MozillaReleaseChecklist
Mozilla Release Checklist
This is a checklist used by <a href="http://mozilla.org/roadmap.html#project-management">drivers@mozilla.org</a>
to help ensure that the right things happen before a release, and to
give others a rough idea of how our release process works. The build
team probably has a separate (and probably better) version of some parts
of this list.
Get the right fixes in
- Search for bugs nominated with the
blocking[R]?
bug flag, and mark them+
or-
. - Encourage owners of
blocking[R]+
bugs (and perhaps some bugs that are close but not quite blocking) to fix the bugs. - Keep an eye on talkback data, and nominate relevant bugs.
- Handle approval requests (the
approval[R]?
patch flag) once the tree is frozen for the release. - Look for regressions in difficult-to-test areas such as memory leaks.
Make a branch
If it's a final release (rather than an alpha or beta release), a branch needs to be made. This is done once almost all of the necessary fixes are in. Before deciding that it's really time to release, drivers listen to feedback from people using the builds to make sure that they're good quality, and, before making the final decision, verify that talkback is working and run the smoketests plus a few additional tests.
When it's time to release, drivers let the build team
know that it's time to tag the release and make the final builds
(usually with some advance warning with some uncertainty). The build
team cuts a branch by pulling a tree and <a href="cvs-tag.html">tagging</a> a base tag and (with cvs tag
-b
) a branch tag. Note that the minibranch mentioned on the
tagging instructions isn't necessary here, since the pull scripts are
updated on the branch itself.
The tagged files are more than just the <a href="unix-details.html#s4">default pull</a> by the build scripts.
They should also include
mozilla/other-licenses/libart_lgpl/
,
mozilla/tools/trace-malloc/
,
mozilla/tools/jprof/
,
mozilla/tools/codesighs/
, mozilla/toolkit/
,
mozilla/chrome/
,
mozilla/other-licenses/branding/
,
mozilla/other-licenses/7zstub/
,
mozilla/browser/
, mozilla/mail/
,
mozilla/composer/
(and probably some other stuff
that I missed).
The following command will checkout these additional files:
cvs co \ mozilla/other-licenses/libart_lgpl/ \ mozilla/tools/trace-malloc/ \ mozilla/tools/jprof/ \ mozilla/tools/codesighs/ \ mozilla/toolkit/ \ mozilla/chrome/ \ mozilla/other-licenses/branding/ \ mozilla/other-licenses/7zstub/ \ mozilla/browser/ \ mozilla/mail/ \ mozilla/composer/
When the branch is made, create the blocking[R]
bug nomination flags for the next release.
Update the version numbers
The version number updates have to be done twice. When the release
is off the trunk they need to be done before the release, and some need
to be done again after the release (to make things, e.g.,
1.3b+
rather than 1.3b
). When the release is
off a branch, the version numbers need to be updated on the branch and
on the trunk after the branch.
- Mozilla version updates:
- update version in
config/milestone.txt
andxpfe/bootstrap/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist
. localeVersion
update, if there are localization changes: updateconfig/chrome-versions.sh
. This should generally happen for all releases except for 1.x.y dot releases.- If significant theme changes have happened that require
modifications to external themes,
skinVersion
update (allcontents-region.rdf
files - search <a href="http://lxr.mozilla.org/seamonkey/">LXR</a> and build'schrome/chrome.rdf
forskinVersion
to verify) - If this is the first release of the new year, bump the
copyright year in
xpfe/global/resources/locale/en-US/about.xhtml
,toolkit/content/about.xhtml
,browser/locales/en-US/chrome/browser/aboutDialog.dtd
,mail/locales/en-US/chrome/messenger/aboutDialog.dtd
,browser/base/content/credits.xhtml
,mail/locales/en-US/chrome/messenger/credits.html
,xpfe/bootstrap/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist
,browser/app/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist.in
,mail/app/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist.in
,xulrunner/app/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist.in
, andcalendar/sunbird/app/macbuild/Contents/Info.plist.in
.
- update version in
- Application version updates:
- Browser
- browser/app/module.ver
- browser/config/version.txt
- browser/installer/unix/installer.cfg
- browser/installer/windows/installer.cfg
- Mail
- mail/app/module.ver
- mail/config/version.txt
- mail/installer/windows/installer.cfg
- Browser
Also, for final releases only, remove the Debug and QA menus, build number, etc. (See <a href="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=180823">bug 180823</a>, <a href="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=163246">bug 163246</a>, and <a href="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=139335">bug 139335</a>.)
Make release builds
When it's time to release, drivers let the build team know that it's
time to tag the release and make the final builds (usually with some
advance warning with some uncertainty). The build team pulls the tree
and <a href="cvs-tag.html">tags the release</a> (see <a href="#what_to_tag">above</a> for comments
on tagged files) and makes the necessary builds for the major platforms.
(See the <a href="release-build-notes.html">release build notes</a>.)
Additional builds will be contributed for other platforms and for
specific distributions (i.e., RPMS). Be sure to create a contrib
directory
under the main release directory so that these builds have a place to go.
(Often this actually happens in reverse. That is, a certain set of nightly builds, which have already been tested (see above, on deciding when to release) are declared to be the release, and then the corresponding source is tagged. If it doesn't happen this way, then the resulting builds definitely need to be tested before they are declared to be the release.)
When making the builds, the network installers need to be extracted and repackaged or rebuilt so that they point to the releases directory on the FTP site.
Update log analysis scripts to start grabbing download stats for the new release.
Announce the release
- Write the release notes page and <a href="../README-cvs.html">check it in</a>.
- Create the
blocking[R]
bug nomination flags for the next release and retire theblocking[R]
andapproval[R]
sets of flags for the current release (possibly after pushing out some of the requests to the next release). - Send the talkback team the identifiers from the master.ini files of the three major platforms.
- Make web page changes, which should land after the builds are on
all the FTP servers:
- Update the <a href="../news.html">
news.html
</a> with an announcement of the release. - Update
VARIABLES
with the new version numbers and URLs. - For Mozilla releases, update <a href="../releases/">
releases/index.html
</a> andreleases/<version>/index.html
- For Firefox releases, update
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/releases/<version>.html
and changehttpd.conf
so that index.html points to it - For Thunderbird releases, update
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/<version>.html
and copy that toindex.html
- Update
<a href="../releases/cvstags.html">cvstags.html</a>
doc to include the newest release tag. - Update the "actual release" field in <a href="../roadmap.html">roadmap.html</a>.
- Update the <a href="../news.html">
- (Build team) Update the README for FTP.
- Once the release is on the FTP server, commit the changes to the front page and the releases page and restart the website script.
- Double-check that all the links are correct and that the builds have propagated to all the FTP round-robin machines.
- Send the release announcement to n.p.m.announce.
- Submit notes to mozillazine, slashdot and newsforge.