Release Management

Semantic Versioning

Release names are defined according to the SemVer 2.0.0 versioning scheme.

Semantic versioning of releases in CI/CD Pipelines

The chosen git tag will be the release name and the version of the Docker Image. Therefore the pipeline script will enforce it to conform to Semantic Versioning 2.0.0.

Keep a Changelog

For changelogs we use the format suggested by Keep a Changelog. Try to follow best practices when writing the changelog. But remember, changelogs are for humans. So do apply best practices when compiling your changelog.

The general AURA changelog is located in CHANGELOG.md.

Additionally, all individual service repositories hold their own changelog file. At each release they are bundled in the aura/changelog directory.

When writing changelogs think about to

  • use BREAKING: prefixes to indicate breaking changes.

  • avoid multi-line statements which include line-breaks. This breaks the release script.

  • clarity over quantity, because changelogs are for humans.

Changelogs are for humans!

Avoid any technical details on internals. But documenting API or CLI changes are okay. Try to read it from a end-user perspective. Learn more at keepachangelog.com.

Current Release

You can find available releases at releases.aura.radio or by executing git tag.

Find releases of individual services in the Gitlab repository page under Deployments > Releases.

Release Workflow

The release workflow at a glance:

  1. Cycle Planning in the beginning of the release cycle:

    1. Define the date for code-freeze e.g. Monday evening of the the 6th week.

    2. Define the release testers e.g. 1-2 people are sufficient.

    3. Define the release date e.g. Thursday of the 6th week. The cooldown phase can be used, when there are huge, unexpected issues.

  2. When code-freeze hit, repository maintainers release their services. When done, they inform the release manager.

  3. The release manager starts preparing the release. When done, the release testers are informed.

  4. The release testers start testing, mainly if the suite can be still installed according to the documentation. When issues appear, relevant tickets are re-opened and developers are informed. If successful the product owner and release manager are informed to proceed with the release.

  5. The release manager performs the release.

Find the detailed steps per role below.

Releasing a service

This release step is done by the repository maintainers.

To perform a service release do:

  1. While you should keep the CHANGELOG.md up to date at all times, now is a good time to check if you have forgotten something. Also, review if it fits the common format.

  2. In the changelog, update the version from [Unreleased] to the current version to be released and the current date. Remove all the unused sections. Commit and push.

  3. Bump the version in the file holding the current version. Commit and push the version update.

  4. Release the version by running make release. This command tags and pushes the current branch.

  5. Then create a new template section with the [Unreleased] header and all required sections.

As soon a version tag is pushed, the CI/CD Pipeline performs these steps:

  • Create a GitLab release with the provided CHANGELOG.md as its release notes.

  • Pushes the image to Docker Hub.

  • Build the Docker Image and automatically tags the release with latest and <release version>.

Releasing the AURA software bundle

The release of a complete software bundle is triggered from within the aura repository and performed by the release manager.

Before proceeding review the main AURA changelog in aura/CHANGELOG.md.

Preparing the release

  1. Create a new branch for the release: git checkout -b %VERSION%-prep. Note the -prep suffix for release preparation, as the actual %VERSION% branch needs to stay unused for the actual release tag branch.

  2. In aura/CHANGELOG.md change the version identifier [Unreleased] to the release version and add the current date.

  3. Bump the version of the aura repository with poetry version <version>.

  4. Update the versions of referenced services in the Docker Compose config/<docker compose>/sample.env files and in .env.version.

  5. Update the configuration files, fixtures and changelogs by running

    make dev.prepare-release

    This command pulls all configuration files, fixtures and changelogs from the individual repos identified by the versions in .env.version. The changlogs are stored .tmp and are merged into a file named merged-CHANGELOG-%AURA_VERSION%.md. Commit any changed configs and fixtures.

  6. Commit and push the branch.

Now inform the testers to check-out and test the given branch.

Performing the release

After the testers inform the product owner and development team, that the release criteria is met, we can proceed.

In case developers have done any last minute bugfixes and re-released their services, ensure all the configuration and changelog files are still up-to-date by executing

make dev.prepare-release

once more.

  1. Take the contents of .tmp/merged-CHANGELOG-%AURA_VERSION%.md and paste it into a new section in docs/release-notes.md.

  2. Now we have to start thinking: What should be in the header of the release notes? Comprehend what this release delivers by checking the roadmap and contents of the changelog below.

  3. Review and commit the changes.

  4. To ship the release, run

make dev.release

  1. Check out main and merge everything changed, except the version updates. They should remain as main for all services. Alternatively cherry-pick the relevant commits or update the relevant version strings to main after the merge.

  2. Update aura/CHANGELOG.md with a new template section for the next release.

  3. Push the changes to main.

  4. Delete the branch used for release preparation.

  5. Inform the product owner and team that the release is done.