FreeBSD 4.7 Release Process

Introduction

This is a specific schedule for the release of FreeBSD 4.7. For more general information about the release engineering process, please see the Release Engineering section of the web site.

General discussions about the release engineering process or quality assurance issues should be sent to the public freebsd-qa mailing list. MFC requests should be sent to re@FreeBSD.org.

Schedule

Action	Expected	Actual	Description
Reminder announcement	06 Aug 2002	06 Aug 2002	Release Engineers send announcement email to developers@FreeBSD.org with a rough schedule for the FreeBSD 4.7 release.
4.7-PRERELEASE Testing Guide published	Ongoing	02 Sep 2002	A testing guide should be published with information about recent changes and areas of the system that should be thoroughly tested during the pre-release/RC period.
4.7-PRERELEASE	01 Sep 2002	02 Sep 2002	newvers.sh, and release.ent updated.
FTP site updated	01 Sep 2002	02 Sep 2002	pkg_add -r works for 4.7-PRERELEASE machines.
Code freeze begins	01 Sep 2002	01 Sep 2002	After this date, all commits to the RELENG_4 branch must be approved by re@FreeBSD.org. Certain highly active documentation committers are exempt from this rule for routine man page / release note updates. Heads-up emails should be sent to the developers@, stable@, and qa@ lists.
Commercial software demos updated.	--	--	The second disc contains commercial software demos, these demos should be updated to contain the latest versions.
4.7-RC	15 Sep 2002	16 Sep 2002	newvers.sh and release.ent updated.
Announce the Ports Freeze	15 Sep 2002	16 Sep 2002	Someone from portmgr should email freebsd-ports@ and BCC: developers@ to set a date for the week long ports freeze and tagging of the ports tree.
First release candidate	15 Sep 2002	18 Sep 2002	The first release candidate for the x86 and Alpha architecture is released. ISO images should be uploaded to ftp-master.FreeBSD.org and releng4.FreeBSD.org. A network install directory should be uploaded to ftp-master.FreeBSD.org. The packages directory should be a relative symlink, as described in the releng article.
Heads up to -stable	17 Sep 2002	18 Sep 2002	A message should be sent to qa@FreeBSD.org and stable@FreeBSD.org after the snapshot is uploaded.
Package split posted	17 Sep 2002	--	The proposed package split (which packages go on which disc of the 4 CD set) should be posted to qa@FreeBSD.org, ports@FreeBSD.org, and stable@FreeBSD.org.
Second release candidate	--	27 Sep 2002	Note: the release date of this candidate depends on the user experience with RC1.
Third release candidate	--	07 Oct 2002
Ports tree frozen	20 Sep 2002	21 Sep 2002	Only approved commits will be permitted to the ports/ tree during the freeze.
Ports tree tagged	24 Sep 2002	01 Oct 2002	RELEASE_4_7_0 tag for ports/.
Ports tree unfrozen	24 Sep 2002	05 Oct 2002	After the ports tree is tagged, the ports/ tree will be re-opened for commits, but commits made after tagging will not go in 4.7-RELEASE.
Final package build starts	25 Sep 2002	05 Oct 2002	The ports cluster and bento build final packages.
Package split	26 Sep 2002	08 Oct 2002	The packages must be split so that packages with similar dependencies appear on each of the four discs, with the most popular packages appearing on the first disc.
doc tree tagged.	27 Sep 2002	01 Oct 2002	RELEASE_4_7_0 tag for docs.
RELENG_4_7 branch	28 Sep 2002	06 Oct 2002	The release branch is created.
Note to freebsd-stable@	28 Sep 2002	06 Oct 2002	A note should be sent to the freebsd-stable@ list to let over-anxious users know that the tags have been created but the release still isn't ready. Tags may be slid before the announcement goes out. Point users to freebsd-qa@ for details.
Version numbers bumped.	29 Sep 2002	07 Oct 2002	The files listed here are updated to reflect the fact that this is FreeBSD 4.7.
Update man.cgi on the website.	29 Sep 2002	06 Oct 2002	Make sure the 4.7 manual pages are being displayed by default for the man->web gateway. Also make sure these man pages are pointed to by docs.xml.
src tree tagged.	29 Sep 2002	06 Oct 2002	RELENG_4_7_0_RELEASE tag for src.
Final builds.	08 Oct 2002	08 Oct 2002	Final builds for x86 and Alpha in a pristine environment.
Warn hubs@FreeBSD.org	30 Sep 2002	09 Oct 2002	Heads up email to hubs@FreeBSD.org to give admins time to prepare for the load spike to come. The site administrators have frequently requested advance notice for new ISOs.
Upload to ftp-master.	08 Oct 2002	09 Oct 2002	release and packages uploaded to ftp-master.FreeBSD.org
Announcement	08 Oct 2002	10 Oct 2002	Announcement sent out after a majority of the mirrors have received the bits.
Unfreeze the tree	08 Oct 2002	10 Oct 2002	Announcement to developers@ explaining that the release is out, and commits to RELENG_4 no longer require approval. Also note the policy for commits to the RELENG_4_7 branch.

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