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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 developement 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="#tag">Tag the LLVM Release Branch</a></li>
97 <li><a href="#updocs">Update Documentation</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 Clang 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 llvm and the test-suite.
180 <p>FIXME: Add a note about clang.</p>
181 <p>In addition, the version number of all the Bugzilla components must be
182 updated for the next release.
186 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
187 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="dist">Build the LLVM Source Distributions</a></div>
188 <div class="doc_text">
190 Create source distributions for LLVM, LLVM GCC, Clang, and the LLVM Test
191 Suite by exporting the source from Subversion and archiving it. This can be
192 done with the following commands:
195 <div class="doc_code">
197 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-X.X
198 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-gcc4.2-X.X.source
199 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_<i>XX</i> llvm-test-X.X
200 svn export https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/cfe/branches/release_<i>XX</i> clang-X.X
201 tar -czvf - llvm-X.X | gzip > llvm-X.X.tar.gz
202 tar -czvf - llvm-test-X.X | gzip > llvm-test-X.X.tar.gz
203 tar -czvf - llvm-gcc4.2-X.X.source | gzip > llvm-gcc-4.2-X.X.source.tar.gz
204 tar -czvf - clang-X.X.source | gzip > clang-X.X.source.tar.gz
209 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
210 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-build">
211 Building the Release</a></div>
213 <div class="doc_text">
214 Info about this. Criteria for a successful build.
217 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
218 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="build">Build LLVM</a></div>
219 <div class="doc_text">
221 Build both debug and release (optimized) versions of LLVM on all
222 platforms. Ensure the build is warning and error free on each platform.
223 Note that when building the LLVM GCC Binary, use a release build of LLVM.
227 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
228 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvmgccbin">Build the LLVM GCC Binary Distribution</a></div>
229 <div class="doc_text">
231 Creating the LLVM GCC binary distribution (release/optimized) requires
232 performing the following steps for each supported platform:
237 Build the LLVM GCC front-end by following the directions in the README.LLVM
238 file. Be sure to build with LLVM_VERSION_INFO=X.X, where X is the major and
239 minor release numbers.
243 Copy the installation directory to a directory named for the specific target.
244 For example on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the directory would be named
245 <tt>llvm-gcc4.2-2.6-x86-linux-RHEL4</tt>. Archive and compress the new directory.
250 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
251 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="clangbin">Build Clang Binary Distribution</a></div>
252 <div class="doc_text">
254 Creating the Clang binary distribution (release/optimized) requires
255 performing the following steps for each supported platform:
260 Instructions how to build it.
264 Instructions on how to package
270 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
271 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="target-build">Target Specific Build
273 <div class="doc_text">
275 Specify what is used to build llvm, llvm-gcc, clang on each target.
280 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
281 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-qualify">
282 Building the Release</a></div>
284 <div class="doc_text">
285 How to qualify the release.
289 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
290 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvm-qualify">Qualify LLVM</a></div>
291 <div class="doc_text">
296 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
297 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="llvmgcc-qualify">Qualify LLVM-GCC</a></div>
298 <div class="doc_text">
303 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
304 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="clang-qualify">Qualify Clang</a></div>
305 <div class="doc_text">
310 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
311 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="targets">Specific Target
312 Qualification Details</a></div>
313 <div class="doc_text">
318 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
319 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="commTest">Community Testing</a></div>
320 <div class="doc_text">
322 Once all testing has been completed and appropriate bugs filed, the pre-release
323 tar balls may be put on the website and the LLVM community is notified. Ask that
324 all LLVM developers test the release in 2 ways:</p>
326 <li>Download llvm-X.X, llvm-test-X.X, and the appropriate llvm-gcc4 binary.
327 Run "make check" and the full llvm-test suite (make TEST=nightly report).<li>
328 <li>Download llvm-X.X, llvm-test-X.X, and the llvm-gcc4 source. Compile
329 everything. Run "make check" and the full llvm-test suite (make TEST=nightly
332 <p>Ask LLVM developers to submit the report and make check results to the list.
333 Verify that there are no regressions from the previous release. For
334 unsupported targets, verify that make check at least is clean.</p>
336 <p>The first round of pre-release testing will be the longest. During this time,
337 all regressions must be fixed before the second pre-release is created (repeat
340 <p>If this is the second round of testing, this is only to ensure the bug fixes
341 previously merged in have not created new major problems. This is not the time
342 to solve additional and unrelated bugs. If no patches are merged in, the release
343 is determined to be ready and the release manager may move onto the next step.</p>
346 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
347 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-patch">Release Patch Rules
349 <div class="doc_text">
355 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
356 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="release-final">Release Final Tasks
358 <div class="doc_text">
364 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
365 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="tag">Tag the Release Branch</a></div>
366 <div class="doc_text">
367 <p>Tag the release branch using the following procedure:</p>
368 <div class="doc_code">
370 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/branches/release_XX \
371 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
372 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/branches/release_XX \
373 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm-gcc-4.2/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
374 svn copy https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/branches/release_XX \
375 https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/test-suite/tags/RELEASE_<i>XX</i>
380 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
381 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="updocs">Update Documentation</a></div>
382 <div class="doc_text">
384 Review the documentation and ensure that it is up to date. The Release Notes
385 must be updated to reflect bug fixes, new known issues, and changes in the
386 list of supported platforms. The Getting Started Guide should be updated to
387 reflect the new release version number tag avaiable from Subversion and
388 changes in basic system requirements. Merge both changes from mainline into
393 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
394 <div class="doc_subsection"><a name="updemo">Update the LLVM Demo Page</a></div>
395 <div class="doc_text">
397 The LLVM demo page must be updated to use the new release. This consists of
398 using the llvm-gcc binary and building LLVM. Update the website demo page
399 configuration to use the new release.</p>
402 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
403 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="webupdates">Update the LLVM Website</a></div>
404 <div class="doc_text">
406 The website must be updated before the release announcement is sent out. Here is
409 <li> Check out the <tt>website</tt> module from CVS. </li>
410 <li> Create a new subdirectory X.X in the releases directory. </li>
411 <li> Commit the <tt>llvm</tt>, <tt>test-suite</tt>, <tt>llvm-gcc</tt> source,
412 and <tt>llvm-gcc</tt> binaries in this new directory. </li>
413 <li> Copy and commit the <tt>llvm/docs</tt> and <tt>LICENSE.txt</tt>
414 files into this new directory. The docs should be built with BUILD_FOR_WEBSITE=1.</li>
415 <li> Commit the index.html to the release/X.X directory to redirect (use from previous
417 <li> Update the <tt>releases/download.html</tt> file with the new release. </li>
418 <li>Update the <tt>releases/index.html</tt> with the new release and link to
419 release documentation.</li>
420 <li> Finally, update the main page (<tt>index.html</tt> and sidebar) to
421 point to the new release and release announcement. Make sure this all gets
422 commited back into Subversion.</li>
426 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
427 <div class="doc_subsubsection"><a name="announce">Announce the Release</a></div>
428 <div class="doc_text">
429 <p>Have Chris send out the release announcement when everything is finished.</p>
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