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Calamares Release Process

Calamares releases are now rolling when-they-are-ready releases. Releases are made from calamares and tagged there. When, in future, LTS releases resume, these steps may be edited again.

Most things are automated through the release script RELEASE.sh

(0) During a release cycle

  • Fetch latest translations from Transifex. We only push / pull translations from calamares branch, so longer-lived branches (e.g. 3.1.x) don't get translation updates. This is to keep the translation workflow simple. The script automatically commits changes to the translations. It's ok to do this during a release cycle. Run sh ci/txpull.sh to fetch translations and commit the changes in one go.
  • Push the strings to Transifex. From a checkout, run ci/txpush.sh
  • Update the list of enabled translation languages in CMakeLists.txt. Check the [translation site][transifex] for the list of languages with fairly complete translations, or use ci/txstats.py --edit for an automated suggestion. If there are changes, commit them.

(1) Preparation

  • Double-check the CALAMARES_VERSION value at the top of CMakeLists.txt.
  • Set CALAMARES_RELEASE_MODE to ON in CMakeLists.txt.
  • Edit CHANGES and set the date of the release.
  • Commit both. This is usually done with commit-message Changes: pre-release housekeeping.

(2) Release Preparation

  • Make sure all tests pass.
      make
      make test
    
    Note that all means all-that-make-sense. The partition-manager tests need an additional environment variable to be set for some tests, which will destroy an attached disk. This is not always desirable. There are some sample config-files that are empty and which fail the config-tests. Note that the release script (see below) also runs the tests and will bail out if any fail.
  • Make sure the translations are up-to-date. There is logic to check for changes in translations: a movable tag translations indicates when translations were last pushed, and the logic tries to enforce a week of latency between push-translations and a release, to allow translators to catch up. Run ci/txcheck.sh to confirm this. Run ci/txcheck.sh --cleanup to tidy up afterwards, and possibly pass -T to the release script to skip the translation-age check if you feel it is warranted.
  • Run the helper script ci/RELEASE.sh or follow steps below. The script checks:
    • for uncommitted local changes,
    • if translations are up-to-date and translators have had enough time to chase new strings,
    • that the build is successful (with gcc and clang, if available),
    • tests pass,
    • tarball can be created,
    • tarball can be signed. On success, it prints out a suitable signature- and SHA256 blurb for use in the release announcement.

(3) Release

Follow the instructions printed by the release script.

  • Push the tags.
  • Create a new release on GitHub.
  • Upload tarball and signature.
  • Publish release article on calamares.io.
  • Close associated milestone on GitHub if it's entirely done.
  • Update topic on #calamares IRC channel.

(4) Post-Release

  • Bump the version number in CMakeLists.txt in CALAMARES_VERSION.
  • Set CALAMARES_RELEASE_MODE back to OFF.
  • Add a placeholder entry for the next release in CHANGES with date text not released yet.
  • Commit and push that, usually with the message Changes: post-release housekeeping.
# 3.2.XX (unreleased) #

This release contains contributions from (alphabetically by first name):
 - No external contributors yet

## Core ##
 - No core changes yet

## Modules ##
 - No module changes yet

Related Material

This section isn't directly related to any specific release, but bears on all releases.

GPG Key Maintainence

Calamares uses GPG Keys for signing the tarballs and some commits (tags, mostly). Calamares uses the maintainer's personal GPG key for this. This section details some GPG activities that the maintainer should do with those keys.

  • Signing sub-key. It's convenient to use a signing sub-key specifically for the signing of Calamares. To do so, add a key to the private key. It's recommended to use key expiry, and to update signing keys periodically.
    • Run gpg -K to find the key ID of your personal GPG secret key.
    • Run gpg --edit-key <keyid> to edit that personal GPG key.
    • In gpg edit-mode, use addkey, then pick a key type that is sign-only (e.g. type 4, RSA (sign only)), then pick a keysize (3072 seems ok as of 2020) and set a key expiry time, (e.g. in 18 months time).
    • After generation, the secret key information is printed again, now including the new signing subkey:

ssb rsa3072/0xCFDDC96F12B1915C created: 2020-07-11 expires: 2022-01-02 usage: S

- Update the `RELEASE.sh` script with a new signing sub-key ID when a new
  one is generated. Also announce the change of signing sub-key (e.g. on
  the Calmares site or as part of a release announcement).
  - Send the updated key to keyservers with `gpg --send-keys <keyid>`
  - Optional: sanitize the keyring for use in development machines.
    Export the current subkeys of the primary key and keep **only** those
    secret keys around. There is documentation
    [here](https://blog.tinned-software.net/create-gnupg-key-with-sub-keys-to-sign-encrypt-authenticate/)
    but be careful.
  - Export the public key material with `gpg --export --armor <keyid>`,
    possibly also setting an output file.
  - Upload that public key to the relevant GitHub profile.
  - Upload that public key to the Calamares site.