django/docs/internals/howto-release-django.txt

=====================
How is Django Formed?
=====================

This document explains how to release Django. If you're unlucky enough to
be driving a release, you should follow these instructions to get the
package out.

**Please, keep these instructions up-to-date if you make changes!** The point
here is to be descriptive, not proscriptive, so feel free to streamline or
otherwise make changes, but **update this document accordingly!**

Overview
========

There are three types of releases that you might need to make

* Security releases, disclosing and fixing a vulnerability. This'll
  generally involve two or three simultaneous releases -- e.g.
  1.5.x, 1.6.x, and, depending on timing, perhaps a 1.7 alpha/beta/rc.

* Regular version releases, either a final release (e.g. 1.5) or a
  bugfix update (e.g. 1.5.1).

* Pre-releases, e.g. 1.6 beta or something.

In general the steps are about the same regardless, but there are a few
differences noted. The short version is:

#. If this is a security release, pre-notify the security distribution list
   at least one week before the actual release.

#. Proofread (and create if needed) the release notes, looking for
   organization, writing errors, deprecation timelines, etc. Draft a blog post
   and email announcement.

#. Update version numbers and create the release package(s)!

#. Upload the package(s) to the ``djangoproject.com`` server.

#. Unless this is a pre-release, add the new version(s) to PyPI.

#. Declare the new version in the admin on ``djangoproject.com``.

#. Post the blog entry and send out the email announcements.

#. Update version numbers post-release.

There are a lot of details, so please read on.

Prerequisites
=============

You'll need a few things hooked up to make this work:

* A GPG key recorded as an acceptable releaser in the `Django releasers`__
  document. (If this key is not your default signing key, you'll need to add
  ``-u you@example.com`` to every GPG signing command below, where
  ``you@example.com`` is the email address associated with the key you want to
  use.)

* Access to Django's record on PyPI.

* Access to the ``djangoproject.com`` server to upload files and trigger a
  deploy.

* Access to the admin on ``djangoproject.com`` as a "Site maintainer".

* Access to post to ``django-announce``.

* If this is a security release, access to the pre-notification distribution
  list.

If this is your first release, you'll need to coordinate with James and/or
Jacob to get all these things lined up.

__ https://www.djangoproject.com/m/pgp/django-releasers.txt

Pre-release tasks
=================

A few items need to be taken care of before even beginning the release process.
This stuff starts about a week before the release; most of it can be done
any time leading up to the actual release:

#. If this is a security release, send out pre-notification **one week**
   before the release. We maintain a list of who gets these pre-notification
   emails at *FIXME WHERE?*. This email should be signed by the key you'll use
   for the release, and should include patches for each issue being fixed.

#. As the release approaches, watch Trac to make sure no release blockers
   are left for the upcoming release.

#. Check with the other committers to make sure they don't have any
   un-committed changes for the release.

#. Proofread the release notes, including looking at the online
   version to catch any broken links or reST errors, and make sure the
   release notes contain the correct date.

#. Double-check that the release notes mention deprecation timelines
   for any APIs noted as deprecated, and that they mention any changes
   in Python version support.

#. Double-check that the release notes index has a link to the notes
   for the new release; this will be in ``docs/releases/index.txt``.

Preparing for release
=====================

Write the announcement blog post for the release. You can enter it into the
admin at any time and mark it as inactive. Here are a few examples: `example
security release announcement`__, `example regular release announcement`__,
`example pre-release announcement`__.

__ https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2013/feb/19/security/
__ https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2012/mar/23/14/
__ https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2012/nov/27/15-beta-1/

Actually rolling the release
============================

OK, this is the fun part, where we actually push out a release!

#. Check `Jenkins`__ is green for the version(s) you're putting out. You
   probably shouldn't issue a release until it's green.

   __ http://ci.djangoproject.com

#. A release always begins from a release branch, so you should make sure
   you're on a stable branch and up-to-date. For example::

        git checkout stable/1.5.x
        git pull

#. If this is a security release, merge the appropriate patches from
   ``django-private``. Rebase these patches as necessary to make each one a
   simple commit on the release branch rather than a merge commit. To ensure
   this, merge them with the ``--ff-only`` flag; for example::

        git checkout stable/1.5.x
        git merge --ff-only security/1.5.x

   (This assumes ``security/1.5.x`` is a branch in the ``django-private`` repo
   containing the necessary security patches for the next release in the 1.5
   series.)

   If git refuses to merge with ``--ff-only``, switch to the security-patch
   branch and rebase it on the branch you are about to merge it into (``git
   checkout security/1.5.x; git rebase stable/1.5.x``) and then switch back and
   do the merge. Make sure the commit message for each security fix explains
   that the commit is a security fix and that an announcement will follow
   (`example security commit`__)

   __ https://github.com/django/django/commit/3ef4bbf495cc6c061789132e3d50a8231a89406b

#. Update version numbers for the release. This has to happen in three
   places: ``django/__init__.py``, ``docs/conf.py``, and ``setup.py``.
   Please see `notes on setting the VERSION tuple`_ below for details
   on ``VERSION``. Here's `an example commit updating version numbers`__

   __ https://github.com/django/django/commit/18d920ea4839fb54f9d2a5dcb555b6a5666ee469

   Make sure the ``download_url`` in ``setup.py`` is the actual URL you'll
   use for the new release package, not the redirect URL (some tools can't
   properly follow redirects).

#. If this is a pre-release package, update the "Development Status" trove
   classifier in ``setup.py`` to reflect this. Otherwise, make sure the
   classifier is set to ``Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable``.

#. Tag the release using ``git tag``. For example::

        git tag --sign --message="Django 1.5.1" 1.5.1

   You can check your work by running ``git tag --verify <tag>``.

#. Push your work, including the tag: ``git push --tags``.

#. Make sure you have an absolutely clean tree by running ``git clean -dfx``.

#. Run ``python setup.py sdist`` to generate the release package. This will
   create the release package in a ``dist/`` directory.

#. Generate the hashes of the release package::

        $ md5sum dist/Django-<version>.tar.gz
        $ sha1sum dist/Django-<version>.tar.gz

   *FIXME: perhaps we should switch to sha256?*

#. Create a "checksums" file containing the hashes and release information.
   You can start with `a previous checksums file`__ and replace the
   dates, keys, links, and checksums. *FIXME: make a template file.*

   __ https://www.djangoproject.com/m/pgp/Django-1.5b1.checksum.txt

#. Sign the checksum file (``gpg --clearsign
   Django-<version>.checksum.txt``). This generates a signed document,
   ``Django-<version>.checksum.txt.asc`` which you can then verify using ``gpg
   --verify Django-<version>.checksum.txt.asc``.

If you're issuing multiple releases, repeat these steps for each release.

Making the release(s) available to the public
=============================================

Now you're ready to actually put the release out there. To do this:

#. Upload the release package(s) to the djangoproject server; releases go
   in ``/home/www/djangoproject.com/src/media/releases``, under a
   directory for the appropriate version number (e.g.
   ``/home/www/djangoproject.com/src/media/releases/1.5`` for a ``1.5.x``
   release.).

#. Upload the checksum file(s); these go in
   ``/home/www/djangoproject.com/src/media/pgp``.

#. Test that the release packages install correctly using ``easy_install``
   and ``pip``. Here's one method (which requires `virtualenvwrapper`__)::

        $ mktmpenv
        $ easy_install https://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/1.5/Django-1.5.1.tar.gz
        $ deactivate
        $ mktmpenv
        $ pip install https://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/1.5/Django-1.5.1.tar.gz
        $ deactivate

   This just tests that the tarballs are available (i.e. redirects are up) and
   that they install correctly, but it'll catch silly mistakes.

   __ https://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenvwrapper

#. Ask a few people on IRC to verify the checksums by visiting the checksums
   file (e.g. https://www.djangoproject.com/m/pgp/Django-1.5b1.checksum.txt)
   and following the instructions in it. For bonus points, they can also unpack
   the downloaded release tarball and verify that its contents appear to be
   correct (proper version numbers, no stray ``.pyc`` or other undesirable
   files).

#. If this is a release that should land on PyPI (i.e. anything except for
   a pre-release), register the new package with PyPI by running
   ``python setup.py register``.

#. Upload the sdist you generated a few steps back through the PyPI web
   interface. You'll log into PyPI, click "Django" in the right sidebar,
   find the release you just registered, and click "files" to upload the
   sdist.

   .. note::

        Why can't we just use ``setup.py sdist upload``? Well, if we do it above
        that pushes the sdist to PyPI before we've had a chance to sign, review
        and test it. And we can't just ``setup.py upload`` without ``sdist``
        because ``setup.py`` prevents that. Nor can we ``sdist upload`` because
        that would generate a *new* sdist that might not match the file we just
        signed. Finally, uploading through the web interface is somewhat more
        secure: it sends the file over HTTPS.

#. Go to the `Add release page in the admin`__, enter the new release number
   exactly as it appears in the name of the tarball (Django-<version>.tar.gz).
   So for example enter "1.5.1" or "1.4-rc-2", etc.

   __ https://www.djangoproject.com/admin/releases/release/add/

#. Make the blog post announcing the release live.

#. For a new version release (e.g. 1.5, 1.6), update the default stable version
   of the docs by flipping the ``is_default`` flag to ``True`` on the
   appropriate ``DocumentRelease`` object in the ``docs.djangoproject.com``
   database (this will automatically flip it to ``False`` for all
   others). *FIXME: I had to do this via fab managepy:shell,docs but we should
   probably make it possible to do via the admin.*

#. Post the release announcement to the django-announce,
   django-developers and django-users mailing lists. This should
   include links to the announcement blog post and the release notes.

Post-release
============

You're almost done! All that's left to do now is:

#. Update the ``VERSION`` tuple in ``django/__init__.py`` again,
   incrementing to whatever the next expected release will be. For
   example, after releasing 1.5.1, update ``VERSION`` to
   ``VERSION = (1, 5, 2, 'alpha', 0)``.

#. For the first alpha release of a new version (when we create the
   ``stable/1.?.x`` git branch), you'll want to create a new
   ``DocumentRelease`` object in the ``docs.djangoproject.com`` database for
   the new version's docs, and update the ``docs/fixtures/doc_releases.json``
   JSON fixture. *FIXME: what is the purpose of maintaining this fixture?*

#. Add the release in `Trac's versions list`_ if necessary. Not all versions
   are declared; take example on previous releases.

.. _Trac's versions list: https://code.djangoproject.com/admin/ticket/versions

Notes on setting the VERSION tuple
==================================

Django's version reporting is controlled by the ``VERSION`` tuple in
``django/__init__.py``. This is a five-element tuple, whose elements
are:

#. Major version.
#. Minor version.
#. Micro version.
#. Status -- can be one of "alpha", "beta", "rc" or "final".
#. Series number, for alpha/beta/RC packages which run in sequence
   (allowing, for example, "beta 1", "beta 2", etc.).

For a final release, the status is always "final" and the series
number is always 0. A series number of 0 with an "alpha" status will
be reported as "pre-alpha".

Some examples:

* ``(1, 2, 1, 'final', 0)`` --> "1.2.1"

* ``(1, 3, 0, 'alpha', 0)`` --> "1.3 pre-alpha"

* ``(1, 3, 0, 'beta', 2)`` --> "1.3 beta 2"