Nix release process

Release artifacts

The release process is intended to create the following for each release:

A Git tag
Binary tarballs in https://releases.nixos.org/?prefix=nix/
Docker images
Closures in https://cache.nixos.org
(Optionally) Updated fallback-paths.nix in Nixpkgs
An updated manual on https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/

Creating a new release from master

Make sure that https://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nix/master is green.
In a checkout of the Nix repo, make sure you're on master and do a git pull.
Move the contents of doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-next.md (except the first line) to doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-$VERSION.md (where $VERSION is the contents of .version without the patch level, e.g. 2.12 rather than 2.12.0).
Add a header to doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-$VERSION.md like
```
# Release 2.12 (2022-12-06)
```
Proof-read / edit / rearrange the release notes. Breaking changes and highlights should go to the top.
Add a link to the release notes to doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in (not SUMMARY.md), e.g.
```
- [Release 2.12 (2022-12-06)](release-notes/rl-2.12.md)
```

Run

$ git checkout -b release-notes
$ git add doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-$VERSION.md
$ git commit -a -m 'Release notes'
$ git push --set-upstream edolstra release-notes

Create a PR for release-notes and auto-merge it.
Wait for the PR to be merged.

Create a branch for the release:

$ git checkout master
$ git pull
$ git checkout -b $VERSION-maintenance

Mark the release as stable:
```
$ git cherry-pick f673551e71942a52b6d7ae66af8b67140904a76a
```
This removes the link to rl-next.md from the manual and sets officialRelease = true in flake.nix.

Push the release branch:

$ git push --set-upstream origin $VERSION-maintenance

Create a jobset for the release branch on Hydra as follows:
- Go to the jobset of the previous release (e.g. https://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nix/maintenance-2.11).
- Select Actions -> Clone this jobset.
- Set identifier to maintenance-$VERSION.
- Set description to $VERSION release branch.
- Set flake URL to github:NixOS/nix/$VERSION-maintenance.
- Hit Create jobset.
Wait for the new jobset to evaluate and build. If impatient, go to the evaluation and select Actions -> Bump builds to front of queue.
When the jobset evaluation has succeeded building, take note of the evaluation ID (e.g. 1780832 in https://hydra.nixos.org/eval/1780832).
Tag the release and upload the release artifacts to releases.nixos.org and dockerhub:
```
$ IS_LATEST=1 ./maintainers/upload-release.pl <EVAL-ID>
```
Note: IS_LATEST=1 causes the latest-release branch to be force-updated. This is used by the nixos.org website to get the latest Nix manual.

TODO: This script requires the right AWS credentials. Document.

TODO: This script currently requires a /home/eelco/Dev/nix-pristine and /home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-pristine.
Prepare for the next point release by editing .version to e.g.
```
$ echo -n 2.12.1 > .version
$ git commit -a -m 'Bump version'
$ git push
```
Note the -n: .version must not end in a newline.

Commit and push this to the maintenance branch.

Bump the version of master:

$ git checkout master
$ echo -n 2.13.0 > .version
$ git checkout -b bump-2.13
$ git commit -a -m 'Bump version'
$ git push

Make a PR and auto-merge it.

Create a milestone for the next release, move all unresolved issues from the previous milestone, and close the previous milestone. Set the date for the next milestone 6 weeks from now.
Post an announcement on Discourse, including the contents of rl-$VERSION.md.

Creating a point release

Wait for the desired evaluation of the maintenance jobset to finish building.
Run
```
$ IS_LATEST=1 ./maintainers/upload-release.pl <EVAL-ID>
```
Omit IS_LATEST=1 when creating a point release that is not on the most recent stable branch. This prevents nixos.org to going back to an older release.
Bump the version number of the release branch as above (e.g. to 2.12.2).

4.3 KiB Raw Blame History

Nix release process

Release artifacts

Creating a new release from master

Creating a point release

4.3 KiB

Raw Blame History