nix-super/maintainers/release-process.md
2024-07-29 23:58:38 +02:00

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# Nix release process
## Release artifacts
The release process is intended to create the following for each
release:
* A Git tag
* Binary tarballs in https://releases.nixos.org/?prefix=nix/
* Docker images
* Closures in https://cache.nixos.org
* (Optionally) Updated `fallback-paths.nix` in Nixpkgs
* An updated manual on https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/
## Creating a new release from the `master` branch
* Make sure that the [Hydra `master` jobset](https://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nix/master) succeeds.
* In a checkout of the Nix repo, make sure you're on `master` and run
`git pull`.
* Compile the release notes by running
```console
$ export VERSION=X.YY
$ git checkout -b release-notes
$ ./maintainers/release-notes
```
where `X.YY` is *without* the patch level, e.g. `2.12` rather than ~~`2.12.0`~~.
A commit is created.
* Proof-read / edit / rearrange the release notes if needed. Breaking changes
and highlights should go to the top.
* Run `maintainers/release-credits` to make sure the credits script works
and produces a sensible output. Some emails might not automatically map to
a GitHub handle.
* Push.
```console
$ git push --set-upstream $REMOTE release-notes
```
* Create a PR for `release-notes`.
* Wait for the PR to be merged.
* Create a branch for the release:
```console
$ git checkout master
$ git pull
$ git checkout -b $VERSION-maintenance
```
* Mark the release as official:
```console
$ sed -e 's/officialRelease = false;/officialRelease = true;/' -i flake.nix
```
This removes the link to `rl-next.md` from the manual and sets
`officialRelease = true` in `flake.nix`.
* Commit
* Push the release branch:
```console
$ git push --set-upstream origin $VERSION-maintenance
```
* Create a jobset for the release branch on Hydra as follows:
* Go to the jobset of the previous release
(e.g. https://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nix/maintenance-2.11).
* Select `Actions -> Clone this jobset`.
* Set identifier to `maintenance-$VERSION`.
* Set description to `$VERSION release branch`.
* Set flake URL to `github:NixOS/nix/$VERSION-maintenance`.
* Hit `Create jobset`.
* Wait for the new jobset to evaluate and build. If impatient, go to
the evaluation and select `Actions -> Bump builds to front of
queue`.
* When the jobset evaluation has succeeded building, take note of the
evaluation ID (e.g. `1780832` in
`https://hydra.nixos.org/eval/1780832`).
* Tag the release and upload the release artifacts to
[`releases.nixos.org`](https://releases.nixos.org/) and [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/):
```console
$ IS_LATEST=1 ./maintainers/upload-release.pl <EVAL-ID>
```
Note: `IS_LATEST=1` causes the `latest-release` branch to be
force-updated. This is used by the `nixos.org` website to get the
[latest Nix manual](https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/).
TODO: This script requires the right AWS credentials. Document.
TODO: This script currently requires a
`/home/eelco/Dev/nix-pristine`.
TODO: trigger nixos.org netlify: https://docs.netlify.com/configure-builds/build-hooks/
* Prepare for the next point release by editing `.version` to
e.g.
```console
$ echo 2.12.1 > .version
$ git commit -a -m 'Bump version'
$ git push
```
Commit and push this to the maintenance branch.
* Bump the version of `master`:
```console
$ git checkout master
$ git pull
$ NEW_VERSION=2.13.0
$ echo $NEW_VERSION > .version
$ git checkout -b bump-$NEW_VERSION
$ git commit -a -m 'Bump version'
$ git push --set-upstream origin bump-$NEW_VERSION
```
Make a pull request and auto-merge it.
* Create a milestone for the next release, move all unresolved issues
from the previous milestone, and close the previous milestone. Set
the date for the next milestone 6 weeks from now.
* Create a backport label.
* Post an [announcement on Discourse](https://discourse.nixos.org/c/announcements/8), including the contents of
`rl-$VERSION.md`.
## Creating a point release
* Checkout.
```console
$ git checkout XX.YY-maintenance
```
* Determine the next patch version.
```console
$ export VERSION=XX.YY.ZZ
```
* Update release notes.
```console
$ ./maintainers/release-notes
```
* Push.
```console
$ git push
```
* Wait for the desired evaluation of the maintenance jobset to finish
building.
* Run
```console
$ IS_LATEST=1 ./maintainers/upload-release.pl <EVAL-ID>
```
Omit `IS_LATEST=1` when creating a point release that is not on the
most recent stable branch. This prevents `nixos.org` to going back
to an older release.
* Bump the version number of the release branch as above (e.g. to
`2.12.2`).
## Recovering from mistakes
`upload-release.pl` should be idempotent. For instance a wrong `IS_LATEST` value can be fixed that way, by running the script on the actual latest release.