1.1. METplus Official Release
Create a new vX.Y.Z official release from the develop branch.
1.1.1. Open Release Issue
Define a new issue in the METplus repository to create the new release.
“Create the METplus vX.Y.Z release” for an official or bugfix release.
“Create the METplus vX.Y.Z-betaN (or -rcN) release” for a development release.
For an official or development release, assign the issue to the current METplus development project.
For a bugfix release, assign the issue to the organization level support project.
Select the target milestone.
1.1.2. Clone the Project Repository
Create and work in a new directory to ensure a fresh environment:
mkdir release-X.Y.Z
cd release-X.Y.Z
Run the clone command to obtain the repository.
Using SSH:
git clone git@github.com:dtcenter/METplus
Using HTTP:
git clone https://github.com/dtcenter/METplus
Enter the project repository directory:
cd METplus
1.1.3. Checkout the Develop Branch
Checkout the develop branch:
git checkout develop
1.1.4. Create Release Feature Branch
Create a feature branch in which to update the version number and add release notes being sure to include the GitHub issue number for the new release.
git checkout -b feature_NNNN_vX.Y.Z # for an official or bugfix release
git checkout -b feature_NNNN_vX.Y.Z-betaN # for a development release
git checkout -b feature_NNNN_vX.Y.Z-rcN # for a development release
1.1.4.1. Update Release Date
The release date is stored in metplus/RELEASE_DATE in YYYYMMDD format.
Change the value stored in this file to match the current date.
1.1.5. Update Release Notes
You can refer to the GitHub Issues page to see what has changed for this release. Open the following URL in a browser:
https://github.com/dtcenter/METplus/issues
Click on the Projects tab and select the project (under Repository) that corresponds to the release you are creating.
Update the release-notes.rst file found in the User’s Guide directory.
Consider organizing release notes into logical groups (e.g. Enhancements, Bugfixes, Documentation, etc.) and modifying GitHub issue titles for consistency. The release notes should match the GitHub issue titles, when possible.
Use your best judgement to apply bold formatting for any major or important changes.
When creating the official release, combine the beta release sections into one section (i.e. “Version X.Y.Z release notes (YYYYMMDD)”).
Commit changes and push to GitHub.
1.1.7. Update the version numbers in the manage externals files
build_components/Externals_stable.cfg
Each of the components in these files has a tag associated with them. Update the value for tag to the tag associated with the release for each METplus component that is part of this METplus coordinated release, i.e. MET should be v10.0.0 for the METplus 4.0.0 coordinated release.
1.1.8. Merge Release Issue
After updating the release-specific content on a release feature branch, submit a pull request to merge those changes back into the source branch.
1.1.9. Create Release Reference Branch
For METplus, the corresponding MET release must be created before starting this step. Specifically, a DockerHub tag on dtcenter/met that is named (X+6).Y-latest must already exist. For example, for METplus 4.1.0, the MET DockerHub tag for 10.1-latest must be built. See https://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/dtcenter/met/general for a list of existing tags.
Create a branch from the develop branch for the reference branch for the new official release and push it to GitHub. The branch name should match the format main_vX.Y-ref where X.Y is the major/minor release number.
cd METplus git checkout develop git pull git checkout -b main_vX.Y-ref git push -u origin main_vX.Y-ref
Pushing this branch to GitHub should trigger the GitHub Actions automation that runs all of the use cases and creates Docker data volumes with the output data. These data will be used to verify that any bugfixes applied to the main_vX.Y branch does not break any of existing logic.
Navigate to https://github.com/dtcenter/METplus/actions and verify that a Testing workflow was triggered on the main_vX.Y-ref branch.
Wait until the entire workflow has run successfully. The final job entitled “Create Output Docker Data Volumes” should create Docker data volumes for each use case category on DockerHub (dtcenter/metplus-data-dev). The names of these volumes start with output-.
After the truth data volumes have been generated, create the main_vX.Y branch off of the -ref branch.
git checkout -b main_vX.Y
git push -u origin main_vX.Y
1.1.10. Update Release Content
Update content that should go into the release version but remain unchanged in the develop branch.
1.1.10.1. Update the version number
Remove -dev from the version number:
As of METplus 4.0.0, we are naming releases with X.Y.Z format even if Z is 0.
As of METplus v4.0.0, the file containing the version number is located at metplus/VERSION (in earlier releases, the file was located at docs/version or doc/version).
In the develop branch, the version should match the upcoming release with -dev added to the end like X.Y.Z-betaN-dev, i.e. 4.0.0-beta1-dev
Remove -dev from the version number so that it matches the release you are creating.
1.1.11. Push Release Branch to GitHub
Push the release branch to GitHub:
release_branch=main_vX.Y
git push origin $release_branch
1.1.12. Create Release on GitHub
Go to Releases on GitHub and click ‘Draft a new release’
Set the tag based on the version, starting with ‘v’, i.e. vX.Y.Z-betaN, vX.Y.Z-rcN, or vX.Y.Z
Set the branch value to ‘develop’ for a development release or ‘main_vX.Y’ for a bugfix or official release
Choose a release name (i.e. METplus-X.Y.Z-betaN, METplus-X.Y.Z-rcN, or METplus-X.Y.Z)
Add a link to the release notes from the METplus User’s Guide, i.e. https://METplus.readthedocs.io/en/vX.Y.Z-betaN/Users_Guide/release-notes.html (Note: the URL will not be active until the release is created)
Add a link to the PDF of the METplus User’s Guide, if available. The PDF can be downloaded from ReadTheDocs if it is available, i.e. https://METplus.readthedocs.io/_/downloads/en/vX.Y.Z-betaN/pdf/ (Note: the URL will not be active until the release is created)
Add link to METplus_Data and add a note to instruct users to use sub-directory corresponding to this release, i.e. v4.0.0)
If this is a development release, check the box that says “This is a pre-release”
Click on “Publish release”.
1.1.13. Update DTC Website
Navigate to the downloads page for the METplus repository at https://dtcenter.org/community-code/metplus/download
Sign in to the Drupal interface and edit the Downloads page.
Create a new Software Release for the newly released version by clicking on Add New Release.
For Full Title of Release type “METplus Version X.Y.Z”.
For Related Community Code select both the METplus and the METplus Wrappers options (For Macs, hold the Command key to select both).
For Version Label type “METplus X.Y.Z betaN”.
Select the release type (Recommended for official or bugfix releases or Development for development versions).
Enter the release date.
Click on Add Code Download then click Add Link to add links for each of the following:
Add Link: The URL should be the release page that was just created under the GitHub Releases tab and the link text should be the name of the release (i.e. METplus X.Y.Z-betaN).
Add Link: Link text should be “User’s Guide” and the URL should be the top level directory of the User’s Guide hosted on the web. Beta releases can use “develop” in the URL, but for official releases, please ensure the link uses the branch name (e.g. main_vX.Y) as opposed to the tag name (e.g. vX.Y.Z). For example, use “https://metplus.readthedocs.io/en/main_vX.Y/Users_Guide/” and NOT “https://metplus.readthedocs.io/en/vX.Y.Z/Users_Guide/”
Add Link: Link text should be “Existing Builds and Docker” and the URL should be the latest Existing Builds page, i.e. https://dtcenter.org/community-code/metplus/metplus-X-Y-existing-builds (If creating a new official release, be sure to add a new Existing Builds and Docker page, if one was not already created.)
Inside the text box in the “Release Notes” section provide a direct link to the release-notes.html file in the User’s Guide.
Click on “Create Release”.
Update the existing releases, as needed.
For a development release, change any previous Development versions to Other.
For a bugfix or official release, change any previous Recommended versions to Other.
For an official release, remove the corresponding development releases.
Make any other necessary website updates. For example, adding the User’s Guide to https://dtcenter.org/community-code/metplus/documentation
Click on “Save”.
1.1.14. Finalize Release on GitHub
Close the GitHub issue for creating this official release.
Edit the milestone for the current release by updating the Due date with the actual release date.
If necessary, create a new milestone for the next official release (e.g. next vX.Y.Z release).
If necessary, reassign any remaining issues for the current milestone to the next one.
Close the current milestone.
Confirm that all existing development projects for the current milestone are closed.
If necessary, create development projects for the next milestone (e.g. METplus-X.Y.Z-beta1, beta2, beta3).
Update the repository settings by resetting the Default branch to the new main_vX.Y branch:
https://github.com/dtcenter/METplus -> Settings -> Branches (tab on left) -> change the drop down to new branch
1.1.15. Update Version on Develop Branch
Switch to the develop branch and change metplus/VERSION value to the next release after this one with -dev added to the end. Releases will loosely following these names, but are subject to change:
Release Version |
New Develop Version |
|---|---|
X.Y.Z-beta1 |
X.Y.Z-beta2-dev |
X.Y.Z-beta2 |
X.Y.Z-beta3-dev |
X.Y.Z-beta3 |
X.Y.Z-rc1-dev |
X.Y.Z-rc1 |
X.Y.Z-dev |
X.Y.Z |
(X+1).0.0-beta1-dev |
1.1.16. Update the Documentation on the Web
Because Read the Docs is configured to automate the building of new “main” branches in the METplus components’ repositories, nothing needs to be done to build the documentation for the new release. See the Read the Docs section for further information. For an official release, it is important to update the “Default branch” to this latest “main” branch. An administrator of the METplus component repository will need to do the following to update the default branch:
Log into their Read the Docs account
Click on the appropriate METplus component project
Click on Admin in the top menu
Click on Advanced Settings in the left menu
Select the new default branch in the dropdown menu for “Default branch” (e.g. main_v4.0.0)
Ensure that “latest” points to the new default branch by clicking on “View Docs”in the upper right corner and confirm that the version number displayed in the header is the desired version for “latest”.
1.1.17. Update DTC Web Server Data
1.1.17.1. Create Directory for Next Release
On the DTC web server where the sample input data for use cases is hosted, run the setup_next_release_data.py script for the next upcoming release to set up the data directory for the next major/minor version development. The script can be found in the METplus repository in internal_tests/use_cases. The file should be found in the home directory of the met_test user on the DTC web server host. It is linked to the file in the METplus repository. Pull the latest changes from the develop branch before running the script:
runas met_test
cd /home/met_test/METplus
git checkout develop
git pull
Now run the script passing in the version of the next release, i.e. if creating the v4.1.0 release, pass in v5.0 as the argument:
/home/met_test/setup_next_release_data.py v5.0
See the comments in the script for more details. Ensure that the script runs without error and that the newly created directory contains links to all of the sample data tar files:
ls -lh /home/met_test/METplus_Data/v5.0
1.1.18. Update Zenodo
In the METplus GitHub repository scroll down to the README file and check the METplus Coordinated Release Digital Object Identifier (DOI) on Zenodo. Once all METplus components have been released, gather the zip files for each METplus component release in the METplus Verification System Coordinated Release and upload them to create a new version on Zenodo.