1 ================================= 2 How To Release LLVM To The Public 3 ================================= 4 5 .. contents:: 6 :local: 7 :depth: 1 8 9 Introduction 10 ============ 11 12 This document contains information about successfully releasing LLVM --- 13 including subprojects: e.g., ``clang`` and ``dragonegg`` --- to the public. It 14 is the Release Manager's responsibility to ensure that a high quality build of 15 LLVM is released. 16 17 If you're looking for the document on how to test the release candidates and 18 create the binary packages, please refer to the :doc:`ReleaseProcess` instead. 19 20 .. _timeline: 21 22 Release Timeline 23 ================ 24 25 LLVM is released on a time based schedule --- roughly every 6 months. We do 26 not normally have dot releases because of the nature of LLVM's incremental 27 development philosophy. That said, the only thing preventing dot releases for 28 critical bug fixes from happening is a lack of resources --- testers, 29 machines, time, etc. And, because of the high quality we desire for LLVM 30 releases, we cannot allow for a truncated form of release qualification. 31 32 The release process is roughly as follows: 33 34 * Set code freeze and branch creation date for 6 months after last code freeze 35 date. Announce release schedule to the LLVM community and update the website. 36 37 * Create release branch and begin release process. 38 39 * Send out release candidate sources for first round of testing. Testing lasts 40 7-10 days. During the first round of testing, any regressions found should be 41 fixed. Patches are merged from mainline into the release branch. Also, all 42 features need to be completed during this time. Any features not completed at 43 the end of the first round of testing will be removed or disabled for the 44 release. 45 46 * Generate and send out the second release candidate sources. Only *critial* 47 bugs found during this testing phase will be fixed. Any bugs introduced by 48 merged patches will be fixed. If so a third round of testing is needed. 49 50 * The release notes are updated. 51 52 * Finally, release! 53 54 Release Process 55 =============== 56 57 .. contents:: 58 :local: 59 60 Release Administrative Tasks 61 ---------------------------- 62 63 This section describes a few administrative tasks that need to be done for the 64 release process to begin. Specifically, it involves: 65 66 * Creating the release branch, 67 68 * Setting version numbers, and 69 70 * Tagging release candidates for the release team to begin testing. 71 72 Create Release Branch 73 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 74 75 Branch the Subversion trunk using the following procedure: 76 77 #. Remind developers that the release branching is imminent and to refrain from 78 committing patches that might break the build. E.g., new features, large 79 patches for works in progress, an overhaul of the type system, an exciting 80 new TableGen feature, etc. 81 82 #. Verify that the current Subversion trunk is in decent shape by 83 examining nightly tester and buildbot results. 84 85 #. Create the release branch for ``llvm``, ``clang``, the ``test-suite``, and 86 ``dragonegg`` from the last known good revision. The branch's name is 87 ``release_XY``, where ``X`` is the major and ``Y`` the minor release 88 numbers. The branches should be created using the following commands: 89 90 :: 91 92 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk \ 93 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XY 94 95 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/trunk \ 96 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_XY 97 98 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/trunk \ 99 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/branches/release_XY 100 101 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/trunk \ 102 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XY 103 104 #. Advise developers that they may now check their patches into the Subversion 105 tree again. 106 107 #. The Release Manager should switch to the release branch, because all changes 108 to the release will now be done in the branch. The easiest way to do this is 109 to grab a working copy using the following commands: 110 111 :: 112 113 $ svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XY llvm-X.Y 114 115 $ svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_XY clang-X.Y 116 117 $ svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/branches/release_XY dragonegg-X.Y 118 119 $ svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XY test-suite-X.Y 120 121 Update LLVM Version 122 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 123 124 After creating the LLVM release branch, update the release branches' 125 ``autoconf`` and ``configure.ac`` versions from '``X.Ysvn``' to '``X.Y``'. 126 Update it on mainline as well to be the next version ('``X.Y+1svn``'). 127 Regenerate the configure scripts for both ``llvm`` and the ``test-suite``. 128 129 In addition, the version numbers of all the Bugzilla components must be updated 130 for the next release. 131 132 Build the LLVM Release Candidates 133 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 134 135 Create release candidates for ``llvm``, ``clang``, ``dragonegg``, and the LLVM 136 ``test-suite`` by tagging the branch with the respective release candidate 137 number. For instance, to create **Release Candidate 1** you would issue the 138 following commands: 139 140 :: 141 142 $ svn mkdir https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_XY 143 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XY \ 144 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 145 146 $ svn mkdir https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/tags/RELEASE_XY 147 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_XY \ 148 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 149 150 $ svn mkdir https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/tags/RELEASE_XY 151 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/branches/release_XY \ 152 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 153 154 $ svn mkdir https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_XY 155 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XY \ 156 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 157 158 Similarly, **Release Candidate 2** would be named ``RC2`` and so on. This keeps 159 a permanent copy of the release candidate around for people to export and build 160 as they wish. The final released sources will be tagged in the ``RELEASE_XY`` 161 directory as ``Final`` (c.f. :ref:`tag`). 162 163 The Release Manager may supply pre-packaged source tarballs for users. This can 164 be done with the following commands: 165 166 :: 167 168 $ svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 llvm-X.Yrc1 169 $ svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 clang-X.Yrc1 170 $ svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 dragonegg-X.Yrc1 171 $ svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_XY/rc1 llvm-test-X.Yrc1 172 173 $ tar -cvf - llvm-X.Yrc1 | gzip > llvm-X.Yrc1.src.tar.gz 174 $ tar -cvf - clang-X.Yrc1 | gzip > clang-X.Yrc1.src.tar.gz 175 $ tar -cvf - dragonegg-X.Yrc1 | gzip > dragonegg-X.Yrc1.src.tar.gz 176 $ tar -cvf - llvm-test-X.Yrc1 | gzip > llvm-test-X.Yrc1.src.tar.gz 177 178 Building the Release 179 -------------------- 180 181 The builds of ``llvm``, ``clang``, and ``dragonegg`` *must* be free of 182 errors and warnings in Debug, Release+Asserts, and Release builds. If all 183 builds are clean, then the release passes Build Qualification. 184 185 The ``make`` options for building the different modes: 186 187 +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ 188 | Mode | Options | 189 +=================+=============================================+ 190 | Debug | ``ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=0`` | 191 +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ 192 | Release+Asserts | ``ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=1`` | 193 +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ 194 | Release | ``ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=1 DISABLE_ASSERTIONS=1`` | 195 +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ 196 197 Build LLVM 198 ^^^^^^^^^^ 199 200 Build ``Debug``, ``Release+Asserts``, and ``Release`` versions 201 of ``llvm`` on all supported platforms. Directions to build ``llvm`` 202 are :doc:`here <GettingStarted>`. 203 204 Build Clang Binary Distribution 205 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 206 207 Creating the ``clang`` binary distribution (Debug/Release+Asserts/Release) 208 requires performing the following steps for each supported platform: 209 210 #. Build clang according to the directions `here 211 <http://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html>`__. 212 213 #. Build both a Debug and Release version of clang. The binary will be the 214 Release build. 215 216 #. Package ``clang`` (details to follow). 217 218 Target Specific Build Details 219 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 220 221 The table below specifies which compilers are used for each Arch/OS combination 222 when qualifying the build of ``llvm``, ``clang``, and ``dragonegg``. 223 224 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 225 | Architecture | OS | compiler | 226 +==============+===============+======================+ 227 | x86-32 | Mac OS 10.5 | gcc 4.0.1 | 228 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 229 | x86-32 | Linux | gcc 4.2.X, gcc 4.3.X | 230 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 231 | x86-32 | FreeBSD | gcc 4.2.X | 232 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 233 | x86-32 | mingw | gcc 3.4.5 | 234 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 235 | x86-64 | Mac OS 10.5 | gcc 4.0.1 | 236 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 237 | x86-64 | Linux | gcc 4.2.X, gcc 4.3.X | 238 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 239 | x86-64 | FreeBSD | gcc 4.2.X | 240 +--------------+---------------+----------------------+ 241 242 Release Qualification Criteria 243 ------------------------------ 244 245 A release is qualified when it has no regressions from the previous release (or 246 baseline). Regressions are related to correctness first and performance second. 247 (We may tolerate some minor performance regressions if they are deemed 248 necessary for the general quality of the compiler.) 249 250 **Regressions are new failures in the set of tests that are used to qualify 251 each product and only include things on the list. Every release will have 252 some bugs in it. It is the reality of developing a complex piece of 253 software. We need a very concrete and definitive release criteria that 254 ensures we have monotonically improving quality on some metric. The metric we 255 use is described below. This doesn't mean that we don't care about other 256 criteria, but these are the criteria which we found to be most important and 257 which must be satisfied before a release can go out.** 258 259 Qualify LLVM 260 ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 261 262 LLVM is qualified when it has a clean test run without a front-end. And it has 263 no regressions when using either ``clang`` or ``dragonegg`` with the 264 ``test-suite`` from the previous release. 265 266 Qualify Clang 267 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 268 269 ``Clang`` is qualified when front-end specific tests in the ``llvm`` regression 270 test suite all pass, clang's own test suite passes cleanly, and there are no 271 regressions in the ``test-suite``. 272 273 Specific Target Qualification Details 274 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 275 276 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 277 | Architecture | OS | clang baseline | tests | 278 +==============+=============+================+=============================+ 279 | x86-32 | Linux | last release | llvm regression tests, | 280 | | | | clang regression tests, | 281 | | | | test-suite (including spec) | 282 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 283 | x86-32 | FreeBSD | last release | llvm regression tests, | 284 | | | | clang regression tests, | 285 | | | | test-suite | 286 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 287 | x86-32 | mingw | none | QT | 288 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 289 | x86-64 | Mac OS 10.X | last release | llvm regression tests, | 290 | | | | clang regression tests, | 291 | | | | test-suite (including spec) | 292 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 293 | x86-64 | Linux | last release | llvm regression tests, | 294 | | | | clang regression tests, | 295 | | | | test-suite (including spec) | 296 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 297 | x86-64 | FreeBSD | last release | llvm regression tests, | 298 | | | | clang regression tests, | 299 | | | | test-suite | 300 +--------------+-------------+----------------+-----------------------------+ 301 302 Community Testing 303 ----------------- 304 305 Once all testing has been completed and appropriate bugs filed, the release 306 candidate tarballs are put on the website and the LLVM community is notified. 307 Ask that all LLVM developers test the release in 2 ways: 308 309 #. Download ``llvm-X.Y``, ``llvm-test-X.Y``, and the appropriate ``clang`` 310 binary. Build LLVM. Run ``make check`` and the full LLVM test suite (``make 311 TEST=nightly report``). 312 313 #. Download ``llvm-X.Y``, ``llvm-test-X.Y``, and the ``clang`` sources. Compile 314 everything. Run ``make check`` and the full LLVM test suite (``make 315 TEST=nightly report``). 316 317 Ask LLVM developers to submit the test suite report and ``make check`` results 318 to the list. Verify that there are no regressions from the previous release. 319 The results are not used to qualify a release, but to spot other potential 320 problems. For unsupported targets, verify that ``make check`` is at least 321 clean. 322 323 During the first round of testing, all regressions must be fixed before the 324 second release candidate is tagged. 325 326 If this is the second round of testing, the testing is only to ensure that bug 327 fixes previously merged in have not created new major problems. *This is not 328 the time to solve additional and unrelated bugs!* If no patches are merged in, 329 the release is determined to be ready and the release manager may move onto the 330 next stage. 331 332 Release Patch Rules 333 ------------------- 334 335 Below are the rules regarding patching the release branch: 336 337 #. Patches applied to the release branch may only be applied by the release 338 manager. 339 340 #. During the first round of testing, patches that fix regressions or that are 341 small and relatively risk free (verified by the appropriate code owner) are 342 applied to the branch. Code owners are asked to be very conservative in 343 approving patches for the branch. We reserve the right to reject any patch 344 that does not fix a regression as previously defined. 345 346 #. During the remaining rounds of testing, only patches that fix critical 347 regressions may be applied. 348 349 Release Final Tasks 350 ------------------- 351 352 The final stages of the release process involves tagging the "final" release 353 branch, updating documentation that refers to the release, and updating the 354 demo page. 355 356 Update Documentation 357 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 358 359 Review the documentation and ensure that it is up to date. The "Release Notes" 360 must be updated to reflect new features, bug fixes, new known issues, and 361 changes in the list of supported platforms. The "Getting Started Guide" should 362 be updated to reflect the new release version number tag available from 363 Subversion and changes in basic system requirements. Merge both changes from 364 mainline into the release branch. 365 366 .. _tag: 367 368 Tag the LLVM Final Release 369 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 370 371 Tag the final release sources using the following procedure: 372 373 :: 374 375 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XY \ 376 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_XY/Final 377 378 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_XY \ 379 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/tags/RELEASE_XY/Final 380 381 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/branches/release_XY \ 382 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/dragonegg/tags/RELEASE_XY/Final 383 384 $ svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XY \ 385 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_XY/Final 386 387 Update the LLVM Demo Page 388 ------------------------- 389 390 The LLVM demo page must be updated to use the new release. This consists of 391 using the new ``clang`` binary and building LLVM. 392 393 Update the LLVM Website 394 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 395 396 The website must be updated before the release announcement is sent out. Here 397 is what to do: 398 399 #. Check out the ``www`` module from Subversion. 400 401 #. Create a new subdirectory ``X.Y`` in the releases directory. 402 403 #. Commit the ``llvm``, ``test-suite``, ``clang`` source, ``clang binaries``, 404 ``dragonegg`` source, and ``dragonegg`` binaries in this new directory. 405 406 #. Copy and commit the ``llvm/docs`` and ``LICENSE.txt`` files into this new 407 directory. The docs should be built with ``BUILD_FOR_WEBSITE=1``. 408 409 #. Commit the ``index.html`` to the ``release/X.Y`` directory to redirect (use 410 from previous release). 411 412 #. Update the ``releases/download.html`` file with the new release. 413 414 #. Update the ``releases/index.html`` with the new release and link to release 415 documentation. 416 417 #. Finally, update the main page (``index.html`` and sidebar) to point to the 418 new release and release announcement. Make sure this all gets committed back 419 into Subversion. 420 421 Announce the Release 422 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 423 424 Have Chris send out the release announcement when everything is finished. 425 426
