1 Checklists for PuTTY administrative procedures
2 ==============================================
4 Preparing to make a release
5 ---------------------------
7 Now that PuTTY is in git, a lot of the release preparation can be done
8 in advance, in local checkouts, and not pushed until the actual
9 process of _releasing_ it.
11 To begin with, before dropping the tag, make sure everything is ready
14 - First of all, go through the source (including the documentation),
15 and the website, and review anything tagged with a comment
16 containing the word XXX-REVIEW-BEFORE-RELEASE.
17 (Any such comments should state clearly what needs to be done.)
19 - Also, do some testing of the Windows version with Minefield, and
20 of the Unix version with valgrind or efence or both. In
21 particular, any headline features for the release should get a
22 workout with memory checking enabled!
24 - Double-check that we have removed anything tagged with a comment
25 containing the words XXX-REMOVE-BEFORE-RELEASE or
26 XXX-REVIEW-BEFORE-RELEASE. ('git grep XXX-RE' should only show up
27 hits in this file itself.)
29 - Now update the version numbers and the transcripts in the docs, by
30 checking out the release branch and running
33 ./release.pl --version=X.YZ --setver
35 Then check that the resulting automated git commit has updated the
36 version number in the following places:
41 * putty/windows/putty.iss (four times, on consecutive lines)
43 and also check that it has reset the definition of 'Epoch' in
46 - Make the release tag, pointing at the version-update commit we just
49 - If the release is on a branch (which I expect it generally will
50 be), merge that branch to master.
52 - Write a release announcement (basically a summary of the changes
53 since the last release). Squirrel it away in
54 atreus:src/putty-local/announce-<ver> in case it's needed again
55 within days of the release going out.
57 - Update the website, in a local checkout:
58 * Write a release file in components/releases which identifies the
59 new version, its release date, a section for the Changes page,
60 and a news announcement for the front page.
61 * Disable the pre-release sections of the website (if previously
62 enabled), by editing prerel_version() in components/Base.mc to
65 - Update the wishlist, in a local checkout:
66 * If there are any last-minute wishlist entries (e.g. security
67 vulnerabilities fixed in the new release), write entries for
69 * If any other bug fixes have been cherry-picked to the release
70 branch (so that the wishlist mechanism can't automatically mark
71 them as fixed in the new release), add appropriate Fixed-in
73 * Add an entry to the @releases array in control/bugs2html.
75 - Build the release, by checking out the release tag:
78 This should generate a basically valid release directory as
79 `build.out/putty', and provide link maps and sign.sh alongside that
82 - Double-check in build.log that the release was built from the right
85 - Do a bit of checking of the release binaries:
86 * make sure they basically work
87 * check they report the right version number
88 * if there's any easily observable behaviour difference between
89 the release branch and master, arrange to observe it
90 * test the Windows installer
91 * test the Unix source tarball.
93 - Sign the release: in the `build.out' directory, type
95 and enter the passphrases a lot of times.
97 The actual release procedure
98 ----------------------------
100 Once all the above preparation is done and the release has been built
101 locally, this is the procedure for putting it up on the web.
103 - Upload the release itself and its link maps to everywhere it needs
104 to be, by running this in the build.out directory:
105 ../release.pl --version=X.YZ --upload
107 - Check that downloads via version-numbered URLs all work:
108 ../release.pl --version=X.YZ --precheck
110 - Switch the 'latest' links over to the new release:
111 * Update the HTTP redirect at the:www/putty/htaccess .
112 * Update the FTP symlink at chiark:ftp/putty-latest .
114 - Now verify that downloads via the 'latest' URLs are all redirected
116 ../release.pl --version=X.YZ --postcheck
118 - Push all the git repositories:
119 * run 'git push' in the website checkout
120 * run 'git push' in the wishlist checkout
121 * push from the main PuTTY checkout. Typically this one will be
122 pushing both the release tag and an update to the master branch,
123 plus removing the pre-release branch, so you'll want some
124 commands along these lines:
125 git push origin master # update the master branch
126 git push origin --tags # should push the new release tag
127 git push origin :pre-0.XX # delete the pre-release branch
129 - Run ~/adm/puttyweb.sh on atreus to update the website after all
132 - Check that the unpublished website on atreus looks sensible.
134 - Run webupdate, so that all the changes on atreus propagate to
135 chiark. Important to do this _before_ announcing that the release
138 - After running webupdate, run update-rsync on chiark and verify that
139 the rsync mirror package (~/ftp/putty-website-mirror) contains a
140 subdirectory for the new version and mentions it in its .htaccess.
142 - Announce the release!
143 + Construct a release announcement email whose message body is the
144 announcement written above, and which includes the following
146 * Reply-To: <putty@projects.tartarus.org>
147 * Subject: PuTTY X.YZ is released
148 + Mail that release announcement to
149 <putty-announce@lists.tartarus.org>.
150 + Post it to comp.security.ssh.
151 + Mention it in <TDHTT> on mono.
153 - Edit ~/adm/puttysnap.sh to disable pre-release builds, if they were