Ubuntu Wiki

To be carried out by: Ubuntu Release Manager, with support from the Ubuntu release team

Goals:

• Produce a set of distribution media images suitable for testing by advanced users and hardware recertification
• Make the archive consistent so that upgrade testing can be performed

Release minus 6 days:

1. Start to prepare web page summarizing the changes since the last milestone
   • Set up template

   • Ask the marketing team (ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com) if they have input

   • Notify the technical leads and product managers/designates for their input.
2. Coordinate with web team for contacts and plans during release day

   • Please notify web team (email: ellen.arnold@canonical.com, IRC:ellen) that there will be impending website changes

   • Review list of full iso image names and sizing with the web team (ellen.arnold@canonical.com, IRC ellen)

3. Notify developers by mailing ubuntu-devel-announce:

   • Pointer to milestone release notes page
   • Reminder of milestone freeze

   • Request to avoid and eliminate PackageInconsistencies

   • Target any relevant bugs to the milestone
4. Merge seeds and update metapackages for all releasing derivatives

5. Notify Michael Vogt to perform a GnomeAppInstallDesktopDatabaseUpdate

6. Discuss with Desktop team and MartinPitt whether or not to re-enable apport by default.

Release minus 2 days:

1. Announce the milestone freeze on the #ubuntu-devel topic, ubuntu-devel-announce. If it is not a hard freeze, let people know to hold off on the uploads. When it is a hard freeze, they will be held automatically by Soyuz once the next task is performed.

2. If a hard freeze is in use, set the distrorelease status to FROZEN in Launchpad

3. As first image becomes available, mail out to ubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com and ubuntu-bugsquad@lists.ubuntu.com to announce that ISO images are ready for testing, and refer people to the ISO tracker.

4. Review problems and file targeted bugs for those which need resolution before builds can begin:

   • PackageInconsistencies

   • Live filesystem build failures

   • NBS list

5. Selectively accept package uploads to resolve targeted bugs

6. Ensure that you accept at least one package through the Launchpad UI, to ensure that launchpad has not broken (important for non-Canonical members of the release team). If it has, please file a bug on Soyuz, and scream loudly.

7. Begin UpgradeTestingProcess, since the archive is now consistent

8. Ensure that the ISO tracker lists the new milestone

9. Edit default_milestone in ~cdimage/.isotracker.conf to match the new milestone name in the ISO tracker

10. Stop all live filesystem and cdimage cron jobs
11. Produce full set of images

12. Iterate ReleaseValidationProcess and fix showstopper bugs

Release minus 1 day:

1. Coordinate with QA and other team leads to make sure no blocker bugs have come up during testing.
2. Resolve any remaining targeted bugs
3. Produce final set of images (if needed)

4. Prepare the release web page content (TechnicalOverview)

   • review input from tech leads
   • add discovered bugs not going to be fixed from ISO testing

   • Review -changes mailing list since the last milestone to make sure that all relevant major changes have been documented in the milestone's web page

5. Prepare the release announcement
   • this should refer to the summary web page prepared by the teams rather than going into details of changes itself
   • update the page to include any caveats

Release:

1. If there is a previous milestone for this series, move those images from /srv/cdimage.ubuntu.com/www/full to /srv/cdimage.ubuntu.com/old-images/, and notify the sysadmin team that these are available for off-line archival.

2. Publish the milestone CD images: ./publish-image-set.py (from lp:ubuntu-archive-tools) will print the necessary commands.

3. Publish the milestone Cloud images on cloud-images.ubuntu.com.

4. Notify Hardware Certification team ( email: Ara.Pulido@canonical.com, IRC: ara ) to begin CertificationTestingProcess (private due to agreements with vendors)

5. Verify that all mirrors listed in the announcement or release notes have images
6. Check functionality of torrents

7. Notify web site team (email: ellen.arnold@canonical.com, IRC: ellen) to update to new images and notes.

   • /testing on the website with release notes

   • alphas are served off of cdimage, betas and others use `/testing/download

8. Send the release announcement to ubuntu-devel-announce

9. Confirm that UpgradeTestingProcess is complete before unfreezing archive

10. If a hard freeze was in use, set the distrorelease back to DEVELOPMENT in Launchpad

11. Update the topic on #ubuntu-devel

12. Post an announcement on http://release-blog.ubuntu.com/

13. Clear out any pending entries in the UNAPPROVED queue

14. Switch from publishing images for the milestone back to publishing the dailies
    • Update the ISO tracker to set the milestone to "released", re-enable the "daily", and update the notice.

    • Update the build machine, to change default_milestone in ~cdimage/.isotracker.conf back to "Precise Daily" (etc.), Turn live filesystems and cdimage cron jobs back on.

15. Clean up milestone status on Launchpad

    • mark the old milestone inactive in Launchpad (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/RELEASE)

    • work through any old milestoned bugs still remaining, and move to next milestone if appropriate.

16. Release manager update the burndown chart links on ReleaseTeam/FeatureStatus

17. If any modifications to this process were made in this run, check whether they apply to BetaProcess and ReleaseProcess as well.

Release plus 7 days:

1. In planning cycle, review Release Manifest and make any necessary updates.

Outstanding issues

CategoryProcess