Release process

This page explains step by step the various processes involved from preparing for a release to actually releasing it. The following topics are covered:

Release policy

The Eclipse ESCET project uses a time-based release policy. We generally release every three months, at the end of each quarter, typically on its last working day.

We may however deviate from this. For instance, we may release earlier at the end of the year, well before the Christmas period.

Planning for a next version

For a new version (not milestone or release candidate), follow these steps. Perform them well in advance of starting work on the version, i.e. while still working on the previous version:

  • Create a new release record:

    • Go to https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/technology.escet.

    • Log in with your Eclipse Foundation account using the link at the top-right of the page.

    • Click the Create a new release link in the bar at the right.

    • Set the planned release date and give the release a name, e.g. 0.1, 0.1.1 or 1.0.

    • Click Create and edit.

    • For Description, click the Source button in the toolbar of the editor. Then enter <p>See <a href="https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipse/escet/escet/-/milestones/NNN">Eclipse ESCET GitLab vN.N issues</a> for more information.</p>. Replace NNN by the actual GitLab milestone number to ensure a correct URL. Replace vN.N by the version, e.g. v0.1, v0.1.1 or v1.0.

    • Change the Release type if applicable.

    • For IP Due Diligence Type select Type A - License Compatibility Certification.

  • Create a GitLab milestone:

Preparing Git repository for a next version

To prepare the Git repository for the next version (not a milestone or release candidate), follow these steps:

  • Run in the root of the Git repository the command ./mvn_escet.sh org.eclipse.tycho:tycho-versions-plugin:set-version -DnewVersion=<new-version>, where <new-version> is replaced by the new version, e.g. 0.2.0.qualifier. This replaces most version numbers automatically. Check all changes to ensure no versions are updated that should not be updated.

  • Verify that the feature url and version of all org.eclipse.escet.* features in org.eclipse.escet.product/category.xml are properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Verify that the product version in org.eclipse.escet.product/escet.product is properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Verify that the feature version of the product feature in org.eclipse.escet.product/escet.product is properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Verify that the Bundle-Version of all MANIFEST.MF files in org.eclipse.escet.* projects are properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Manually replace in all MANIFEST.MF files the regex org\.eclipse\.escet\.([a-z0-9\.]+);bundle-version="<old-version>" by org.eclipse.escet.\1;bundle-version="<new-version>", where <old-version> and <new-version> are replaced by actual versions, e.g. 0.1.0. Check for unintended changes. Search for the old version in all manifests to ensure none remain.

  • In all documentation sets, add a new section to the release notes for the new version, before the existing versions:

    === Version 0.2
    
    TBD
  • Verify that the <version> of a POM and its parent in each pom.xml are properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should mostly be automatic. Manually adapt it where necessary.

    • Manually adapt the version in org.eclipse.escet.releng.configuration/pom.xml.

    • Manually adapt the parent version in org.eclipse.escet.root/pom.xml. Also remove the version for the pom itself, to prevent a warning that the version of the pom and its parent are identical.

  • Verify that the version of all feature.xml files in org.eclipse.escet.* projects are properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Verify that the license-feature-version of all feature.xml files in org.eclipse.escet.* projects are properly updated. The old version should no longer be present. This should be automatic.

  • Manually replace in all feature.xml files the regex <import feature="([^"]+)" version="<old-version>"/> by <import feature="\1" version="<new-version>"/>, where <old-version> and <new-version> are replaced by actual versions, e.g. 0.1.0.qualifier. Check for unintended changes.

  • Manually search for the old version in all features.xml files to ensure none remain.

  • Search the entire Git repository (all projects) for the old version number and update anything that still requires updating.

  • Test that the build works.

Working on a release

The work for the next release (milestone, release candidate, or final release) is done in the develop branch. See the development process for more information.

Note that for each version at least one milestone release and at least one release candidate are required before a final release.

Preparing a release

Once the work on develop is done for a release (milestone, release candidate, or final release), follow these steps to prepare for the release:

Performing a release

To perform a release (milestone, release candidate, or final release), i.e. actually release it, follow these steps:

  • Create a GitLab merge request from develop to master, and name it after the release. Since master is a protected branch for the Eclipse ESCET GitLab, a GitLab merge request is the only way to update it.

  • Ensure the merge request is successfully built on Jenkins. Then merge the merge request.

  • Check that the build on master succeeds in Jenkins.

  • Add a tag on the commit in master that is to be released. Only version tags with a specific syntax will be picked up by Jenkins to be released. For instance, use v0.1, v0.1.1, v2.0, etc for releases, v0.1-M1 for a milestone build, or v0.1-RC1 for a release candidate.

    Add the tag via GitLab, at https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipse/escet/escet/-/tags/new. Use the Tag name also as Message and as Release notes. Make sure to select master as branch from which to create the tag.

  • Go to https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipse/escet/escet/-/releases and edit the new GitLab release by clicking the Edit this release icon at the top-right of the release. Add the GitLab milestone to the GitLab release, by selecting it under Milestones. Save the changes.

  • Go to Jenkins, at https://ci.eclipse.org/escet/job/ESCET%20build/. Log in to Jenkins by clicking on the link at the top-right of the page. Select Scan GitLab Project Now to ensure Jenkins picks up the new tag.

  • Go to https://ci.eclipse.org/escet/job/ESCET%20build/view/tags/ to see the new tag on Jenkins. Manually trigger a build for the tag, by clicking the Schedule a build for …​ icon in the row for the tag. Jenkins will then automatically build and release a new version from that tag.

  • All releases are available at https://download.eclipse.org/escet/. For a version v0.1, the downloads will be located at https://download.eclipse.org/escet/v0.1.

    Note that according to the Eclipse Foundation Wiki page IT Infrastructure Doc, "Once your files are on the download.eclipse.org server, they are immediately available to the general public. However, for release builds, we ask that you wait at least four hours for our mirror sites to fetch the new files before linking to them. It typically takes a day or two for all the mirror sites to synchronize with us and get new files."

    That same wiki page also notes that "Although you can link directly to download.eclipse.org/yourfile.zip, you can also use the Find a Mirror script […​]. Using this script allows you to view download statistics and allows users to pick a nearby mirror site for their download." It further indicates that "P2 repositories are not normally accessed via the mirror selection script." The Find a Mirror script also transparently handles files moved from download.eclipse.org to archive.eclipse.org. End users should thus be referred to https://eclipse.org/escet/download.html instead of to download.eclipse.org, to ensure the mirror script is used for faster downloads and to ensure downloads count in the download statistics.

  • Jenkins will automatically push the website for the new release to the website Git repository, in a directory for the specific release. For a version v0.1, the website can be accessed at https://eclipse.org/escet/v0.1. It may take a few minutes for the Git repository to be synced to the webserver and for the website for the new version to become available.

  • If the website for the new release is to be the standard visible website for the project (at https://eclipse.org/escet), it has to be manually replaced. This is to ensure that a bugfix release for an older version doesn’t override the standard visible website. The following steps explain how to 'promote' a website for a specific version to become the standard visible website:

    • Make sure you’ve uploaded your SSH public key to Eclipse Gerrit. This is a one-time only step. Go to https://git.eclipse.org/r/. Sign in using your Eclipse Foundation committer account. Use the gear icon at the top right to access your account settings. Under SSH Keys add your SSH public key. Also make note of your username, Full name and Email address.

    • Clone the Eclipes ESCET website Git repository using git clone ssh://<username>@git.eclipse.org:29418/www.eclipse.org/escet.git. Make sure to replace <username> by your Eclipse Foundation committer account username.

    • In the cloned repository, remove all files/folders in the root of the Git repository pertaining to the current standard visible website. Be sure not to remove any of the directories with websites for specific releases.

    • Copy the files/folders from the directory with the website for the release that you want to make the standard visible website, and put them in the root of the Git repository.

    • Add all changes to be committed, e.g. by using git add -A.

    • Make sure to use the Full name and Email address of your Eclipse Foundation committer account. E.g. use git config --local user.name "<full_name>" and git config --local user.email "<email>", replacing <full_name> and <email> by the appropriate information matching your Eclipse Foundation committer account.

    • Commit the changes. Use as commit message Set standard visible website to release <version>., replacing <version> by the release version that will become the new standard visible website. Make sure to sign off the commit to pass Eclipse Foundation automatic commit validation. E.g. use the following to commit the changes: git commit -s -m "Set standard visible website to release v0.1.".

    • Push the changes to the Git server. E.g. use git push. If successful you should see the changes at the Git server’s web view, at https://git.eclipse.org/c/www.eclipse.org/escet.git/.

    • It may take a few minutes for the Git repository to be synced to the webserver, and for the new standard visible website to become available. The standard visible website can be accessed at https://eclipse.org/escet. Depending on browser cache settings and other factors, it may be necessary to force refresh your browser for it to pick up the changes on the server.

  • Remove/archive old releases:

    • For every release (not a milestone or release candidate), remove all milestones and release candidates of the previous version and older. E.g. for v0.2, remove v0.1-M1, v0.1-M2, v0.1-RC1, etc. Also archive all releases older than the current and previous release. E.g. for v0.3 archive v0.1 and older, but keep v0.2.

      Consider whether archiving or removing P2 update sites will lead to issues for users. See for more information the Eclipse Foundation Wiki page Moving a repo to archive.eclipse.org.

    • Old websites can be removed in a similar way to the above instructions to change the default website. Only remove the directory for the milestone or release candidate.

    • Older downloads can be archived. Go to https://download.eclipse.org/escet/. Make sure you’re logged in. This should make check-boxes appear. Select the folders to archive and click the Archive button. It may take a few minutes for archiving to complete.

    • Archived downloads can be removed. Go to https://archive.eclipse.org/escet/. Make sure you’re logged in. This should make check-boxes appear. Select the folders to delete and click the Delete button. It may take a few minutes for deleting to complete.