the
+C<PERL_API_*> constants in F<patchlevel.h> are in sync with the version
+you're releasing, unless you're
absolutely sure the release you're about to make is 100% binary compatible
-to an earlier release. When releasing a stable perl version, the C<PERL_API_*>
+to an earlier release. When releasing a MAINT perl version, the C<PERL_API_*>
constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim to guarantee binary compatibility
in maint branches.
+After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
+/bin/sh available):
+ $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
Test your changes:
+ $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
$ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
$ make
$ make test
$ git commit -a -m 'Bump the perl version in various places for 5.x.y'
-When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList (as
-described below in L<"Building a release - on the day">) to reflect the new
+At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
+see if they look similar. See commit 8891dd8d for an example of a
+previous version bump.
+
+When the version number is bumped, you should also update Module::CoreList
+(as described below in L<"update Module::CoreList">) to reflect the new
version number.
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 update INSTALL
Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number;
in particular, the "Coexistence with earlier versions of perl 5" section.
-Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier". For
-stable releases, this needs to refer to the last release in the previous
-development cycle. For blead releases, it needs to refer to the previous blead
-release.
+Be particularly careful with the section "Upgrading from 5.X.Y or earlier".
+The "X.Y" needs to be changed to the most recent version that we are
+I<not> binary compatible with.
-=item *
+For MAINT and BLEAD-FINAL releases, this needs to refer to the last
+release in the previous development cycle (so for example, for a 5.14.x
+release, this would be 5.13.11).
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+For BLEAD-POINT releases, it needs to refer to the previous BLEAD-POINT
+release (so for 5.15.3 this would be 5.15.2).
+
+
+=head3 update Changes
Update the F<Changes> file to contain the git log command which would show
all the changes in this release. You will need assume the existence of a
if C<git log> produces roughly the right number of commits across roughly the
right time period (you may find C<git log --pretty=oneline | wc> useful).
-=item *
+
+=head3 Check more build configurations
Check some more build configurations. The check that setuid builds and
installs is for < 5.11.0 only.
XXX think of other configurations that need testing.
-=item *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 update perlport
L<perlport> has a section currently named I<Supported Platforms> that
indicates which platforms are known to build in the current release.
If necessary update the list and the indicated version number.
-=back
+
=head2 Building a release - on the day
-This section describes the actions required to make a release (or snapshot
-etc) that are performed on the actual day.
+This section describes the actions required to make a release
+that are performed on the actual day.
-=over 4
-=item *
+=head3 re-check earlier actions
-Review all the items in the previous section,
+Review all the actions in the previous section,
L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
up-to-date.
-=item *
-For a blead release, if you did not bump the perl version number as part
-of I<advance actions>, do that now.
+=head3 bump version number
-=item *
+For a BLEAD-POINT release, if you did not bump the perl version number as
+part of I<advance actions>, do that now.
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
+=head3 finalize perldelta
Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
section. You can generate a list of contributors with checkAUTHORS.pl.
If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
-=item *
+
+=head3 build a clean perl
Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
unpushed commits etc):
$ git status
$ git clean -dxf
-=item *
-
-If not already built, Configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile
-and porting tools:
+then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
$ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 update Module::CoreList
Update C<Module::CoreList> with module version data for the new release.
-Note that if this is a maint release, you should run the following actions
+Note that if this is a MAINT release, you should run the following actions
from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
-I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick it. XXX need a better example
+I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick any releases since the last
+maint release and then your recent commit. XXX need a better example
F<corelist.pl> uses ftp.funet.fi to verify information about dual-lived
modules on CPAN. It can use a full, local CPAN mirror or fall back
=back
Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
-(unless this is for maint; in which case commit it blead first, then
+(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
-=item *
+
+=head3 check MANIFEST
Check that the manifest is sorted and correct:
$ make test_porting
$ git commit -m 'Update MANIFEST' MANIFEST
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 update perlhist.pod
-Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the current date, e.g.:
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
- David 5.10.1-RC1 2009-Aug-06
+Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the release date, e.g.:
+
+ David 5.10.1 2009-Aug-06
Make sure that the correct pumpking is listed in the left-hand column, and
if this is the first release under the stewardship of a new pumpking, make
$ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT or BLEAD release>
+=head3 update patchlevel.h
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for a BLEAD-POINT release>
Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
a final release, remove it. For example:
$ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
-=item *
+
+=head3 build, test and check a fresh perl
Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
$ make test install
-=item *
-
Check that the output of C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -v> and
C</tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest/bin/perl -V> are as expected,
especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
Then delete the temporary installation.
-=item *
+
+=head3 push the work so far
Push all your recent commits:
$ git push origin ....
-=item *
-
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 tag the release
Tag the release (e.g.):
$ git tag v5.11.0 -m "First release of the v5.11 series!"
-It is VERY important that from this point forward, you not push
+It is B<VERY> important that from this point forward, you not push
your git changes to the Perl master repository. If anything goes
wrong before you publish your newly-created tag, you can delete
and recreate it. Once you push your tag, we're stuck with it
and you'll need to use a new version number for your release.
-=item *
+
+=head3 build the tarball
Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
the tarball and directory name:
$ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
$ git status # and there's nothing lying around
- $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s `git describe` # for a snapshot
$ perl Porting/makerel -b -s RC1 # for a release candidate
$ perl Porting/makerel -b # for a final release
XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
here
-=item *
+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
-Clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
+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
+
=item *
Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
=item *
-I<If you're building a SNAPSHOT, you should STOP HERE>
-
-=item *
-
Check that the L<perlbug> utility works. Try 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!
-=item *
+=back
+
+
+=head3 monitor smokes
Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
back and fix things.
-Note that for I<BLEAD> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
+Note that for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases this may not be practical. It takes a
long time for the smokers to catch up, especially the Win32
-smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> releases, but for
-I<BLEAD> releases sometimes the best you can do is to plead with
-people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away, and then
-hope for the best.
+smokers. This is why we have a RC cycle for I<MAINT> and I<BLEAD-FINAL>
+releases, but for I<BLEAD-POINT> releases sometimes the best you can do is
+to plead with people on IRC to test stuff on their platforms, fire away,
+and then hope for the best.
-=item *
+
+=head3 upload to PAUSE
Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
If anything goes wrong after this point, you will need to re-prepare
(e.g., cpan.hexten.net
or cpan.cpantesters.org) to confirm that your uploads have been successful.
-=item *
+
+=head3 publish tag
Now that you've shipped the new perl release to PAUSE, it's
time to publish the tag you created earlier to the public git repo (e.g.):
$ git push origin tag v5.11.0
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT or BLEAD release>
+=head3 disarm patchlevel.h
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for BLEAD-POINT release>
Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
$ git push origin ....
-=item *
+
+=head3 announce to p5p
Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
-=item *
+
+=head3 update epigraphs.pod
Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
-=item *
+
+=head3 Module::CoreList nagging
I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
to CPAN.
-=item *
+
+=head3 new perldelta
I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
Create a new perldelta.
-First, update the F<.gitignore> file in the F<pod/> folder to ignore the next
-release's generated F<pod/perlNNNdelta.pod> file rather than this releases's
+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).
-Then, move the existing F<pod/perldelta.pod> to F<pod/perlNNNdelta.pod>.
+ $ (edit pod/.gitignore )
+ $ git add pod/.gitignore
-Now edit the moved delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta> to
-C<perlNNNdelta>.
-
-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.
-
-For example, assuming you just released 5.10.1:
+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:
+ $ 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
+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.
+
$ 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'
-Now you need to update various tables of contents, most of which can be
-generated automatically.
+=head3 update perldelta TOC and references
+
+Now you need to update various tables of contents related to perldelta,
+most of which can be generated automatically.
Edit F<pod.lst>: add the new entry, flagged as 'd', and unflag the previous
entry from being 'd'; for example:
+d perl5102delta Perl changes in version 5.10.2
+ perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
+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:
+
+ $ ln -s perldelta.pod pod/perl5102delta.pod
+
Run C<perl pod/buildtoc --build-all> to update the F<perldelta> version in
the following files:
$ git commit -a -m 'update TOC for perlNNNdelta'
-At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
-see if they look similar. See commit 2b6e134265 for an example of a
+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
previous version bump.
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+=head3 bump version
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
+
+If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
+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.
+
+ "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
+ + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
-If this was the first release of a new maint series, (5.x.0 where x is
-even), then create a new maint branch based on the commit tagged as
-the current release and bump the version in the blead branch in git,
-e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0.
+Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
+in the remaining files and test and commit.
-[ XXX probably lots more stuff to do, including perldelta,
-C<lib/feature.pm> ]
+
+=head3 push commits
+
+Finally, push any commits done above.
+
+ $ git push origin ....
+
+
+=head3 create maint branch
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
+
+If this was a BLEAD-FINAL release (i.e. the first release of a new maint
+series, 5.x.0 where x is even), then create a new maint branch based on
+the commit tagged as the current release.
Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
- $ git checkout -b maint-5.12
+ $ git checkout -b maint-5.12 v5.12.0
$ git push origin -u maint-5.12
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+=head3 make the maint branch available in the APC
+
+Clone the new branch into /srv/gitcommon/branches on camel so the APC will
+receive its changes.
+
+ $ git clone --branch maint-5.14 /gitroot/perl.git \
+ ? /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
+ $ chmod -R g=u /srv/gitcommon/branches/perl-5.14.x
+
+And nag the sysadmins to make this directory available via rsync.
+
+
+=head3 copy perldelta.pod to other branches
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT>
Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into the other branches; for
example:
$ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
-=item *
+
+=head3 update perlhist.pod in other branches
Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
-F<perlhist.pod> on other branches; typically the RC* and final entries,
+F<perlhist.pod> on other branches
e.g.
- 5.8.9-RC1 2008-Nov-10
- 5.8.9-RC2 2008-Dec-06
5.8.9 2008-Dec-14
-=item *
+
+=head3 bump RT version number
If necessary, send an email to C<perlbug-admin at perl.org> requesting
that new version numbers be added to the RT fields C<Perl Version> and
C<Fixed In>.
-=item *
+
+=head3 Relax!
I<You MUST RETIRE to your preferred PUB, CAFE or SEASIDE VILLA for some
much-needed rest and relaxation>.
Thanks for releasing perl!
-=back
=head2 Building a release - the day after
+=head3 check tarball availability
+
+Check various website entries to make sure the that tarball has appeared
+and is properly indexed:
+
=over 4
=item *
Check L<http://search.cpan.org> to see if it has indexed the distribution.
It should be visible at a URL like C<http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-5.10.1/>.
-=item *
+=back
-I<This step ONLY for STABLE>
-Ask Rafael to update L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>.
+=head3 update dev.perl.org
+
+I<This step ONLY for BLEAD-POINT and MAINT>
+
+Ask Leo Lapworth to update L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>.
-=back
=head1 SOURCE