+=encoding utf8
=head1 NAME
release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
-XXX as of Jul 2009, this file is still a work-in-progress. I think it
-contains all the actions needed to build a release, but things may have
-got skipped, and some things could do with polishing. Note that things
-change each release, there may be new things not covered here, or
-tools may need updating. DAPM
+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.
=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 release.
+release candidate, or final, numbered release of maint or blead.
-The release process is primarily executed by the current pumpking.
+The release process has traditionally been executed by the current
+pumpking. Blead releases from 5.11.0 forward are made each month on the
+20th by a non-pumpking release engineer. The release engineer roster
+and schedule can be found in Porting/release_schedule.pod.
-This document both helps as a check-list for the pumpking and is
-a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated or
-distributed.
+This document both helps as a check-list for the release engineer
+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:
including bumping the version to 5.10.2
...a few weeks passes...
-
+
perl-5.10.2-RC1 is released
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
+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 Building a 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 less steps than a full release, and the version number of perl in
-the tarball will usually still be the old one.
+=head2 Release types
=over 4
-=item *
-
-As there are no regular smokes [ XXX yet - please fix?] find out about the
-state of VMS. If it's bad, think again.
-
-=item *
-
-Rebuild META.yml:
-
- $ rm META.yml
- $ make META.yml
-
-and commit it if it's changed.
+=item Snapshot
-=item *
-
-Check that the manifest is sorted and correct:
-
- $ make distclean
- $ perl Porting/manisort
- $ perl Porting/manicheck
-
-=item *
-
-If this is a release candidate or final release, add an entry to
-F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the current date, e.g.
-
- 5.8.9-RC1 2008-Nov-10
+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.
-Make sure the correct pumpking is listed, and if this is your first time,
-append your name to C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
+=item Release Candidate (RC)
-=item *
+A release candidate is an attempt to produce a tarball that is a close as
+possible to the final release. Indeed, unless critical faults are found
+during the RC testing, the final release will be identical to the RC
+barring a few minor fixups (updating the release date in F<perlhist.pod>,
+removing the RC status from F<patchlevel.h>, etc). If faults are found,
+then the fixes should be put into a new release candidate, never directly
+into a final release.
-Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs.
+=item Stable/Maint release
-=item *
+At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
+changes since.
-Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
-the tarball and directory name:
+It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
+with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
- $ cd root/of/perl/tree
- $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
+=item Blead release
- $ 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
+It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
+with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
-This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
-the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them,
-adds DOS line endings to some, then tars it up as
-F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a C<tar.bz2> file.
+=back
-XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
-here
+=head2 Prerequisites
-=item *
+Before you can make an official release of perl, there are a few
+hoops you need to jump through:
-Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
-have access to.
+=over 4
-=item *
+=item PAUSE account
-Download the tarball to some other machine (for a release candidate, to
-two or more servers: IRC is good for this).
+I<SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-=item *
+Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
+If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
-Check that C<./Configure -des && make all test> works in one place.
+ https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
-=item *
+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
+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:
-Check that C<./Configure ... && make all test_harness install> works.
+ https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=pause_04imprint
-=item *
+=item search.cpan.org
-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
-paths. Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
-which is why you should test from the tarball.
+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 *
+=item CPAN mirror
-Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install.
+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 *
+=item git checkout and commit bit
-Install CPANPLUS.
-XXX pick something new; this is now bundled
+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>.
-=item *
+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
+you into the idea in the first place to figure out the best way to
+resolve the issue.
-Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client.
-=item *
+=item Quotation for release announcement epigraph
-Install an XS module.
+I<SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT and RC>
-=item *
+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).
-If all is well, announce the snapshot to p5p. (For a release candidate,
-instead follow the further steps described later.)
=back
-=head2 Actions prior to the first release candidate
-A week or two before the first release candidate, there are some additional
-tasks you should perform (actually, some of these should be done regularly
-anyway, but they definitely need doing now):
+=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.
=over 4
=item *
-Check F<Maintainers.pl> for consistency; both these commands should
-produce no output:
-
- perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani
- perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani lib/ ext/
-
-=item *
+I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
Ensure that dual-life CPAN modules are synchronised with CPAN. Basically,
run the following:
- ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
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
+ $ ./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
=item *
+I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
=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.
=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>
+
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 .
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -xd . v5.10.0
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.
+Be sure to bump the version numbers in separate commits for each module
+(or group of related modules) so that changes can be cherry-picked later
+if necessary.
+
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!
Then run again without the -x option, to check that dual-life modules are
also sensible.
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -d . v5.10.0
=item *
+I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
-Peruse F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
+
+Read F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
edit the whole document.
=item *
-Bump the perl version number (e.g. from 5.10.0 to 5.10.1).
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
+Bump 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
+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.
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 dir looking for likely candidates:
+scan the source directory looking for likely candidates. The command line
+arguments are the old and new version numbers, and -s means scan:
$ Porting/bump-perl-version -s 5.10.0 5.10.1 > /tmp/scan
-This produces a file containing a list of suggested edits, eg:
+This produces a file containing a list of suggested edits, e.g.:
NetWare/Makefile
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. 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:
+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:
$ Porting/bump-perl-version -u < /tmp/scan
-which will update all the files shown; then commit the changes.
+which will update all the files shown.
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. Also note that this tool currently only
-performs a single change per line, so in particular, this line in
-README.vms needs special handling:
+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.
+
+Also note that this tool
+currently only detects a single substitution per line: so in particular,
+this line in README.vms needs special handling:
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
+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_*>
+constants C<MUST NOT> be changed as we aim to guarantee binary compatibility
+in maint branches.
+
+Commit your changes:
+
+ $ git st
+ $ 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
+version number.
=item *
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
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.
+
=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.
- git log ... perl-5.10.0..perl5.12.0
+ git log ... perl-5.10.0..perl-5.12.0
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 git log produces roughly the right number of commits across roughly the
-right time period.
+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 *
+
+Check some more build configurations. The check that setuid builds and
+installs is for < 5.11.0 only.
+
+ $ sh Configure -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y -Uinstallusrbinperl \
+ -Duseshrplib -Dd_dosuid
+ $ 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.)
+
+XXX think of other configurations that need testing.
=item *
-Check some more build configurations, e.g.
+I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
+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
- -Duseshrplib -Dd_dosuid
- make suidperl
+=head2 Building a release - on the day
-Check that setuid installs works (for < 5.11.0 only).
-XXX any other configs?
+This section describes the actions required to make a release (or snapshot
+etc) that are performed on the actual day.
+
+=over 4
=item *
-Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
-If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
+Review all the items in the previous section,
+L<"Building a release - advance actions"> to ensure they are all done and
+up-to-date.
- https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
+=item *
-Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: goto
-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
-to add your ID to the list of people allowed to upload something called
-perl.
+For a blead release, if you did not bump the perl version number as part
+of I<advance actions>, do that now.
=item *
-Update F<AUTHORS>, using the C<Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl> script, and if
-necessary, update the script to include new alias mappings.
+I<You MAY SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
-XXX This script is currently broken (7/2009). It needs updating to work
-with git and a lack of Changes files.
+Finalize the perldelta. In particular, fill in the Acknowledgements
+section. You can generate a list of contributors with checkAUTHORS.pl.
+For example:
-=back
+ $ git log --pretty=fuller v5.13.2..HEAD | \
+ perl Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl --who -
+
+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.
-=head2 Building a release candidate
+ $ podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perldelta.pod
+ $ spell pod/perldelta.pod
-(At this point you should already have performed the actions described in
-L</"Actions prior to the first release candidate">.) You should review
-that section to ensure that everything there has done, and to see whether
-any of those actions (such as consistency checks) need to be repeated.
+Also, you may want to generate and view an HTML version of it to check
+formatting, e.g.
-=over 4
+ $ perl pod/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.
=item *
-Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
-remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; and run through pod and spell
-checkers, e.g.
+Make sure you have a gitwise-clean perl directory (no modified files,
+unpushed commits etc):
- podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perl5101delta.pod
- spell pod/perl5101delta.pod
+ $ git clean -dxf
+ $ git status
=item *
-Update patchlevel.h to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is a
-final release, remove it. [ XXX how now?? see 34813 for old way ]
+If not already built, Configure and build perl so that you have a Makefile
+and porting tools:
+
+ $ ./Configure -Dusedevel -des && make
=item *
-Update C<Module::Corelist>.
+Check that files managed by F<regen.pl> and friends are up to date. From
+within your working directory:
+
+ $ git status
+ $ make regen_all
+ $ make regen_perly
+ $ git status
+
+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:
+
+ $ git commit -a -m 'make regen; make regen_perly'
+
+(XXX regen might be a problem depending on the bison version available.
+We need to get a wizard to give better instructions on what to do or not do.)
+
+=item *
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
+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 edit the C<Corelist.pm> in I<blead> and
-subsequently cherry-pick it.
+from the maint branch, but commit the C<CoreList.pm> changes in
+I<blead> and subsequently cherry-pick it. 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
+to C<wget> or C<curl> to fetch only package metadata remotely. (If you're
+on Win32, then installing Cygwin is one way to have commands like C<wget>
+and C<curl> available.)
+
+(If you'd prefer to have a full CPAN mirror, see
+http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN)
+
+Then change to your perl checkout, and if necessary,
+
+ $ 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
+F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm> to delete the existing
+entries for this version from the C<%released> and C<%version> hashes:
+they will have a key like C<5.010001> for 5.10.1.
+
+XXX the edit-in-place functionality of Porting/corelist.pl should
+be fixed to handle this automatically.
+
+Then, If you have a local CPAN mirror, run:
-First, in order to update the C<%upstream> and C<%bug_tracker> hashes,
-the C<Porting/corelist.pl> script requires you to have a local CPAN
-mirror. See http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN for
-more details, but basically:
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/my-cpan-mirror
- $ mkdir ~/cpan-mirror
- $ rsync -av --delete ftp.funet.fi::CPAN ~/cpan-mirror/
+Otherwise, run:
-(and re-run the rsync each time you need it to be up-to-date).
-[XXX this really needs fixing to not require a whole CPAN mirror]
+ $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl cpan
+
+This will chug for a while, possibly reporting various warnings about
+badly-indexed CPAN modules unrelated to the modules actually in core.
+Assuming all goes well, it will update
+F<dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm>.
+
+Check that file over carefully:
+
+ $ git diff dist/Module-CoreList/lib/Module/CoreList.pm
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).
-Then do
+Edit the version number in the new C<< 'Module::CoreList' => 'X.YZ' >>
+entry, as that is likely to reflect the previous version number.
- $ cd ~/perl/root; make perl
- $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/cpan-mirror/ > /tmp/corelist
+Also edit Module::CoreList's new version number in its F<Changes> file and
+in its F<META.yml> file.
-This creates a file that looks something like
+In addition, if this is a final release (rather than a release candidate):
- 5.010001 => {
- 'AnyDBM_File' => '1.00',
- ...
- },
+=over 4
- %upstream = (
- 'App::Prove' => undef,
- ...
- );
+=item *
- %bug_tracker = (
- 'App::Prove' => 'http://rt.cpan.org/...',
- ...
- );
+Update this version's entry in the C<%released> hash with today's date.
-Cut and paste these tables into F<lib/Module/CoreList.pm>: the module
-version list should be appended as the last entry in the C<%version> hash
-(or replaced, if we've already added it for an earlier release candidate),
-while the existing C<%upstream> and C<%bug_tracker> hashes should be
-replaced with the new versions.
+=item *
-Edit the version number in the new C<< 'Module::CoreList' => 'X.YZ' >>
-entry, as that is likely to reflect the previous version number.
+Make sure that the script has correctly updated the C<CAVEATS> section
-Then, add the current perl version to the C<CAVEATS> paragraph.
+=back
-Add or update an entry to the C<%released> hash, including today's date
-(if this is just a release candidate, set the date to '????-??-??').
+Finally, commit the new version of Module::CoreList:
+(unless this is for maint; in which case commit it 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 *
-Follow the instructions in the section L</"Building a snapshot">, then
-carry on with the extra steps that follow here.
+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:
+
+ $ git commit -m 'Update MANIFEST' MANIFEST
=item *
-Disarm the patchlevel.h change [ XXX expand ]
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT>
+
+Add an entry to F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the current date, e.g.:
+
+ David 5.10.1-RC1 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
+sure that his or her name is listed in the section entitled
+C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
+
+Be sure to commit your changes:
+
+ $ git commit -m 'add new release to perlhist' pod/perlhist.pod
=item *
-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).
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for SNAPSHOT or BLEAD release>
-Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
-back and fix things.
+Update F<patchlevel.h> to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is
+a final release, remove it. For example:
+
+ static const char * const local_patches[] = {
+ NULL
+ + ,"RC1"
+ PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
+Be sure to commit your change:
+
+ $ git commit -m 'bump version to RCnnn' patchlevel.h
=item *
-Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
-You may wish to create a .bz2 version of the tarball and upload that too.
+Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs:
+
+ $ git clean -xdf
+ $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
+
+ # or if it's an odd-numbered version:
+ $ ./Configure -des -Dusedevel -Dprefix=/tmp/perl-5.x.y-pretest
+
+ $ make test install
=item *
-create a tag [XXX and branches and stuff ????], e.g.:
+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
+paths. Note that as they have been been built from a git working
+directory, they will still identify themselves using git tags and
+commits.
- $ git tag perl-5.10.1-RC1 -m'Release Candidate 1 of Perl 5.10.1'
- $ git push origin tag perl-5.10.1-RC1
+Then delete the temporary installation.
=item *
-Mail p5p to announce it, with a quote you prepared earlier.
+Push all your recent commits:
+
+ $ git push origin ....
+
=item *
-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 SNAPSHOT>
-=back
+Tag the release (e.g.):
+ $ git tag v5.11.0 -m'First release of the v5.11 series!'
-=head2 Making a final release
+(Adjust the syntax appropriately if you're working on Win32, i.e. use
+C<-m "..."> rather than C<-m'...'>.)
-At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
-changes since.
+It is 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.
-It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
-with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
+=item *
-=over 4
+Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
+the tarball and directory name:
+
+ $ cd root/of/perl/tree
+ $ make distclean
+ $ 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
+
+This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
+the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them,
+adds DOS line endings to some, then tars it up as
+F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a C<tar.bz2> file.
+
+If you're getting your tarball suffixed with -uncommitted and you're sure
+your changes were all committed, you can override the suffix with:
+
+ $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s ''
+
+XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
+here
=item *
-Follow the same steps as for making a release candidate, then
+Clean up the temporary directory, e.g.
+
+ $ rm -rf ../perl-x.y.z-RC1
=item *
-Ask Jarkko to update http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html and
-Rafael to update http://dev.perl.org/perl5/
+Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
+have access to.
=item *
-Create a new empty perlNNNdelta.pod file for the current release + 1;
-see F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>.
-[ XXX Perhaps we should have an empty template file we can copy in. ]
+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.
-In addition, edit F<pod.lst>, adding the new entry as 'D', and unmark previous
-entry as 'D', then run C<perl pod/buildtoc --build-all> to update the
-following files:
+=item *
- MANIFEST
- pod/perl.pod
- win32/pod.mak
- vms/descrip_mms.template
+Check that basic configuration and tests work on each test machine:
-(F<vms/descrip_mms.template> still needs a manual edit to bump the
-C<perldelta.pod> entry - it would be good for someone to figure out the fix.)
+ $ ./Configure -des && make all test
-and change perlNNNdelta references to the new version in these files
+=item *
- INSTALL
- win32/Makefile.mk
- win32/Makefile
- Makefile.SH
- README
+Check that the test harness and install work on each test machine:
-Also, edit the previous delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta>
-to C<perlNNNdelta>.
+ $ make distclean
+ $ ./Configure -des -Dprefix=/install/path && make all test_harness install
+ $ cd /install/path
-These two lists of files probably aren't exhaustive; do a recursive grep
-on the previous filename to look for suitable candidates.
+=item *
-(see 16410843ea for an example).
+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
+paths.
+
+Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
+which is why you should test from the tarball.
=item *
-If this was a maintenance release, then edit F<Porting/mergelog> to change
-all the C<d> (deferred) flags to C<.> (needs review).
+Run the Installation Verification Procedure utility:
+ $ bin/perlivp
+ ...
+ All tests successful.
+ $
=item *
-If this was a major release, then
+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
+have previously verified using this same procedure). In particular, look
+for files in the wrong place, or files no longer included which should be.
+For example, suppose the about-to-be-released version is 5.10.1 and the
+previous is 5.10.0:
-=over
+ cd installdir-5.10.0/
+ find . -type f | perl -pe's/5\.10\.0/5.10.1/g' | sort > /tmp/f1
+ cd installdir-5.10.1/
+ find . -type f | sort > /tmp/f2
+ diff -u /tmp/f[12]
=item *
-bump the version, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0;
+Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install:
-=item *
+ $ bin/perl -MCPAN -e'shell'
-[ XXX probably lots more stuff to do, including perldelta,
-C<lib/feature.pm> ]
+(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
+Perl alternatives like LWP installed. Cygwin is an obvious choice.)
=item *
-Create a new maint branch with an empty Porting/mergelog file
-[ XXX and lots of other stuff too, probably ]
+Try installing a popular CPAN module that's reasonably complex and that
+has dependencies; for example:
+
+ CPAN> install Inline
+ CPAN> quit
+
+Check that your perl can run this:
+
+ $ bin/perl -lwe 'use Inline C => "int f() { return 42;} "; print f'
+ 42
+ $
+
+(Use C<... -lwe "use ..."> instead on Win32.)
+
+=item *
+
+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:
+
+ CPAN Terminal> i DBI
+ CPAN Terminal> quit
+ $ bin/perl -MDBI -e 1
+ $
+
+=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
+ ...
+ Subject: test bug report
+ Local perl administrator [yourself]:
+ Editor [vi]:
+ Module:
+ Category [core]:
+ Severity [low]:
+ (edit report)
+ Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): f
+ Name of file to save message in [perlbug.rep]:
+ Action (Send/Display/Edit/Subject/Save to File): q
+
+and carefully examine the output (in F<perlbug.rep]>), especially
+the "Locally applied patches" section. If everything appears okay, then
+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 *
+
+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.
+
+
+=item *
+
+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
+a new release with a new minor version or RC number.
+
+ https://pause.perl.org/
+
+(Login, then select 'Upload a file to CPAN')
+
+If your workstation is not connected to a high-bandwidth,
+high-reliability connection to the Internet, you should probably use the
+"GET URL" feature (rather than "HTTP UPLOAD") to have PAUSE retrieve the
+new release from wherever you put it for testers to find it. This will
+eliminate anxious gnashing of teeth while you wait to see if your
+15 megabyte HTTP upload successfully completes across your slow, twitchy
+cable modem. You can make use of your home directory on dromedary for
+this purpose: F<http://users.perl5.git.perl.org/~USERNAME> maps to
+F</home/USERNAME/public_html>, where F<USERNAME> is your login account
+on dromedary. I<Remember>: if your upload is partially successful, you
+may need to contact a PAUSE administrator or even bump the version of perl.
+
+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.
+
+=item *
+
+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 *
+
+Disarm the F<patchlevel.h> change; for example,
+
+ static const char * const local_patches[] = {
+ NULL
+ - ,"RC1"
+ PERL_GIT_UNPUSHED_COMMITS /* do not remove this line */
+
+Be sure to commit your change:
+
+ $ git commit -m 'disarm RCnnn bump' patchlevel.h
+ $ git push origin ....
-=back
=item *
-Copy the perlNNNdelta.pod for this release into the other branches, and
-remember to update these files on those branches too:
+Mail p5p to announce your new release, with a quote you prepared earlier.
+
+=item *
+
+Add your quote to F<Porting/epigraphs.pod> and commit it.
+
+=item *
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC>
+
+Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
+to CPAN.
+
+=item *
+
+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
+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>.
+
+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:
+
+ $ git mv pod/perldelta.pod pod/perl5101delta.pod
+ $ (edit pod/perl5101delta.pod to retitle)
+ $ git add pod/perl5101delta.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'
+
+Now you need to update various tables of contents, 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 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
+
+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
-(see fc5be80860 for an example).
+Then manually edit (F<vms/descrip_mms.template> to bump the version
+in the following entry:
+
+ [.pod]perl5101delta.pod : [.pod]perldelta.pod
+
+XXX this previous step needs to fixed to automate it in pod/buildtoc.
+
+Finally, commit:
+
+ $ 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
+previous version bump.
+
+=item *
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+
+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.
+
+[ XXX probably lots more stuff to do, including perldelta,
+C<lib/feature.pm> ]
+
+Assuming you're using git 1.7.x or newer:
+
+ $ git checkout -b maint-5.12
+ $ git push origin -u maint-5.12
+
+=item *
+
+I<You MUST SKIP this step for RC, BLEAD>
+
+Copy the perldelta.pod for this release into the other branches; 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.:
+
+ perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
+
+Then rebuild various files:
+
+ $ perl pod/buildtoc --build-all
+
+Finally, commit:
+
+ $ git commit -a -m 'add perlXXXdelta'
=item *
=item *
-Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
-to CPAN.
+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 *
+
+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
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Check L<http://www.cpan.org/src/> to see if the new tarballs have appeared.
+They should appear automatically, some hours after upload,
+but if they don't then ask Jarkko to look
+into it, since his scripts must have broken.
+
+=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 *
+
+I<This step ONLY for STABLE>
+
+Ask Jarkko to update the descriptions of which tarballs are current in
+L<http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html>, and Rafael to update
+L<http://dev.perl.org/perl5/>
+
+=item *
+
+Post the release announcement to use.perl.org.
+(if you don't have access rights to post news, ask someone like Rafael to
+do it for you.)
=back
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff