Releases and Patching

Releases

The deliverables are:

• the tar.gz binary file which could be the base for manual installs, and for RPMS. see https://get.openpetra.org/latest

Things todo for an Open Source release

Short version

• develop on dev branch.
• Test with Appveyor (https://ci.openpetra.org), Test mysql on LBS (https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/openpetra-test-server-mysql).
• update Release Notes in https://github.com/openpetra/openpetra/tree/dev/setup/petra0300/releasenotes; see python script get_issues.py https://gist.github.com/tpokorra/d608a8dde183e7bb51f135e052b301cc
• merge into test branch.
• update Weblate and Sync translations to/from Github: https://weblate.openpetra.org/
• build the binary tarball on lbs (https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/openpetra-bin-tarball)
• done automatically: update https://get.openpetra.org/openpetra-latest-bin.tar.gz to point to the new tarball
• install on demo.test.openpetra.org (similar to demo.openpetra.org)
• try to run /home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh update
• build the latest demo databases: https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/demodb
• then again build the binary tarball so that the latest base.yml.gz is included, and rebuild openpetranow-mysql-test
• download the latest demo database to the demo.openpetra.org container
• try restore demo database from command line. try running month end. try a report. try to edit partner
• install on demo.openpetra.org
• merge to master, and prod
• Github: tag the release, set the milestone date, close the milestone
• post release notes on the forum and on the github release, link on twitter/facebook, fediverse, and on OpenPetra Download Blog
• build prod openpetranow package
• install on hosted OpenPetra.com. test with my instance: "www.openpetra.com test Zugang"

What can/should be done a day or even a few days before the actual release date

Performing all the steps that are listed here on this page can take - on average - a day if the last release has been some months ago. However, the time it takes on the day of the release can potentially be reduced by doing several steps a day or even a few days in advance.

These are the steps that can be done before the actual release:

Testing the release packages before the release

• create a branch called test in https://github.com/tpokorra/openpetra
• increase the version in db/version.txt to 2016.07.0-0
• build the test branch of the packages:
  • https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/openpetra-bin-tarball
  • https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/openpetranow-mysql-test

• Manual tests before a release

Preparing the text for the Release Notes

• Usually this can be done once the testing phase begins which precedes the release - that might even be a week before the release because even if there is still a major new functionality that might get added before the release will be done this will be known by now and can be written up already.
  • Obviously the text needs to be looked at carefully at the day of the release, but most of time-consuming work will have been done by then.

Preparing up-to-date screenshots

• Check which (if any) screenshots on the 'Screenshots' page of the OpenPetra website need updating.
• If any need updating and these screens won't change any more until the release is done, take those screenshots now and store them until the day of the release has come as this process takes some time.
  • If any screenshot is to be replaced check the file name of the existing screenshot and name the new one accordingly.
  • Screenshots are listed on that page in a smaller size, and when one clicks on them the full size is shown. The smaller size can also already be prepared in advance.

Update translations from/to Weblate

• Download the latest language files from Weblate. Do a synchronization, and that might create a pull request.

Release Notes

• Update Release notes files in setup/petra0300/releasenotes. (English: releasenotes.html, German: releasenotes_de.html)
  • Format:
    • never empty the contents of that file as it is meant to be cumulative!
    • rather, add the Release Notes that pertain to the current release on top of the file.
    • follow the format of the previous Release Notes.
• Commit the changed files to Launchpad trunk using Bazaar.

DB Patches

• add new patch .cs and .sql file to https://github.com/openpetra/openpetra/tree/master/csharp/ICT/Petra/Server/lib/MSysMan/DBUpgrades
• modify file version.txt in directory db/patches so it contains the Version Number of the OpenPetra release that you are creating.

Final Steps

Building the release

• increase the version in db/version.txt
• merge branch into master, and into test and prod branches
• rebuild the package in LBS
  • https://lbs.solidcharity.com/package/solidcharity/openpetra/openpetranow-mysql-test
• create a tag and a release in https://github.com/openpetra/openpetra

Making the Release Known to the Public

Website

• Screenshots
  • see above for the preparation of up-to-date screenshots
  • update the 'Screenshots' page of the website (English, German).
• Release Notes
  • Post Release Notes on the 'Download' page of the website (English, German).
    • Format of the Release Notes: refer to previous posts.
    • Include download link for the Windows Installer and the Linux packages that pertain to this release.
    • Include link to the static HTML file that contains the list of closed bugs that pertains to this release (created in an earlier step in these instructions).
• News Update
  • If there is a News Update that corresponds with the release (which often is the case): post news update in the 'News' section of the website (English, German).
    • Format of the News Update: refer to previous posts.
    • Include link to the 'Download' page of the website (English, German).

Notifications

• Send out a 'Tweet' on Twitter
  • Tweet about the release on twitter (English [user: openpetraorg], German [user: openpetraorgde])
  • Format of the Tweet: refer to previous tweets that pertain to releases.
• Mailing Lists
  • Send out information on mailing lists (English, German).
    • Content of the emails: exactly the same as in the tweets - except if there is a News Update that corresponds with the release: in this case the content of what got posted in the 'News' section of the website.

Patches

patching the database

OP_CUSTOMER=op_dev /home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh upgradedb

Testing the server upgrade

on a testing machine: test.openpetra.org

• Install the previous version on a clean container:

curl https://get.openpetra.org | bash -s old

• run the upgrade:

/home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh update

• Test the login on https://test.openpetra.org

Reverting to previous version

export OLDVERSION="2020.04.0-3"
export TagDemoDB="UsedForNUnitTests-202004"
export OP_CUSTOMER=op_demo
yum remove openpetranow-mysql-test
yum install openpetranow-mysql-test-$OLDVERSION.x86_64 --enablerepo=lbs-solidcharity-openpetra
MYSQL_CMD="drop database $OP_CUSTOMER" /home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh mysql
/home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh initdb
demodbfile=/tmp/demoWith1ledger.yml.gz
curl --silent --location https://github.com/openpetra/demo-databases/raw/$TagDemoDB/demoWith1ledger.yml.gz > $demodbfile
/home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh loadYmlGz $demodbfile

Now update:

yum clean expire-cache --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="lbs-solidcharity-openpetra"
/home/openpetra/openpetra-server.sh update