HttpClientReleaseProcess - Jakarta-httpclient Wiki

This page has been moved to the new HttpComponents Wiki.

The following steps are required to create and deploy a release version of the HttpClient library package. The example text consistently assumes that we are releasing version 3.0.1 of the package.

Pre Release

Announce your proposed release to the httpcomponents-dev@jakarta.apache.org mailing list, and ask for a vote. Per the Jakarta Project charter, votes of Jakarta PMC members are considered binding.
Assuming the vote is successful send an email to httpcomponents-dev@jakarta.apache.org and private@jakarta.apache.org with the outcome of the vote. Something like the following:

Subject: [VOTE][RESULT] Commons HttpClient 3.0.1 released

The vote to release Commons HttpClient 3.0.1 has passed with
the following results

+1

Michael Becke <mbecke -at- apache.org>
Ortwin Glück <oglueck -at- apache.org>
Oleg Kalnichevski <olegk -at- apache.org>
Roland Weber <rolandw -at- apache.org>

---
Original thread:
http://www.mail-archive.com/httpclient-dev%40jakarta.apache.org/msg03653.html

Building the Release

Documentation

Update release_notes.txt - This file should be updated when patches are committed, but sometimes is not. Be sure all relevant changes since the last release are included. This file should be published along with the release source and binary distributions.
Update the project version number.
- build.xml - change the property component.version
- project.xml - change <currentVersion/> and add a <version/> element
- src/java/org/apache/commons/httpclient/params/DefaultHttpParamsFactory.java - update the useragent string
- doap_httpclient.rdf - update the <release> section
Update project site documentation.
- xdocs/status.xml - change the current status text, the link to next release bugs, and the release info link
- xdocs/downloads.xml - change the release number and date and the Maven dependency xml
- xdocs/news.xml - add a news item for the release. This can be reused in the announcement email and the Jakarta site news.
Make sure you have at least version 1.10 of the maven-xdoc-plugin as previous versions are affected by a bug. If not, update:
- maven plugin:download -DartifactId=maven-xdoc-plugin -DgroupId=maven -Dversion=1.10
Generate the HttpClient site locally and validate.
- maven site:generate
Checkin all changes.
- svn commit -m 'Changes for 3.0.1 release'

Release Package

Tag the code in SVN.

When releasing off a branch

svn copy -m "HttpClient release 3.0.1"  
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jakarta/commons/proper/httpclient/branches/HTTPCLIENT_3_0_BRANCH https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jakarta/commons/proper/httpclient/tags/HTTPCLIENT_3_0_1

When releasing off the trunk

svn copy -m "HttpClient release 3.1-alpha1"  
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jakarta/commons/proper/httpclient/trunk https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jakarta/commons/proper/httpclient/tags/HTTPCLIENT_3_1_ALPHA1

Make sure you running a 1.2 JVM. This is necessary to ensure that the generated binaries are 1.2 compatible.
Generate the binary packages.
- maven httpclient:dist
Verify the contents of the generated packages.

Sign and checksum the generated packages (*.zip, *.tar.gz, and *.jar). Details for this are covered in the Commons release documentation. Below is a quick Perl script to accomplish this.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# signs and checksums all files given as command line args

foreach my $file (@ARGV) {
    print $file."\n";

    my $md5 = `md5sum $file`;
    `echo "$md5" > $file.md5`;    
    $md5 =~ /(\w+)\s+/;
    $md5 = $1;
    # verify md5
    my $testMd5 = `openssl md5 < $file`;
    chomp($testMd5); 
    if ($testMd5 ne $md5) { die 'md5 does not equal'; }

    `gpg --armor --output $file.asc --detach-sig $file`;
    # verify signature
    `gpg --verify $file.asc $file`
}

Copy the release materials to your personal Apache web directory and invite the other HttpClient committers to test out the release packages before you continue.

Publishing the Release

Copy binary and source distributions into the HttpClient dist directory.

   export DIST_DIR=/www/www.apache.org/dist/jakarta/commons/httpclient
   cp commons-httpclient-3.0.1-src* $DIST_DIR/source/
   cp commons-httpclient-3.0.1.tar* commons-httpclient-3.0.1.zip* $DIST_DIR/binary/
   cp release-notes.txt $DIST_DIR/RELEASE_NOTES.txt

Copy the jar and POM to the ibiblio dist directory.

   export IBIBLIO_DIR=/www/people.apache.org/repo/m1-ibiblio-rsync-repository/commons-httpclient
   cp commons-httpclient-3.0.1.jar* $IBIBLIO_DIR/jars/
   cp project.xml $IBIBLIO_DIR/poms/commons-httpclient-3.0.1.pom

Be sure that all files belong to the jakarta group and that they are group writable.

Updating the Jakarta website

Check out the jakarta site directory from SVN.
Update news.xml and xdocs/downloads/downloads.xml to.
Run ant from the site directory to regenerate the site docs.
Checkin the modified docs.
- svn commit -m "Updates for the HttpClient 3.0.1 release"

From people.apache.org update the Jakarta site.

   cd /www/jakarta.apache.org/
   svn update

Redeploy the HttpClient site

maven -Dmaven.username=mbecke site:deploy

Accounce the release

Send an email announcing the release to the following lists:

The email should look something like the following:

Subject: [ANNOUNCEMENT] Commons HttpClient 3.0.1 Released

The Jakarta Commons HttpClient project is pleased to announce the
release of HttpClient 3.0.1. This version fixes a number of bugs found since 
the release of 3.0. All HttpClient users are encouraged to upgrade.  Please 
download and enjoy.

Download - <http://jakarta.apache.org/site/downloads/downloads_commons-httpclient.cgi>
Release notes -
<http://www.apache.org/dist/jakarta/commons/httpclient/RELEASE-NOTES.txt>
HttpClient site - <http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/httpclient/>

About HttpClient -
Although the java.net package provides basic functionality for
accessing resources via HTTP, it doesn't provide the full flexibility
or functionality needed by many applications. The Jakarta Commons
HttpClient component seeks to fill this void by providing an
efficient, up-to-date, and feature-rich package implementing the
client side of the most recent HTTP standards and recommendations.

Enjoy,

Commons HttpClient Team