Release checklist

This is a guide to what needs to be done before a release can be made.

General steps

  • Pick a release date
  • Pick a candidate release version
  • Pick someone to be a release manager

Source code updates

  • Update data/version_number

Documentation

  • The Changelog should be updated

Note

At a minimum this should mention options that are removed/replaced and how to convert from a previous version to the newest version.

  • A release notes document should be written
  • Sync the reST reference documentation with the {star, binary, astero} defaults files by running the script defaults2rst (in /docs) and committing the changes

Testing

  • TestHub should report all tests pass for both Linux and macOS on multiple machines and with different OS versions
  • The previous SDK version should be tested.

Note

If the previous SDK does not pass we can decide whether to bump the minimum SDK version or fix the issues.

  • A non-SDK machine should test the test_suite.
  • At least one Windows machine should get tested.
  • Recalibrate test suite cases (things like simplex_solar_calibration and example_astero)

Additional Testing

Additional checks that are not essential but should be done if there is time.

  • Check the Brunt is smooth.
  • Check test_memory runs and reports no memory leaks.
  • Check MESA compiles with SHARED_LIBS=True
  • Run with FPE checking on.
  • Distribute the candidate version to several beta testers for science verification.

Release steps

  • Run the release script inside $MESA_DIR

Note

This checks out a version of MESA, builds a zip file, and uploads it to SourceForge

  • Upload release to Zenodo
  • Send email to mesa-users