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¶
- Create
data/version_number
MESA release versions will have a human-readable version number
instead of the auto-generated git commit id. Immediately before
release, this file should be created and commited. Because this file
is normally ignored (via .gitignore
), it must be explicitly added
via git add -f
.
- Update version number in
docs/source/conf.py
The variables release
and version
in the Project
information
section should be set.
- Remove files that shouldn’t be shipped
Any files that should not be part of the final release should be added to the .gitattributes file. This will prevent the file(s) or folders from appearing in the zip archive.
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
- The release branch or tag should be added to the list of active versions on ReadTheDocs.
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¶
- Upload release to Zenodo
- Send email to mesa-users