82 lines
3.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
82 lines
3.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _release_managers:
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**************************
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Release Manager Guidelines
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**************************
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.. contents:: Topics
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The release manager's purpose is to ensure a smooth release. To achieve that goal, they need to
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coordinate between:
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* Developers with commit privileges on the `Ansible GitHub repository <https://github.com/ansible/ansible/>`_
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* Contributors without commit privileges
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* The community
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* Ansible documentation team
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* Ansible Tower team
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Pre-releases: what and why
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==========================
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Pre-releases exist to draw testers. They give people who don't feel comfortable running from source
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control a means to get an early version of the code to test and give us feedback. To ensure we get
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good feedback about a release, we need to make sure all major changes in a release are put into
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a pre-release. Testers must be given time to test those changes before the final release. Ideally we
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want there to be sufficient time between pre-releases for people to install and test one version for
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a span of time. Then they can spend more time using the new code than installing the latest
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version.
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The right length of time for a tester is probably around two weeks. However, for our three-to-four month
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development cycle to work, we compress this down to one week; any less runs the risk
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of people spending more time installing the code instead of running it. However, if there's a time
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crunch (with a release date that cannot slip), it is better to release with new changes than to hold
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back those changes to give people time to test between. People cannot test what is not released, so
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we have to get those tarballs out there even if people feel they have to install more frequently.
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Beta releases
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-------------
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In a beta release, we know there are still bugs. We will continue to accept fixes for these.
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Although we review these fixes, sometimes they can be invasive or potentially destabilize other
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areas of the code.
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During the beta, we will no longer accept feature submissions.
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Release candidates
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------------------
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In a release candidate, we've fixed all known blockers. Any remaining bugfixes are
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ones that we are willing to leave out of the release. At this point we need user testing to
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determine if there are any other blocker bugs lurking.
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Blocker bugs generally are those that cause significant problems for users. Regressions are
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more likely to be considered blockers because they will break present users' usage of Ansible.
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The Release Manager will cherry-pick fixes for new release blockers. The release manager will also
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choose whether to accept bugfixes for isolated areas of the code or defer those to the next minor
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release. By themselves, non-blocker bugs will not trigger a new release; they will only make it
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into the next major release if blocker bugs require that a new release be made.
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The last RC should be as close to the final as possible. The following things may be changed:
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* Version numbers are changed automatically and will differ as the pre-release tags are removed from
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the versions.
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* Tests and :file:`docs/docsite/` can differ if really needed as they do not break runtime.
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However, the release manager may still reject them as they have the potential to cause
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breakage that will be visible during the release process.
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.. note:: We want to specifically emphasize that code (in :file:`bin/`, :file:`lib/ansible/`, and
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:file:`setup.py`) must be the same unless there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances. If
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there are extenuating circumstances, the Release Manager is responsible for notifying groups
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(like the Tower Team) which would want to test the code.
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Ansible release process
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=======================
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The release process is kept in a `separate document
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<https://docs.google.com/document/d/10EWLkMesi9s_CK_GmbZlE_ZLhuQr6TBrdMLKo5dnMAI/edit#heading=h.ooo3izcel3cz>`_
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so that it can be easily updated during a release. If you need access to edit this, please ask one
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of the current release managers to add you.
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