Releasing avocado

So you have all PRs approved, the Sprint meeting is done and now Avocado is ready to be released. Great, let’s go over (most of) the details you need to pay attention to.

Bump the version number

For the Avocado versioning, two files need to receive a manual version update:

  • VERSION
  • python-avocado.spec

followed by make propagate-version to propagate this change to all optional and “linkabe” plugins sharing the parent dir (eg. avocado-vt). Don’t forget to commit the changes of “linked” plugins as they live in different repositories.

An example diff (after the make propagate-version) looks like this:

diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/optional_plugins/html/VERSION b/optional_plugins/html/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/optional_plugins/html/VERSION
+++ b/optional_plugins/html/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/optional_plugins/robot/VERSION b/optional_plugins/robot/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/optional_plugins/robot/VERSION
+++ b/optional_plugins/robot/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/optional_plugins/runner_docker/VERSION b/optional_plugins/runner_docker/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/optional_plugins/runner_docker/VERSION
+++ b/optional_plugins/runner_docker/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/optional_plugins/runner_remote/VERSION b/optional_plugins/runner_remote/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/optional_plugins/runner_remote/VERSION
+++ b/optional_plugins/runner_remote/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/optional_plugins/runner_vm/VERSION b/optional_plugins/runner_vm/VERSION
index dd0353d..aafccd8 100644
--- a/optional_plugins/runner_vm/VERSION
+++ b/optional_plugins/runner_vm/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-48.0
+49.0
diff --git a/python-avocado.spec b/python-avocado.spec
index 6a4b067..4b9dba8 100644
--- a/python-avocado.spec
+++ b/python-avocado.spec
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@

 Summary: Framework with tools and libraries for Automated Testing
 Name: python-%{srcname}
-Version: 48.0
+Version: 49.0
 Release: 1%{?dist}
 License: GPLv2
 Group: Development/Tools
@@ -259,6 +259,9 @@ examples of how to write tests on your own.
 %{_datadir}/avocado/wrappers

 %changelog
+* Wed Apr 12 2017 Lukas Doktor <ldoktor@redhat.com> - 49.0-0
+- Testing release
+
 * Mon Apr  3 2017 Cleber Rosa <cleber@localhost.localdomain> - 48.0-1
 - Updated exclude directives and files for optional plugins

You can find on git such commits that will help you get oriented for other repos.

Which repositories you should pay attention to

In general, a release of avocado includes taking a look and eventually release content in the following repositories:

  • avocado
  • avocado-vt

Tag all repositories

When everything is in good shape, commit the version changes and tag that commit in master with:

$ git tag -u $(GPG_ID) -s $(RELEASE) -m 'Avocado Release $(RELEASE)'

Then the tag should be pushed to the GIT repository with:

$ git push --tags

Build RPMs

Go to the source directory and do:

$ make rpm
...
+ exit 0

This should be all. It will build packages using mock, targeting your default configuration. That usually means the same platform you’re currently on.

Sign Packages

All the packages should be signed for safer public consumption. The process is, of course, dependent on the private keys, put is based on running:

$ rpm --resign

For more information look at the rpmsign(8) man page.

Upload packages to repository

The current distribution method is based on serving content over HTTP. That means that repository metadata is created locally and synchronized to the well know public Web server. A process similar to:

$ cd $REPO_ROOT && for DIR in epel-?-noarch fedora-??-noarch; \
do cd $DIR && createrepo -v . && cd ..; done;

Creates the repo metadata locally. Then a command similar to:

$ rsync -va $REPO_ROOT user@repo_web_server:/path

Is used to copy the content over.

Write release notes

Release notes give an idea of what has changed on a given development cycle. Good places to go for release notes are:

  1. Git logs
  2. Trello Cards (Look for the Done lists)
  3. Github compare views: https://github.com/avocado-framework/avocado/compare/0.28.0…0.29.0

Go there and try to write a text that represents the changes that the release encompasses.

Upload package to PyPI

Users may also want to get Avocado from the PyPI repository, so please upload there as well. To help with the process, please run:

$ make pypi

And follow the URL and brief instructions given.

Configure Read The Docs

On https://readthedocs.org/dashboard/avocado-framework/edit/:

  • Click in Versions. In Choose Active Versions, find the version you’re releasing and check the Active option. Submit.
  • Click in Versions again. In Default Version, select the new version you’re releasing. Submit.

Send e-mails to avocado-devel and other places

Send the e-mail with the release notes to avocado-devel and virt-test-devel.