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High-level process for releases
The goal of this high-level process is to identify what needs to be done for a release, and who can help making it happen. TODO: add links to documentation for each task.
This process applies to both major releases (e.g. 18.06, 19.07) and point releases (e.g. 18.06.5), except for the first part.
| 1. Preparing for a major release | ||
|---|---|---|
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Identify the feature set of the next release | - | Developers consensus |
| Identify the target set of the next release | - | Developers consensus |
| Decide when to branch | - | Developers consensus |
| Create release branches | 1 hour | Developer with access to all repositories |
| Start building the new branch | 1 hour | Developer with access to buildbot |
| Add new “Reported Version” to https://bugs.openwrt.org | ? | Bugtracker admin |
| Fix build issues in the new branch | weeks | All developers |
| 2. Making a release | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Identify release blockers | - | ? |
| Fix release blockers | - | All developers |
| Tag new version | 15 min | Developer with access to secret keys |
| Build release images | 2 days | Developer with access to buildbot |
| 3. Quality assurance | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Monitor buildbot for build failures | 2 days | Anybody |
| Basic runtime testing of release images | 1 day | Anybody |
| 3.bis Documentation | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Generate detailed changelog | 15 min | Anybody with wiki rights |
| Write release notes | 1-2 hours | Anybody with wiki rights |
| Document new features in the wiki | variable | Anybody |
| 3.ter Update infrastructure | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Update stable/oldstable links on https://downloads.openwrt.org/ | 10 min | Sysadmin |
| Make sure the ToH is working with the new version | ? | Wiki guru |
| Update OpenWrt front page through the release page | 10 min | Wiki admin |
| 4. Communication | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Write and pin an announcement in the forum | 10 min | Anybody |
| Write an announcement to the mailing lists | 10 min | Anybody |
| Post an announcement on Twitter | 10 min | Anybody with access to the twitter account |
| Update IRC channel topics | 5 min | IRC admin |
| 5. Maintainance | ||
| Task | Duration | Who can do it |
| Keep track of bug reports for releases | 2-3 hour / week | Anybody |
| Keep track of security issues | 1 hour / week | ? |
| Backport fixes to release branches | - | Developers |
| Decide when to put out a new point release (step 2.) | - | ? |