Steps to take before starting on the first pretest in any release sequence:
-0. The release branch (e.g. emacs-24) should already have been made
+0. The release branch (e.g. emacs-25) should already have been made
and you should use it for all that follows. Diffs from this
- branch should be going to the emacs-diffs mailing list (see
- admin/notes/bzr section on bzr-email plugin).
+ branch should be going to the emacs-diffs mailing list.
1. Decide on versions of automake and autoconf, and ensure you will
have them available for the duration of the release process.
2. Consider increasing the value of the variable
- `customize-changed-options-previous-release' in cus-edit.el to
+ 'customize-changed-options-previous-release' in cus-edit.el to
refer to a newer version of Emacs. (This is probably needed only
when preparing the first pretest for a major Emacs release.)
Commit cus-edit.el if changed.
3. Remove any old pretests from ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/pretest.
- You can use `gnupload --delete' (see below for more gnupload details).
+ You can use 'gnupload --delete' (see below for more gnupload details).
General steps (for each step, check for possible errors):
-1. `bzr update' (for a bound branch), or `bzr pull'.
- bzr status # check for locally modified files
+1. git pull # fetch from the repository
+ git status # check for locally modified files
+
+ Ensure that you have a clean, unmodified state.
+ If you switched in-place from another branch to the release branch,
+ there could be inappropriate generated ignored files left over.
+ You might want to use "git status --ignored" to check for such files,
+ or some form of "git clean -x". It's probably simpler and safer to
+ make a new working directory exclusively for the release branch.
2. Regenerate the etc/AUTHORS file:
M-: (require 'authors) RET
M-x authors RET
If there is an "*Authors Errors*" buffer, address the issues.
- If there was a ChangeLog typo, fix it. If a file was deleted or
- renamed, consider adding an appropriate entry to authors-ignored-files,
- authors-valid-file-names, or authors-renamed-files-alist.
+ If there was a ChangeLog typo, run "make change-history" and then
+ fix the newest ChangeLog history file. If a file was deleted or
+ renamed, consider adding an appropriate entry to
+ authors-ignored-files, authors-valid-file-names, or
+ authors-renamed-files-alist.
If necessary, repeat M-x authors after making those changes.
Save the "*Authors*" buffer as etc/AUTHORS.
Check the diff looks reasonable. Maybe add entries to
authors-ambiguous-files or authors-aliases, and repeat.
- Commit any fixes to ChangeLogs or authors.el.
+ Commit any fixes to authors.el.
3. Set the version number (M-x load-file RET admin/admin.el RET, then
M-x set-version RET). For a release, add released ChangeLog
- entries (M-x add-release-logs RET).
+ entries (create a ChangeLog symlink a la vc-dwim, then run M-x
+ add-release-logs RET, then run the shell command 'vc-dwim --commit').
For a pretest, start at version .90. After .99, use .990 (so that
it sorts).
The final pretest should be a release candidate. Set the version
number to that of the actual release. Pick a date about a week
- from now when you intend to make the release. Use M-x add-release-logs
- to add the ChangeLog entries for that date to the tar file (but
- not yet to the repository). Name the tar file as
- emacs-XX.Y-rc1.tar. If all goes well in the following week, you
- can simply rename the file and use it for the actual release.
+ from now when you intend to make the release. Use vc-dwim and
+ M-x add-release-logs as described above to add commit messages
+ that will appear in the tarball's automatically-generated ChangeLog
+ file as entries for that date.
+
+ Name the tar file as emacs-XX.Y-rc1.tar. If all goes well in the
+ following week, you can simply rename the file and use it for the
+ actual release. If you need another release candidate, remember
+ to adjust the ChangeLog entries.
+
+ If you need to change only a file(s) that cannot possibly affect
+ the build (README, ChangeLog, NEWS, etc.) then rather than doing
+ an entirely new build, it is better to unpack the existing
+ tarfile, modify the file(s), and tar it back up again.
+
+ Never replace an existing tarfile! If you need to fix something,
+ always upload it with a different name.
4. autoreconf -i -I m4 --force
make bootstrap
5. Copy lisp/loaddefs.el to lisp/ldefs-boot.el.
Commit etc/AUTHORS, lisp/ldefs-boot.el, and the files changed
- by M-x set-version. Use a commit log message that bzrmerge.el
- will ignore (eg "Bump version...").
- For a release, also commit the ChangeLog files in all directories.
+ by M-x set-version.
If someone else made a commit between step 1 and now,
you need to repeat from step 4 onwards. (You can commit the files
If this is the first pretest of a major release, just comparing
with the previous release may overlook many new files. You can try
- something like `find . | sort' in a clean bzr tree, and compare the
+ something like 'find . | sort' in a clean repository, and compare the
results against the new tar contents.
7. tar -xf emacs-NEW.tar; cd emacs-NEW
./configure --prefix=/tmp/emacs && make && make install
- Use `script' or M-x compile to save the compilation log in
+ Use 'script' or M-x compile to save the compilation log in
compile-NEW.log and compare it against an old one. The easiest way
to do that is to visit the old log in Emacs, change the version
number of the old Emacs to __, do the same with the new log and do
M-x ediff. Especially check that Info files aren't built, and that
no autotools (autoconf etc) run.
-8. cd EMACS_ROOT_DIR && bzr tag TAG
+8. cd EMACS_ROOT_DIR && git tag -a TAG && git push origin tag TAG
TAG is emacs-XX.Y.ZZ for a pretest, emacs-XX.Y for a release.
9. Decide what compression schemes to offer.
of past announcements. The first pretest announcement, and the
release announcement, should have more detail.
-12. For a release, update the Emacs homepage emacs.html in the web repository.
- Also update history.html, and add the new NEWS file as news/NEWS.xx.y.
- Regenerate the html manuals (use make-manuals from admin.el).
- If there are new manuals, add appropriate index pages.
- Delete any old manual pages that are no longer present.
+12. After a release, update the Emacs pages as below.
+
+
+UPDATING THE EMACS WEB PAGES AFTER A RELEASE
+
+As soon as possible after a release, the Emacs web pages should be updated.
+Anyone with write access to the Emacs code repository can do this.
+For instructions, see <http://savannah.gnu.org/cvs/?group=emacs>.
+Changes go live more or less as soon as they are committed.
+
+The pages to update are:
+
+emacs.html (for a new major release, a more thorough update is needed)
+history.html
+add the new NEWS file as news/NEWS.xx.y
+
+Use M-x make-manuals from admin/admin.el to regenerate the html
+manuals in manual/. If there are new manuals, add appropriate index
+pages in manual/ and add them to manual/index.html. In the
+manual/html_node directory, delete any old manual pages that are no
+longer present.
+
+Tar up the generated html_node/emacs/ and elisp/ directories and update
+the files manual/elisp.html_node.tar.gz and emacs.html_node.tar.gz.
+
+Use M-x make-manuals-dist from from admin/admin.el to update the
+manual/texi/ tarfiles.
+
+Add compressed copies of the main info pages from the tarfile to manual/info/.
+
+Update the refcards/pdf/ and ps/ directories, and also
+refcards/emacs-refcards.tar.gz (use make -C etc/refcards pdf ps dist).
+
+Browsing <http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/?root=emacs> is one
+way to check for any files that still need updating.