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
perl-5.10.2 is released
post-release actions are performed, including creating new
- perl5103delta.pod
+ perldelta.pod
... 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:
https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
-Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: goto
-L<https://pause.perl.org/>, login, then select 'upload file to CPAN'; there
-should be a "For pumpkings only: Send a CC" tickbox. If not, ask Andreas
-König to add your ID to the list of people allowed to upload something
-called perl. You can find Andreas' email address at:
+Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: go to
+L<https://pause.perl.org/pause/authenquery?ACTION=who_pumpkin> and check that
+your PAUSE ID is listed there. If not, ask Andreas KE<0xf6>nig to add your ID
+to the list of people allowed to upload something called perl. You can find
+Andreas' email address at:
https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=pause_04imprint
You will need a working C<git> installation, checkout of the perl
git repository and perl commit bit. For information about working
-with perl and git, see F<pod/perlrepository.pod>.
+with perl and git, see F<pod/perlgit.pod>.
If you are not yet a perl committer, you won't be able to make a
release. Have a chat with whichever evil perl porter tried to talk
=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:
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.
+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.
To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
$ ./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>
-Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix.
+=head3 smoking
-=item *
-
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+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.
Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
fix.
-=item *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-
-Run F<Porting/cmpVERSION.pl> to compare the current source tree with the
-previous version to check for for modules that have identical version
-numbers but different contents, e.g.:
-
- $ cd ~/some-perl-root
- $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -xd ~/my_perl-tarballs/perl-5.10.0 .
-
-then bump the version numbers of any non-dual-life modules that have
-changed since the previous release, but which still have the old version
-number. If there is more than one maintenance branch (e.g. 5.8.x, 5.10.x),
-then compare against both.
-
-Note that some of the files listed may be generated (e.g. copied from ext/
-to lib/, or a script like lib/lib_pm.PL is run to produce lib/lib.pm);
-make sure you edit the correct file!
-
-Once all version numbers have been bumped, re-run the checks.
-
-Then run again without the -x option, to check that dual-life modules are
-also sensible.
-
- $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -d ~/my_perl-tarballs/perl-5.10.0 .
-
-=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
-A week or two before the first release candidate, bump the perl version
-number (e.g. from 5.10.0 to 5.10.1), 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 bump the version further.
+Increase the version number (e.g. from 5.12.0 to 5.12.1).
-There is a tool to semi-automate this process. It works in two stages.
-First, it generates a list of suggested changes, which you review and
-edit; then you feed this list back and it applies the edits. So, first
-scan the source directory looking for likely candidates. The command line
-arguments are the old and new version numbers, and -s means scan:
+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
+subsequent release candidates and the final release, it it not necessary to
+bump the version further.
- $ Porting/bump-perl-version -s 5.10.0 5.10.1 > /tmp/scan
+There is a tool to semi-automate this process:
-This produces a file containing a list of suggested edits, e.g.:
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/bump-perl-version -i 5.10.0 5.10.1
- NetWare/Makefile
+Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever,
+so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change text like
+"this was fixed in 5.10.0"!
- 89: -MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.0 for NetWare"
- +MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.1 for NetWare"
+Use git status and git diff to select changes you want to keep.
-i.e. in the file F<NetWare/Makefile>, line 89 would be changed as shown.
-Review the file carefully, and delete any -/+ line pairs that you don't
-want changing. You can also edit just the C<+> line to change the
-suggested replacement text. Remember that this tool is largely just
-grepping for '5.10.0' or whatever, so it will generate false positives. Be
-careful not change text like "this was fixed in 5.10.0"! Then run:
+Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
+C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
+some of which need to be left unchanged.
+The line in F<INSTALL> about "is binary incompatible with" requires a
+correct choice of earlier version to declare incompatibility with.
- $ Porting/bump-perl-version -u < /tmp/scan
+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 MAINT perl version, the C<PERL_API_*>
+constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim to guarantee binary compatibility
+in maint branches.
-which will update all the files shown.
+After editing, regenerate uconfig.h (this must be run on a system with a
+/bin/sh available):
-Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
-C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
-some of which need to be left unchanged. Also note that this tool
-currently only detects a single substitution per line: so in particular,
-this line in README.vms needs special handling:
+ $ perl regen/uconfig_h.pl
+
+Test your changes:
- rename perl-5^.10^.1.dir perl-5_10_1.dir
+ $ git clean -xdf # careful if you don't have local files to keep!
+ $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel
+ $ make
+ $ make test
Commit your changes:
- $ git st
+ $ git status
$ git diff
B<review the delta carefully>
$ 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.
-=item *
-
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-
-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
-not-yet created tag for the forthcoming release; e.g.
+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.
- git log ... perl-5.10.0..perl-5.12.0
+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).
-Due to warts in the perforce-to-git migration, some branches require extra
-exclusions to avoid other branches being pulled in. Make sure you have the
-correct incantation: replace the not-yet-created tag with C<HEAD> and see
-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).
+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).
-=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.
-=item *
-
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-
-Update F<AUTHORS>, using the C<Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl> script, and if
-necessary, update the script to include new alias mappings for porters
-already in F<AUTHORS>
- $ git log --pretty=fuller | perl Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl --acknowledged AUTHORS -
-
-=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 *
-I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+=head3 bump version number
+
+For a BLEAD-POINT release, if you did not bump the perl version number as
+part of I<advance actions>, do that now.
+
+
+=head3 finalize perldelta
+
+Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
+section, which can be generated with something like:
+
+ $ 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
with any serious issues for which fixes are not going to happen now; and
run through pod and spell checkers, e.g.
- $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perl5101delta.pod
- $ spell pod/perl5101delta.pod
+ $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
+ $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
formatting, e.g.
- $ perl pod/pod2html pod/perl5101delta.pod > /tmp/perl5101delta.html
-
-=item *
-
-Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
-unpushed commits etc):
-
- $ git status
+ $ ./perl -Ilib ext/Pod-Html/pod2html pod/perldelta.pod > /tmp/perldelta.html
-=item *
+Another good HTML preview option is http://search.cpan.org/pod2html
-If not already built, Configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile
-and porting tools:
+If you make changes, be sure to commit them.
- $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
-=item *
+=head3 build a clean perl
-Check that files managed by F<regen.pl> and friends are up to date. From
-within your working directory:
+Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
+unpushed commits etc):
$ git status
- $ make regen
- $ make regen_perly
- $ git status
+ $ git clean -dxf
-If any of the files managed by F<regen.pl> have changed, then you should
-re-make perl to check that it's okay, then commit the updated versions:
+then configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile and porting tools:
- $ git commit -a -m 'make regen; make regen_perly'
-
-=item *
-
-Rebuild META.yml:
-
- $ rm META.yml
- $ make META.yml
- $ git diff
-
-XXX it would be nice to make Porting/makemeta use regen_lib.pl
-to get the same 'update the file if its changed' functionality
-we get with 'make regen' etc.
-
-Commit META.yml if it has changed:
-
- $ git commit -m 'Update META.yml' META.yml
+ $ ./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.
+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
-from the maint directory, but commit the C<Corelist.pm> changes in
-I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick it.
+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 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
Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
- $ make perl
+ $ make
If this not the first update for this version (e.g. if it was updated
when the version number was originally bumped), first edit
If necessary, bump C<$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.
-Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file and
-in its F<META.yml> file.
+Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes>
+file.
+
+Add a perldelta entry for the new Module::CoreList version.
In addition, if this is a final release (rather than a release candidate):
=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 manisort
$ make distclean
$ git clean -xdf # This shouldn't be necessary if distclean is correct
$ perl Porting/manicheck
- $ git status
-
- XXX manifest _sorting_ is now checked with make test_porting
-Commit MANIFEST if it has changed:
+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
-=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>
+=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 *
-
-If this is maint release, make sure F<Porting/mergelog> is saved and
-committed.
-=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!'
-
-(Adjust the syntax appropriately if you're working on Win32, i.e. use
-C<-m "..."> rather than C<-m'...'>.)
+ $ 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
+
+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:
$ 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 *
-
-Clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
+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
Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility:
- $ bin/perlivp
+ $ ./perl utils/perlivp
...
All tests successful.
$
Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
- $ bin/perl -MCPAN -e'shell'
+ $ bin/perl -MCPAN -e "shell"
-(Use C<... -e "shell"> instead on Win32. You probably also need a set of
-Unix command-line tools available for CPAN to function correctly without
+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.)
=item *
Check that your perl can run this:
- $ bin/perl -lwe 'use Inline C => "int f() { return 42;} "; print f'
+ $ bin/perl -lwe "use Inline C => q[int f() { return 42;}]; print f"
42
$
-(Use C<... -lwe "use ..."> instead on Win32.)
-
=item *
Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client on the clean install:
=item *
-I<If you're building a SNAPSHOT, you should STOP HERE>
-
-=item *
-
-Check that the C<perlbug> utility works. Try the following:
+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-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> 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
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 successfully indexed. Do not
-proceed any further until you are sure that the indexing of your uploads
-has been successful.
+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.
-=item *
+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.
+
+
+=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 *
+
+=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.
+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.
-=item *
+=head3 Module::CoreList nagging
-Wait 24 hours or so, then post the announcement to use.perl.org.
-(if you don't have access rights to post news, ask someone like Rafael to
-do it for you.)
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
-=item *
+Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
+to CPAN.
-Check http://www.cpan.org/src/ to see if the new tarballs have appeared.
-They should appear automatically, but if they don't then ask Jarkko to look
-into it, since his scripts must have broken.
-=item *
+=head3 new perldelta
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
-Ask Jarkko to update the descriptions of which tarballs are current in
-http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html, and Rafael to update
-http://dev.perl.org/perl5/
+Create a new perldelta.
-=item *
+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.
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
+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).
-Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
-to CPAN.
+ $ (edit pod/.gitignore )
+ $ git add pod/.gitignore
-=item *
+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:
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
+ $ 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
-Bump the perlXYZdelta version number.
+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.
-First, create a new empty perlNNNdelta.pod file for the current release + 1;
-see F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>.
+ $ 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'
-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, e.g.
+=head3 update perldelta TOC and references
- $ cp -i Porting/perldelta_template.pod pod/perl5102delta.pod
- $ (edit it)
- $ git add pod/perl5102delta.pod
+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:
+Edit F<pod.lst>: add the new entry for the perlNNNdelta file for the
+current version (the file that will be symlinked to perldelta).
- -D perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
- +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:
MANIFEST
Makefile.SH
- pod.lst
pod/perl.pod
vms/descrip_mms.template
win32/Makefile
win32/makefile.mk
win32/pod.mak
-Then manually edit (F<vms/descrip_mms.template> to bump the version
-in the following entry:
+Finally, commit:
- [.pod]perldelta.pod : [.pod]perl5101delta.pod
+ $ git commit -a -m 'update TOC for perlNNNdelta'
-XXX this previous step needs to fixed to automate it in pod/buildtoc.
+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.
-Manually update references to the perlNNNdelta version in these files:
- INSTALL
- README
+=head3 bump version
-Edit the previous delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta>
-to C<perlNNNdelta>.
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD-POINT, MAINT>
-These two lists of files probably aren't exhaustive; do a recursive grep
-on the previous filename to look for suitable candidates that may have
-been missed.
+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.
-Finally, commit:
+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.
- $ git commit -a -m 'create perlXXXdelta'
+ "5.14" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
+ + "5.15" => [qw(switch say state unicode_strings)],
-At this point you may want to compare the commit with a previous bump to
-see if they look similar. See commit ca8de22071 for an example of a
-previous version bump.
+Then follow the section L<"Bump the version number"> to bump the version
+in the remaining files and test and commit.
-=item *
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+=head3 clean build and test
-If this was a maint release, then edit F<Porting/mergelog> to change
-all the C<d> (deferred) flags to C<.> (needs review).
+Run a clean build and test to make sure nothing obvious is broken.
-=item *
+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 either by replacing placeholder
+text with correct text, or following the instructions output by
+F<t/porting/podcheck.t> on how to update its exceptions database.
-I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+=head3 push commits
-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.
+Finally, push any commits done above.
-[ XXX probably lots more stuff to do, including perldelta,
-C<lib/feature.pm> ]
+ $ 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
-Copy the perlNNNdelta.pod for this release into the other branches; for
+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:
- $ cp -i ../5.10.x/pod/perl5101delta.pod pod/ # for example
+ $ 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.:
$ 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 *
-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>.
+=head3 bump RT version number
-=item *
+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.
+
+=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!
+
+=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
+and is properly indexed:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Check your author directory under L<http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/>
+to ensure that the tarballs are available on the website.
+
+=item *
+
+Check C</src> on CPAN (on a fast mirror) to ensure that links to
+the new tarballs have appeared. There should be links in C</src/5.0>
+(which is accumulating all new versions), links in C</src> (which shows
+only the latest version on each branch), and an appropriate mention in
+C</src/README.html> (which describes the latest versions).
+
+These links should appear automatically, some hours after upload.
+If they don't, or the C<README.html> description is inadequate,
+ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
+
+=item *
+
+Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to ensure that the C</src> updates
+have been correctly mirrored to the website.
+If they haven't, ask Ask <ask@perl.org>.
+
+=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/>.
+
=back
+
+=head3 update dev.perl.org
+
+I<This step ONLY for BLEAD-FINAL and MAINT>
+
+Ask Leo Lapworth to update L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>.
+
+
=head1 SOURCE
Based on
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff