Overview

Responsibilities

Release manager and release co-manager (if manager is not a committer) are responsible for:

Preparing for release candidates

• informing the community of timing
• prepare release notes (bug fixes, features added)
• making code changes with necessary version updates
• cutting a release candidate

Running the voting process for a release

• calling votes 
• triaging issues and re-vote if necessary

Finalising and posting a release

• marking & publishing the official release
• updating the MXNet website
• announcing the release

1. Preparing the Release Candidate

Step 1.1. Prepare Release Notes

Draft release notes which should include the list of new features and bug fixes, along with limitations, known issues, etc. Seek help from committers on @dev to achieve good coverage of all important fixes/API changes in the release. 

• All problems/fixes in release notes MUST have the PR link and a possible workaround if any
• New features must be added to the readme/tutorial
  
  

#!/bin/bash
# to get a list of commits since <date>
git log --pretty=format:"%h - %cn, %cd : %s" --no-merges --since="2017-09-01" > commits.txt
 
# To get a list of committers since <date>
git shortlog -sne --since="10 Aug 2017"

Alternatively, you can use the script here to create groups of commits  based on commit comments.

Step 1.2. Inform the Community of timing

You can find references of sent emails, for example for the most recent release, in the apache archive (or your inbox) as well:

• https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-general/201708.mbox/browser
• https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@mxnet.apache.org

After every release, the community should decide on a list of features to deliver for the following release. When the clear target date for a release has been estimated, the release lead should inform the community of the release schedule. All features which the community wishes to include in the release should be merged and tested successfully before the date of the first release candidate. The first release candidate should be on a commit which passed builds from at least 3 days before cutting the release candidate. This will make the release lead's job easier. Below is a template for the announcement:

Step 1.3. Check licenses

Make sure all files have correct License headers and the top level LICENSE file has been updated.

• Any new files added in this release must have a valid license header. 
• Make sure any new submodules or dependencies that have been added in this release have been mentioned in the top level LICENSE file - There is no test to cover this (and is a frequent cause of a -1)
• Make sure the Apache RAT test is passing (this is ensured automatically by the RAT check in CI)
• DISCLAIMER is correct, file names include “incubating”
• Check if the license issues listed in Github are all addressed or they're not the release blocker.
• Major modifications/additions to third-party and dual license should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the PMC.

More Details

The top level LICENSE and NOTICE files are correct and dependency licenses are acceptable

• LICENSE and NOTICE files at the root of the artifact directory must only reflect the contents of the artifact in which they are contained.
• Any new dependency with a non-ASF license must be added to the top level LICENSE file as directed in the links below.
• All source files have license headers where appropriate.
• The provenance of all source files is clear (ASF or software grants)
• license_header.py can be used to check the potential license issue and add license header if necessary.

Refer to the following Links 

• MXNet Source Licenses
• LICENSE file requirements
• LICENSE requirements for distribution artifacts with multiple licenses
• NOTICE file requirements (Check Copyright year) - see also https://www.apache.org/legal/src-headers.html
• Apache Legal
• Acceptable and Unacceptable Dependency Licenses

Step 1.4. Make code changes with necessary version updates

At least 3 days prior to cutting the first release candidate, check the version number and address other changes that the release depends on.

Update the version number if it's not reflecting the new release version. Here is a previous version update PR (https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/19196). 
make sure no broken/non-existing links are added to the master/v1.x branch. 

Check with the website lead and docs lead that all necessary updates have made it into the release branch

1. Most updates happen post-release.
2. Broken link updates in tutorials and faqs would be an exception.

Step 1.5. Add RSA GPG key of release manager/co-manager to repository

Create a RSA GPG key of length 4096, upload it to the public server, and add it to the KEYS file (do this process once for each release lead):

• https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/incubator/mxnet/KEYS

See more detailed instructions on creating the key here: https://www.apache.org/dev/openpgp.html#generate-key. Instructions for updating the KEYS file can at the beginning of the KEYS file. Note that you must use apache email instead of personal email for the key. The following instructions shows how to update the key using svn.

# checkout the apache mxnet repo
svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/incubator/mxnet apache-mxnet
cd apache-mxnet
# update the KEYS file ...
# commit the update
svn commit -m “update keys file for xxx ” --username your_username --password your_passwd

Step 1.6. Cut the Release Branch

Note: From version 1.3 all branches are created with a name v1.3.x to make patch releases easier. For patch releases cutting a new branch is not necessary. Fixes for patch releases should be merged to v#.#.x branch and latest commit should be tagged with an exact version number, ie v1.3.1.

• To create a new major or minor branch use (replace v1.4.x with actual branch name): 

# checkout clean master branch
git clone https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet.git
cd incubator-mxnet
git branch v1.4.x
git push --set-upstream origin v1.4.x

• The release candidate should contain all planned features, bug fixes, and code changes above. The release candidate commit should have passed the merge build, pip builds
• Checkout the commit into a new branch "v#.#.x" and push it (It might be a good idea to do this in advance and freeze the branch)
• Update NEWS and README. Examples can be followed here: NEWS.md and README.md. Note that this assumes the existence of the tag of next release, which is not created yet. Therefore, the update only happens on the release branch (not the master branch) so broken links are not visible to users.
• Docs should also be manually built locally & checked for correctness.
  • build and host the website locally to check the correctness.
  • More reference here: Host a MXNet Website Preview. Contact MXNet engineering team for access if needed

Step 1.7. Test the release branch

Once all the PRs have been merged the final commit hash on the release branch must be tested. (You should begin testing as soon as the release branch is created, but make sure it is run at least once on the final commit)

Nightly Tests

Following jobs are run as a part of the nightly tests:

NightlyTests

NightlyTestsForBinaries

These jobs should already contain needed branches if they are cut. If not, check the jobs configuration. These are triggered by DailyTrigger. Either wait until the jobs have been triggered or trigger them manually.

Steps to trigger the jobs manually

1. Only Jenkins Admin can update the pipeline with the release branch & trigger build on the pipelines
2. Verify if the release branch is scanned by the pipeline (for eg Jenkins → NightlyTests pipeline → Branches should reveal the release branch).
3. If the branch doesn't exist, trigger a branch scan using "Scan Repository now" (this should scan all the branches that meet the criterion mentioned in Configure → Branch Sourches → Behavior)
4. If branch is still not added, then manually add the release branch by updating the criterion
   
   1. Once logged in to Jenkins, Configure -> Branch Sources -> Behavior -> Append release branch E.g. (v1.7.x)
5. Trigger a build manually (if needed)  <Pipeline> -> 1.7.x -> Build Now

Note : Currently (master)|(^v.*) ensures all release branches starting with v should be scanned & included into the pipeline.

Backward Compatibility checker (can skip this step).

Some jobs might take up to 4-5 hours, so plan accordingly.

In case of a failure of any job, check the console logs, the newly added PRs and try and resolve issues or contact community for a fix (on @dev list, for example). 

Jenkins CI Tests

Ensure that PR verification is enabled for the target release branch (This is automatically ensured by INFRA-20471 - Getting issue details... STATUS , no special actions needed)

Ensure that nightly tests are enabled for the target release branch, for example v.1.3.x NightlyTestsForBinaries, v1.3.x NightlyTests

Ensure that release branch is in the daily reports (contact Marco de Abreu )

RAT Check

make sure the RAT check passes (it's already part of the verification pipeline as a stage, no special actions needed)

Step 1.8. Tag release candidate (To be done by a committer)

Go to the GitHub repositories “releases” tab

Click “Draft a new release”

• Provide the release tag in the form of “1.0.0.rc0” where 0 means it’s the first release candidate
• Select the commit by clicking Target: branch > Recent commits > $commit_hash 
• Copy and paste NEWS.md change into the description box from here
• Select “This is a pre-release"

Step 1.9. This step has not been done in the past 

Tag all the dependent submodules for every MXNet release. If a code-change (e.g. bug-fix) is required to a dependent sub-module then we take a branch from the tag and apply the code-change only to the branch for the sub-module so that the change is minimal. This should allow the MXNet release process to have better convergence towards a stable release.

Step 1.10. Create artifacts for the release and push to the dist folder

The src tar - apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#.rc0-incubating.tar.gz:

Clone the Repo and checkout the release branch 

Remove R-package until the licensing issue is resolved

Remove all the .git files

Remove all other files of the form .* (eg .travis, .DS_Store etc)

on MacOS use gnu-tar

Try to untar it in a different type of machine and try a classic build with `make`. Follow build instructions in the "Build from Source" section http://mxnet.incubator.apache.org/get_started/install.html

git clone git@github.com:apache/incubator-mxnet.git apache-mxnet-src-0.12.0.rc0-incubating
git checkout v0.12.0
git submodule update --init --recursive
git checkout 0.12.0.rc0
rm -rf R-package
rm -rf .DS_Store
rm -rf CODEOWNERS
find . -name ".git*" -print0 | xargs -0 rm -rf
brew install gnu-tar 
gtar -czvf apache-mxnet-src-0.12.0.rc0-incubating.tar.gz apache-mxnet-src-0.12.0.rc0-incubating

apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#.rc0-incubating.tar.gz.asc: 

Details here: http://www.apache.org/dev/release-signing.html#openpgp-ascii-detach-sig

Create SHA checksum: apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#.rc0-incubating.tar.gz.sha512

gpg --armor --output apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#-incubating.tar.gz.asc --detach-sig apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#-incubating.tar.gz
shasum -a 512 apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#-incubating.tar.gz > apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#-incubating.tar.gz.sha512

 Create a folder for this RC in the dist folder: #.#.#-incubating.RC0 folder 

# Checkout the Apache directory in Apache distribution SVN "dev" repo
$ svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet
# select p
# Make directory for this RC in the above directory
$ cd mxnet
$ mkdir #.#.#.rc0
# Move artifacts into this folder
$ cp ../apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#.rc0-incubating.tar.gz* #.#.#.rc0
$ svn add #.#.#.rc0
$ svn commit -m "Add mxnet-#.#.#.rc0" --username "lxn2"

Step 1.11. Validate release package (Committer or Contributor)

As per the Apache documentation, verify that the release candidate artifacts satisfy the following:

PGP signatures and SHA256 checksum verification

svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet && cd mxnet/#.#.#.rc0
brew install gpg coreutils
wget https://downloads.apache.org/incubator/mxnet/KEYS
gpg --import ./KEYS

gpg --verify ./apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0.rc3-incubating.tar.gz.asc
gsha512sum --check  ./apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0.rc1-incubating.tar.gz.sha512 

Step 1.12. Test the final release package (Committer or Contributor)

Download the package that was just uploaded to svn as above. 

Test that a build is successful - spinning up a deep learning Ubuntu AMI will give you an environment with all dependencies to build. You can build MXNet from source or from CI dockers. For example:

pip install --user -r ci/requirements.txt
python ci/build.py -p ubuntu_gpu

If possible, run a simple (MNIST) test to verify the src.

Step 1.13. Upload the release artifacts to Github release tag

Edit the release tag from Step 1.7, and upload the release artifacts from Step 1.9 (which were verified in 1.10-1.11).

After creating RC, give 2 days to build scala/ R packages if needed before starting vote on dev@.

Step 1.14. Language bindings (optional)

The language bindings are released separately from the main MXNet release. To release Scala/Java Clojure and R bindings, follow the guides for the corresponding language bindings. Release manager can ask the help from dev@ to reach owners of different language bindings to do the validation.

Scala/Java

Follow the release process to build Scala/Java packages and include the stage repo links in the voting email:

Scala Release Process

Clojure

Follow the release process to build Clojure packages and include the stage repo links in the voting email:

Clojure Release Process

R

Follow the release process to build R packages and include the stage repo links in the voting email:

R Release Process

2. Running the voting process for a release:

The full voting process consists of two phases: (1) vote on dev@mxnet.apache.org (3 days) (2) vote on general@incubator.apache.org (3 days). For full documentation refer to the Apache Voting Process. We should cc the incubation mentors in the vote threads to keep them informed.

Our mentors are: Bob Paulin (bob@apache.org), Henri Yandell (bayard@apache.org), Jason Dai (jasondai@apache.org), Markus Weimer (weimer@apache.org), Michael Wall (mjwall@apache.org).

Step 2.1. Vote on dev@ 

For the dev@ vote, there must be at least 3 binding +1 votes and more +1 votes than -1 votes. Once that quorum has been reached, the vote then moves onto the general@ vote.

To find out if the person has a binding vote visit: http://incubator.apache.org/projects/mxnet.html

Use the email template below to start the vote:

Step 2.2. Testing Release Candidate (for Contributors)

There are 3 ways of getting the source code for the release candidate

1. Check out tag
   Method 1

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet.git
   git checkout tags/<tag_name> -b <branch_name>

   
   Method 2

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet.git --branch=<tag_name>

2. Download the zip on Github Source page
   https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/tags
3. Download the distribution
   https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet/

Once checked out, follow the steps to build mxnet from source [1] and then various tests can be run.
It is recommended that contributors test out parts of the MXNet codebase they have touched. This ensures greater coverage of the testing and reduces the risk of running into errors post release.

Note: CPU vs GPU, MKLDNN : ON/OFF, Linux vs Centos vs Windows vs Mac are various configurations possible.
Make sure to verify the build flags before running the tests on the release candidate.

[1] https://mxnet.apache.org/get_started/build_from_source

Step 2.3. Send out the vote results on dev@

Step 2.4. Triage issues and re-vote if necessary 

Should any vote fail to reach quorum or release lead determines that another RC needs to go out, the release lead should triage the issues, create GitHub issues, and move to fix the issues. Once fixed, make changes to NEWS & README.md in case it specifically lists the old RC# number. Start the process for another release candidate. In the new voting email, detail what has changed since the last release candidate. Repeat until the vote passes.

Step 2.5. Start a vote on general@

For the vote on general@, anyone can contribute a vote, but only "Incubator PMC" (IPMC) votes are binding.
To pass, there must be 3 binding +1 votes and more +1 votes than -1 votes.

In ASF, votes are open "at least" 72hrs (3 days). If you don't get enough number of binding votes within that time, you cannot close the voting deadline. You need to extend it. 

Make sure the dev community is aware of any ASF votes and results so they can be active in the ongoing voting process.

Send out a notice to vote with the template below.
To get the fingerprint of your keys, run `gpg2 --list-keys --fingerprint`

Step 2.6: Send out the vote results on general@

Send out an email on general@ in the same voting thread which you sent in previous step to summarize the result. Send out a notice with the vote results with the template below.

To: general@incubator.apache.org
Subject: [RESULTS][VOTE] Release Apache MXNet (incubating) version $release.rc#

Dear Community,

The voting for releasing Apache MXNet (incubating) $release.rc# has passed with # +1 votes (# binding) and no 0 or -1 votes.
+1 votes:
* ###### / binding
* ############

Vote thread can be found at:
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/##############

Thanks everyone for taking the time to review and vote for the release!
We will continue the rest of release process and send out the announcement email in the coming days.

Thanks,
$RM

3. Finalizing and posting a release

3.1. Marking & Publishing the Official release

Once the release candidate passes the vote, we draft the official release on GitHub and rename the release candidate as the official release.

Step 3.1.1: Draft official release on GitHub

Go to the GitHub repo’s “releases” tab

Click “Draft a new release”

Provide the release tag in the form of “<major>.<minor>.<patch>”

Select the commit by clicking Target: branch > the passing release candidate tag

Copy and paste NEWS change into the description box

Step 3.1.2: Rename and publish the source package

First upload to dev and then move to releases as follows:

#create a directory under releases - https://httpd.apache.org/dev/release.html

This process needs to change -> http://www.apache.org/dev/release-download-pages.html

# Step 1: Download and Untar
tar -zxvf apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0.rc3-incubating.tar.gz

# Step 2: rename (remove the rc) and tar again
mv apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0.rc3-incubating apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0-incubating
gtar -czvf apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0-incubating.tar.gz apache-mxnet-src-0.11.0-incubating

# Step 3: Resign now
 
# Step 4: First upload here - 
svn mv https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet/0.11.0/
 
# Step 5: Move from dev to release
svn mv https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet/0.11.0/ https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/incubator/mxnet/ --message "0.11.0 release moving from dev to release repo"

 
# Wait 24hours for the src mirroring. The final download page for the announce email is somewhere here (example 0.11.0) - https://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/incubator/mxnet/0.11.0-incubating/

Step 3.1.3: Build, test, and publish pip wheels and python docker images

For linux, we can trigger a release pipeline that builds, tests and publishes the pip wheels and python docker images for us with just a few steps:

1. Go to https://jenkins.mxnet-ci.com/job/restricted-mxnet-cd/job/mxnet-stable-release-pipeline/ and make sure you have write access to the Jenkins system.
2. Click "Configure" and update the "Branch specifier" to point to the GitHub branch/tag and click "Save" (The GitHub repository URL is set to apache/incubator-mxnet, if you are releasing using a fork, update this URL too)
   1. For branch, use <branchName>
   2. For tag, use refs/tags/<tagName>
3. Click "Build with Parameters" from the left pane, modify the following fields as needed and click on "Build"
   1. MXNET_VARIANTS : Make sure all supported cu* flavors are present
   2. RELEASE_BUILD" : Keep the box Unchecked
   3. CD_RELEASE_JOB_NAME : Do not modify this field
   4. VERSION : Mention the MXNet release tag here e.g. 1.8.0, 2.0.0 (This tag is only used in naming python docker images.)
4. This triggers the release pipelines for different cpu and cu* flavors which can be found here https://jenkins.mxnet-ci.com/job/restricted-mxnet-cd/job/mxnet-stable-release-job/ . You can click on "Open Blue Ocean" from the left pane to check pipeline status. There are 3 pipelines that get trigerred:
   1. First pipeline builds the libmxnet binaries for different flavors. Only after this pipeline completes (takes around 2.5 hours), the other two pipelines are triggered, that run in parallel.
   2. Second pipeline "python/pypi" publishes the pip wheels to https://dist.mxnet.io/python/.
      
   3. Third pipeline "python/docker" publishes the python docker images to https://gallery.ecr.aws/w6z5f7h2/mxnet/python.
5. If any job in any of the three pipelines fails, go through the corresponding logs and either
   1. Re-trigger the pipeline in case it's a flaky failure or
      
   2. Root cause and fix the issue and then re-trigger the pipeline.
6. Once all pipelines are green, Python wheels and Python docker images for all variants are published to their respective targets. Now we need to move these released artifacts to their final locations so that they are available to users:
   1. Python wheels (for this release) from https://dist.mxnet.io/python/ go to PyPI.
      1. Identify the wheels by the version number, date created, and variant string
      2. Download the above wheels, give them another test if needed, and upload them to PyPI
      3. For more info regarding publishing pip wheels to Pypi, please contact zhasheng@apache.org
   2. Python docker images (for this release) from https://gallery.ecr.aws/w6z5f7h2/mxnet/python go to dockerhub.
      
      1. Identify the docker images by the version number, date created, and variant string
      2. Pull each docker image to local (docker pull public.ecr.aws/w6z5f7h2/mxnet/python:<tag>)
      3. Tag downloaded images (docker tag …)
      4. Login to dockerhub (docker login ...)
         
      5. Push images (docker push …)

For mac, the following automated script can be used to build the wheel.(MacOS machine is required to generate wheels for mac)

#!/bin/bash

# Install brew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install developement tools
brew install nasm
brew install automake
brew install libtool
brew install ninja
brew install pkg-config
python -m pip install contextvars
python -m pip install numpy
python -m pip install requests

# Clone MXNet
cd $HOME
git clone -b v1.x --single-branch https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet.git # Use release tag instead
cd $HOME/incubator-mxnet/
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Set ENV variables and build statically
export IS_RELEASE=True
export mxnet_variant=cpu
echo $(git rev-parse HEAD) >> python/mxnet/COMMIT_HASH
mkdir -p $HOME/pip_build/mxnet-build
cp -r * $HOME/pip_build/mxnet-build
export CODE_DIR=$(pwd)
cd $HOME/pip_build/mxnet-build
CMAKE_STATICBUILD=1 ./tools/staticbuild/build.sh $mxnet_variant pip

# Package wheel
cd $HOME/pip_build
cp -r mxnet-build/tools/pip/* .
python setup.py bdist_wheel

# Copy wheel to $HOME/pip_build
cp $HOME/pip_build/dist/mxnet* $HOME/pip_build

Wheels are publish manually to pypi.

Please note that the release tag is usually created on a branch that's forked from v1.x and master. In that case it may lack some of the latest ci/cd fixes on the v1.x and master branch. We might need to manually port back those fixes for the cd pipeline to work.

Step 3.1.4: Verify the resources are uploaded

Check that the resources are present in http://www.apache.org/dist/incubator/mxnet. It may take a while for them to be visible. This will be mirrored throughout the Apache network. There are a few remaining steps.  

3.2. Update the MXNet website

Now that a new version has been drafted on GitHub with source and pip packages published, we need to update the MXNet website. This process includes 2 steps, the first one is to create website artifacts in release version, the second is to update website in master branch.

Step 3.2.1: Create website artifacts in release version

Follow these steps to update website in release branch and create website artifacts.

1. Add the new installation version on the get_start page: Set the new version to be default, and add the dropdown option. See this example
2. Add download links to the install archives. See this example. Make sure to use archive.apache.org for all except the current one.
   • Current: http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.lua?filename=incubator/mxnet/#.#.#/apache-mxnet-src-#.#.#-incubating.tar.gz&action=download
   • Legacy: http://archive.apache.org/dist/incubator/mxnet/
3. Update the pip package table in /python/cpu/pip.md and /python/gpu/pip.md. See this example
4. Update and generate the image file for pip install table.
   • Download pip-packages.sketch from dmlc/web-data repo
   • Use Sketch or other diagram drawing tools to update the sketch file for the new version table (add rows/columns and checkmarks)
   • Save the new pip table as a png file with name pip-packages-{NEW_RELEASE_VERSION}.png
   • Upload the .sketch file and .png file to dmlc/web-data repo. See this example
   • Update pip install table link in pip_snippet.md. See this example
5. Add menu options for general version dropdown. Add the new release version number in _config.ym, _config_beta.tml and _config_prod.yml under '- master'.
6. Update the dropdown versions for python doc. See this example
7. Update the dropdown versions in header.html. See this example
8. Prepare and deploy the release version website artifacts, this step requires access permissions to CI Jenkins server
   • Log in to Jenkins pipeline restricted-website-update-versions
   • Goto Configure to make sure the Git Repository URL points to https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet.git
   • Click Build with Parameters on the left panel
   • Specify COMMIT_ID to the release branch
   • Specify FOLDER_NAME to the release version, e.g. 1.8.0 or 2.0.0
   • Build and make sure the pipeline finish successfully 

Step 3.2.2 Update website in master version

Ensure all the above processes in step 3.2.1 are all completed. Next task is to update master version website.

1. Cherry-pick above changes (step 1-6 in 3.2.1) from release branch to master branch and v1.x branch. See this example
2. Set default website version to new release version by updating the RewriteRule in /docs/static_site/src/.htaccess under comment "# Set default website version to current stable". For example: update the version 1.x to the new release version: 
   • RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /versions/1.x/$1 [r=307,L] => RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /versions/{NEW_RELEASE_VERSION}/$1 [r=307,L]
3. Publish website artifact to the main website
   • Manually trigger pipeline restricted-website-build-master to publish the new website artifact. Make sure that the pipeline finishes successfully.
   • The new website will be published to http://mxnet.incubator.apache.org/. There can be a delay due to some edge caching with Apache infra.
   • After publishing, check the correctness of the main website

3.3. Update NEWS.md & README.md on the MXNet master branch

Can happen after the announcement.

Update the Table of Contents by deleting the one from the previous release, and generating a new one using the complete contents of news.md. You can use this markdown toc generator.

Also update NEWS.md and README.md on v1.x branch, If the release version is branched off from v1.x.

3.4. Check if this release has to go out on a blog on blogs.apache.org

In order to get write access to blogs.apache.org/mxnet, one need to first register on blogs.apache.org and ask Henri (bayard@apache.org) to grant the permission.

3.5. Review the announcement email content on dev@mxnet.incubator.apache.org before sending the announcement.

3.6. Announce the release

Once everything is working (website docs, website changes, 24 hours after upload) create an announcement on the website and then send an email to the mailing list.

Follow instructions from here: http://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html#release-announcements

Send an email to announce@apache.org, general@incubator.apache.org and dev@mxnet.incubator.apache.org with the subject: [ANNOUNCE] Release Apache MXNet (incubating) version $release and a body along the lines of:

Once the release is complete, make sure that all PRs that were created during the release process only for the release branch (version updates, README NEWS etc) are now merged into the master branch too. 

3.7. Bump up the versions on the master  

Merge the PR you created for the release branch into the master

Add a new PR to bump up the version for next release

• Bump up the version number into v1.x branch if the new version is branched from v1.x. Bump up the version number into master branch if the new version is branched from master. Here is a previous version update PR (https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/19196). Please update this wiki with latest version update PR to stay current.
• make sure no broken/non-existing links are added to the master/v1.x branch. 

3.8. Clean up older releases on ASF mirrors  

Clean up older releases stored in https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/incubator/mxnet/ and https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet/

# checkout apache release repo
svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/incubator/mxnet apache-mxnet-release
cd apache-mxnet-release
# remove the previous release folder
svn rm 1.0.0
svn commit -m 'commit message'
# checkout apache dev repo
svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/mxnet apache-mxnet-dev
cd apache-mxnet-dev
# remove the previous release candidate folders
svn rm 1.1.0.rc*
svn commit -m 'commit message'

Enjoy an adult beverage (or bubble tea) of your choice, and congratulations on making a MXNet release.

The Release Checklist Template

For Every Release you must use the following checklist to ensure that all tasks happen in a timely manner - 

In case you need to update this list, edit the original spreadsheet

Notes for reference

*NOTES FROM DOCS FOR REFERENCE:*
http://incubator.apache.org/guides/releasemanagement.html

   - 3 +1 votes from IPMC members (these are the votes that count but we
   should open up to the whole podling community)
   - For podlings, 2 additional constraints:
   - Release artifacts must include “incubating” in final file name (ex:
      apache-mxnet-src-0.10.1-incubating.tar.gz)
   - Release artifacts must include disclaimer in the release artifacts


   - The Incubator PMC expects the source releases to be staged on
   https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/podlingName so that
   they can easily be moved to the release location via svn mv   (
   http://www.apache.org/dist/incubator/)
   - After graduating, RC’s go into https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/
   and official releases go into https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/


http://incubator.apache.org/guides/branding.html#disclaimers

   - Apache Press Team [http://www.apache.org/press/index.html#whoweare]
   must review and coordinate releases for branding
   - On website and in release DISCLAIMER file:
   - Apache Podling-Name is an effort undergoing incubation at The Apache
      Software Foundation (ASF), sponsored by the name of Apache TLP sponsor.
      Incubation is required of all newly accepted projects until a further
      review indicates that the infrastructure, communications, and decision
      making process have stabilized in a manner consistent with other
successful
      ASF projects. While incubation status is not necessarily a reflection of
      the completeness or stability of the code, it does indicate that the
      project has yet to be fully endorsed by the ASF.
      - Website should include Apache Incubator logo:
      http://incubator.apache.org/guides/press-kit.html


   - Release should include:
      - DISCLAIMER
      - LICENSE
      - NOTICE - attribution notices


http://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html

   - A release must contain source package which is cryptographically
   signed by Release lead with detached signature. It must be tested prior
   to voting for release.
   - Release must only contain appropriately licensed code
   - Please ensure you wait >=24 hours after uploading a release before
   making announcements so mirrors catch up
   - Releases of more than 1GB of artifacts require a heads-up to
   Infrastructure in advance.
   - Which directory for what build?
   http://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html#build-directories


http://www.apache.org/dev/release-distribution.html

   - Artifacts MUST be accompanied by:
      - apache-mxnet-src-0.10.1-incubating.asc - contains OpenPGP
      compatible ASCII armored detached signature
      - apache-mxnet-src-0.10.1-incubating.sha - SHA checksum (SHOULD)
   - Publish KEYS file in distribution directory root
      - Signing keys MUST be published in KEYS file, SHOULD be available in
      global public keyserver
      http://www.apache.org/dev/release-signing#keyserver, SHOULD be linked
      into web of trust
      - Keys MUST be RSA & 4096 bits


http://www.apache.org/dev/release-publishing.html

   - Apache RAT can assist in checking license compliance
   http://creadur.apache.org/rat/
   - Eventually we should set up a build system to sign our releases with
   cryptographic signatures. For now we’ll do it manually.


http://www.apache.org/dev/release-signing.html

   - Create a signature and sign releases as mentioned above