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_44-branch
59 git push origin binutils-2_44-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_44-branch 2.44
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 "2.44 (HEAD)" to 2.44, 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 2.44 then the version number on
101 the BRANCH should be set to 2.43.90 - ie almost, but not quite 2.44,
102 and the version number on the MAINLINE should be set to 2.44.50 -
103 ie half way to 2.45 release.
105 So the BRANCH bfd/version.m4 has:
107 m4_define([BFD_VERSION], [2.43.90])
109 and the MAINLINE has:
111 m4_define([BFD_VERSION], [2.44.50])
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 ./src-release.sh -x binutils
133 FIXME: Not sure if the following steps are needed...
135 Add a .dirstamp file to the gas/doc subdirectory:
137 touch -d `date +%Y-%m-%d` binutils-2.43.90/gas/doc/.dirstamp
138 tar rvf binutils-2.43.90.tar binutils-2.43.90/gas/doc/.dirstamp
139 rm binutils-2.43.90.tar.xz
140 xz -9 -k binutils-2.43.90.tar
144 c. Build a test target using this tarball.
146 cp binutils-*.tar.xz /dev/shm
148 tar xvf binutils-*.tar.xz
151 ../binutils-*/configure --quiet --enable-gold
155 If there are problems, fix them.
157 d. Upload the pre-release snapshot to the sourceware FTP site:
159 scp binutils-2.43.90.tar.xz sourceware.org:/var/ftp/pub/binutils/snapshots
160 ssh sourceware.org sha256sum ~ftp/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-2.43.90.tar.xz
162 Paranoia: Compare the checksum with the local version.
164 e. Clean up the source directory again.
168 10. Tell the Translation Project where to find the new tarball.
169 <coordinator@translationproject.org>
170 qv: https://translationproject.org/html/maintainers.html
172 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
173 Dear Translation Project
175 The 2.43 release branch has been created for the GNU Binutils project.
177 A snapshot of the branch sources can be found here:
179 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-2.42.90.tar.xz
181 We hope to make the official release of the sources on the <DATE>
182 although that could change if there are important bugs that need to
183 be fixed before the release.
184 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
186 11. Announce the availability of the snapshot and the branch on the
187 binutils mailing list. Set a date for when the release will
188 actually happen. Something like:
190 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
193 The <NEW_VERSION> branch has now been created:
195 git clone git://sourceware.org/git/binutils-gdb.git -b binutils-<NEW_VERSION>-branch
197 A snapshot of the sources is also available here:
199 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/snapshots/binutils-<OLD_VERSION>.90.tar.xz
201 Please could all patches for the branch be run by me.
202 The rules for the branch are:
205 * Target specific bug fixes are OK.
206 * Generic bug fixes are OK if they are important and widely tested.
207 * Documentation updates/fixes are OK.
208 * Translation updates are OK.
209 * Fixes for testsuite failures are OK.
211 Ideally I would like to make the release happen in two weeks time,
212 i.e. <DATE>. Which I hope will be enough time for everyone
213 to get their final fixes in.
214 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
216 12. Build various different toolchains, test them and nag
217 maintainers to fix any testsuite failures for their
220 ==============================================================================
221 ==============================================================================
223 For the next few weeks, monitor the mailing list for new translations
224 and respond to any requests to have patches applied to the branch.
226 ==============================================================================
227 ==============================================================================
229 Then, a couple of weeks later ...
231 -------------------------------------------------
232 How to create the release.
233 -------------------------------------------------
235 20. Make sure that the branch sources still build, test and install
236 correctly. Make sure that the sources are clean, without any
237 patch files (.reg .orig *~) left over.
245 21. a. Update the release number in bfd/version.m4 on the release
246 branch to a whole new minor version number, without a point
247 value. Eg "2.43.90" becomes "2.44". NB/ Not: "2.44.00"
249 b. Change bfd/development.sh to set all values to "false".
251 c. Regenerate the configure and makefiles. And *info* files.
253 cd <build-configured-with-enable-maintainer-mode>
254 make -j1 all-gas all-ld all-binutils all-gprof all-gold all-gprofng all-libctf
257 d. Create a ChangeLog from the git refs for all of the commits
258 from when changelog entries were no longer required:
260 gitlog-to-changelog --since=2021-07-03 > ChangeLog.git
261 git add ChangeLog.git
263 The gitlog-to-changelog script is part of the sources
264 of the "config" project.
266 Add an entry for ChangeLog.git to the src-release.sh script's
267 DEVO_SUPPORT list, so that it is included in the release.
269 FIXME: it would be better if the ChangeLog.git file was permanently
270 added to the src-release.sh script, but this mean that it would have
271 to exist in the master repository, and that the GDB project would
272 need to agree to have it there.
274 e. Add ChangeLog entries for all of the updates and add a
275 "this-is-the-2.43-release" comment and commit.
278 git commit -m "this-is-the-2.44-release"
281 22. Check that your file creation mask will create the
282 correct file permissions. Eg:
287 Remove any spurious autom4te.cache files left over from the
292 23. Note - check to see if any new files have been added to the top
293 level of the source directory, but which are not in the
294 DEVO_SUPPORT variable in the src-release.sh script. If they are
295 needed then add them.
297 PARANOIA: Check that there are no pending commits:
301 Then create the release tarballs:
303 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z binutils
305 OR ... for a more reproducible tarball:
307 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z -r `git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4` binutils
309 24. Check that the files in the tarballs have the correct
312 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "---"
314 Also check that the man files are not empty. (cf PR 28144).
316 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "\.1"
318 25. Sanity check the release on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu by building and
319 running the testsuites (gas, gold, binutils and ld).
320 Make the source directory read-only before building.
321 Also test 'make install'.
322 Also build the html and pdf documentation files.
323 If necessary fix any problems.
328 tar xvf <path-to-sources>/binutils-2.*.tar.lz
329 chmod -R -w binutils-2.*
332 ../binutils-2.*/configure --quiet --enable-gold --prefix=`pwd`/install --enable-plugins --enable-shared
333 make -j1 all-gas all-gold all-ld all-binutils all-gprof all-gprofng
334 make check-gas check-binutils check-ld check-gold
335 make install-gas install-gold install-ld install-binutils install-gprofng
337 # Needed for step 29...
338 make html pdf html-libctf pdf-libctf html-libsframe pdf-libsframe
342 26. Tag the branch with the new release number:
343 [optional: add "-u XXXXX" to sign with a gpg key]
344 enter a tag message such as: "Official GNU Binutils 2.4x release"
346 git tag -a <TAG> -u <Your Key>
348 git tag -a binutils-2_44 -u DD9E3C4F <=== Be careful to get the tag right
350 git tag -a binutils-2_44 -u DD9E3C4F -m "Official GNU Binutils 2.43 release"
352 NB/ If you do sign the binaries make sure to use a key
353 that has been published with the FSF.
355 Then push the release:
357 git push origin binutils-2_44
359 If you get an error message along the lines of:
360 "Invalid revision range ..."
363 27. Upload the tarballs to ftp.gnu.org.
365 gnupload --to ftp.gnu.org:binutils binutils-2.44.tar.*
367 Be prepared to provide the password for the key, if you
370 The gnupload script is in the gnulib/build-aux directory.
371 It uses the ncftp package for transmitting the files.
373 NB/ This step can be done in PARALLEL with step 28.
375 Check for an email response from the upload. If necessary
376 fix any problems. (The response might take a while, so
377 proceed with the next steps if you are confident that
380 28. Upload the tarballs (and signatures) to sourceware.org:
383 cd /sourceware/ftp/pub/binutils/releases
384 put binutils-2.4*.tar.*
385 chmod 644 binutils-2.4*.tar.*
388 29. Update web pages. For sourceware.org:
390 Clone the documentation (if you have not already done so):
392 git clone ssh://sourceware.org/git/binutils-htdocs
394 Create a new docs sub-directory and move into it:
400 Copy the index.html from the previous release
402 cp ../docs/index.html .
404 Update the index.html file to reference this new release and to
405 point back to the current (now old) release.
407 If necessary make the html documentation locally with the "make
408 html" command. (This should have been done by step 25 above).
410 Copy in the documentation files:
412 cp -r <build-dir>/gas/doc/as .
413 cp <build-dir>/gas/doc/as.html .
414 cp <build-dir>/gas/doc/as.pdf .
416 cp -r <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd .
417 cp <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd.html .
418 cp <build-dir>/bfd/doc/bfd.pdf .
420 cp -r <build-dir>/binutils/binutils_html binutils [NB/ Path not like others]
421 cp <build-dir>/binutils/doc/binutils.html .
422 cp <build-dir>/binutils/doc/binutils.pdf .
424 cp -r <build-dir>/gprof/doc/gprof .
425 cp <build-dir>/gprof/gprof.html . [NB/ Path not like others]
426 cp <build-dir>/gprof/gprof.pdf . [NB/ Path not like others]
428 cp -r <build-dir>/ld/doc/ld .
429 cp <build-dir>/ld/ld.html . [NB/ Path not like others]
430 cp <build-dir>/ld/ld.pdf . [NB/ Path not like others]
432 [NB/ The gprofng documentation does not have a node-per-page selection]
433 cp <build-dir>/gprofng/doc/gprof.html .
434 cp <build-dir>/gprofng/doc/gprof.pdf .
436 cp <build-dir>/libctf/doc/ctf-spec.html .
437 cp <build-dir>/libctf/doc/ctf-spec.pdf .
439 cp <build-dir>/libsframe/doc/sframe-spec.html .
440 cp <build-dir>/libsframe/doc/sframe-spec.pdf .
442 Update the symbolic link.
444 cd .. [Should now be in be in binutils-htdocs/ ]
448 Edit index.html file to change the links to point to the new
449 release, mention any new features, update dates and so on.
451 Check that the new web page is correct:
453 file:///<path-to-binutils-htdocs>/index.html
455 Add the new directories and files, commit and push the changes:
458 git commit -m"Update documenation for the 2.4x release"a
462 29.1 For the www.gnu.org site you have to email webmasters@gnu.org
463 and ask them to copy the change(s):
464 ---------------------------------------
467 Please could the GNU Binutils webpage at:
469 https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/binutils.html
471 be updated to indicate that there is now a newer version available
472 (2.4x). I have already updated the related page on the Sourceware
473 website so this might be useful as a template:
475 https://sourceware.org/binutils/
480 --------------------------------------
482 30. Send emails to binutils@sourceware.org, info-gnu@gnu.org and
483 David Edelsohn <dje.gcc@gmail.com> announcing the new release.
484 Sign the email and include the checksum:
486 sha256sum binutils-2.4*.tar.*
488 (The email to Davis is so that he can update the GNU Toolchain
489 social media). Something like this:
490 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
493 We are pleased to announce that version 2.4x of the GNU Binutils project
494 sources have been released and are now available for download at:
496 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils
497 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/releases/
501 As an experiment these tarballs were made with the new "-r <date>"
502 option supported by the src-release.sh script. This attempts to make
503 reproducible tarballs by sorting the files and passing the
504 "--mtime=<date>" option to tar. The date used for these tarballs was
507 git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4
509 This release contains numerous bug fixes, and also the
510 following new features:
512 <extract info from the NEWS files>
514 For more information see:
516 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=gas/NEWS;;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
517 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=ld/NEWS;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
518 https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;a=blob_plain;f=binutils/NEWS;hb=refs/tags/binutils-2_4x
520 Our thanks go out to all of the binutils contributors, past and
521 present, for helping to make this release possible.
523 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
525 31. Clean up the source tree:
529 32. Edit bfd/development.sh on the branch and set the development flag
530 to "true". (Leave the experimental flag set to "false"). Also bump
531 the version in bfd/version.m4 by adding a trailing .0, so that the
532 date suffix keeps the version lower than the trunk version.
533 Regenerate files. Commit these changes.
535 33. Email the binutils list telling everyone that the 2.4x branch
536 is now open for business as usual and that patches no longer
537 need special approval.
539 34. Examine the bfd/config.bfd file in the mainline sources and move
540 any pending obsolete targets into the definitely obsolete
541 section. Create a changelog entry and commit.
543 Sit back and relax, you are all done.
544 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
545 How to perform a POINT release.
546 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
548 A point release is easier than a normal release since a lot of the
549 work has already been done. The branch has been created, the
550 translations updated and the documentation uploaded. So the procedure
553 0. Decide that a point release is necessary.
555 Usually this only happens when a sufficient number of serious
556 bugs have been found and fixed since the previous release, and a
557 new official release is not imminent.
559 1. Tell the community that a point release is happening. Ask
560 maintainers to ensure that their ports are up to date on the
561 release branch. Ask the community if there are any bug fixes
562 which are missing from the branch. Allow some time for the
563 responses to this step.
565 2. Make sure that the branch sources build, test and install
568 2.5 Prepare a list of the bugs which have been fixed. This
569 will be needed for step 9.
571 3. In the branch sources:
573 a. Update the minor release number in bfd/version.m4.
574 b. Edit bfd/development.sh, set "development=false".
575 c. Regenerate the configure files.
576 d. Remove spurious autom4te.cache files:
580 e. Update the changelog:
582 gitlog-to-changelog --since=2021-07-03 > ChangeLog.git
584 f. Commit the updates along with a "this-is-the-2.4x.y-release"
591 f. Tag the branch with the new release number. Optional: add
592 "-u XXXXX" to sign with a gpg key, and -m "..." for a
595 git tag -a binutils-2_43_1
597 git tag -a binutils-2_43_1 -u DD9E3C4F -m "Official GNU Binutils 2.43.1 release"
601 git push origin binutils-2_43_1
603 g. Check that your file creation mask will create the
604 correct file permissions. Ie:
608 h. Create the release tarballs:
610 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z binutils
612 ./src-release.sh -b -g -l -x -z -r `git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%F bfd/version.m4` binutils
614 i. Check that the files in the tarballs have the correct
617 tar tvf binutils-*.tar.xz | grep -e "---"
619 4. [If paranoid - upload the tarballs to one of the FTP servers and
620 ask people to test it before going on to step 5].
622 5. Upload the tarballs to ftp.gnu.org.
624 gnupload --to ftp.gnu.org:binutils binutils-*.tar.*
626 The gnupload script is in the gnulib/build-aux directory.
628 6. Upload the tarballs to sourceware.org:
631 cd /sourceware/ftp/pub/binutils/releases
633 chmod 644 binutils-*.tar.*
636 It is OK to upload the signatures as well.
638 7. Clean the source tree again
642 Edit bfd/development.sh and set "development=true".
646 8. Update web pages. For sourceware.org:
648 * Clone the binutils documentation: git clone ssh://sourceware.org/git/binutils-htdocs
649 * Edit index.html and update the latest release number (if this
650 is a latest release).
651 * Add new documentation (if necessary).
652 * Commit and push the changes.
654 For the www.gnu.org site you have to email webmasters@gnu.org
655 and ask them to make the change(s).
657 9. Send an emails to the binutils list, info-gnu@gnu.org and
658 David Edelsohn <dje.gcc@gmail.com> announcing the new release.
659 (The email to Davis is so that he can update the GNU Toolchain
660 social media). Something like this:
662 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
665 We are pleased to announce that version 2.4x.y of the GNU Binutils
666 project sources have been released and are now available for download at:
668 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils
669 https://sourceware.org/pub/binutils/releases/
671 This is a point release over the previous 2.4x version, containing bug
672 fixes but no new features.
674 Our thanks go out to all of the binutils contributors, past and
675 present, for helping to make this release possible.
677 Here is a list of the bugs that have been fixed:
682 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
684 10. Create a new Bugzilla entry for the point release.
686 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/editversions.cgi?product=binutils
688 And a new milestone too:
690 https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/editmilestones.cgi?product=binutils
692 Copyright (C) 2017-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
694 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
695 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
696 notice and this notice are preserved.