php-src/docs/release-process.md
2020-03-20 09:31:37 +00:00

18 KiB

PHP release process

General notes and tips

  1. Do not release on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays because the sysadmins cannot upgrade stuff then.

  2. Package two days before a release. So if the release is to be on Thursday, package on Tuesday. Think about timezones as well.

  3. Ensure that the tests on Travis CI are green.

    See: https://travis-ci.org/php/php-src/builds

    It is recommended to do so a couple of days before the packaging day, to have enough time to investigate failures, communicate with the authors and commit the fixes.

    The RM for the branch is also responsible for keeping the CI green on ongoing basis between the releases. Check the CI status for your branch periodically and resolve the failures ASAP. See more in https://wiki.php.net/rfc/travis_ci.

  4. Ensure that Windows builds will work before packaging.

  5. Follow all steps to the letter. When unclear ask previous RM's (David, Julien, Johannes, Stas, Derick, Ilia, Sara, Remi, or Christoph) before proceeding. Ideally make sure that for the first releases one of the previous RM's is around to answer questions. For the steps related to the php/QA/bug websites try to have someone from the webmaster team (Bjori) on hand.

  6. Verify the tags to be extra sure everything was tagged properly.

  7. Moving extensions from/to PECL requires write access to the destination. Most developers should have this.

    Moving extensions from php-src to PECL:

    • Ask someone with Git admin access to create a new empty repository on https://git.php.net under the PECL projects and a belonging GitHub mirror.

    • Clone a new copy of the php-src repository (it will rewrite history, keep contributors commits and include only the extension folder):

      git clone https://git.php.net/repository/php-src.git ext-name
      cd ext-name
      git filter-branch --prune-empty --subdirectory-filter ext/ext-name master
      
    • Set remote Git push URL for the PECL extension:

      git remote set-url origin git@git.php.net:pecl/category/ext-name
      
    • Create branch and tags structure appropriate for the extension and push:

      git push -u origin master
      

    If the extension is still usable or not dead, in cooperation with the extension maintainers if any:

    • Create the pecl.php.net/foo package and its content, license, maintainer
    • Create the package.xml, commit
    • Release the package

    For moving extensions from PECL to php-src the procedure needs to go through the RFC process and a new Git commit without rewriting the php-src Git commit history.

  8. There is a PHP release Docker image https://github.com/sgolemon/php-release with forks available to help releasing.

Rolling a non stable release (alpha/beta/RC)

  1. Check Windows snapshot builder logs https://windows.php.net/downloads/snaps/ the last revision.

  2. Check the tests at https://travis-ci.org/php/php-src/builds.

  3. Run the scripts/dev/credits script in php-src and commit the changes in the credits files in ext/standard.

  4. Checkout the release branch for this release (e.g., PHP-7.4.2) from the main branch.

  5. Bump the version numbers in main/php_version.h, Zend/zend.h, configure.ac and possibly NEWS. Do not use abbreviations for alpha and beta. Do not use dashes, you should #define PHP_VERSION "7.4.22RC1" and not #define PHP_VERSION "7.4.22-RC1".

    When releasing the first alpha version, bump also API version numbers in Zend/zend_extensions.h, Zend/zend_modules.h, and main/php.h. The API versions between the alpha/beta/.0RCx releases can be left the same or bumped as little as possible because PHP extensions will need to be rebuilt with each bump.

  6. Compile and run make test, with and without ZTS, using the right Bison and re2c version (for PHP 7.4, minimum Bison 3.0.0 and re2c 0.13.4 are used).

  7. Check ./sapi/cli/php -v output for version matching.

  8. If all is right, commit the changes to the release branch:

    git commit -a
    
  9. Tag the repository release branch with the version, e.g.:

    git tag -u YOURKEYID php-7.4.2RC2
    
  10. Bump the version numbers in main/php_version.h, Zend/zend.h, configure.ac and NEWS in the main branch (PHP-7.4 for example) to prepare for the next version. For example, if the RC is "7.4.1RC1" then the new one should be 7.4.2-dev - regardless if we get a new RC or not. This is to make sure version_compare() can correctly work. Commit the changes to the main branch.

  11. Push the changes to the main repo, the tag, the main branch and the release branch. Release branches for alpha/beta/.0RCx releases before the GA release don't need to be pushed (a local temporary branch should be used).

    git push --tags origin HEAD
    git push origin {main branch}
    git push origin {release branch}
    
  12. Run: ./scripts/dev/makedist php-7.4.0RC2, this will export the tree, create configure and build three tarballs (gz, bz2 and xz).

  13. Run scripts/dev/gen_verify_stub <version> [identity], this will sign the tarballs and output verification information to be included in announcement email.

  14. Copy those tarballs (scp, rsync) to downloads.php.net, in your homedir there should be a directory public_html/. Copy them into there. If you do not have this directory, create it.

  15. Now the RC can be found on https://downloads.php.net/~yourname, e.g. https://downloads.php.net/~derick/.

  16. Once the release has been tagged, contact the release-managers@ distribution list so that Windows binaries can be created. Once those are made, they can be found at https://windows.php.net/download.

Getting the non stable release (alpha/beta/RC) announced

  1. Update qa.git/include/release-qa.php with the appropriate information. See the documentation within release-qa.php for more information, but all releases and RCs are configured here. Only $QA_RELEASES needs to be edited.

    Example: When rolling an RC, set the rc with appropriate information for the given version.

    Note: Remember to update the sha256 checksum information.

  2. Skip this step for non stable releases after GA of minor or major versions (e.g. announce 7.4.0RC1, but not 7.4.1RC1):

    Add a short notice to phpweb stating that there is a new release, and highlight the major important things (security fixes) and when it is important to upgrade.

    • Call php bin/createNewsEntry in your local phpweb checkout. Use category "frontpage" and "releases" for all stable releases. Use category "frontpage" for X.Y.0 non-stable releases only (news only).

    • Add the content for the news entry. Be sure to include the text:

      "THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT PREVIEW - DO NOT USE IT IN PRODUCTION!"
      
  3. Commit and push changes to qa and web.

    Wait for web and qa sites to update with new information before sending announce.

  4. Send separate emails To internals@lists.php.net and php-general@lists.php.net lists pointing out "the location of the release" and "the possible release date of either the next RC, or the final release". Include in this information the verification information output by gen_verify_stub.

  5. Send separate emails (see example http://news.php.net/php.pear.qa/5201) To php-qa@lists.php.net and primary-qa-tester@lists.php.net. These emails are to notify the selected projects about a new release so that they can make sure their projects keep working. Make sure that you have been setup as a moderator for primary-qa-tester@lists.php.net by having someone (Hannes, Dan, Derick) run the following commands for you:

    ssh lists.php.net
    sudo -u ezmlm ezmlm-sub ~ezmlm/primary-qa-tester/mod moderator-email-address
    

Rolling a stable release

  1. Checkout your release branch, you should have created when releasing previous RC and bump the version numbers in main/php_version.h, Zend/zend.h, configure.ac and possibly NEWS.

  2. If a CVE commit needs to be merged to the release, then have it committed to the base branches and merged upwards as usual (e.g. commit the CVE fix to 7.2, merge to 7.3, 7.4 etc...). Then you can cherry-pick it in your release branch. Don't forget to update NEWS manually in an extra commit then.

  3. Commit those changes. Ensure the tests at https://travis-ci.org/php/php-src/builds are still passing.

  4. Run the scripts/dev/credits script in php-src and commit the changes in the credits files in ext/standard.

  5. Compile and run make test, with and without ZTS, using the right Bison and re2c version (for PHP 7.4, minimum Bison 3.0.0 and re2c 0.13.4 are used).

  6. Check ./sapi/cli/php -v output for version matching.

  7. Tag the repository with the version e.g. git tag -u YOURKEYID php-7.4.1

  8. Push the tag e.g. git push origin php-7.4.1.

  9. Run: ./scripts/dev/makedist php-7.4.1, this will export the tag, create configure and build three tarballs (gz, bz2 and xz). Check if the pear files are updated (phar). On some systems the behavior of GNU tar can default to produce POSIX compliant archives with PAX headers. As not every application is compatible with that format, creation of archives with PAX headers should be avoided. When packaging on such a system, the GNU tar can be influenced by defining the environment variable TAR_OPTIONS='--format=gnu'.

  10. Run scripts/dev/gen_verify_stub <version> [identity], this will sign the tarballs and output verification information to be included in announcement email.

  11. Commit and push all the tarballs and signature files to web/php-distributions.git, then update the git submodule reference in web/php.git:

    git submodule init
    git submodule update
    cd distributions
    git fetch
    git pull --rebase origin master
    cd ..
    git commit distributions
    git push
    

    This is to fetch the last commit id from php-distributions.git and commit this last commit id to web/php.git, then, website will now sync.

  12. Once the release has been tagged, contact release managers, Windows builders, and package maintainers so that they can build releases. Do not send this announcement to any public lists.

Getting the stable release announced

  1. Update phpweb/include/releases.inc with the old release info (updates the download archives).

    • You can run php bin/bumpRelease 7 4 where the first number is the major version, and the second number is the minor version (7.4 in this example).

    • If that fails for any non-trivially fixable reason, you can manually copy the old information to include/releases.inc.

  2. Update phpweb/include/version.inc (X_Y=major_minor release number):

    • $PHP_X_Y_VERSION to the correct version
    • $PHP_X_Y_DATE to the release date
    • $PHP_X_Y_SHA256 array and update all the SHA256 sums
    • $PHP_X_Y_TAGS array should include security if this is a security release
    • Make sure there are no outdated "notes" or edited "date" keys in the $RELEASES[X][$PHP_X_VERSION]["source"] array.
  3. Create the release file (releases/x_y_z.php)

    Usually we use the same content as for point 6, but included in php template instead of the release xml.

  4. Update php-qa/include/release-qa.php and add the next version as an QARELEASE (prepare for next RC).

  5. Update the ChangeLog file for the given major version

    e.g. ChangeLog-7.php from the NEWS file

    • You may want to try php-web/bin/news2html to automate this task.

    • Go over the list and put every element on one line.

    • Check for &, < and > and escape them if necessary.

    • Remove all the names at the ends of lines.

    • For marking up, you can do the following (with vi):

      I. s/^- /<li>/

      II. s/$/<\/li>/

      III. s/Fixed bug #\([0-9]\+\)/<?php bugfix(\1); ?>/

      IV. s/Fixed PECL bug #\([0-9]\+\)/<?php peclbugfix(\1); ?>/

      V. s/FR #\([0-9]\+\)/FR <?php bugl(\1); ?>/

  6. Add a short notice to phpweb stating that there is a new release, and highlight the major important things (security fixes) and when it is important to upgrade.

    • Call php bin/createNewsEntry in your local phpweb checkout.
    • Use the "frontpage" and "releases" category.
    • Add the content for the news entry.
  7. Commit and push all the changes to their respective git repos

  8. Check website has been synced before announcing or pushing news

    Try, e.g. https://www.php.net/distributions/php-7.4.0.tar.xz

    Website may update slowly (may take an hour).

  9. Please note down the sha256 and the PGP signature (.asc). These must be included in the release mail.

  10. Wait an hour or two, then send a mail to php-announce@lists.php.net, php-general@lists.php.net and internals@lists.php.net with a text similar to http://news.php.net/php.internals/17222. Please make sure that the mail to php-announce@ is its own completely separate email. This is to make sure that replies to the announcement on php-general@ or internals@ will not accidentally hit the php-announce@ mailinglist.

Re-releasing the same version (or -pl)

  1. Commit the new binaries to phpweb/distributions/

  2. Update phpweb/include/version.inc (X_Y=major_minor release number):

    • If only releasing for one OS, make sure you edit only those variables.
    • $PHP_X_Y_VERSION to the correct version
    • $PHP_X_Y_DATE to the release date
    • $PHP_X_Y_SHA256 array and update all the SHA256 sums
    • Make sure there are no outdated "notes" or edited "date" keys in the $RELEASES[X][$PHP_X_VERSION]["source"] array.
  3. Add a short notice to phpweb stating that there is a new release, and highlight the major important things (security fixes) and when it is important to upgrade.

    • Call php bin/createNewsEntry in your local phpweb checkout.
    • Add the content for the news entry.
  4. Commit all the changes (include/version.inc, archive/archive.xml, archive/entries/YYYY-MM-DD-N.xml).

  5. Wait an hour or two, then send a mail to php-announce@lists.php.net, php-general@lists.php.net and internals@lists.php.net with a text similar to the news entry.

    Please make sure that the mail to php-announce@ is its own completely separate email. This is to make sure that replies to the announcement on php-general@ or internals@ will not accidentally hit the php-announce@ mailinglist.

Forking a new release branch

  1. One week prior to cutting X.Y.0beta1, warn internals@ that your version's branch is about to be cut, and that PHP-X.Y will be moving into feature freeze. Try to be specific about when the branch will be cut.

    Example: http://news.php.net/php.internals/99864

  2. Just prior to cutting X.Y.0beta1, create the new branch locally.

    Add a commit on master after the branch point clearing the NEWS, UPGRADING and UPGRADING.INTERNALS files, updating the version in configure.ac (run ./configure to automatically update main/php_versions.h, too) and Zend/zend.h. Bump the default initial version also in win32/build/confutils.js.

    Also list the new branch in CONTRIBUTING.md.

    Bump API version numbers in Zend/zend_extensions.h, Zend/zend_modules.h, and main/php.h.

    Example: https://git.php.net/?p=php-src.git;a=commit;h=a63c99b Push the new branch and the commit just added to master.

  3. Immediately notify internals@ of the branch cut and advise the new merging order. Example:

    http://news.php.net/php.internals/99903

  4. Update php-web:git.php and https://wiki.php.net/vcs/gitworkflow to reflect the new branch. Example:

    74bcad4c77

  5. Notify nlopess@ to add PHP_X_Y tag to gcov.php.net.

Preparing for the initial stable version (PHP X.Y.0)

  1. About the time you release the first RC, remind the documentation team (phpdoc@lists.php.net) to write the migration guide. See to it that they have done it before you release the initial stable version, since you want to link to it in the release announcements.

  2. Timely get used to the differences in preparing and announcing a stable release.

Prime the selection of the Release Managers of the next version

  1. About three months before the scheduled release of the first alpha of the next minor or major release, issue a call for volunteers on internals@lists.php.net (cf. http://news.php.net/php.internals/98652).

  2. Make sure that there are two or more volunteers, and hold a vote if necessary (see https://wiki.php.net/rfc/releaseprocess#release_managers_selection).

  3. Help the new release managers with their first steps.

New Release Manager checklist

  1. Email systems@ to get setup for access to downloads.php.net and to be added to the release-managers@ distribution list.

  2. Create a GPG key for your @php.net address and publish it by editing include/gpg-keys.inc in the web-php repository, adding the output of gpg --fingerprint "$USER@php.net". Let one or more of the previous RMs sign your key. Publish your public key to pgp.mit.edu with: gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --send-keys $KEYID

  3. Request karma to edit main/php_version.h and Zend/zend.h. Possibly karma for other restricted parts of php-src might come in question. To edit main/php_version.h in a release branch, you need release manager karma in global_avail.

  4. Request karma for web/qa.git and web/php.git for publishing release announcements.

  5. Request moderation access to php-announce@lists.php.net and primary-qa-tester@lists.php.net lists, to be able to moderate your release announcements. All the announcements should ideally be sent from the @php.net alias. Note, that for sending emails as @php.net alias a custom SMTP server needs to be used.