Diff for "StableReleaseUpdates"

The Technical Board resolution on Landscape provides a general rationale for the types of special cases that may be approved here in future. Most exception approvals are now handled directly by the SRU team.

To obtain a new ongoing exception such as those documented below:

Draft a wiki page, like the ones below, outlining what you believe should be the exception.
Submit it to the SRU team for approval. This can be done to any individual member of the SRU team directly, or you can send it to ubuntu-release@lists.ubuntu.com for review.

Note that the SRU team's delegation from the Technical Board is limited to accepting SRU uploads that meet the policy criteria above. The SRU team maintains documentation for standing exceptions here to keep individual interpretations of the policy criteria consistent. Departing from the policy criteria above still requires approval from the Technical Board.

Kernel

Because of the way updates to the kernel work, it will follow a slightly different process which is described on KernelTeam/KernelUpdates.

Landscape

The landscape-client source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in LandscapeUpdates. See the Technical Board resolution for details and rationale.

Snapd

The snapd source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in SnapdUpdates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-05-12.

Snapcraft

Related to the preceding snapd exception, the snapcraft source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in SnapcraftUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-05-16.

Ubuntu-image

Also related to snapd, the ubuntu-image package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in UbuntuImageUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-10-19.

Docker.io group

The source packages docker.io, containerd, and runc may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in DockerUpdates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2016-09-20.

gce-compute-image-packages

The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in gce-compute-image-packages-Updates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2017-03-10. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2023-04-11.

google-compute-engine

The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in google-compute-engine-Updates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-09-01. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2023-04-11.

google-compute-engine-oslogin

The source package google-compute-engine-oslogin may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in google-compute-engine-oslogin-Updates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-09-01. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2023-04-11.

google-guest-agent

The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in google-guest-agent-Updates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-09-01. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2023-04-11.

google-osconfig-agent

The source package google-osconfig-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in google-osconfig-agent-Updates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-09-01. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2023-04-11.

curtin

The source package curtin may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in CurtinUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2017-04-05.

walinuxagent

The source package walinuxagent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in walinuxagentUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2017-04-05.

GNOME

GNOME has a microrelease exception excepting it from the normal QA requirements of the microrelease policy, documented here. This was granted by the technical board on 2012-06-22.

OpenStack

OpenStack packages can be updated according to the procedures documented in OpenStack/StableReleaseUpdates, which includes a list of source packages covered by the MRE. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2017-08-07.

Certbot

The Certbot family of packages can be updated according to the procedures documented in /Certbot. This stable release exception was discussed and subsequently revision 10 of that document was approved by RobieBasak for the SRU team on 2017-08-08.

cloud-init

The source package cloud-init may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in CloudinitUpdates. Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2017-10-06 with subsequent updates approved by RobieBasak on 2020-07-15.

DPDK

The dpdk source package can be uploaded according to the procedures documented in DPDK for supported LTS releases of Ubuntu. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2017-08-07.

ubuntu-release-upgrader and python-apt

The packages ubuntu-release-upgrader and python-apt both contain files with listings of Ubuntu mirrors. To facilitate upgrades to new releases ubuntu-release-upgrader should be updated (particularly for LTS releases) so that the list of mirrors is accurate. With that in mind and given that it is just a text file with urls for mirrors it is okay to SRU only mirror changes for these packages without an SRU bug.

apt and python-apt

Not a policy exception, but see AptUpdates for details of unusual SRU versioning.

rax-nova-agent

The source package rax-nova-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in rax-nova-agent-Updates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2018-08-15.

livecd-rootfs

The livecd-rootfs package is a frequent target of SRUs as part of development of changes to image builds for the target series, and is not intended for general installation on end-user systems. The risk of user-affecting regression is lower as a result, because the impact of changes to this package to end users is mediated by way of image builds. Therefore, the requirement for per-change bug reports and test cases is relaxed, as long as there is at least one linked bug with a test case.

fwupd and fwupdate

The source packages fwupd and fwupdate may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in firmware-updates. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-01-15.

snapd-glib

The source package snapd-glib may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in snapd-glib updates. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-02-19.

netplan.io

The source package netplan.io may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in netplan updates. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-04-01 (no really!).

ec2-hibinit-agent

The source package ec2-hibinit-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in ec2-hibinit-agent updates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2019-09-06.

NVIDIA driver

NVIDIA driver (source packages nvidia-graphics-drivers-*, nvidia-settings, fabric-manager-*, libnvidia-nscq-*) may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in NVIDIA updates. This stable release exception has been approved by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2019-09-17.

wslu

The wslu package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in wslu Updates. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2019-10-24.

openjdk-N

We allow providing OpenJDK short term support releases in the updates pocket, instead of the release pocket to be able to remove those after their support ends as documented in OpenJDK Updates. This very specific stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2020-04-30.

Postfix

The postfix source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in PostfixUpdates. See the Technical Board meeting minutes and its approval for details and rationale.

sosreport

The source package sosreport may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in sosreport updates. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2020-06-25.

oem-*-meta

Source packages of the form oem-*-meta may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in OEMMeta. This stable release exception has been approved by AndyWhitcroft for the SRU team as of 2021-07-15. New packages are acceptable under the same exception.

ubuntu-dev-tools

The source package ubuntu-dev-tools may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in UbuntuDevToolsUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by Robie Basak.

OpenLDAP

The OpenLDAP source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in OpenLDAPUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-06-02.

HAProxy

The haproxy source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in HAProxyUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2022-06-27.

autopkgtest

The autopkgtest source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in autopkgtest-Updates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2023-01-30.

squid

The squid source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in SquidUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team on 2023-04-03.

bind9

The bind9 source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in Bind9Updates. This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2023-06-06.

virtualbox

*** THIS IS OUTDATED !!! *** The virtualbox source packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in VirtualboxUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by Martin Pitt for the SRU team as of 2015-11-04.

ubuntu-advantage-tools

The ubuntu-advantage-tools source package may be uploaded according to the SRU procedures documented in UbuntuAdvantageToolsUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by RobieBasak for the SRU team part as of 2023-10-04.

open-vm-tools

The open-vm-tools source package may be uploaded according to the proceedure documented in OpenVMToolsUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2024-01-25.

postgresql

The currently supported postgresql source package (as determined by the dependency of the postgresql metapackage) for each stable release may be uploaded according to the proceedure documented in PostgreSQLUpdates. This stable release exception has been approved by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2024-01-31

GRUB

GRUB related packages require a special SRU process due our EFI signing pipeline, documented at StableReleaseUpdates/Grub.

Data Packages Kept in Sync with Security

Some data packages must always be kept in sync between -updates and -security to avoid behaviour or functionality regressions when using only the security pocket. Because they are pure data, and contain no compiled code, these packages are safe to build in -proposed and then copy to both -updates and -security.

tzdata

The tzdata package is updated to reflect changes in timezones or daylight saving policies. The verification is done with the "zdump" utility. The first timezone that gets changed in the updated package is dumped with "zdump -v $region/$timezone_that_changed" (you can find the region and timezone name by grep'ing for it in /usr/share/zoneinfo/). This is compared to the same output after the updated package was installed. If those are different the verification is considered done.

Feature	16.04 LTS	18.04 LTS	20.04 LTS	21.04	21.10
icu-data	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
SystemV tzs	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No

The version of tzdata in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and later includes icu-data (see the update-icu rule in debian/rules) and the verification of it can be done after installing the python3-icu package. There can be a slight lag between the tzdata release and the matching icu-data release, we usually wait for the latter to be released before uploading the update.

python3 -c "from datetime import datetime; from icu import ICUtzinfo, TimeZone; tz = ICUtzinfo(TimeZone.createTimeZone('Pacific/Fiji')); print(str(tz.utcoffset(datetime(2020, 11, 10))))"

In the above we are checking a timezone with a change, "Pacific/Fiji", and a date that falls with in the changing period. We expect the output to be different before (13:00:00) and after (12:00:00) the SRU is installed.

The version of tzdata in Ubuntu 20.10 removed supported for SystemV timezones, however SRUs of tzdata to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and earlier releases should still include the SystemV timezones. To test that they are still available confirm the following command returns nothing.

diff <(zdump -v America/Phoenix | cut -d' ' -f2-) <(zdump -v SystemV/MST7 | cut -d' ' -f2-)

Because tzdata's packaging has changed subtly from release to release, rather than just backporting the most recent release's source package, we just update the upstream tarball instead. You then need to edit debian/changelog to add bug closures, and make sure to use a version number consistent to the previous numbering scheme (e. g. 2012e-0ubuntu0.12.04). Uploads should also be made to any releases supported via ESM.

Due to the potentially disastrous consequences of having localtime differ between systems running -updates and systems running only -security, this package is always kept in sync between the two pockets. However, the package can be built with -updates and then copied from -proposed to -updates and -security after the security team has signed off on the SRU bug e.g. 1878108.

distro-info-data

Many tools behave drastically differently based on the contents of ubuntu.csv in distro-info-data. As such, information for new releases is always backported to -updates, and should always be copied to -security to avoid behaviour skew between the two pockets.

This package should be updated as soon as possible after the new release's name is known. If only the adjective is known, it should be updated even with this partial information (use XANIMAL for the animal where X is the first letter of the adjective). The aging requirement is not applied for releasing to -updates / -security. A tracking bug is still required for SRUs. Verification is still required. The testing section should contain:

[ Test Plan ]
  
Verify that the following subcommands of `distro-info` print information about the new devel and current stable releases:
  
 * `--devel`
 * `--supported`
 * `--stable`

and try the same commands with these modifiers:

 * `--date=<1 day after release>` along with the above
 * `--fullname`
 * `--release`

linux-firmware

linux-firmware in stable releases is kept in sync with new driver features and lts-hwe kernel updates. linux-firmware follows the normal SRU process (with bugs filed and regression tests performed), however it must also be copied to the -security pocket once verified, due to the vast majority of kernel SRUs also being in the -security pocket, and the necessity of linux and linux-firmware not being mismatched.

wireless-regdb

Much like linux-firmware, wireless-regdb follows the usual SRU process, including a bug and regression testing, however it is another package that needs to be kept in sync between -updates and -security pockets to avoid potential local legal issues for -security users who would otherwise not get the local regdb updates.

Toolchain Updates

Due to the nature of the various Ubuntu toolchain packages (gcc-*, binutils, glibc), any stable release updates of these packages should be released to both the -updates and -security pockets. For that to be possible, any updates of those should be first built in a reliable security-enabled PPA (without -updates or -proposed enabled) and only then binary-copied into -proposed for testing (that is a hard-requirement for anything copied into -security). After the usual successful SRU verification and aging, the updated packages should be released into both pockets.

Examples

As a reference, see bug #173082 for an idea of how the SRU process works for a main package, or bug #208666 for an SRU in universe.

Package Removals

This section has moved to https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/explanation/non-standard-processes/#explanation-removals

Links

This section has moved to https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/status/

Reviewing procedure and tools

This section has moved to https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/internal/#reviewing-procedure-and-tools

Contacting the SRU team

This section has moved to https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/contact/

CategoryProcess

StableReleaseUpdates (last edited 2024-11-12 14:14:03 by racb)

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-Once an Ubuntu release has been completed and published, updates for it are only released under certain circumstances, and must follow a special procedure.
+||<tablestyle="float:right; font-size: 0.9em; width:40%; background:#F1F1ED; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" style="padding:0.5em;"><<TableOfContents>>||

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-In contrast to pre-release versions, official releases of Ubuntu are subject to much wider use, and by a different demographic of user.  During development, changes to the distribution primarily affect developers, early adopters and other advanced users, all of whom have elected to use pre-release software at their own risk.

Users of the official release, in contrast, expect a high degree of stability.  They use their Ubuntu system for their day-to-day work, and problems they experience with it can be extremely disruptive.  Many of them are less experienced with Ubuntu and with Linux, and expect a reliable system which does not require their intervention.

Stable release updates are automatically recommended to a very large number of users, and so it is critically important to treat them with great caution.  Therefore, when updates are proposed, they must be accompanied by a strong rationale and present a low risk of regressions.
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-Stable release updates will, in general, only be issued in order to fix '''high-impact bugs'''.  Examples of such bugs include:

 * Bugs which may, under realistic circumstances, directly cause a '''security vulnerability'''
 * Bugs which represent '''severe regressions''' from the previous release of Ubuntu
 * Bugs which may, under realistic circumstances, directly cause a '''loss of user data'''

== How ==

This process is to be followed for all updates '''except''' those to fix security updates, which are only released by the Ubuntu security team.  Security procedures are documented at SecurityUpdateProcedures.

For updates to source packages in the `universe` or `multiverse` components, see ["MOTU/SRU"].  Any `main` source packages with binary packages that cross components will have all of their packages examined under this policy.

 1. Propose
 
  All proposals for stable release updates must be '''approved''' by Matt Zimmerman or Colin Watson.  A convenient way to do this is to attach all of the information to the existing bug report, use ''Backport fix to releases'' to mark the bug for backporting, then subscribe the `ubuntu-sru` team.  If more than one bug is being addressed, it is better to file a bug to track the SRU itself and refer to all of the relevant bugs.  SRU proposals ''must'' be accompanied by the following information for each bug to be addressed:

   * A '''bug number''' referring to a complete bug report describing the problem and its effect
   * A '''statement explaining the impact''' of the bug on users and justification for backporting the fix to the stable release
   * An explanation of '''how the bug has been addressed''' in the development branch, including the relevant version numbers of packages modified in order to implement the fix
   * A '''patch''' applicable to the stable version of the package.  If preparing a patch is likely to be time-consuming, it may be preferable to discuss the first three items before preparing a patch.

  A copy of this proposal and a hyperlink to any prior discussion thread should be added to the bug report as a comment, usually by CCing ''bugnumber''`@bugs.launchpad.net`.

  Each bug report must have its '''Description''' updated to include the impact, how the bug is addressed, and the patch that resolves it.

 1. Prepare

  Once an update has been discussed and approved in principle, an upload can be prepared.  The following criteria apply to any packages modified as part of the update:

   * The changelog entry and resulting .changes file must include a reference to the corresponding '''bug report(s)'''
   * The bug report must include an '''approved SRU proposal'''
   * The '''version number(s)''' must be carefully checked in order to avoid clashing with any other version of the package, past, present or future
   * The upload target must be ''release''`-proposed`
   * The package difference must be a minimal change to fix the bug.  Spurious changes to build systems, documentation, functionality ''will be rejected''.

  Uploads which do not meet these criteria will be '''rejected''' by an archive administrator and not published.  Once the upload is ready, attach a complete source package diff (`debdiff`) to the bug report for review.

 1. Upload

  Once you have uploaded the package, subscribe the `ubuntu-archive` team to the bug report so that it shows up on the archive administrators' to-do list.

  The upload will be reviewed by the archive administrators during regularly scheduled processing, and approved if it meets the above criteria.  Archive administrators should verify that the package delta matches the debdiff attached to the bug report.

  The `ubuntu-archive` team member who accepts the package into `-proposed` should:
   * Add a `verification-needed` tag to the bug report.
   * Set the bug report to '''Status: Fix Committed'''.

 1. Test

  Once the update has been published in `-proposed`, it can be tested by a wider audience.

  * Notify the QA team via Simon Law [mailto:sfllaw@ubuntu.com <sfllaw@ubuntu.com>] of the availability of this package for testing
   * Prepend "StableReleaseUpdates" to the Subject line of your e-mail.
  * Test the package yourself
  * If the update has the potential for hardware-specific effects, request a hardware support regression test via the QA team (for example, kernel updates)

  The QA team may discover that your fix is insufficient.  They will:

  * Set the bug report '''Status: In Progress'''
  * Describe why the fix was rejected in a comment to the bug report.

 1. Release

  After the package in `-proposed` has been successfully tested and passed a minimum aging period of '''7 days''', you may prepare a second upload to ''release''`-updates`:

  * Include a changelog entry with:
   * A new version number (the same cautions apply regarding the choice of version number)
   * '''Confirmation of the above testing''', including the name of the tester in each case
  * Make '''no other changes''' relative to the version in `-proposed`

  The archive administrators must verify that uploads to `-updates` meet these criteria.  In the future, the update from `-proposed` will be copied verbatim instead, once the necessary infrastructure is available.

 1. Follow up

  * Add yourself as a '''bug contact''' for the package in Launchpad, if you are not one already
  * For 7 days after the update is released, '''monitor Launchpad''' for bug reports relating to the update
  * In the event of a regression, '''immediately''' notify the [mailto:technical-board@lists.ubuntu.com Ubuntu Technical Board] via email, and ask for help on `#ubuntu-devel` in making urgent contact with a member of the Board.

== Special Cases ==
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=== High-impact bugs ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#what-is-acceptable-to-sru

=== Other safe cases ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#other-safe-cases

=== New upstream microreleases ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#new-upstream-microreleases

=== Staging low priority uploads ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/explanation/non-standard-processes/#explanation-staged-uploads

=== ESM Uploads ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/special/

<<Anchor(GeneralRequirements)>>
== General Requirements ==

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=== Development Release Fixed First ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#general-requirements-for-all-srus

=== Newer Releases ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#general-requirements-for-all-srus

== Procedure ==

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=== SRU Bug Template ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/bug-template/

=== Bug references in changelogs ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/requirements/#bug-references-in-changelogs

=== Staging an upload ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/special/#stage-an-upload

==== Landing an upload blocked by staging ====

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/special/#land-an-upload-blocked-by-staging

==== Responsibility for SRU verification and cancellation of incomplete verification ====

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/explanation/non-standard-processes/#explanation-staged-uploads

== Publishing ==

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== Phasing ==

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=== Investigation of Halted Phased Updates ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/phasing/

=== SRU team documentation ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/internal/#override-phasing

== Verification ==

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}}}

=== Autopkgtest Regressions ===

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/autopkgtest-failure/

==== Expected resolution for reported autopkgtest failures ====

See: https://canonical-sru-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/howto/autopkgtest-failure/

== Removal of updates ==

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== Regressions ==
<<Anchor(regressions)>>

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=== Testing for Regressions ===

(defunct section removed)

<<Anchor(Special)>>
== Documentation for Special Cases ==

The [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-March/000550.html|Technical Board resolution on Landscape]] provides a general rationale for the types of special cases that may be approved here in future. Most exception approvals are now handled directly by the SRU team.

To obtain a new ongoing exception such as those documented below:

 1. Draft a wiki page, like the ones below, outlining what you believe should be the exception.
 2. Submit it to the SRU team for approval. This can be done to any individual member of the SRU team directly, or you can send it to ubuntu-release@lists.ubuntu.com for review.

Note that the SRU team's delegation from the Technical Board is limited to accepting SRU uploads that meet the [[#When|policy criteria]] above. The SRU team maintains documentation for standing exceptions here to keep individual interpretations of the policy criteria consistent. Departing from the policy criteria above still requires approval from the Technical Board.
-Line 95:
+Line 149:
-Because of the way updates to the kernel work, it will follow a slightly different process.  The following reasons call for this exception:

 * The kernel is uploaded frequently to -security, so uploading to -updates is not possible due to frequent version skew in the kernel and supporting packages (linux-restricted-modules, linux-meta, etc).
 * Kernel packages are not copied from `-proposed` to `-updates` or `-security`
 * A facility is needed for staging updates to the kernel in bulk, and `-proposed` is the closest fit

Therefore the following differences apply:

 * Updates for the kernel will be routinely uploaded to `-proposed` with a specially chosen ABI version (and therefore package name) to avoid clashing with any other kernel installed in the field.  Users will not be automatically upgraded to this kernel.
 * No prior discussion and approval is needed for kernel updates to `-proposed`
 * Individual kernel patches, rather than complete packages, will go through the SRU process above, after having been staged in `-proposed`

(This section is based on discussions between AdamConrad, MattZimmerman and BenCollins)
+Because of the way updates to the kernel work, it will follow a slightly
different process which is described on KernelTeam/KernelUpdates.

=== Landscape ===

The landscape-client source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in LandscapeUpdates. See the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2009-March/000550.html|Technical Board resolution]] for details and rationale.

=== Snapd ===
The snapd source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in SnapdUpdates.  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-05-12.

=== Snapcraft ===
Related to the preceding snapd exception, the snapcraft source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in SnapcraftUpdates.  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-05-16.

=== Ubuntu-image ===
Also related to snapd, the ubuntu-image package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in UbuntuImageUpdates.  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2016-10-19.

=== Docker.io group ===
The source packages docker.io, containerd, and runc may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in DockerUpdates.  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2016-09-20.

=== gce-compute-image-packages ===
The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/gce-compute-image-packages-Updates|gce-compute-image-packages-Updates]].  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2017-03-10. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005606.html|SRU team as of 2023-04-11]].

=== google-compute-engine ===
The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/google-compute-engine-Updates|google-compute-engine-Updates]].  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-September/005479.html|SRU team as of 2022-09-01]]. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005606.html|SRU team as of 2023-04-11]].

=== google-compute-engine-oslogin ===
The source package google-compute-engine-oslogin may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/google-compute-engine-oslogin-Updates|google-compute-engine-oslogin-Updates]].  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-September/005479.html|SRU team as of 2022-09-01]]. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005606.html|SRU team as of 2023-04-11]].

=== google-guest-agent ===
The source package gce-compute-image-packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/google-guest-agent-Updates|google-guest-agent-Updates]].  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-September/005479.html|SRU team as of 2022-09-01]]. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005606.html|SRU team as of 2023-04-11]].

=== google-osconfig-agent ===
The source package google-osconfig-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/google-osconfig-agent-Updates|google-osconfig-agent-Updates]].  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-September/005479.html|SRU team as of 2022-09-01]]. Further amendment to this exception for vendored dependencies approved by LukaszZemczak for the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005606.html|SRU team as of 2023-04-11]].

=== curtin ===
The source package curtin may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in CurtinUpdates.  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2017-04-05.

=== walinuxagent ===
The source package walinuxagent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/walinuxagentUpdates|walinuxagentUpdates]].  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2017-04-05.

=== GNOME ===

GNOME has a microrelease exception excepting it from the normal QA requirements of the microrelease policy, [[/GNOME|documented here]]. This was [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-June/001327.html|granted by the technical board on 2012-06-22]].

=== OpenStack ===

!OpenStack packages can be updated according to the procedures documented in OpenStack/StableReleaseUpdates, which includes a list of source packages covered by the MRE.  This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2017-08-07.

=== Certbot ===

The Certbot family of packages can be updated according to the procedures documented in [[/Certbot]]. This stable release exception was [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2017-July/004176.html|discussed]] and subsequently revision 10 of that document was approved by RobieBasak for the SRU team on 2017-08-08.

=== cloud-init ===
The source package cloud-init may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in CloudinitUpdates.  Per Technical Board discussion regarding delegation of these decisions to the SRU team, this stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2017-10-06 with subsequent updates approved by RobieBasak on 2020-07-15.

=== DPDK ===

The dpdk source package can be uploaded according to the procedures documented in [[StableReleaseUpdates/DPDK|DPDK]] for supported LTS releases of Ubuntu. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2017-08-07.

=== ubuntu-release-upgrader and python-apt ===

The packages ubuntu-release-upgrader and python-apt both contain files with listings of Ubuntu mirrors. To facilitate upgrades to new releases ubuntu-release-upgrader should be updated (particularly for LTS releases) so that the list of mirrors is accurate.  With that in mind and given that it is just a text file with urls for mirrors it is okay to SRU only mirror changes for these packages without an SRU bug.

=== apt and python-apt ===

Not a policy exception, but see AptUpdates for details of unusual SRU versioning.

=== rax-nova-agent ===
The source package rax-nova-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/rax-nova-agent-Updates|rax-nova-agent-Updates]].  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2018-08-15.

=== livecd-rootfs ===
The livecd-rootfs package is a frequent target of SRUs as part of development of changes to image builds for the target series, and is not intended for general installation on end-user systems.  The risk of user-affecting regression is lower as a result, because the impact of changes to this package to end users is mediated by way of image builds.  Therefore, the requirement for per-change bug reports and test cases is relaxed, as long as there is at least one linked bug with a test case.

=== fwupd and fwupdate ===
The source packages fwupd and fwupdate may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/firmware-updates|firmware-updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-01-15.

=== snapd-glib ===
The source package snapd-glib may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SnapdGlibUpdates|snapd-glib updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-02-19.

=== netplan.io ===
The source package netplan.io may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NetplanUpdates|netplan updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by BrianMurray for the SRU team as of 2019-04-01 (no really!).

=== ec2-hibinit-agent ===
The source package ec2-hibinit-agent may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ec2-hibinit-agent-Updates|ec2-hibinit-agent updates]].  This stable release exception has been approved by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2019-09-06.

=== NVIDIA driver ===
NVIDIA driver (source packages nvidia-graphics-drivers-*, nvidia-settings, fabric-manager-*, libnvidia-nscq-*) may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NVidiaUpdates|NVIDIA updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2019-09-17. 

=== wslu ===
The wslu package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/wslu-Updates|wslu Updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2019-10-24.

=== openjdk-N ===

We allow providing OpenJDK short term support releases in the updates pocket, instead of the release pocket to be able to remove those after their support ends as documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OpenJDK-Updates|OpenJDK Updates]]. This very specific stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2020-04-30.

=== Postfix ===

The postfix source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in PostfixUpdates. See the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2011-October/000902.html|Technical Board meeting minutes]] and its [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-May/001266.html|approval]] for details and rationale.

=== sosreport ===
The source package sosreport may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SosreportUpdates|sosreport updates]]. This stable release exception has been approved by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2020-06-25.

=== oem-*-meta ===
Source packages of the form oem-*-meta may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates/OEMMeta|OEMMeta]]. This stable release exception has been approved by AndyWhitcroft for the SRU team as of 2021-07-15.  New packages are acceptable under the same exception.

=== ubuntu-dev-tools ===
The source package ubuntu-dev-tools may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDevToolsUpdates|UbuntuDevToolsUpdates]]. This stable release exception has been [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-May/005640.html|approved by Robie Basak]].

=== OpenLDAP ===

The OpenLDAP source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[OpenLDAPUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-June/005403.html|has been approved]] by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2022-06-02.

=== HAProxy ===

The haproxy source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[HAProxyUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2022-June/005417.html|has been approved]] by LukaszZemczak for the SRU team as of 2022-06-27.

=== autopkgtest ===

The autopkgtest source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[autopkgtest-Updates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-January/005530.html|has been approved]] by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2023-01-30.

=== squid ===
The squid source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[SquidUpdates]].  This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-April/005589.html|has been approved]] by SteveLangasek for the SRU team on 2023-04-03.

=== bind9 ===

The bind9 source package may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[Bind9Updates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-June/005647.html|has been approved]] by SteveLangasek for the SRU team as of 2023-06-06.

=== virtualbox ===

*** THIS IS OUTDATED !!! ***
The virtualbox source packages may be uploaded according to the procedure documented in [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VirtualboxUpdates|VirtualboxUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2015-November/002177.html|has been approved]] by Martin Pitt for the SRU team as of 2015-11-04.

=== ubuntu-advantage-tools ===

The ubuntu-advantage-tools source package may be uploaded according to the SRU procedures documented in [[UbuntuAdvantageToolsUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2023-October/005810.html|has been approved]] by RobieBasak for the SRU team part as of 2023-10-04.

=== open-vm-tools ===

The open-vm-tools source package may be uploaded according to the proceedure documented in [[OpenVMToolsUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2024-January/005900.html|has been approved]] by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2024-01-25.

=== postgresql ===

The currently supported postgresql source package (as determined by the dependency of the postgresql metapackage) for each stable release may be uploaded according to the proceedure documented in [[PostgreSQLUpdates]]. This stable release exception [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2024-January/005915.html|has been approved]] by ChrisHalseRogers for the SRU team as of 2024-01-31

=== GRUB ===

GRUB related packages require a special SRU process due our EFI signing pipeline, documented at [[StableReleaseUpdates/Grub]].

<<Anchor(Security)>>
== Data Packages Kept in Sync with Security ==

Some data packages must always be kept in sync between -updates and -security to avoid behaviour or functionality regressions when using only the security pocket.  Because they are pure data, and contain no compiled code, these packages are safe to build in -proposed and then copy to both -updates and -security.

=== tzdata ===

The tzdata package is updated to reflect changes in timezones or daylight saving policies. The verification is done with the "zdump" utility. The first timezone that gets changed in the updated package is dumped with "zdump -v $region/$timezone_that_changed" (you can find the region and timezone name by grep'ing for it in /usr/share/zoneinfo/). This is compared to the same output after the updated package was installed. If those are different the verification is considered done.

||'''Feature'''||'''16.04 LTS'''||'''18.04 LTS'''||'''20.04 LTS'''||'''21.04'''||'''21.10'''||
||icu-data     || No            || No            || Yes           || Yes       || Yes       ||
||SystemV tzs  || Yes           || Yes           || Yes           || No        || No        ||

The version of tzdata in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and later includes icu-data (see the update-icu rule in debian/rules) and the verification of it can be done after installing the '''python3-icu''' package. There can be a slight lag between the tzdata release and the matching icu-data release, we usually wait for the latter to be released before uploading the update.

{{{
python3 -c "from datetime import datetime; from icu import ICUtzinfo, TimeZone; tz = ICUtzinfo(TimeZone.createTimeZone('Pacific/Fiji')); print(str(tz.utcoffset(datetime(2020, 11, 10))))"
}}}

In the above we are checking a timezone with a change, "Pacific/Fiji", and a date that falls with in the changing period. We expect the output to be different before (13:00:00) and after (12:00:00) the SRU is installed.

The version of tzdata in Ubuntu 20.10 removed supported for SystemV timezones, however SRUs of tzdata to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and earlier releases should still include the SystemV timezones. To test that they are still available confirm the following command returns nothing.

{{{
diff <(zdump -v America/Phoenix | cut -d' ' -f2-) <(zdump -v SystemV/MST7 | cut -d' ' -f2-)
}}}

Because tzdata's packaging has changed subtly from release to release, rather than just backporting the most recent release's source package, we just update the upstream tarball instead. You then need to edit debian/changelog to add bug closures, and make sure to use a version number consistent to the previous numbering scheme (e. g. `2012e-0ubuntu0.12.04`). Uploads should also be made to any releases supported via ESM.

Due to the potentially disastrous consequences of having localtime differ between systems running -updates and systems running only -security, this package is always kept in sync between the two pockets. However, the package can be built with -updates and then copied from -proposed to -updates and -security after the security team has signed off on the SRU bug e.g. Bug:1878108.

=== distro-info-data ===

Many tools behave drastically differently based on the contents of ubuntu.csv in distro-info-data. As such, information for new releases is always backported to -updates, and should always be copied to -security to avoid behaviour skew between the two pockets. 

This package should be updated as soon as possible after the new release's name is known. If only the adjective is known, it should be updated even with this partial information (use XANIMAL for the animal where X is the first letter of the adjective). The aging requirement is not applied for releasing to -updates / -security. A tracking bug is still required for SRUs. Verification is still required. The testing section should contain:

{{{
[ Test Plan ]
  
Verify that the following subcommands of `distro-info` print information about the new devel and current stable releases:
  
 * `--devel`
 * `--supported`
 * `--stable`

and try the same commands with these modifiers:

 * `--date=<1 day after release>` along with the above
 * `--fullname`
 * `--release`
}}}

=== linux-firmware ===

linux-firmware in stable releases is kept in sync with new driver features and lts-hwe kernel updates.  linux-firmware follows the normal SRU process (with bugs filed and regression tests performed), however it must also be copied to the -security pocket once verified, due to the vast majority of kernel SRUs also being in the -security pocket, and the necessity of linux and linux-firmware not being mismatched.

=== wireless-regdb ===

Much like linux-firmware, wireless-regdb follows the usual SRU process, including a bug and regression testing, however it is another package that needs to be kept in sync between -updates and -security pockets to avoid potential local legal issues for -security users who would otherwise not get the local regdb updates.

=== Toolchain Updates ===

Due to the nature of the various Ubuntu toolchain packages (gcc-*, binutils, glibc), any stable release updates of these packages should be released to both the -updates and -security pockets. For that to be possible, any updates of those should be first built in a reliable security-enabled PPA (without -updates or -proposed enabled) and only then '''binary-copied''' into -proposed for testing (that is a hard-requirement for anything copied into -security). After the usual successful SRU verification and aging, the updated packages should be released into both pockets.
-Line 111:
+Line 364:
-As reference you can lookup [https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/cpio/+bug/59228] to have an idea on how the procedure works.
+As a reference, see [[https://launchpad.net/bugs/173082|bug #173082]] for an idea of how the SRU process works for a main package, or [[https://launchpad.net/bugs/208666|bug #208666]] for an SRU in universe.

== Package Removals ==

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}}}

== Links ==

{{{#!wiki warning
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}}}

== Reviewing procedure and tools ==

{{{#!wiki warning
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== Contacting the SRU team ==

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----
CategoryProcess

Ubuntu Wiki

StableReleaseUpdates

Why

When

High-impact bugs

Other safe cases

New upstream microreleases

Staging low priority uploads

ESM Uploads

General Requirements

Development Release Fixed First

Newer Releases

Procedure

SRU Bug Template

Bug references in changelogs

Staging an upload

Landing an upload blocked by staging

Responsibility for SRU verification and cancellation of incomplete verification

Publishing

Phasing

Investigation of Halted Phased Updates

SRU team documentation

Verification

Autopkgtest Regressions

Expected resolution for reported autopkgtest failures

Removal of updates

Regressions

Testing for Regressions

Documentation for Special Cases