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5 <title>How To Release LLVM To The Public</title>
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10 <div class="doc_title">How To Release LLVM To The Public</div>
12 <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
13 <li><a href="#criteria">Qualification Criteria</a></li>
14 <li><a href="#introduction">Release Timeline</a></li>
15 <li><a href="#process">Release Process</a></li>
17 <div class="doc_author">
18 <p>Written by <a href="mailto:tonic@nondot.org">Tanya Lattner</a>,
19 <a href="mailto:rspencer@x10sys.com">Reid Spencer</a>,
20 <a href="mailto:criswell@cs.uiuc.edu">John Criswell</a>
24 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
25 <div class="doc_section"><a name="introduction">Introduction</a></div>
26 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
28 <div class="doc_text">
30 This document collects information about successfully releasing LLVM
31 (including subprojects llvm-gcc and Clang) to the public.
32 It is the release manager's responsibility to ensure that a high quality
33 build of LLVM is released.
37 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
38 <div class="doc_section"><a name="process">Release Timeline</a></div>
39 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
40 <div class="doc_text">
41 <p>LLVM is released on a time based schedule (currently every 6 months). We
42 do not have dot releases because of the nature of LLVM incremental
43 development philosophy. The release schedule is roughly as follows:
46 <li>Set code freeze and branch creation date for 6 months after last code freeze
47 date. Announce release schedule to the LLVM community and update the website.</li>
48 <li>Create release branch and begin release process. </li>
49 <li>Send out pre-release for first round of testing. Testing will last 7-10 days.
50 During the first round of testing, regressions should be found and fixed. Patches
51 are merged from mainline to the release branch.</li>
52 <li>Generate and send out second pre-release. Bugs found during this time will
53 not be fixed unless absolutely critical. Bugs introduce by patches merged in
54 will be fixed and if so, a 3rd round of testing is needed.</li>
55 <li>The release notes should be updated during the first and second round of
56 pre-release testing.</li>
57 <li>Finally, release!</li>
62 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
63 <div class="doc_section"><a name="process">Release Process</a></div>
64 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
66 <div class="doc_text">
68 <li><a href="#release-admin">Release Administrative Tasks</a></li>
70 <li><a href="#branch">Create Release Branch</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#verchanges">Update Version Numbers</a></li>
73 <li><a href="#release-build">Building the Release</a></li>
75 <li><a href="#dist">Build the LLVM Source Distributions</a></li>
76 <li><a href="#build">Build LLVM</a></li>
77 <li><a href="#llvmgccbin">Build the LLVM-GCC Binary Distribution</a></li>
78 <li><a href="#clangbin">Build the Clang Binary Distribution</a></li>
79 <li><a href="#target-build">Target Specific Build Details</a></li>
82 <li><a href="#release-qualify">Release Qualification Criteria</a></li>
84 <li><a href="#llvm-qualify">Qualify LLVM</a></li>
85 <li><a href="#llvmgcc-qualify">Qualify LLVM-GCC</a></li>
86 <li><a href="#clang-qualify">Qualify Clang</a></li>
87 <li><a href="#targets">Specific Target Qualification Details</a></li>
90 <li><a href="#commTest">Community Testing</a></li>
91 <li><a href="#release-patch">Release Patch Rules</a></li>
94 <li><a href="#release-final">Release final tasks</a></li>
96 <li><a href="#updocs">Update Documentation</a></li>
97 <li><a href="#tag">Tag the LLVM Release Branch</a></li>
98 <li><a href="#updemo">Update the LLVM Demo Page</a></li>
99 <li><a href="#webupdates">Update the LLVM Website</a></li>
100 <li><a href="#announce">Announce the Release</a></li>
106 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
107 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-admin">
108 Release Administrative Tasks</a></div>
110 <div class="doc_text">
111 This section describes a few administrative tasks that need to be done for the
112 release process to begin. Specifically, it involves creating the release branch,
113 resetting version numbers, and creating the release tarballs for the release
114 team to begin testing.
117 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
118 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="branch">Create Release Branch</a></div>
119 <div class="doc_text">
120 <p>Branch the Subversion HEAD using the following procedure:</p>
123 <p>Verify that the current Subversion HEAD is in decent shape by examining
124 nightly tester or buildbot results.</p></li>
126 <p>Request all developers to refrain from committing. Offenders get commit
127 rights taken away (temporarily).</p></li>
129 <p> Create the release branch for <tt>llvm</tt>, <tt>llvm-gcc4.2</tt>,
130 <tt>clang</tt>, and the <tt>test-suite</tt>. The branch name will be
131 <tt>release_XX</tt>,where <tt>XX</tt> is the major and minor release numbers.
132 <tt>Clang</tt> will have a different release number than <tt>llvm</tt>/
133 <tt>llvm-gcc4</tt> since its first release was years later
134 (still deciding if this will be true or not). These branches
135 can be created without checking out anything from subversion.
138 <div class="doc_code">
140 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk \
141 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
142 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/trunk \
143 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
144 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/trunk \
145 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
146 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/trunk \
147 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
152 <p>Advise developers they can work on Subversion HEAD again.</p></li>
155 <p>The Release Manager should switch to the release branch (as all changes
156 to the release will now be done in the branch). The easiest way to do this
157 is to grab another working copy using the following commands:</p>
159 <div class="doc_code">
161 svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
162 svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
163 svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
164 svn co https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_<i>XX</i>
171 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
172 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="verchanges">Update LLVM Version</a></div>
173 <div class="doc_text">
175 After creating the LLVM release branch, update the release branches'
176 autoconf/configure.ac version from X.Xsvn to just X.X. Update it on mainline
177 as well to be the next version (X.X+1svn). Regenerated the configure script
178 for both. This must be done for both <tt>llvm</tt> and the
181 <p>FIXME: Add a note about <tt>clang</tt>.</p>
182 <p>In addition, the version number of all the Bugzilla components must be
183 updated for the next release.
187 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
188 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="dist">Build the LLVM Source Distributions</a></div>
189 <div class="doc_text">
191 Create source distributions for <tt>LLVM</tt>, <tt>LLVM-GCC</tt>,
192 <tt>clang</tt>, and the llvm <tt>test-suite</tt> by exporting the source from
193 Subversion and archiving it. This can be done with the following commands:
196 <div class="doc_code">
198 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-X.X
199 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-gcc4.2-X.X.source
200 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-test-X.X
201 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_<i>XX</i> clang-X.X
202 tar -czvf - llvm-X.X | gzip > llvm-X.X.tar.gz
203 tar -czvf - llvm-test-X.X | gzip > llvm-test-X.X.tar.gz
204 tar -czvf - llvm-gcc4.2-X.X.source | gzip > llvm-gcc-4.2-X.X.source.tar.gz
205 tar -czvf - clang-X.X | gzip > clang-X.X.tar.gz
210 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
211 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-build">
212 Building the Release</a></div>
214 <div class="doc_text">
215 The build of <tt>llvm</tt>, <tt>llvm-gcc</tt>, and <tt>clang</tt> must be free
216 of errors and warnings in both debug, release+asserts, and release builds.
217 If all builds are clean, then the release passes build qualification.
220 <li>debug: ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=0</li>
221 <li>release+asserts: ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=1</li>
222 <li>release: ENABLE_OPTIMIZED=1 DISABLE_ASSERTIONS=1</li>
226 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
227 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="build">Build LLVM</a></div>
228 <div class="doc_text">
230 Build both debug, release+asserts (optimized), and release versions of
231 LLVM on all supported platforms. Direction to build llvm are
232 <a href="http://llvm.org/docs/GettingStarted.html#quickstart">here</a>.
236 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
237 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvmgccbin">Build the LLVM GCC Binary Distribution</a></div>
238 <div class="doc_text">
240 Creating the LLVM GCC binary distribution (release/optimized) requires
241 performing the following steps for each supported platform:
246 Build the LLVM GCC front-end by following the directions in the README.LLVM
247 file. The frontend must be compiled with c, c++, objc (mac only),
248 objc++ (mac only) and fortran support. </li>
249 <li>Please boostrap as well.</li>
250 <li>Be sure to build with LLVM_VERSION_INFO=X.X, where X is the major and
251 minor release numbers.
255 Copy the installation directory to a directory named for the specific target.
256 For example on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the directory would be named
257 <tt>llvm-gcc4.2-2.6-x86-linux-RHEL4</tt>. Archive and compress the new directory.
262 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
263 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="clangbin">Build Clang
264 Binary Distribution</a></div>
265 <div class="doc_text">
267 Creating the Clang binary distribution (debug/release/release) requires
268 performing the following steps for each supported platform:
273 Build clang according to the directions
274 <a href="http://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html">here</a>.
277 <li>Build both a debug and release version of clang, but the binary
278 will be a release build.</lI>
281 Package clang (details to follow).
287 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
288 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="target-build">Target Specific Build
290 <div class="doc_text">
292 The table below specifies which compilers are used for each arch/os combination
293 when qualifying the build of <tt>llvm</tt>, <tt>llvm-gcc</tt>, <tt>clang.
298 <tr><th>Architecture</th><th>OS</th><th>compiler</th></tr>
299 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>Mac OS 10.5</td><td>gcc 4.0.1</td></tr>
300 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>Linux</td><td>gcc 4.2.X, gcc 4.3.X</td></tr>
301 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>FreeBSD</td><td>gcc 4.2.X</td></tr>
302 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>mingw</td><td>gcc 3.4.5</td></tr>
303 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>Mac OS 10.5</td><td>gcc 4.0.1</td></tr>
304 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>Linux</td><td>gcc 4.2.X, gcc 4.3.X</td></tr>
305 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>FreeBSD</td><td>gcc 4.2.X</td></tr>
313 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
314 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-qualify">
315 Building the Release</a></div>
317 <div class="doc_text">
318 A release is qualified when it has no regressions from the previous
319 release (or baseline). Regressions are related to correctness only and not
320 performance at this time. <b>Regressions are new failures in the set of tests that
321 are used to qualify each product and only include things on the list.
322 Ultimately, there is no end to the number of possible bugs in a release. We
323 need a very concrete and definitive release criteria that ensures we have
324 monotonically improving quality on some metric. The metric we use is
325 described below. This doesn't mean that we don't care about other things,
326 but this are things that must be satisfied before a release can go out</b>
330 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
331 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvm-qualify">Qualify LLVM</a></div>
332 <div class="doc_text">
334 LLVM is qualified when it has a clean dejagnu test run without a frontend and
335 it has no regressions when using either <tt>llvm-gcc</tt> or <tt>clang</tt>
336 with the <tt>test-suite</tt> from the previous release.
340 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
341 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvmgcc-qualify">Qualify LLVM-GCC</a></div>
342 <div class="doc_text">
344 <tt>LLVM-GCC</tt> is qualified when front-end specific tests in the
345 <tt>llvm</tt> dejagnu test suite all pass and there are no regressions in
346 the <tt>test-suite</tt>.</p>
347 <p>We do not use the gcc dejagnu test suite as release criteria.</p>
350 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
351 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="clang-qualify">Qualify Clang</a></div>
352 <div class="doc_text">
353 <tt>Clang</tt> is qualified when front-end specific tests in the
354 <tt>llvm</tt> dejagnu test suite all pass, clang's own test suite passes
355 cleanly, and there are no regressions in the <tt>test-suite</tt>.</p>
358 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
359 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="targets">Specific Target
360 Qualification Details</a></div>
361 <div class="doc_text">
363 <tr><th>Architecture</th><th>OS</th><th>llvm-gcc baseline</th><th>clang baseline
364 </th><th>tests</th></tr>
365 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>Linux</td><td>last release</td><td>last release</td><td>llvm dejagnu, clang tests, test-suite (including spec)</td></tr>
366 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>FreeBSD</td><td>none</td><td>last release</td><td>llvm dejagnu, clang tests, test-suite</td></tr>
367 <tr><td>x86-32</td><td>mingw</td><td>last release</td><td>none</td><td>QT</td></tr>
368 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>Mac OS 10.X</td><td>last release</td><td>last release</td><td>llvm dejagnu, clang tests, test-suite (including spec)</td></tr>
369 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>Linux</td><td>last release</td><td>last release</td><td>llvm dejagnu, clang tests, test-suite (including spec)</td></tr>
370 <tr><td>x86-64</td><td>FreeBSD</td><td>none</td><td>last release</td><td>llvm dejagnu, clang tests, test-suite</td></tr>
374 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
375 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="commTest">Community Testing</a></div>
376 <div class="doc_text">
378 Once all testing has been completed and appropriate bugs filed, the pre-release
379 tar balls may be put on the website and the LLVM community is notified. Ask that
380 all LLVM developers test the release in 2 ways:</p>
382 <li>Download llvm-X.X, llvm-test-X.X, and the appropriate llvm-gcc4
383 and/or clang binary. Build LLVM.
384 Run "make check" and the full llvm-test suite (make TEST=nightly report).</li>
385 <li>Download llvm-X.X, llvm-test-X.X, and the llvm-gcc4 and/or clang source.
386 Compile everything. Run "make check" and the full llvm-test suite (make TEST=nightly
389 <p>Ask LLVM developers to submit the report and make check results to the list.
390 Attempt to verify that there are no regressions from the previous release.
391 The results are not used to qualify a release, but to spot other potential
392 problems. For unsupported targets, verify that make check at least is
395 <p>During the first round of testing time,
396 all regressions must be fixed before the second pre-release is created.</p>
398 <p>If this is the second round of testing, this is only to ensure the bug
399 fixes previously merged in have not created new major problems. This is not
400 the time to solve additional and unrelated bugs. If no patches are merged in,
401 the release is determined to be ready and the release manager may move onto
406 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
407 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-patch">Release Patch Rules
409 <div class="doc_text">
411 Below are the rules regarding patching the release branch.</p>
413 <li>Patches applied to the release branch are only applied by the release
415 <li>During the first round of testing, patches that fix regressions or that
416 are small and relatively risk free (verified by the appropriate code owner)
417 are applied to the branch. Code owners are asked to be very conservative in
418 approving patches for the branch and we reserve the right to reject any patch
419 that does not fix a regression as previously defined.</li>
420 <li>During the remaining rounds of testing, only patches that fix regressions
427 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
428 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-final">Release Final Tasks
430 <div class="doc_text">
432 The final stages of the release process involving tagging the release branch,
433 updating documentation that refers to the release, and updating the demo
435 <p>FIXME: Add a note if anything needs to be done to the clang website.
436 Eventually the websites will be merged hopefully.</p>
440 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
441 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="updocs">Update Documentation</a></div>
442 <div class="doc_text">
444 Review the documentation and ensure that it is up to date. The Release Notes
445 must be updated to reflect bug fixes, new known issues, and changes in the
446 list of supported platforms. The Getting Started Guide should be updated to
447 reflect the new release version number tag avaiable from Subversion and
448 changes in basic system requirements. Merge both changes from mainline into
453 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
454 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="tag">Tag the Release Branch</a></div>
455 <div class="doc_text">
456 <p>Tag the release branch using the following procedure:</p>
457 <div class="doc_code">
459 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XX \
460 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
461 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_XX \
462 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
463 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XX \
464 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
471 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
472 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="updemo">Update the LLVM Demo Page</a></div>
473 <div class="doc_text">
475 The LLVM demo page must be updated to use the new release. This consists of
476 using the llvm-gcc binary and building LLVM. Update the website demo page
477 configuration to use the new release.</p>
480 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
481 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="webupdates">Update the LLVM Website</a></div>
482 <div class="doc_text">
484 The website must be updated before the release announcement is sent out. Here is
487 <li> Check out the <tt>website</tt> module from CVS. </li>
488 <li> Create a new subdirectory X.X in the releases directory. </li>
489 <li> Commit the <tt>llvm</tt>, <tt>test-suite</tt>, <tt>llvm-gcc</tt> source,
490 <tt>clang source</tt>, <tt>clang binaries</tt>,
491 and <tt>llvm-gcc</tt> binaries in this new directory. </li>
492 <li> Copy and commit the <tt>llvm/docs</tt> and <tt>LICENSE.txt</tt>
493 files into this new directory. The docs should be built with BUILD_FOR_WEBSITE=1.</li>
494 <li> Commit the index.html to the release/X.X directory to redirect (use from previous
496 <li> Update the <tt>releases/download.html</tt> file with the new release. </li>
497 <li>Update the <tt>releases/index.html</tt> with the new release and link to
498 release documentation.</li>
499 <li> Finally, update the main page (<tt>index.html</tt> and sidebar) to
500 point to the new release and release announcement. Make sure this all gets
501 committed back into Subversion.</li>
505 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
506 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="announce">Announce the Release</a></div>
507 <div class="doc_text">
508 <p>Have Chris send out the release announcement when everything is finished.</p>
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