2.4 Release Checklist

[carlescufi]

• Major enhancements:

  • See https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/projects/9

• Pre RC1 Steps

  • Create v2.5.0 milestone so that features that don't make it to the release can be assigned a milestone
  • Verify that all external components and external dependencies are up to date, for example
    • mbedTLS
    • tinycrypt
    • FatFS
  • Check known vulnerabilities, and fix exploitable vulnerabilities or verify them as un-exploitable (Security working group).

See https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/development_process/release_process.html#tagging for tagging details

---

• Release Notes WIP
  • Make sure to tell everybody to use the past tense (i.e. "X has been added" or "X is now Y")
  • Create draft doc/releases/release-notes-2.4.rst with feature summary from https://www.zephyrproject.org/developers/#releases-overview doc: releases: Release notes for v2.3 - initial (empty) draft #22923
  • Update doc/releases/release-notes-2.4.rst detailed sections (relative to 2.3.0 release) as important issues are addressed (subsystem owners). See 2.3: Missing release notes #25869

---

• Finalize Release Notes
  • Add list of GitHub issues (spell check issue list and fix in GitHub as needed) using scripts/release/list_issues.py
  • Review doc/releases/release-notes-2.4.rst overview summary and details sections (see Sign-off below)
    • Request summary details from code owners
• update doc/reference/overview.rst
• Update doc/conf.py (add version to pick list)
• Update doc/LICENSING.rst for new components that do not have a license

---

• Final Release Notes Sign-off
  • Subsystems
    • Kernel - @andyross, @andrewboie
    • Build and infrastructure - @tejlmand @nashif @galak
    • Devicetree - @galak, @mbolivar-nordic
    • Drivers and sensors - @MaureenHelm, @tbursztyka, @pabigot, @mnkp
    • Filesystems - @nvlsianpu, @pabigot
    • Networking - @jukkar
    • Bluetooth - @jhedberg , @joerchan, @carlescufi
    • USB - @jfischer-phytec-iot @emob-nordic
    • CAN - @alexanderwachter
  • Architectures
    • ARC - @ruuddw
    • ARM - @ioannisg , @galak, @MaureenHelm
    • X86 - @nashif, @andrewboie
    • RISCV - @pgielda @nategraff-sifive
    • Xtensa, NIOS-II - @nashif, @andrewboie
  • Board an Soc support - many
  • Security - @d3zd3z

---

• Update version in VERSION
• Tag both v2.4.0 and zephyr-v2.4.0
• Create release and add notes on https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases. Make sure you use the zephyr-v2.4.0 tag so that the .zip that GitHub offers has a reasonable name. Add the release notes to the GitHub release.

---

• After Release
  • Update patchlevel in Makefile (PATCHLEVEL = 99)
  • Update doc generation (in future should be automatic based on tag) ping @nashif
  • Update https://www.zephyrproject.org/developer-resources/#current-release (email Brett)
  • Create v2.4-branch branch for 2.4.x releases (from v2.4.0 tag, don't include the switch to patchlevel 99)
  • Merge all post-release PRs in https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/projects/27
  • Move all PRs/Issues in the v2.4.0 milestone to the next milestone
  • Close v2.4.0 milestone
  • Email [email protected] & [email protected] lists about release and announce the opening of the merge window
  • Create checklist issue for next release
  • Add a comment to this issue linking to the next release checklist issue
  • Marketing Blog for announcing release (https://www.zephyrproject.org/blog)
  • Update https://www.zephyrproject.org with latest stats from GitHub (email Brett)
  • Update current release dates in https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/wiki/Program-Management, move current release column to "past releases table", and add next release timeline if missing (v2.6.0)
  • Store the number of currently open PRs to keep track of post-release PR overhead over time

[MaureenHelm]

Next release checklist: #28716

[MaureenHelm]

Historical bug and PR tracking data for the 2.4.0 release cycle:

	High	Medium	Low	PRs	Weeks to Feature Freeze	Weeks to Release
7/22/2020	2	44	256	521	6.3	9.3
7/28/2020	2	48	232	537	5.4	8.4
8/4/2020	6	45	225	550	4.4	7.4
8/11/2020	7	41	225	540	3.4	6.4
8/19/2020	10	39	205	532	2.3	5.3
8/25/2020	7	43	202	526	1.4	4.4
9/1/2020	5	44	190	518	0.4	3.4
9/8/2020	9	51	199	460	-0.6	2.4
9/15/2020	3	42	179	479	-1.6	1.4
9/16/2020	3	34	175	479	-1.7	1.3
9/22/2020	2	25	141	367	-2.6	0.4
9/24/2020	1	18	142	357	-2.9	0.1
9/27/2020	1	20	142	355	-3.3	-0.3

[tejlmand]

@MaureenHelm Nice, do we have a similar list for older releases ?

[MaureenHelm]

Nice, do we have a similar list for older releases ?

No