Xen Project Maintenance Releases: Difference between revisions
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= Stable Maintenance Branches = |
= Stable Maintenance Branches = |
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Each new Xen release X.Y.0 starts a new stable maintenance branch. |
Each new Xen Project release X.Y.0 starts a new stable maintenance branch. |
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Each branch is maintained in the main [http://xenbits.xen.org/gitweb/?p=xen.git xen.git] repository in a ''stable-X.Y'' branch. See [[Xen Project Repositories]] for more information about the current branches. |
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Each such branch is in its own mercurial repository |
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xen-X.Y-testing.hg. See [[Xen Repositories]] for more information |
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about the current branches. |
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Releases are intended to happen roughly every |
Releases are intended to happen roughly every '''4 months'''. The first |
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release on a stable branch is often sooner and as the branch reaches |
release on a stable branch is often sooner and as the branch reaches |
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the end of its life the interval may be longer. |
the end of its life the interval may be longer. |
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In general XenProject.org supports stable branches for '''18 months full support plus 18 months security fixes'''. When a new X.Y.0 release is made there is usually one more |
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In general Xen.org supports the two most recent stable branches at any |
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given time. When a new X.Y.0 release is made there is usually one more |
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release on the to-be-retired stable branch to mop up any loose patches |
release on the to-be-retired stable branch to mop up any loose patches |
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sitting in the repository at which point the branch is retired. |
sitting in the repository at which point the branch is retired. |
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For example at the time of writing we are in the 4.3 development cycle |
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and are supporting two stable branches: 4.1-testing and |
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4.2-testing. After 4.2.0 was released there was one more release in |
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the 4.0-testing stream (4.0.4) and then the 4.0 branch was retired. |
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= Stable Branch Maintainer = |
= Stable Branch Maintainer = |
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Each stable branch has a maintainer who is nominated/volunteers |
Each stable branch has a maintainer who is nominated/volunteers |
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according to the ''Maintainer Election'' process described in the |
according to the ''Maintainer Election'' process described in the |
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[http://www. |
[http://www.xenproject.org/governance.html project governance] |
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document. This will resulting in the MAINTAINERS file in the relevant |
document. This will resulting in the MAINTAINERS file in the relevant |
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branch being patched to include the maintainer. |
branch being patched to include the maintainer. |
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For the branches maintained by |
For the branches maintained by XenProject.org one of the regular xen-unstable |
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committers or maintainers would usually step up as maintainer. However |
committers or maintainers would usually step up as maintainer. However |
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other community members can also step up to maintain a stable release, |
other community members can also step up to maintain a stable release, |
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= Stable Branch Patch Inclusion Policy = |
= Stable Branch Patch Inclusion Policy = |
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No new development happens in the X.Y |
No new development happens in the ''stable-X.Y'' branches, instead |
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changesets are backported from xen-unstable. Where this is not possible |
changesets are backported from ''xen-unstable'' (AKA the master branch). Where this is not possible |
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(perhaps unstable has moved on such that the patch cannot be applied or |
(perhaps unstable has moved on such that the patch cannot be applied or |
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the approach used in unstable is otherwise not valid for the stable |
the approach used in unstable is otherwise not valid for the stable |
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As well as changesets identified by the branch maintainer as being suitable |
As well as changesets identified by the branch maintainer as being suitable |
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for backport changes can also be nominated for inclusion in the stable |
for backport changes can also be nominated for inclusion in the stable |
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branch by making a request to the stable maintainer on xen-devel |
branch by making a request to the stable maintainer on the [http://lists.xen.org/mailman/listinfo/xen-devel xen-devel mailing list] |
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either by noting it as such in the submission of the original patch to |
either by noting it as such in the submission of the original patch to |
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xen-unstable or by a subsequent explicit email to xen-devel. |
xen-unstable or by a subsequent explicit email to xen-devel. |
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Latest revision as of 12:29, 10 November 2015
Stable Maintenance Branches
Each new Xen Project release X.Y.0 starts a new stable maintenance branch.
Each branch is maintained in the main xen.git repository in a stable-X.Y branch. See Xen Project Repositories for more information about the current branches.
Releases are intended to happen roughly every 4 months. The first release on a stable branch is often sooner and as the branch reaches the end of its life the interval may be longer.
In general XenProject.org supports stable branches for 18 months full support plus 18 months security fixes. When a new X.Y.0 release is made there is usually one more release on the to-be-retired stable branch to mop up any loose patches sitting in the repository at which point the branch is retired.
Stable Branch Maintainer
Each stable branch has a maintainer who is nominated/volunteers according to the Maintainer Election process described in the project governance document. This will resulting in the MAINTAINERS file in the relevant branch being patched to include the maintainer.
For the branches maintained by XenProject.org one of the regular xen-unstable committers or maintainers would usually step up as maintainer. However other community members can also step up to maintain a stable release, typically once Xen.org no longer does so.
The stable branch maintainer is responsible for identifying suitable candidates for inclusion in the stable branch both according to their own judgment and by evaluating requests from the community (see below).
Stable Branch Patch Inclusion Policy
No new development happens in the stable-X.Y branches, instead changesets are backported from xen-unstable (AKA the master branch). Where this is not possible (perhaps unstable has moved on such that the patch cannot be applied or the approach used in unstable is otherwise not valid for the stable branch) then a specific fix can be created for the stable branch. However it is a requirement that the issue will always be fixed in unstable first (this is to avoid regressions on the next major release).
In general only bug fixes are accepted into stable branches and new features are not normally accepted. (There can be exceptions, e.g. it was agreed that 4.2.1 would take a more relaxed approach to features which improved xl compatibility with xm). As time passes each stable branch becomes more conservative and the barrier to accepting a patch for backport becomes higher.
Changesets are included in the stable branch at the discretion of the branch maintainer.
Requesting A Backport
As well as changesets identified by the branch maintainer as being suitable for backport changes can also be nominated for inclusion in the stable branch by making a request to the stable maintainer on the xen-devel mailing list either by noting it as such in the submission of the original patch to xen-unstable or by a subsequent explicit email to xen-devel.
Backport requests should always be copied to the relevant stable maintainer. In addition as part of the the stable release process the stable maintainer will send one or more requests to xen-devel soliciting suggestions for patches which should be included.
