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
+=head3 rt.perl.org update access
-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)
+Make sure you have permission to close tickets on L<http://rt.perl.org/>
+so you can respond to bug report as necessary during your stint. If you
+don't, make an account (if you don't have one) and contact the pumpking
+with your username to get ticket-closing permission.
-=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.
+=head3 git clone of https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb
+
+For updating the L<http://dev.perl.org> web pages, either a Github account or
+sweet-talking somebody with a Github account into obedience is needed. This
+is only needed on the day of the release or shortly afterwards.
+
+=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
-perl generally starts several weeks before the first release candidate.
-Some of the following steps should be done regularly, but all I<must> be
-done in the run up to a release.
-
+The work of building a release candidate for an even numbered release
+(BLEAD-FINAL) of perl generally starts several weeks before the first
+release candidate. Some of the following steps should be done regularly,
+but all I<must> be done in the run up to a release.
=head3 dual-life CPAN module synchronisation
-Ensure that dual-life CPAN modules are synchronised with CPAN. Basically,
-run the following:
+To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
- $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
-to see any inconsistencies between the core and CPAN versions of distros,
-then fix the core, or cajole CPAN authors as appropriate. See also the
-C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail. You'll probably want to use the
-C<-c cachedir> option to avoid repeated CPAN downloads and may want to
-use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if you made a local CPAN mirror.
+Passing C<-u cpan> (and maybe C<-u undef>) will probably be helpful, since
+those are the only types of distributions that you can actually affect as a
+perl release manager (as opposed to a CPAN module maintainer).
-To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
+You can also run an actual diff of the contents of the modules, comparing core
+to CPAN, to ensure that there were no erroneous/extraneous changes that need to
+be dealt with. You do this by not passing the C<-x> option:
- $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
+
+then fix the core, or cajole CPAN authors as appropriate. See also the C<-d>
+and C<-v> options for more detail (and the C<-u> option as mentioned above).
+You'll probably want to use the C<-c cachedir> option to avoid repeated CPAN
+downloads and may want to use C<-m file:///mirror/path> if you made a local
+CPAN mirror. Note that a minicpan mirror won't actually work, but can provide a
+good first pass to quickly get a list of modules which definitely haven't
+changed, to avoid having to download absolutely everything.
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
and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
have some extra changes.
+=head3 How to sync a CPAN module with a cpan/ distro
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Fetch the most recent version from CPAN.
+
+=item *
+
+Unpack the retrieved tarball. Rename the old directory; rename the new
+directory to the original name.
+
+=item *
+
+Restore any F<.gitignore> file. This can be done by issuing
+C<git checkout .gitignore> in the F<cpan/Distro> directory.
+
+=item *
+
+Remove files we do not need. That is, remove any files that match the
+entries in C<@IGNORE> in F<Porting/Maintainer.pl>, and anything that
+matches the C<EXCLUDED> section of the distro's entry in the C<%Modules>
+hash.
+
+=item *
+
+Restore any files mentioned in the C<CUSTOMIZED> section, using
+C<git checkout>. Make any new customizations if necessary. Also,
+restore any files that are mentioned in C<@IGNORE>, but were checked
+in in the repository anyway.
+
+=item *
+
+For any new files in the distro, determine whether they are needed.
+If not, delete them, and list them in either C<EXCLUDED> or C<@INGORE>.
+Otherwise, add them to C<MANIFEST>, and run C<git add> to add the files
+to the repository.
+
+=item *
+
+For any files that are gone, remove them from C<MANIFEST>, and use
+C<git rm> to tell git the files will be gone.
+
+=item *
+
+If the C<MANIFEST> file was changed in any of the previous steps, run
+C<perl Porting/manisort --output MANIFEST.sort; mv MANIFEST.sort MANIFEST>.
+
+=item *
+
+For any files that have an execute bit set, either remove the execute
+bit, or edit F<Porting/exec-bit.txt>
+
+=item *
+
+Run C<make> (or C<nmake> on Windows), see if C<perl> compiles.
+
+=item *
+
+Run the tests for the package.
+
+=item *
+
+Run the tests in F<t/porting>.
+
+=item *
+
+Update the C<DISTRIBUTION> entry in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl>.
+
+=item *
+
+Run a full configure/build/test cycle.
+
+=item *
+
+If everything is ok, commit the changes.
+
+=back
+
+For entries with a non-simple C<FILES> section, or with a C<MAP>, you
+may have to take more steps than listed above.
+
+F<Porting/sync-with-cpan> is a script that automates most of the steps
+above; but see the comments at the beginning of the file. In particular,
+it has not yet been exercised on Windows, but will certainly require a set
+of Unix tools such as Cygwin, and steps that run C<make> will need to run
+C<nmake> instead.
+
=head3 dual-life CPAN module stability
(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 Bump the version number
+Do not do this yet for a BLEAD-POINT release! You will do this at the end of
+the release process.
+
Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
-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
+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
subsequent release candidates and the final release, it it not necessary to
$ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
+This might not cause any new changes.
+
Test your changes:
$ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
=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.
up-to-date.
-=head3 bump version number
+=head3 create a release branch
+
+For BLEAD-POINT releases, making a release from a release branch avoids the
+need to freeze blead during the release. This is less important for
+BLEAD-FINAL, MAINT, and RC releases, since blead will already be frozen in
+those cases. Create the branch by running
-For a BLEAD-POINT release, if you did not bump the perl version number as
-part of I<advance actions>, do that now.
+ git checkout -b release-5.xx.yy
=head3 finalize perldelta
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
$ cd pod
$ git rm perldelta515*.pod
-All mention to them should also be removed. Currently the files that
-need to be edited for this task are F<MANIFEST>, F<pod.list>,
-F<pod/perl.pod>, and F<win32/pod.mak> (including C<.man>, C<.html>, and
-C<.tex> entries for each removed 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 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
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.
+=for checklist skip RC
+
+=head4 Update C<%Module::CoreList::released> and C<CAVEATS>
+
In addition, if this is a final release (rather than a release candidate):
=over 4
=item *
Make sure that the script has correctly updated the C<CAVEATS> section
+(Note, the C<CAVEATS> section is in
+F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod>)
=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
+ $ git commit -m 'Update Module::CoreList for 5.x.y' dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pod
+=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
especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
paths. Note that as they have been been built from a git working
directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
-commits.
+commits. (Note that for an odd-numbered version, perl will install
+itself as C<perl5.x.y>). C<perl -v> will identify itself as:
+
+ This is perl 5, version X, subversion Y (v5.X.Y (v5.X.Z-NNN-gdeadbeef))
+
+where 5.X.Z is the latest tag, NNN the number of commits since this tag,
+and C<< deadbeef >> commit of that tag.
Then delete the temporary installation.
=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 Bootstrap the CPAN client
Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
- $ bin/perl -MCPAN -e "shell"
-
-If you're running this on Win32 you probably also need a set of Unix
-command-line tools available for CPAN to function correctly without
-Perl alternatives like LWP installed. Cygwin is an obvious choice.)
+ $ bin/cpan
-=item *
+=head4 Install the Inline module with CPAN 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:
$ bin/cpanp
-(Again, on Win32 you'll need something like Cygwin installed, but make sure
-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
(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
$ 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
+
+Send a carbon copy to C<noc@metacpan.org>
+
+=head3 merge release branch back to blead
+
+If you made a release branch for this release, merge it back into master now,
+and delete it.
+
+ git checkout blead
+ git pull
+ git merge release-5.xx.yy
+ git push
+ git push origin :release-5.xx.yy
+ git branch -d release-5.xx.yy
=head3 update epigraphs.pod
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
I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
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 MAINT RC
=head3 bump version
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC and 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.
+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.
+If this was a BLEAD-POINT release, then just follow the section
+L<"Bump the version number">.
+
=head3 clean build and test
$ 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
Then rebuild various files:
- $ perl pod/buildtoc --build-all
+ $ perl Porting/pod_rules.pl
Finally, commit:
=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!
=back
+=for checklist skip RC
=head3 update dev.perl.org
-I<This step ONLY for BLEAD-FINAL and MAINT>
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for a RC release>
+
+In your C<perlorg> repository, link to the new release. For a new
+latest-maint release, edit F<docs/shared/tpl/stats.html>. Otherwise,
+edit F<docs/dev/perl5/index.html>.
+
+Then make a pull request to Leo Lapworth. If this fails for some reason
+and you cannot cajole anybody else into submitting that change, you can
+mail Leo as last resort.
-Ask Leo Lapworth to update L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>.
+This repository can be found on L<github|https://github.com/perlorg/perlweb>.
+=for checklist end
=head1 SOURCE
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff