ReleaseInstructions

Instructions for making a Release:

Authors: Conor MacNeill
         Stefan Bodewig
         Magesh Umasankar
         Antoine Levy-Lambert

Note: This document was updated in the context of releasing Ant 1.6.
      Please interpret the branch names, tags, etc. according to
      your context.

1.  Propose a release plan for vote.  This should set out the timetable for
    the release under ideal circumstances.  The level of bugs reported
    can delay things. Generally, give a few weeks to "close" the source tree
    to further changes so people can finalise contributions, etc. At this time,
    the first beta will be cut and there will be then a period of beta testing,
    usually 1 month but this should be flexible.

2.  Note that any mention of a deadline causes a flood of bug fixes, new tasks,
    etc.  This needs to be managed as best it can. Some fixes will be applied,
    others held over. Make this clear in the release plan. The committers and
    particularly the release manager will need to make judgement calls here.
    Anything too "big" is likely to be held over.

3.  Once the freeze date arrives, create a branch for the release builds. You
    will need to be comfortable in handling CVS branches with mutliple
    merge-backs to the main branch and even selected merges from the the main
    branch to the release branch.

    For more information on performing branching and merging, please visit
    http://www.durak.org/cvswebsites/doc/cvs_54.php#SEC54

    Label such branches ANT_16_BRANCH.

4.  Once the branch is setup, the version numbers in CVS are changed. On the
    branch, the version property in build.xml becomes 1.6Beta,
    while the main branch is updated to 1.7alpha.

    [[ TODO: Check if the documentation files also need to be updated to point
    to the right areas of Ant's website. ]]

5.  Before a build :

    the first beta on the 1.6 branch should be called 1.6Beta1, ...

    the version property in build.xml governs the output of ant -version and
    the naming of the distribution files.

    Update the following files for version number:

        On the branch only :

            * docs/manual/cover.html
            * docs/manual/credits.html
            * build.xml (version property & manifest-version property)

        Commit your changes.

        On the branch and on the main trunk (*):

            * WHATSNEW
            * xdocs/antnews.xml (Announcement)
            * xdocs/faq.xml (Ant's history details - not for betas)
            * xdocs/index.xml (Announcement, latest release details, link to
            manual under "Documentation")
            * xdocs/srcdownload.xml
            * xdocs/bindownload.xml

        Generate the html files by invoking ant on docs.xml
        (use -projecthelp for instructions).
        Commit the modified/generated files

6.  Ensure you have all the external libraries that Ant uses in your
    lib/optional directory.  To find out what libraries you need, execute
    the build with -verbose option and scan for lines beginning with
    "Unable to load...".

7.  Next bootstrap, build and run the tests.  Then build the distribution
    on the branch. It is important that this be a clean build. Label this with
    a tag ANT_16_B1.

8.  Sign the distribution files using the following simple script
    #!/bin/sh
    for i in distribution/*
    do
         echo "Signing " $i
         gpg -a -b --force-v3-sigs $i
    done

    The --force-v3-sigs will improve the interoperability with PGP 5.x,
    see <http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/documentation/faqs.html#q5.5>.

    Before you do that, ensure that the key you use is inside the KEYS
    file in Ant's CVS repository - and that you perform a cvs update on
    the KEYS file in /www/www.apache.org/dist/ant/

    Also make sure you have sent the key that you use to a public
    keyserver.

9.  The beta distribution is now ready to go. Bundle it up into a tar.gz file
    and scp to your apache account.

10. Meanwhile, convert the part of the WHATSNEW file covering the changes
    since the last release into HTML for the README file on the
    website. See the previous release directories for examples of these files.
    Add instructions and warnings (GNU tar format issues, etc).

    You may choose to use the text2html convertor present at
    http://txt2html.sourceforge.net/#test

    Name the generated file RELEASE-NOTES-x.y.z.html.

    [[ TODO: This must perhaps be an Ant task. ]]

11. Once this is uploaded, unpack things, create the release directory,
    something like v1.6Beta1, push the release and RELEASE-NOTES files
    into this directory.  Create a symbolic link named README.html
    that points to the RELEASE-NOTES.

    The files should go to /www/cvs.apache.org/dist/ant/ on minotaur.

12. Address the available release tags in BugZilla. Create a new tag 1.6Beta1
    and a 1.7Alpha. Assign all existing 1.6 alpha bugs to one of these release
    labels. Note that such massive changes can be done at once by choosing the
    link "Change several bugs at once" at the bottom of the bug list
    displaying the 1.6alpha bugs.

13. Once that is done, do a test download to make sure everything is OK. A
    common problem may be:
    * the file's mime type is not recognized and is interpreted as
      text/plain.  Fix it by using some .htaccess magic (AddEncoding stuff)
    * Your gz.asc files are not being displayed properly (RemoveEncoing stuff)

    If it looks OK, announce it on dev@ant and user@ant. After a few
    days pass and there are no major problems, a wider announcement is
    made (ant website, main jakarta website, announcements@jakarta.apache.org,
    etc).

    and also perform a cvs update on files in minotaur's
    /www/ant.apache.org/

    Announce beta releases at freshmeat.net (Stefan Bodewig is the
    owner of Ant's project entry - bug him ;-).

14. As problems in the beta are discovered, there may be a need for
    one or more subsequent betas. The release manager makes this
    call. Each time, the versions are updated and the above process is
    repeated. Try not to have too many betas.

15. Try to advertise the need for testing of the betas as much as possible.
    This would eliminate the need to release minor patch versions like
    we had to do when releasing Ant 1.4.

    To monitor the number of downloads, look at the access_log
    file under /usr/local/apache2/logs

16. When the final beta is considered OK, propose a vote on dev@ant to
    officially adopt the latest beta as the Ant 1.6 release. If it is passed,
    (it usually does,) this would be labelled ANT_16 and built in a similar
    fashion to the above process.

17. BUT

    This time the directory you upload the files to is different and
    you'll have to do some house-keeping for the old release:

    * upload the new release files to

      from distribution
      to   /www/www.apache.org/dist/ant/[source|binaries].
      
      and 

      from java-repository/ant/jars
      to   /www/www.apache.org/dist/java-repository/ant/jars

      this can be done using the target upload of the build.xml

    * remove the symbolic links from /www/www.apache.org/dist/ant.

    * Create proper -current symlinks in /www/www.apache.org/dist/ant/

    * Make sure that the symbolic link README.html points to the new
      RELEASE-NOTES.

    (**)

18. Update the ant.apache.org site :

    running cvs update *.html under /www/ant.apache.org should update the
    files regenerated and committed in point 5 above (index.html, faq.html,
    antnews.html, srcdownload.html, bindownload.html).

    Update the online manual too.

19. Clean up.

    * remove the remaining files of the previous release from
      /www/www.apache.org/dist/ant/[source|binaries].
      This includes the old release notes.

20. Now and perhaps during previous betas any changes on the branch must
    be merged back into the tree.

21. At this point in time, the release is done and announcements are made.
    PGP-sign your announcement posts.

    [[TODO: Identify the mailing lists where announcements are to be made.
      Also identify the webpages to which the announcements must go. ]]

    Apache mailing lists that should get the announcements:
    announcements@jakarta.apache.org, announcements@xml.apache.org,
    announce@apache.org, dev@ant and user@ant.

    Announce release at freshmeat.net
    (Stefan Bodewig is the owner of Ant's project entry - bug him ;-).

    Announce release in the usenet groups comp.lang.java.softwaretools
    and comp.lang.java.announce.

22. You can now reacquaint yourself with your family and friends.

(*)  the xdocs need to be updated on both the branch and the HEAD revision
     because traditionally the ant.apache.org web site reflects the HEAD
     revision of the xdocs, but the users downloading a distribution will get
     the xdocs and the generated html from the branch and will complain if there
     are discrepancies in version numbers.

(**) Mirrors : the srcdownload.html and bindownload.html each list a number of
     mirrors. For ant 1.6.0 the mirrors picked up the new version in 8 hours
     or less, the release having been done at midnight on Dec 18th, the
     mirrors had it on Dec 19th at 8 am. The srcdownload/bindownload pages both
     contain a note advising users to be patient immediately after the release.

Related Information

http://www.apache.org/dev/release-publishing.html
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/releases/
http://wiki.apache.org/jakarta-commons/SigningReleases