Release Process

Before every release candidate:

Update translations (ping wumpus on IRC) see translation_process.md.
Update manpages, see gen-manpages.sh.
Update release candidate version in configure.ac (CLIENT_VERSION_RC)

Before every minor and major release:

Update bips.md to account for changes since the last release.
Update version in configure.ac (don't forget to set CLIENT_VERSION_IS_RELEASE to true) (don't forget to set CLIENT_VERSION_RC to 0)
Write release notes (see below)
Update src/chainparams.cpp nMinimumChainWork with information from the getblockchaininfo rpc.
Update src/chainparams.cpp defaultAssumeValid with information from the getblockhash rpc.
- The selected value must not be orphaned so it may be useful to set the value two blocks back from the tip.
- Testnet should be set some tens of thousands back from the tip due to reorgs there.
- This update should be reviewed with a reindex-chainstate with assumevalid=0 to catch any defect that causes rejection of blocks in the past history.

Before every major release:

Update hardcoded seeds, see this pull request for an example.
Update src/chainparams.cpp m_assumed_blockchain_size and m_assumed_chain_state_size with the current size plus some overhead.
Update src/chainparams.cpp chainTxData with statistics about the transaction count and rate. Use the output of the RPC getchaintxstats, see this pull request for an example. Reviewers can verify the results by running getchaintxstats <window_block_count> <window_last_block_hash> with the window_block_count and window_last_block_hash from your output.
Update version of contrib/gitian-descriptors/*.yml: usually one'd want to do this on master after branching off the release - but be sure to at least do it before a new major release

First time / New builders

If you're using the automated script (found in contrib/gitian-build.py), then at this point you should run it with the "--setup" command. Otherwise ignore this.

Check out the source code in the following directory hierarchy.

cd /path/to/your/toplevel/build
git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/gitian.sigs.git
git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-detached-sigs.git
git clone https://github.com/devrandom/gitian-builder.git
git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git

Bitcoin maintainers/release engineers, suggestion for writing release notes

Write release notes. git shortlog helps a lot, for example:

git shortlog --no-merges v(current version, e.g. 0.7.2)..v(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)

(or ping @wumpus on IRC, he has specific tooling to generate the list of merged pulls and sort them into categories based on labels)

Generate list of authors:

git log --format='- %aN' v(current version, e.g. 0.16.0)..v(new version, e.g. 0.16.1) | sort -fiu

Tag version (or release candidate) in git

git tag -s v(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)

Setup and perform Gitian builds

If you're using the automated script (found in contrib/gitian-build.py), then at this point you should run it with the "--build" command. Otherwise ignore this.

Setup Gitian descriptors:

pushd ./bitcoin
export SIGNER="(your Gitian key, ie bluematt, sipa, etc)"
export VERSION=(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)
git fetch
git checkout v${VERSION}
popd

Ensure your gitian.sigs are up-to-date if you wish to gverify your builds against other Gitian signatures.

pushd ./gitian.sigs
git pull
popd

Ensure gitian-builder is up-to-date:

pushd ./gitian-builder
git pull
popd

Fetch and create inputs: (first time, or when dependency versions change)

pushd ./gitian-builder
mkdir -p inputs
wget -P inputs https://bitcoincore.org/cfields/osslsigncode-Backports-to-1.7.1.patch
echo 'a8c4e9cafba922f89de0df1f2152e7be286aba73f78505169bc351a7938dd911 inputs/osslsigncode-Backports-to-1.7.1.patch' | sha256sum -c
wget -P inputs https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/osslsigncode/osslsigncode/osslsigncode-1.7.1.tar.gz
echo 'f9a8cdb38b9c309326764ebc937cba1523a3a751a7ab05df3ecc99d18ae466c9 inputs/osslsigncode-1.7.1.tar.gz' | sha256sum -c
popd

Create the macOS SDK tarball, see the macOS build instructions for details, and copy it into the inputs directory.

Optional: Seed the Gitian sources cache and offline git repositories

NOTE: Gitian is sometimes unable to download files. If you have errors, try the step below.

By default, Gitian will fetch source files as needed. To cache them ahead of time, make sure you have checked out the tag you want to build in bitcoin, then:

pushd ./gitian-builder
make -C ../bitcoin/depends download SOURCES_PATH=`pwd`/cache/common
popd

Only missing files will be fetched, so this is safe to re-run for each build.

NOTE: Offline builds must use the --url flag to ensure Gitian fetches only from local URLs. For example:

pushd ./gitian-builder
./bin/gbuild --url bitcoin=/path/to/bitcoin,signature=/path/to/sigs {rest of arguments}
popd

The gbuild invocations below DO NOT DO THIS by default.

Build and sign Bitcoin Core for Linux, Windows, and macOS:

pushd ./gitian-builder
./bin/gbuild --num-make 2 --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
./bin/gsign --signer "$SIGNER" --release ${VERSION}-linux --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
mv build/out/bitcoin-*.tar.gz build/out/src/bitcoin-*.tar.gz ../

./bin/gbuild --num-make 2 --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
./bin/gsign --signer "$SIGNER" --release ${VERSION}-win-unsigned --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
mv build/out/bitcoin-*-win-unsigned.tar.gz inputs/bitcoin-win-unsigned.tar.gz
mv build/out/bitcoin-*.zip build/out/bitcoin-*.exe ../

./bin/gbuild --num-make 2 --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
./bin/gsign --signer "$SIGNER" --release ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
mv build/out/bitcoin-*-osx-unsigned.tar.gz inputs/bitcoin-osx-unsigned.tar.gz
mv build/out/bitcoin-*.tar.gz build/out/bitcoin-*.dmg ../
popd

Build output expected:

source tarball (bitcoin-${VERSION}.tar.gz)
linux 32-bit and 64-bit dist tarballs (bitcoin-${VERSION}-linux[32|64].tar.gz)
windows 32-bit and 64-bit unsigned installers and dist zips (bitcoin-${VERSION}-win[32|64]-setup-unsigned.exe, bitcoin-${VERSION}-win[32|64].zip)
macOS unsigned installer and dist tarball (bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx-unsigned.dmg, bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx64.tar.gz)
Gitian signatures (in gitian.sigs/${VERSION}-<linux|{win,osx}-unsigned>/(your Gitian key)/)

Verify other gitian builders signatures to your own. (Optional)

Add other gitian builders keys to your gpg keyring, and/or refresh keys: See ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-keys/README.md.

Verify the signatures

pushd ./gitian-builder
./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-linux ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-win-unsigned ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
popd

Next steps:

Commit your signature to gitian.sigs:

pushd gitian.sigs
git add ${VERSION}-linux/"${SIGNER}"
git add ${VERSION}-win-unsigned/"${SIGNER}"
git add ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned/"${SIGNER}"
git commit -m "Add ${VERSION} unsigned sigs for ${SIGNER}"
git push  # Assuming you can push to the gitian.sigs tree
popd

Codesigner only: Create Windows/macOS detached signatures:

Only one person handles codesigning. Everyone else should skip to the next step.
Only once the Windows/macOS builds each have 3 matching signatures may they be signed with their respective release keys.

Codesigner only: Sign the macOS binary:

transfer bitcoin-osx-unsigned.tar.gz to macOS for signing
tar xf bitcoin-osx-unsigned.tar.gz
./detached-sig-create.sh -s "Key ID"
Enter the keychain password and authorize the signature
Move signature-osx.tar.gz back to the gitian host

Codesigner only: Sign the windows binaries:

tar xf bitcoin-win-unsigned.tar.gz
./detached-sig-create.sh -key /path/to/codesign.key
Enter the passphrase for the key when prompted
signature-win.tar.gz will be created

Codesigner only: Commit the detached codesign payloads:

cd ~/bitcoin-detached-sigs
checkout the appropriate branch for this release series
rm -rf *
tar xf signature-osx.tar.gz
tar xf signature-win.tar.gz
git add -a
git commit -m "point to ${VERSION}"
git tag -s v${VERSION} HEAD
git push the current branch and new tag

Non-codesigners: wait for Windows/macOS detached signatures:

Once the Windows/macOS builds each have 3 matching signatures, they will be signed with their respective release keys.
Detached signatures will then be committed to the bitcoin-detached-sigs repository, which can be combined with the unsigned apps to create signed binaries.

Create (and optionally verify) the signed macOS binary:

pushd ./gitian-builder
./bin/gbuild -i --commit signature=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
./bin/gsign --signer "$SIGNER" --release ${VERSION}-osx-signed --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-osx-signed ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
mv build/out/bitcoin-osx-signed.dmg ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx.dmg
popd

Create (and optionally verify) the signed Windows binaries:

pushd ./gitian-builder
./bin/gbuild -i --commit signature=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
./bin/gsign --signer "$SIGNER" --release ${VERSION}-win-signed --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-win-signed ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
mv build/out/bitcoin-*win64-setup.exe ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64-setup.exe
mv build/out/bitcoin-*win32-setup.exe ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32-setup.exe
popd

Commit your signature for the signed macOS/Windows binaries:

pushd gitian.sigs
git add ${VERSION}-osx-signed/"${SIGNER}"
git add ${VERSION}-win-signed/"${SIGNER}"
git commit -a
git push  # Assuming you can push to the gitian.sigs tree
popd

After 3 or more people have gitian-built and their results match:

Create SHA256SUMS.asc for the builds, and GPG-sign it:

sha256sum * > SHA256SUMS

The list of files should be:

bitcoin-${VERSION}-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx64.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx.dmg
bitcoin-${VERSION}.tar.gz
bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32-setup.exe
bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32.zip
bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64-setup.exe
bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64.zip

The *-debug* files generated by the gitian build contain debug symbols for troubleshooting by developers. It is assumed that anyone that is interested in debugging can run gitian to generate the files for themselves. To avoid end-user confusion about which file to pick, as well as save storage space do not upload these to the bitcoin.org server, nor put them in the torrent.

GPG-sign it, delete the unsigned file:

gpg --digest-algo sha256 --clearsign SHA256SUMS # outputs SHA256SUMS.asc
rm SHA256SUMS

(the digest algorithm is forced to sha256 to avoid confusion of the Hash: header that GPG adds with the SHA256 used for the files) Note: check that SHA256SUMS itself doesn't end up in SHA256SUMS, which is a spurious/nonsensical entry.

Upload zips and installers, as well as SHA256SUMS.asc from last step, to the bitcoin.org server into /var/www/bin/bitcoin-core-${VERSION}
A .torrent will appear in the directory after a few minutes. Optionally help seed this torrent. To get the magnet: URI use:

transmission-show -m <torrent file>

Insert the magnet URI into the announcement sent to mailing lists. This permits people without access to bitcoin.org to download the binary distribution. Also put it into the optional_magnetlink: slot in the YAML file for bitcoin.org (see below for bitcoin.org update instructions).

Update bitcoin.org version
- First, check to see if the Bitcoin.org maintainers have prepared a release: https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/labels/Core
  - If they have, it will have previously failed their Travis CI checks because the final release files weren't uploaded. Trigger a Travis CI rebuild---if it passes, merge.
- If they have not prepared a release, follow the Bitcoin.org release instructions: https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/blob/master/docs/adding-events-release-notes-and-alerts.md#release-notes
- After the pull request is merged, the website will automatically show the newest version within 15 minutes, as well as update the OS download links. Ping @saivann/@harding (saivann/harding on Freenode) in case anything goes wrong
Announce the release:
- bitcoin-dev and bitcoin-core-dev mailing list
- Bitcoin Core announcements list https://bitcoincore.org/en/list/announcements/join/
- bitcoincore.org blog post
- bitcoincore.org RPC documentation update
- Update title of #bitcoin on Freenode IRC
- Optionally twitter, reddit /r/Bitcoin, ... but this will usually sort out itself
- Notify BlueMatt so that he can start building the PPAs
- Archive release notes for the new version to doc/release-notes/ (branch master and branch of the release)
- Create a new GitHub release with a link to the archived release notes.
- Celebrate

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release-process.md

release-process.md

Release Process

First time / New builders

Bitcoin maintainers/release engineers, suggestion for writing release notes

Setup and perform Gitian builds

Fetch and create inputs: (first time, or when dependency versions change)

Optional: Seed the Gitian sources cache and offline git repositories

Build and sign Bitcoin Core for Linux, Windows, and macOS:

Verify other gitian builders signatures to your own. (Optional)

Next steps:

After 3 or more people have gitian-built and their results match:

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release-process.md

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release-process.md

File metadata and controls

Release Process

First time / New builders

Bitcoin maintainers/release engineers, suggestion for writing release notes

Setup and perform Gitian builds

Fetch and create inputs: (first time, or when dependency versions change)

Optional: Seed the Gitian sources cache and offline git repositories

Build and sign Bitcoin Core for Linux, Windows, and macOS:

Verify other gitian builders signatures to your own. (Optional)

Next steps:

After 3 or more people have gitian-built and their results match: