This document describes the policy for updating autopkgtest in a stable, supported release. 

== Rationale ==

The autopkgtest package is primarily of interest to Ubuntu developers, providing tools running autopkgtests locally. Developers should have consistent behavior from these tools, regardless of which Ubuntu release they are using. Moreover the Ubuntu QA team aims at keeping the package in the Ubuntu archive in sync with the autopkgtest version which is used on the autopkgtest infrastructure (https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/), so the testing environment will always be the same and therefore produce consistent results.

== Allowed updates ==

The following types of changes are allowed as long as the conditions outlined below are met:

 * Bug fixes
 * New features 

In the event of a change breaking backwards compatibility, then SRU team approval will need to be obtained.

== Requesting the SRU ==

The SRU should be done with a single process bug, instead of individual bug reports for individual bug fixes. Individual bug fixes may also be tracked/closed by the upload; however only the one process bug must have the following:

   * The SRU should be requested following the the StableReleaseUpdates documented process.
   * The template at the end of this document should be used and all ‘TODO’ filled out.
   * References to each bug fixed by the SRU should be included in the changelog and major changes called out in the SRU template, especially where changed behavior is not backwards compatible.
   * For each release that is proposed to be updated by the SRU a link to the results of integration testing, via autopkgtest, successfully completed using the proposed package with no unexplained errors or failures. This testing will be done by uploading packages to a PPA and then triggering autopkgtests on those.
   * Any architecture specific changes need to be noted.
   * Any packaging changes (e.g. a dependency changes) need to be stated.
   * If any manual testing occurs it should also be documented.

If backwards compatibility is to be broken, this should be clearly written at the top of the bug description for the SRU, as well as in the title with "[breaks-compat]". Furthermore, an email to ubuntu-release will be sent to point the release / SRU teams to the bug in order to get approval before uploading to the release's upload queue.

== QA Process ==

=== Build time tests ===

The project has tests which run at package build time. The package build will fail if any if the tests fail.

=== Integration Tests ===

The package has a test suite that is run as an autopkgtest which should be good enough to ensure the package  works as expected.

== SRU Template ==
{{{
This SRU follows the exception process as outlined at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#autopkgtest rather than the standard SRU rules.

[Impact]

This release contains both bug fixes and new features and we would like
to make sure all of our developers have access to these improvements.
The notable ones are:

  * <TODO: create list with LP: # references>

See the changelog entry below for a full list of changes and bugs.

[Test Plan]

autopkgtest contains a test suite that is run using the SRU
package for each release. This test suite's results are
available here:

<TODO: link to autopkgtest results done on PPA package>

<TODO: if relevant: extra manual testing results>

[Where problems could occur] 

<TODO: highlights areas where regressions might happen>

[Other Info]

<TODO: other background (optional)>

[Changelog]

<TODO: paste in changelog entry>
}}}