Solved FreeBSD release engineering

[Cath O'Deray]

{link removed}

13.1-RELEASE estimated some time in early 2022 at <{link removed}>.

<{link removed}> for an official release schedule does not yet exist.

release schedule is that there's a release every 6 months. FreeBSD 12.3 is up next, that will be released some time in December. FreeBSD 13.1 will follow about 6 months after that. Then 12.4 6 months after that, etc. So you can make an educated guess that 13.1 will come some time in June/July 2022.

Thanks, maybe six months is a basis for something else.

11.4 was released around two months after 13.0, and so on, and (unless I'm missing something) I see nothing relating to six months or biannual at the release engineering page above.

{link removed}

{link removed} (parsed) at <{link removed}>

 

[Andriy]

11.x and 13.x are different major branches. Their release cycles are unrelated.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

Thanks. The same (difference) is true for 12.⋯ and 13.⋯, so I don't foresee {link removed} affecting the schedule for 13.1.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… freebsd-update … warning about 13.0-RELEASE approaching end-of-life. There is no EoL for 13.0-RELEASE yet.

Thanks Nick C and drr

I guess that <{link removed}> and <{link removed}> will appear before too long.

Postscripts

<{link removed}>

… The freebsd-update metadata includes the EoL, so it's initially populated with the projected EoL and gets adjusted when the next release's schedule is released. I'm trying to see if we can instead initially populate it with the branch EoL and adjust it to be closer once the new schedule is released -- in theory, nobody uses this for other reasons and they just won't notice as long as we get it set right closer to EoL.

Thanks,

Kyle Evans

<{link removed}>

Kyle and colleagues: if not already on your radar, maybe also some adjustment for releng/12.2. …

 

[Cath O'Deray]

13.1-RELEASE estimated some time in early 2022 …

I guess that <{link removed}> and <{link removed}> will appear before too long.

The schedule is now available. Thanks eternal_noob for the hint.

 

[drhowarddrfine]

I wish I knew what half of all these disjointed, splintered threads were about.

On second thought, no I don't.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

I am sure this has been asked before but i can't find information about which features are new in 13.1 and what changes have been made.
Is there a simple overview of the changelog (yet)?

Retrospective: for 13.0, {link removed} and other pages first appeared[/URL] on the Wednesday before the Friday creation of the releng/13.0 branch:



Looking ahead: for 13.1, hardware, installation, readme and relnotes pages might appear on or around Tuesday 8th March 2022.

 

[kpedersen]

I wish I knew what half of all these disjointed, splintered threads were about.

Definitely more damaging to the forums than any of the past trolls we have had. The forums are basically becoming a mess.

And the worst thing about it is that I think he means well in his own little way.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

13.1

Whilst the releng/13.1 branch does not yet exist, installation images for 13.1-PRERELEASE are available:

• {link removed}

Thanks to vermaden for the hint.

Postscript

<{link removed}> (2022-03-10)

13.1: create releng/13.1 branchreleng/13.1

FreeBSD bug {link removed}

 

[Cath O'Deray]

{link removed}

Context: <{link removed}> NB the draft pull request to put flesh on the skeleton.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… the first beta release of 13.1 should come out soon. …

? The announcement came a few hours later:

• {link removed}

 

[bsduck]

By the way, a freshly upgraded stable/13 system now labels itself 13.1-STABLE.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

Thanks,

freshly upgraded stable/13 system now labels itself 13.1-STABLE.

For Bugzilla itself: FreeBSD bug {link removed}

---

General discussion

FreeBSD 13.1 in beta...

Hi Folks, this is my very first time... But what does it mean is it in beta? Should we wait until it is going to be "released"? Honestly is still very confusing for me the way FreeBSD moves forward... ? Thanks!

forums.freebsd.org

 

[Cath O'Deray]

FreeBSD 13.1-RC1​

The update to RC1 was committed a few hours ago.

<{link removed}>

{link removed}

{link removed}

---

Not yet in release notes (paraphrased):

UEFI boot is improved for amd64. The loader detects whether the loaded kernel can handle the in-place staging area (non-copying mode). The default is copy_staging auto. Auto-detection can be overridden, for example: with copy_staging enable, the loader will unconditionally copy the staging area to 2M, regardless of kernel capabilities. Also, the code to grow the staging area is more robust; for growth to occur, it's no longer necessary to hand-tune and recompile the loader. (Sponsored by the FreeBSD Foundation)

– oversimplified (for drive-by readers):

• FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE, and its installer, fails to boot various computers
• FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE will succeed.

 

[Deleted member 56028]

By the way, a freshly upgraded stable/13 system now labels itself 13.1-STABLE.

AFAIK, it happens when the releng branch for the next release is created, in this case, releng/13.1.

 

[SirDice]

AFAIK, it happens when the releng branch for the next release is created, in this case, releng/13.1.

Yep. Just before a new release branch is created 13.0-STABLE changes to 13.1-PRERELEASE: https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit...3&id=9134a3985069e879feee8149a6da96a3ad658fa8

Then a releng/13.1 branch is created. That branch be the base of 13.1-RELEASE. In the meantime stable/13 changes back to it's 'regular' -STABLE moniker: https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit...3&id=08523c8c63bbcdcd3f0d36787a544817cb5b8282

As the version was changed from 13.0 to 13.1 with the prerelease name change stable/13 will now indicate 13.1-STABLE. Development will continue there towards 13.2. releng/13.1 is then put through some cleanups and the first beta releases. Followed by one or more release candidates and will eventually be fully released as 13.1-RELEASE.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

Thanks. Odd that the release engineering article documents -PRERELEASE to -BETA1, but not -STABLE to -PRERELEASE.

 

[SirDice]

Because releng/13.1 is branched off from stable/13 when newvers.sh indicates -PRERELEASE:

src - FreeBSD source tree

cgit.freebsd.org

but not -STABLE to -PRERELEASE.

Not sure from what point onwards they started doing that, but this was the oldest I could find on short notice:

src - FreeBSD source tree

cgit.freebsd.org

 

[Cath O'Deray]

FreeBSD 13.1-RC3​

The update to RC3 was committed a few hours ago.

<{link removed}>

{link removed}

{link removed}

Availability: expect an announcement to {link removed}, and at the FreeBSD home page.

---

Generally, looking ahead: if you have not already done so, please subscribe to {link removed}. Thanks.

 

[eternal_noob]

I wonder if this is the final release candidate or if we get additional ones like with 13.0 (RC4 + RC5).

 

[SirDice]

I wonder if this is the last release candidate or if we get additional ones like with 13.0 (RC4 + RC5).

In the past 20-25 years I don't think I've ever seen a RC4 being needed.

FreeBSD 13.1 Release Process

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

According to the schedule, the actual release builds should start on 21 April 2022. Building all the release images takes a bit of time of course. Then it needs to be distributed to all mirrors, which will also take a bit time.

 

[eternal_noob]

13.0 even had RC5...

 

[SirDice]

13.0 even had RC5...

Ah, you're right. Can't remember what the reasons where for 13.0 though. It's definitely not a general rule, I think the only rule is to have a minimum of 2 release candidates. Then review if more are needed.

FreeBSD 9.0 Release Process

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

FreeBSD 9.1 Release Process

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

FreeBSD 9.2 Release Process

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

 

[eternal_noob]

Aaaand we got an RC4 scheduled for 21st of April.

FreeBSD 13.1 Release Process

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

 

[Cath O'Deray]

{link removed}

… RC4 …

I may be way off, but I half-expected an extended test period when I saw <{link removed}> (or a related discussion) …