1 README for MAKING BINUTILS RELEASES
3 This is a collection of notes on how to perform a binutils release. A
4 lot of this information can also be found in the maintain.texi file in
7 https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/
9 It is useful to have a cloned copy of the sources of this project as
10 it also contains an upload script used to install tarballs on the GNU
13 Make sure that you have upload authority on sourceware and fencepost.
14 See the maintain.texi file for details on how to obtain these
17 Note - when performing a release it is helpful to edit this document
18 as you go, updating the example commands so that they are ready for
19 the release that follows.
21 -------------------------------------------------
22 How to perform a release.
23 -------------------------------------------------
25 1. Choose dates for the branch and release. Weekends are better
26 because they are less busy. It is typical to leave two weeks
27 between creating the branch and creating the release.
29 Send an email out warning contributors about the forthcoming
32 2. When the branch date is near: Update the libiberty and config
33 directories and the top level Makefile and configure files. Also
34 consider updating the toplevel libtool files.
36 -------------------------------------------------
37 How to create the release branch.
38 -------------------------------------------------
40 Approx time to complete from here: 2 hours ...
42 2.5 If you have not built from the sources recently then now is the
43 time to check that they still work...
45 3. When branch day arrives add markers for the upcoming release to
46 the NEWS files in gas, ld, and binutils. No need to update NEWS
47 in the gold directory - it has its own release numbering.
49 Likewise for the ChangeLog files in: bfd, binutils, cpu,
50 elfcpp, gas, gold, gprof, include, ld, libctf, opcodes and toplevel.
52 Add a note of the name of the new branch to binutils/BRANCHES.
56 4. Create the release branch using:
58 git branch binutils-2_45-branch
59 git push origin binutils-2_45-branch
61 If you get a message like:
63 remote: fatal: Invalid revision range 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f974f26cb16cc6fe3946f163c787a05e713fb77b
65 It appears that this can be ignored...
67 5. Make sure that the branch is there. IE check out the branch sources:
69 git clone ssh://sourceware.org/git/binutils-gdb.git -b binutils-2_45-branch 2.45
71 If you get a message about being in a "detached head" state, something
74 Keep the checked out sources - they are going to be needed in future
77 6. Update "BINUTILS_BRANCH" in gdbadmin's crontab:
79 Log in as gdbadmin on sourceware.org, and then:
83 [change BINUTILS_BRANCH]
87 If you do not have access to this account, please feel free to
88 ask Joel Brobecker <brobecker AT adacore DOT com>.
90 7. Rename the current HEAD version entry in Bugzilla, and create a
91 new one. E.g. rename "2.45 (HEAD)" to 2.45, and create
94 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/editversions.cgi?product=binutils
96 8. Update bfd/version.m4 on HEAD to indicate that is now a snapshot
97 of the next release and the BRANCH to indicate that it is almost
98 ready for the release.
100 So if the release is going to be 2.45 then the version number on
101 the BRANCH should be set to 2.44.90 - ie almost, but not quite 2.45,
102 and the version number on the MAINLINE should be set to 2.45.50 -
103 ie half way to 2.46 release.
105 So the BRANCH bfd/version.m4 has:
107 m4_define([BFD_VERSION], [2.44.90])
109 and the MAINLINE has:
111 m4_define([BFD_VERSION], [2.45.50])
113 Regenerate various files on both branch and HEAD by configuring
114 with "--enable-maintainer-mode --enable-gold --enable-shared" and then building
115 with "make -j1 all-binutils all-gas all-gold all-gprof all-gprofng all-ld"
117 Add ChangeLog entries for the updated files. Commit the changes.
118 Make sure that this includes the .pot files as well as the
119 configure and makefiles.
121 9. Create an initial pre-release:
123 a. Remove any auto-generated files, in order to force the
124 src-release script to rebuild them.
129 b. Create a source tarball of the BRANCH sources:
131 If this is an EVEN numbered release:
133 ./src-release.sh -x binutils
135 If this is an ODD numbered release:
137 ./src-release.sh -x no_gold_bin
139 FIXME: Not sure if the following steps are needed...
141 Add a .dirstamp file to the gas/doc subdirectory:
143 touch -d `date +%Y-%m-%d` binutils-2.44.90/gas/doc/.dirstamp
144 tar rvf binutils-2.44.90.tar binutils-2.44.90/gas/doc/.dirstamp
145 rm binutils-2.44.90.tar.xz
146 xz -9 -k binutils-2.44.90.tar
150 c. Build a test target using this tarball.
152 cp binutils-*.tar.xz /dev/shm
154 tar xvf binutils-*.tar.xz
157 ../binutils-*/configure --quiet --enable-gold
161 If there are problems, fix them.
163 d. Upload the pre-release snapshot to the sourceware FTP site:
165 scp binutils-2.44.90.tar.xz sourceware.org:/var/ftp/pub/binutils/snapshots
166 ssh sourceware.org sha256sum ~ftp/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-2.44.90.tar.xz
168 Paranoia: Compare the checksum with the local version.
170 e. Clean up the source directory again.
174 10. Tell the Translation Project where to find the new tarball.
175 <coordinator@translationproject.org>
176 qv: https://translationproject.org/html/maintainers.html
178 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
179 Dear Translation Project
181 The 2.44 release branch has been created for the GNU Binutils project.
183 A snapshot of the branch sources can be found here:
185 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-2.42.90.tar.xz
187 We hope to make the official release of the sources on the <DATE>
188 although that could change if there are important bugs that need to
189 be fixed before the release.
190 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
192 11. Announce the availability of the snapshot and the branch on the
193 binutils mailing list. Set a date for when the release will
194 actually happen. Something like:
196 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
199 The <NEW_VERSION> branch has now been created:
201 git clone git://sourceware.org/git/binutils-gdb.git -b binutils-<NEW_VERSION>-branch
203 A snapshot of the sources is also available here:
205 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-<OLD_VERSION>.90.tar.xz
207 Please could all patches for the branch be run by me.
208 The rules for the branch are:
211 * Target specific bug fixes are OK.
212 * Generic bug fixes are OK if they are important and widely tested.
213 * Documentation updates/fixes are OK.
214 * Translation updates are OK.
215 * Fixes for testsuite failures are OK.
217 Ideally I would like to make the release happen in two weeks time,
218 i.e. <DATE>. Which I hope will be enough time for everyone
219 to get their final fixes in.
220 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
222 12. Build various different toolchains, test them and nag
223 maintainers to fix any testsuite failures for their
226 ==============================================================================
227 ==============================================================================
229 For the next few weeks, monitor the mailing list for new translations
230 and respond to any requests to have patches applied to the branch.
232 ==============================================================================
233 ==============================================================================
235 Then, a couple of weeks later ...
237 -------------------------------------------------
238 How to create the release.
239 -------------------------------------------------
241 20. Make sure that the branch sources still build, test and install
242 correctly. Make sure that the sources are clean, without any
243 patch files (.reg .orig *~) left over.
251 21. a. Update the release number in bfd/version.m4 on the release
252 branch to a whole new minor version number, without a point
253 value. Eg "2.43.90" becomes "2.44". NB/ Not: "2.44.00"
255 b. Change bfd/development.sh to set all values to "false".
257 c. Regenerate the configure and makefiles. And *info* files.
259 cd <build-configured-with-enable-maintainer-mode>
260 make -j1 all-gas all-ld all-binutils all-gprof all-gold all-gprofng all-libctf
263 d. Create a ChangeLog from the git refs for all of the commits
264 from when changelog entries were no longer required:
266 gitlog-to-changelog --since=2021-07-03 > ChangeLog.git
267 git add ChangeLog.git
269 The gitlog-to-changelog script is part of the sources
270 of the "config" project.
272 Add an entry for ChangeLog.git to the src-release.sh script's
273 DEVO_SUPPORT list, so that it is included in the release.
275 FIXME: it would be better if the ChangeLog.git file was permanently
276 added to the src-release.sh script, but this mean that it would have
277 to exist in the master repository, and that the GDB project would
278 need to agree to have it there.
280 e. Add ChangeLog entries for all of the updates and add a
281 "this-is-the-2.43-release" comment and commit.
284 git commit -m "this-is-the-2.44-release"
287 22. Check that your file creation mask will create the
288 correct file permissions. Eg:
293 Remove any spurious autom4te.cache files left over from the
298 23. Note - check to see if any new files have been added to the top
299 level of the source directory, but which are not in the
300 DEVO_SUPPORT variable in the src-release.sh script. If they are
301 needed then add them.
303 PARANOIA: Check that there are no pending commits:
307 Then create the release tarballs:
309 If this is an EVEN numbered release:
311 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z binutils
313 If this is an ODD numbered release:
315 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z no_gold_bin
317 OR ... for a more reproducible tarball:
319 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z \
320 -r `git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4` \
321 [binutils | no_gold_bin]
323 24. Check that the files in the tarballs have the correct
326 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "---"
328 Also check that the man files are not empty. (cf PR 28144).
330 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "\.1"
332 25. Sanity check the release on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu by building and
333 running the testsuites (gas, gold, binutils and ld).
334 Make the source directory read-only before building.
335 Also test 'make install'.
336 Also build the html and pdf documentation files.
337 If necessary fix any problems.
342 tar xvf <path-to-sources>/binutils-2.*.tar.lz
343 chmod -R -w binutils-2.*
346 ../binutils-2.*/configure --quiet --enable-gold --prefix=`pwd`/install --enable-plugins --enable-shared
347 make -j1 all-gas all-gold all-ld all-binutils all-gprof all-gprofng
348 make check-gas check-binutils check-ld check-gold
349 make install-gas install-gold install-ld install-binutils install-gprofng
351 # Needed for step 29...
352 make html pdf html-libctf pdf-libctf html-libsframe pdf-libsframe
356 26. Tag the branch with the new release number:
357 [optional: add "-u XXXXX" to sign with a gpg key]
358 enter a tag message such as: "Official GNU Binutils 2.4x release"
360 git tag -a <TAG> -u <Your Key>
362 git tag -a binutils-2_44 -u DD9E3C4F <=== Be careful to get the tag right
364 git tag -a binutils-2_44 -u DD9E3C4F -m "Official GNU Binutils 2.43 release"
366 NB/ If you do sign the binaries make sure to use a key
367 that has been published with the FSF.
369 Then push the release:
371 git push origin binutils-2_44
373 If you get an error message along the lines of:
374 "Invalid revision range ..."
377 27. Upload the tarballs to ftp.gnu.org.
379 gnupload --to ftp.gnu.org:binutils binutils-2.44.tar.*
381 Be prepared to provide the password for the key, if you
384 The gnupload script is in the gnulib/build-aux directory.
385 It uses the ncftp package for transmitting the files.
387 NB/ This step can be done in PARALLEL with step 28.
389 Check for an email response from the upload. If necessary
390 fix any problems. (The response might take a while, so
391 proceed with the next steps if you are confident that
394 28. Upload the tarballs (and signatures) to sourceware.org:
397 cd /sourceware/ftp/pub/binutils/releases
398 put binutils-2.4*.tar.*
399 chmod 644 binutils-2.4*.tar.*
402 29. Update web pages. For sourceware.org:
404 Clone the documentation (if you have not already done so):
406 git clone ssh://sourceware.org/git/binutils-htdocs
408 Create a new docs sub-directory and move into it:
414 Copy the index.html from the previous release
416 cp ../docs/index.html .
418 Update the index.html file to reference this new release and to
419 point back to the current (now old) release.
421 If necessary make the html documentation locally with the "make
422 html" command. (This should have been done by step 25 above).
424 Copy in the documentation files:
426 cp -r <build-dir>/gas/doc/as .
427 cp <build-dir>/gas/doc/as.html .
428 cp <build-dir>/gas/doc/as.pdf .
430 cp -r <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd .
431 cp <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd.html .
432 cp <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd.pdf .
434 cp -r <build-dir>/binutils/binutils_html binutils [NB/ Path not like others]
435 cp <build-dir>/binutils/doc/binutils.html .
436 cp <build-dir>/binutils/doc/binutils.pdf .
438 cp -r <build-dir>/gprof/doc/gprof .
439 cp <build-dir>/gprof/gprof.html . [NB/ Path not like others]
440 cp <build-dir>/gprof/gprof.pdf . [NB/ Path not like others]
442 cp -r <build-dir>/ld/doc/ld .
443 cp <build-dir>/ld/ld.html . [NB/ Path not like others]
444 cp <build-dir>/ld/ld.pdf . [NB/ Path not like others]
446 [NB/ The gprofng documentation does not have a node-per-page selection]
447 cp <build-dir>/gprofng/doc/gprof.html .
448 cp <build-dir>/gprofng/doc/gprof.pdf .
450 cp <build-dir>/libctf/doc/ctf-spec.html .
451 cp <build-dir>/libctf/doc/ctf-spec.pdf .
453 cp <build-dir>/libsframe/doc/sframe-spec.html .
454 cp <build-dir>/libsframe/doc/sframe-spec.pdf .
456 Update the symbolic link.
458 cd .. [Should now be in be in binutils-htdocs/ ]
462 Edit index.html file to change the links to point to the new
463 release, mention any new features, update dates and so on.
465 Check that the new web page is correct:
467 file:///<path-to-binutils-htdocs>/index.html
469 Add the new directories and files, commit and push the changes:
472 git commit -m"Update documenation for the 2.4x release"a
476 29.1 For the www.gnu.org site you have to email webmasters@gnu.org
477 and ask them to copy the change(s):
478 ---------------------------------------
481 Please could the GNU Binutils webpage at:
483 https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/binutils.html
485 be updated to indicate that there is now a newer version available
486 (2.4x). I have already updated the related page on the Sourceware
487 website so this might be useful as a template:
489 https://sourceware.org/binutils/
494 --------------------------------------
496 30. Send emails to binutils@sourceware.org, info-gnu@gnu.org and
497 David Edelsohn <dje.gcc@gmail.com> announcing the new release.
498 Sign the email and include the checksum:
500 sha256sum binutils-2.4*.tar.*
502 (The email to Davis is so that he can update the GNU Toolchain
503 social media). Something like this:
504 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
507 We are pleased to announce that version 2.4x of the GNU Binutils project
508 sources have been released and are now available for download at:
510 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils
511 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/releases/
515 As an experiment these tarballs were made with the new "-r <date>"
516 option supported by the src-release.sh script. This attempts to make
517 reproducible tarballs by sorting the files and passing the
518 "--mtime=<date>" option to tar. The date used for these tarballs was
521 git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4
523 This release contains numerous bug fixes, and also the
524 following new features:
526 <extract info from the NEWS files>
528 For more information see:
530 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=gas/NEWS;;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
531 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=ld/NEWS;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
532 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=binutils/NEWS;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
534 Our thanks go out to all of the binutils contributors, past and
535 present, for helping to make this release possible.
537 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
539 31. Clean up the source tree:
543 32. Edit bfd/development.sh on the branch and set the development flag
544 to "true". (Leave the experimental flag set to "false"). Also bump
545 the version in bfd/version.m4 by adding a trailing .0, so that the
546 date suffix keeps the version lower than the trunk version.
547 Regenerate files. Commit these changes.
549 33. Email the binutils list telling everyone that the 2.4x branch
550 is now open for business as usual and that patches no longer
551 need special approval.
553 34. Examine the bfd/config.bfd file in the mainline sources and move
554 any pending obsolete targets into the definitely obsolete
555 section. Create a changelog entry and commit.
557 Sit back and relax, you are all done.
558 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
559 How to perform a POINT release.
560 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
562 A point release is easier than a normal release since a lot of the
563 work has already been done. The branch has been created, the
564 translations updated and the documentation uploaded. So the procedure
567 0. Decide that a point release is necessary.
569 Usually this only happens when a sufficient number of serious
570 bugs have been found and fixed since the previous release, and a
571 new official release is not imminent.
573 1. Tell the community that a point release is happening. Ask
574 maintainers to ensure that their ports are up to date on the
575 release branch. Ask the community if there are any bug fixes
576 which are missing from the branch. Allow some time for the
577 responses to this step.
579 2. Make sure that the branch sources build, test and install
582 2.5 Prepare a list of the bugs which have been fixed. This
583 will be needed for step 9.
585 3. In the branch sources:
587 a. Update the minor release number in bfd/version.m4.
588 b. Edit bfd/development.sh, set "development=false".
589 c. Regenerate the configure files.
590 d. Remove spurious autom4te.cache files:
594 e. Update the changelog:
596 gitlog-to-changelog --since=2021-07-03 > ChangeLog.git
598 f. Commit the updates along with a "this-is-the-2.4x.y-release"
605 f. Tag the branch with the new release number. Optional: add
606 "-u XXXXX" to sign with a gpg key, and -m "..." for a
609 git tag -a binutils-2_43_1
611 git tag -a binutils-2_43_1 -u DD9E3C4F -m "Official GNU Binutils 2.43.1 release"
615 git push origin binutils-2_43_1
617 g. Check that your file creation mask will create the
618 correct file permissions. Ie:
622 h. Create the release tarballs:
624 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z [ binutils | no_gold_bin ]
626 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z
627 -r `git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4`
628 [ binutils | no_gold_bin ]
630 i. Check that the files in the tarballs have the correct
633 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "---"
635 4. [If paranoid - upload the tarballs to one of the FTP servers and
636 ask people to test it before going on to step 5].
638 5. Upload the tarballs to ftp.gnu.org.
640 gnupload --to ftp.gnu.org:binutils binutils-*.tar.*
642 The gnupload script is in the gnulib/build-aux directory.
644 6. Upload the tarballs to sourceware.org:
647 cd /sourceware/ftp/pub/binutils/releases
649 chmod 644 binutils-*.tar.*
652 It is OK to upload the signatures as well.
654 7. Clean the source tree again
658 Edit bfd/development.sh and set "development=true".
662 8. Update web pages. For sourceware.org:
664 * Clone the binutils documentation: git clone ssh://sourceware.org/git/binutils-htdocs
665 * Edit index.html and update the latest release number (if this
666 is a latest release).
667 * Add new documentation (if necessary).
668 * Commit and push the changes.
670 For the www.gnu.org site you have to email webmasters@gnu.org
671 and ask them to make the change(s).
673 9. Send an emails to the binutils list, info-gnu@gnu.org and
674 David Edelsohn <dje.gcc@gmail.com> announcing the new release.
675 (The email to Davis is so that he can update the GNU Toolchain
676 social media). Something like this:
678 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
681 We are pleased to announce that version 2.4x.y of the GNU Binutils
682 project sources have been released and are now available for download at:
684 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils
685 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/releases/
687 This is a point release over the previous 2.4x version, containing bug
688 fixes but no new features.
690 Our thanks go out to all of the binutils contributors, past and
691 present, for helping to make this release possible.
693 Here is a list of the bugs that have been fixed:
698 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
700 10. Create a new Bugzilla entry for the point release.
702 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/editversions.cgi?product=binutils
704 And a new milestone too:
706 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/editmilestones.cgi?product=binutils
708 Copyright (C) 2017-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
710 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
711 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
712 notice and this notice are preserved.