binutils/README-how-to-make-a-release

   1                 README for MAKING BINUTILS RELEASES
   2
   3 This is a collection of notes on how to perform a binutils release.  A
   4 lot of this information can also be found in the maintain.texi file in
   5 the gnulib project:
   6
   7   https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/
   8
   9 It is useful to have a cloned copy of the sources of this project as
  10 it also contains an upload script used to install tarballs on the GNU
  11 FTP server.
  12
  13 Make sure that you have upload authority on sourceware and fencepost.
  14 Beware - this is an involved process and can take weeks to complete.
  15 See the maintain.texi file for details on how to obtain these
  16 permissions.
  17
  18 -------------------------------------------------
  19 How to perform a release.
  20 -------------------------------------------------
  21
  22 xxx -- fill in stuff here -- xxx
  23
  24 -------------------------------------------------
  25 How to perform a point release.
  26 -------------------------------------------------
  27
  28 A point release is easier than a normal release since a lot of the
  29 work has already been done.  The branch has been created, the
  30 translations updated and the documentation uploaded.  So the procedure
  31 looks like this:
  32
  33   0. Decide that a point release is necessary.
  34
  35      Usually this only happens when a sufficient number of serious
  36      bugs have been found and fixed since the previous release, and a
  37      new official release is not imminent.
  38
  39   1. Tell the community that a point release is happening.  Ask
  40      maintainers to ensure that their ports are up to date on the
  41      release branch.  Ask the community if there are any bug fixes
  42      which are missing from the branch.  Allow some time for the
  43      responses to this step.
  44
  45   2. Make sure that the branch sources build, test and install
  46      correctly.
  47
  48   3. In the branch sources:
  49
  50        a. Update the minor release number in bfd/version.m4.
  51        b. Edit bfd/development.sh and set "development=false".
  52        c. Regenerate the configure files.
  53        d. Commit the updates along with a "this-is-the-2.XX.X-release"
  54           note in all of the changelogs.
  55        e. Tag the branch with the new release number:
  56
  57             git tag -a binutils-2_XX_X
  58               [optional: add "-u XXXXX" to sign with a gpg key]
  59             git push origin binutils-2_XX_X
  60
  61        f. Create the release tarballs:
  62             ./src-release -b -g -l -x binutils
  63        g. Edit bfd/development.sh and set "development=true".
  64        h. Commit this change into the git repository.
  65        i. Clean up the source tree.  (Use "git status" to find new
  66            files, and remove them).
  67
  68      FIXME: The tarballs will contain spurious autom4te.cache
  69      directories which could be removed to reduce their size.
  70
  71   4. [If paranoid - upload the tarballs to one of the FTP servers and
  72       ask people to test it before going on to step 5].
  73
  74   5. Upload the tarballs to ftp.gnu.org.
  75
  76        gnupload --to ftp.gnu.org:binutils binutils-X.XX.X.tar.*
  77
  78      The gnupload script is in the gnulib/build-aux directory.
  79
  80   6. Upload the tarballs to sourceware.org:
  81
  82        sftp sourceware.org
  83          cd /ftp/pub/binutils/releases
  84          put binutils-X.XX.X.tar.*
  85          chmod 644 binutils-X.XX.X.tar.*
  86          quit
  87
  88     FIXME: Should the signatures (created by the gnupload script in
  89     step 5) be uploaded as well ?
  90
  91   7. Update web pages.  For sourceware.org:
  92
  93       * Log on to sourceware.org
  94       * Go /www/htdocs/binutils
  95       * Edit index.html
  96
  97       For the www.gnu.org site you have to email webmasters@gnu.org
  98       and ask them to make the change(s).
  99
 100   8. Send an emails to the binutils list, info-gnu@gnu.org and
 101      David Edelsohn <dje.gcc@gmail.com> announcing the new release.
 102      (The email to Davis is so that he can update the GNU Toolchain
 103      social media).  Something like this:
 104 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 105 Hi Everyone,
 106
 107   We are pleased to announce that version 2.XX.X of the Binutils project
 108   sources have been released and are now available for download at:
 109
 110     https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils
 111     https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/releases/
 112
 113   This is a point release over the previous 2.XX version, containing bug
 114   fixes but no new features.
 115
 116   Our thanks go out to all of the binutils contributors, past and
 117   present, for helping to make this release possible.
 118 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 119
 120 \f
 121 Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 122
 123 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
 124 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
 125 notice and this notice are preserved.