On 06/10/2010 10:57, Kris Popat wrote:
Hi All,
I've spent some time going through the apache release process and going
through wookie itself. I think I've got the process straight but mentors
please keep me right on this. Some or many of these processes may
already have been done or started. Here is an outline list of what I've
extracted from the documentation that Ross pointed me towards (thank you
Ross) and other docs on the apache site.
Analyze Open Issues - as a community we need to decide which issues and
bugs can/must be resolved for this release and which we may postpone for
future releases.
We can all help here.
Signing the release - not fully sure of the process of this part, but I
create a key well in advance of the release to be uploaded with the
release when or if we get to that point. Have looked at
http://www.apache.org/dev/release-signing.html to understand this.
Not just you, everyone. We should all sign the release to maximise the
chances of there web of trust working for people
Make sure we're all happy with release name apache-wookie-incubating
No choice about that at this point, but what will the version number be?
License Audit/Legal Audit
We should not rely on the tools for this. There does need to be a manual
check of things like notice files.
Check files headers
In general the tools are fine for this (along with reviews on commit).
However, manual checks should be done (someone in the incubator PMC will
do this check very thoroughly so lets try not to waste anyones time).
Recheck dependencies
What are we checking here? I'd suggest:
- all dependencies are actually required
- all dependencies are the latest release (and tested)
- all dependencies are retrievable by IVY on a clean machine (or
documented accordingly)
Create LICENCE and NOTICE files - including licenses etc from all
dependencies
Yes, I rolled this into legal audit above.
Documentation
Finalize all current documentation
Check all current documentation
Discuss if other documentation is required
In general I would say that documentation should be checked for
installation and build accuracy but that other aspects should not hold
up the release. We don't bundle the documentation with the release and
thus we can modify it as and when things are required by our user
community. That being said, we need to actively encourage users to help
with documentation issues.
Status Document?
This can largely be generated from the issues tracker, but we will need
a para or two intro.
Create Release Notes including standard incubator disclaimer
Create a release branch on SVN - this to become a snapshot of of the
complete release package
Make sure permissions are set correctly
When the release branch is complete this becomes the release candidate
which is then compressed and posted - probably in my apache home directory
Test the package
Testing is very, very important. We need everyone on the dev list to
test the release candidate in their environment.
Hold a vote for the release
If the vote is successful request approval from the Incubator PCM
If he request is approved the release is uploaded to the incubator
distribution directory
Mirroring (do we need to do anything for this??)
I don't think it is necessary to do anything special as long as the
upload instructions are followed. However, we should check the details
when we get to this stage.
Remember we need to wait a while so mirrors catch up before announcing
the release.
Archiving - I assume that as this is the first release this is not
applicable
agreed.
Check permissions
Update wookie website
There is quite a lot more detail to the process that I have not put in
this email, but I'm hoping I have the main points here. Please let me
know what I have missed or misunderstood.
You missed out the signing process (mentioned preparing by generating
keys but not the signing of the binaries), this needs to be tested too.
Thanks for getting this started. I'd like to remind you to ensure this
kind of documentation is kept in our wiki so that the next release
manager need not duplicate your efforts here.
I'd be really happy if we can manage to get a release our before
ApacheCon NA as I am doing a presentation on Wookie there. If not the
final official release a package for me to ask people to test would be
great.
Thanks,
Ross
