This document contains information about successfully releasing LLVM --- including sub-projects: e.g., clang and compiler-rt --- to the public. It is the Release Manager's responsibility to ensure that a high quality build of LLVM is released.
If you're looking for the document on how to test the release candidates and create the binary packages, please refer to the {doc}ReleaseProcess instead.
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LLVM is released on a time-based schedule --- with major releases roughly every 6 months. In between major releases there may be dot releases. The release manager will determine if and when to make a dot release based on feedback from the community. Typically, dot releases should be made if there are a large number of bug fixes in the stable branch or a critical bug has been discovered that affects a large number of users.
Unless otherwise stated, dot releases will follow the same procedure as major releases.
Here is the annual release schedule for LLVM. This is meant to be a guide, and release managers are not required to follow this exactly. Releases should be tagged on Tuesdays.
| Release | Approx. Date |
|---|---|
| release branch: even releases | 2nd Tue in January |
| release branch: odd releases | 2nd Tue in July |
| X.1.0-rc1 | 3 days after branch. |
| X.1.0-rc2 | 2 weeks after branch. |
| X.1.0-rc3 | 4 weeks after branch |
| X.1.0-final | 6 weeks after branch |
| X.1.1 | 8 weeks after branch |
| X.1.2 | 10 weeks after branch |
| X.1.3 | 12 weeks after branch |
| X.1.4 | 14 weeks after branch |
| X.1.5 | 16 weeks after branch |
| X.1.6 | 18 weeks after branch |
| X.1.7 | 20 weeks after branch |
| X.1.8 | 22 weeks after branch |
| X.1.9 (If necessary) | 24 weeks after branch |
| Next release branches | ~25 weeks after branch |
This section describes a few administrative tasks that need to be done for the release process to begin. Specifically, it involves:
Branch the Git trunk using the following procedure:
Verify the current git trunk is in decent shape by examining the status checks on the most recent commits
Bump the version in trunk to N.0.0git and clear the release notes:
$ llvm/utils/release/bump-version.py --git N.0.0 $ llvm/utils/release/clear-release-notes.py $ git commit -am "Bump version to N.0.0git" $ git push origin main
If the push fails, rebase if necessary and try again.
Tag the commit bumping the version on trunk with llvmorg-N-init. If X is the version to be released, then N is X + 1.
$ GPG_TTY=$(tty) git tag -sa llvmorg-N-init -m "llvmorg-N-init" $ git push origin llvmorg-N-init
Create the release branch from the last known good revision before the version bump. The branch name is release/X.x where X is the major version number and x is just the letter x. Assuming the revision before the version bump is ok, this would be:
$ git checkout -b release/X.x llvmorg-N-init^
On the newly-created release branch, immediately bump the version to X.1.0git (where X is the major version number):
$ llvm/utils/release/bump-version.py --git X.1.0 $ git commit -am "Bump version to X.1.0git"
Push release branch:
$ git push -u origin release/X.x
And finally, create the release branch in llvm-test-suite repo:
$ cd <llvm-test-suite> $ git checkout main $ git pull $ git checkout -b release/X.x $ git push -u origin release/X.x
Tag release candidates:
$ git tag -sa llvmorg-X.Y.Z-rcN
The pre-packaged source tarballs will be automatically generated via the Release Sources workflow on GitHub. This workflow will create an artifact containing all the release tarballs and the artifact attestation. Additionally the Release Documentation workflow will run and create an artifact containing the man pages and the artifact attestation. The Release Manager should download the artifacts from both workflows, verify the tarballs, sign them, and then upload them to the release page.
$ unzip artifact.zip $ gh auth login $ for f in *.xz; do gh attestation verify --owner llvm $f && gpg -b $f; done
Tarballs, release binaries, or any other release artifacts must be uploaded to GitHub. This can be done using the github-upload-release.py script in utils/release.
$ github-upload-release.py upload --token <github-token> --release X.Y.Z-rcN --files <release_files>
Creating the binary distribution requires following the instructions {doc}here <ReleaseProcess>.
That process performs both Release+Asserts and Release builds but only packs the Release build for upload. You should use the Release+Asserts sysroot, normally under final/Phase3/Release+Asserts/llvmCore-3.8.1-RCn.install/, for test-suite and run-time benchmarks, to ensure nothing serious has passed through the net. For compile-time benchmarks, use the Release version.
The minimum required version of the tools you'll need are {doc}here <GettingStarted>
There are no official release qualification criteria. The release manager determines when a release is ready. The release manager should pay attention to the results of community testing, the number of outstanding bugs, and the number of regressions when determining whether or not to make a release.
The community values time based releases, so releases should not be delayed for too long unless critical issues remain. In most cases, the only kind of bugs that are critical enough to block a release would be a major regression from a previous release.
A few developers in the community have dedicated time to validate the release candidates and volunteered to be the official release testers for each architecture.
These will be the ones testing, generating, and uploading the official binaries to the server, and will be the minimum tests necessary for the release to proceed.
This will obviously not cover all OSs and distributions, so additional community validation is important. However, if community input is not received before the release, all reported bugs will be deferred to the next stable release.
The official release managers are:
The official release testers are volunteers from the community who have consistently validated and released binaries for their targets/OSs. To contact them, you should post on the Discourse forums (Project Infrastructure - Release Testers).
The official testers list is in the file RELEASE_TESTERS.TXT, in the LLVM repository.
Once all testing is complete and appropriate bugs are filed, the release candidate tarballs are put on the website, and the LLVM community is notified.
We ask that all LLVM developers test the release in any the following ways:
llvm-X.Y, llvm-test-X.Y, and the appropriate clang binary. Build LLVM. Run make check and the full LLVM test suite (make TEST=nightly report).llvm-X.Y, llvm-test-X.Y, and the clang sources. Compile everything. Run make check and the full LLVM test suite (make TEST=nightly report).llvm-X.Y, llvm-test-X.Y, and the appropriate clang binary. Build whole programs with it (ex. Chromium, Firefox, Apache) for your platform.llvm-X.Y, llvm-test-X.Y, and the appropriate clang binary. Build your programs with it and check for conformance and performance regressions.release process <ReleaseProcess>, if your platform is different than that which is officially supported, and report back errors only if they were not reported by the official release tester for that architecture.We also ask that the OS distribution release managers test their packages with the first candidate of every release and report any new errors in GitHub. If the bug can be reproduced with an unpatched upstream version of the release candidate (as opposed to the distribution's own build), the priority should be release blocker.
During the first round of testing, all regressions must be fixed before the second release candidate is tagged.
In the subsequent stages, the testing is only to ensure that bug fixes previously merged in have not created new major problems. This is not the time to solve additional and unrelated bugs! If no patches are merged in, the release is determined to be ready and the release manager may move onto the next stage.
Every regression found during the tests (as per the criteria above) should be filled in a bug in GitHub and added to the release milestone.
If a bug can't be reproduced or stops being a blocker, it should be removed from the Milestone. Debugging can continue, but on trunk.
Instructions for requesting a backport to a stable branch can be found {ref}here <backporting>.
This section describes how to triage bug reports:
Search for bugs with a Release Milestone that have not been added to the “Release Status” github project:
Replace 14.0.5 in this query with the version from the Release Milestone being targeted.
Add these bugs to the “Release Status” project.
Navigate to the Release Status project to see the list of bugs that are being considered for the release.
Review each bug and first check if it has been fixed in main. If it has, update its status to “Needs Pull Request” and create a pull request for the fix using the /cherry-pick or /branch comments if this has not been done already.
If a bug has been fixed and has a pull request created for backporting it, then update its status to “Needs Review” and notify a knowledgeable reviewer. Usually you will want to notify the person who approved the patch, but you may use your best judgement on who a good reviewer would be. Once you have identified the reviewer(s), assign the issue to them and mention them (i.e., @username) in a comment and ask them if the patch is safe to backport. You should also review the bug yourself to ensure that it meets the requirements for committing to the release branch.
Once a bug has been reviewed, update the status to “Needs Merge”. Check the pull request associated with the issue. If all the tests pass, then the pull request can be merged. If not, then add a comment on the issue asking someone to take a look at the failures.
Below are the rules regarding patching the release branch:
The final stages of the release process involve tagging the “final” release branch, updating documentation that refers to the release, and updating the demo page.
Review the documentation in the release branch and ensure that it is up to date. The “Release Notes” must be updated to reflect new features, bug fixes, new known issues, and changes in the list of supported platforms. The {doc}GettingStarted page should be updated to reflect the new release version number tag and changes in basic system requirements.
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Tag the final release sources:
$ git tag -sa llvmorg-X.Y.Z $ git push https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project.git llvmorg-X.Y.Z
The website must be updated before the release announcement is sent out. Here is what to do:
X.Y.Z in the releases directory.llvm/docs and LICENSE.txt files into this new directory.releases/download.html file with links to the release binaries on GitHub.releases/index.html with the new release and link to release documentation.www-releases repo, someone with admin access must log in to prereleases-origin.llvm.org and manually pull the new changes into /data/www-releases/. This is where the website is served from.llvm-www repo and update the main page (index.html and sidebar) to point to the new release and release announcement.Create a new post in the Announce Category once all the release tasks are complete. For X.1.0 releases, make sure to include a link to the release notes in the post. For X.1.1+ releases, generate a changelog using this command and add it to the post.
$ git log --format="- %aN: [%s (%h)](https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/%H)" llvmorg-X.1.N-1..llvmorg-X.1.N
Once the release has been announced, add a link to the announcement on the llvm homepage (from the llvm-www repo) in the “Release Emails” section.