GMAT 2014a Release Process
This page is used to track the process and progress of the R2014a release.
Table of contents
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Release Process Work Before next Cycle for R2015a
- NTR needs to go in months (3-6) earlier
- Define major roles and assign them to individualsbefore next release
- Â Proposed roles are shown below.
- Ensure those in major roles are reachable and preferably in the office during critical stages like creating and testing RCs.
- Consider merging to production and test this before next release process
- Automate installer packaging
- Consider sanity check from mission users' scripts
- Feature Freeze/QA Complete/Beta Test must happen earlier (month before code/App Freeze)
- We need to baseline the test results well before release process starts. Probably at Feature Freeze\QA Freeze
- Consider allowing GATS to produce multiple reports from one test run
- Consider feature freeze month before
- QA Complete needs to happen much earlier (month?) probably with Feature Freeze
Proposed Roles For Next Release for R2015a
- Release Manager (RM): "owns" release, initiates process, creates tracking page, sends daily status updates, tracks issues to completion, makes sure everyone gets their stuff done, brings decisions to CCB/team, maintains tracking page, collects lessons learned, documents process improvements for next release
- Build Manager (BM): controls build system, creates RCs, sends RC availability announcements
- Test Managers (TM): control GUI/script testing for each RC
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Target Date: May 14, 2014
Tasks
All dates are referenced to 12:00 noon EDT.
For example, a deadline of March 15 should be interpreted as March 15, 12:00 noon EDT.
Early Tasks
These are long-lead early tasks that can be completed before the detailed release cycle.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Internal Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Review Previous Build Release R2013b Process Notes | All | Â | ||
Get updated legal statement/license | SPH |
| Needed by Code Freeze. | |
Update sample scripts | SPH |
| Needed by App Freeze.
| |
Write draft Release Notes |
SPH |
| Needed by App Freeze. | |
Update standard descriptive text | SPH | Needed by App Freeze. Will be used in User Guide, websites, release announcement. | ||
Update version number on User Guide cover page | JJKP | Needed by App Freeze. Contact Katy Gammage or Mary Hrybyk-Keith. Next time: integrate sejda-console to do this automatically. | ||
Update info on public-facing websites | JJKP | N/A | Needed by Release Day. See the list of sites. Update this list as well, if necessary. Updated major sites before announcement. Minor ones can be updated a bit later. | |
Update release announcement contacts | SPH | N/A | N/A | Needed by Release Day. Located here. |
Put in order for additional icons | SPH | N/A | N/A | (if necessary) Needed by Visual Freeze. |
For QA Complete (April 21)
QA complete means that all known bugs are being tracked, all bug fixes are verified and documented, and the release process can begin.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Â
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Verify that all known bugs are checked into JIRA | (All) | RQ: | RQ: I'm done with this |
Complete all JIRA verifications | (All) | RQ:
| RQ: I'm done with this |
Complete QA wrap-up tasks | DSC, SPH, JJKP, RQ | RQ: | RQ: I'm done with this |
Address all JIRA tickets awaiting feedback | (All) | RQ:
| RQ: I'm done with this |
For Visual Freeze (April 30)
Visual Freeze finalizes all graphical changes to the software, so that screenshots, documentation, and TestComplete can be updated.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Internal Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Update About panel | LOJ |
| ||
Update splash screen | TGG |
| ||
Update icons | TGG | If there are any updates, additions, deletions. Including GMATIcon for Welcome Page | ||
Update gmat_startup_file.txt | JJKP |
No new plugins added. Commented out internal plugins. | ||
Switch to release configuration in script test system | JJKP |
4/30: switched to R2014aInternal 7/17: tested public release using R2014aPublic | ||
Complete visual updates | (All) | 4/30: JJKP: still waiting on final updates to contributors list from KARI 5/2: TGG: final update committed |
For Code Freeze (April 30)Â
Code Freeze is a freeze on the software itself before final testing.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Internal Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Update EOP files | WCS | Update eopc04_08.62-now and run smoke tests. | ||
Update files w/ updated legal statement | LOJ |
| ||
Update license text | LOJ | Update application/License.txt file. | ||
Final bug fixes | (All) | Â | ||
Mark all open bugs as Affects: current release | SPH |
| Â |
For this release: Should we branch the repo here, instead of after release? We need to allow people to continue working on unrelated items while release work is ongoing.{warning
(DJC here) A better approach going forward would be to merge master into production, and switch the test system to the production branch. This probably ought to be done right before building RC1. The dev team would have 2 options then:
- Checkout branches based on what they are working on (i.e. checkout production for bug fixes for the release, and their current clone of master – every one is cloning for new work, right? – for ongoing work)
- Alternatively, make bug fixes in master and cherry-pick merge changes into production as bugs are fixed
The former is the better approach, IMO, because it ensures that the bug fix is made on the current code base for the release.
For App Freeze (May 5)Â
App Freeze is a freeze on all application bundle files beyond data and code. This includes documentation, sample scripts, stuff in the extras
folder, etc.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Update README.txt | JJKP | Update with major release highlights. | |
Update extras folder | JJKP | Notepad++ syntax coloring file | |
Update PDF files in docs folder | SPH/DJC | DJC: SPH: |
|
Gather list of compatibility changes since last release | SPH |
| |
Update Release Notes | SPH | Â | |
Update screenshots in User Guide | (Feature leads) | JJKP:Â SPH: RQ: DSQ: | Â |
Test User Guide instructions & code | (Feature leads) | RQ: DSQ: JJKP:Â SPH: |
|
Update Windows installer package | JJKP | No updates necessary. | |
Update links in GMAT.ini | JJKP |
| |
Update link tests in TestComplete | TR |
|
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Testing of Release Candidate 1 (May 5-May 9)
This will start with the 2014-05-05 daily build. Repeat this phase until tests check out. Steve will make the call.
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Update README.txt | JJKP | RC1: RC2-RC5: N/A | Next time: this should probably be "Update Release Notes" to add outstanding bugs, etc. |
Build Windows installer | JJKP (backup: TGG) | RC1: RC2: RC2-2: RC3: RC4: RC5: | Version string: R2014a-rc# Next time: build manager should do this |
Bundle Windows zip | JJKP (backup: TGG) | RC1: RC2: RC2-2: RC3: RC4: RC5: | Version string: R2014a-rc# Next time: build manager should do this |
Run TestComplete smoke tests | TR | RC1: | These are tests on the packaged versions of GMAT: the installer and the zip bundle. |
Run TestComplete system test missions | TR | RC1: | These are tests on the packaged versions of GMAT: the installer and the zip bundle. |
Run script test system | JJKP (backup: TGG) | RC1: RC2: RC2-2:Â RC3: RC4:Â RC5: | Run the internal installer tests on T4 and the public installer tests on Joel's machine. Run .zip bundle tests afterwards on same build to compare. |
Test all sample scripts | SPH | RC2: RC4: | At a minimum these need to be run individually by hand. I ran them by adding the folder, and they run so fast I missed some pretty big problems. Ideally, these should all be in script regression tests. Many but not all already are regression tested. Or, we should add them to GUI regression system. |
Run TestComplete full regression tests | TR | RC4: RC5: | (For final RC only) |
Notes
- While this cycle is ongoing is a good time to do wiki updates and cleanup.
Stage Release (May 13)
This is a soft release, putting all the files in place and updating information. Then on release day, we only need to send the announcements. Â
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Â
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Bundle source code | DJC* |
| |
Bundle data | DJC* |
| |
Upload source bundle to SourceForge | JJKP |
| |
Upload data bundle to SourceForge | JJKP |
| |
Upload Windows installer to SourceForge | JJKP | Download, install, and run after uploading. | |
Upload Windows zip to SourceForge | JJKP | Download and run after uploading. | |
Post README.rst.txt on SourceForge | JJKP | Update for new release | |
Upload docs to documentation site | JJKP |
| |
Post internal & public release files to MESA network | JJKP | 2014-05-22: posted internal files only; public files are in build\VS2010_build\R2014a | |
Branch and tag repositories | DJC | At least tag the test system; consider branching also if the burden on the repo is low. | |
Make SourceForge repository backup | JJKP | Follow SourceForge's instructions. Perform the backup on the Linode server and download the resultant .zip file, since the local network blocks rsync. |
* DJC can only do steps 1-3 here because of contractual constraints
Release Day (May 14)
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark () and "(x)" for the cross ()
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Make files visible on SourceForge | JJKP | 07/21: Made visible at time of posting, as "soft" release. | |
Send out release announcement | SPH |
| |
Post release announcement on SourceForge | SPH* | Â | |
Post release announcement on GMAT Blog | JJKP | Â | |
Mark as released in JIRA | SPH | Â | |
Migrate code to SourceForge repository | JJKP | Do we migrate to git at the same time? |
This needs to be assigned to a different person; DJC cannot post to SF
Post-Release
Use "(/)
" for the checkmark ().
Task | Who | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Party! | (All) | Plan for week of June 19 | |
Conduct postmortem review | SPH | This includes gathering feedback, holding the postmortem meeting, and documenting the results. | |
Submit GSFC Metrics Summary | WCS | The link to submit the metrics is invalid.No action is required for this item. It was decided on 09/25/14's GMAT meeting to check tasks that do not require any action or are inactive. | |
Submit NTR for next release | SPH | Â Per Hughes: The NTR cannot be written until all features are finalized and it is too early to do that. |
Notes for postmortem
Please add your notes to the R2014a Lessons Learned document.
Compatibility changes
This is a list of compatibility changes since R2013c that need to be captured in the release notes.
?
Creating an RC
- Create the build
- Log into
gs580w-gmat-t4
as "gs580w-gmat-t4\builduser
". The credentials are on the network drive, in theInfrastructure
folder. - Start Task Scheduler.
- [RC1 only] Disable the "GMAT Daily Build" task, so it doesn't run automatically during the RC cycle (this can make things overly confusing).
- Manually run the "GMAT Daily Build" task.
- Log into
- Create the bundles
- On your local system, navigate to
GmatDevelopment\build\install\windows-nsis
. Note that you do not need to pull files down from the GIT repository; this process will pull files from the remote build and create the packages in your local directory. Â There's aREADME.txt
file there that explains things. - Open a MinGW Shell in this directory.
- Run "
make VERSION="R2014a-rc#"
", where "#
" is the number of the RC you're creating. This will create four packages in the current directory: A.zip
and a.exe
file for both the internal and public versions.  Note: to create only an internal version, run "make internal VERSION="R2014a-rc#". - Copy the four package files to the network:
\\mesa-file\595\GMAT\Builds\windows\VS2010_build\R2014a
- To clean everything up afterwards, run "
make clean
".
- On your local system, navigate to
- Run the script test system on the internal installer package. See Running the script test system, below.
Running the script test system
In the steps below, "#
" is the RC number and "<config>
" is "internal
" or "public
".
- Log into
gs580w-gmat-t4
as "gs580w-gmat-t4\testuser
". The credentials are on the network drive, in theInfrastructure
folder. - [RC1 only] Start Task Scheduler and disable the "Run Script Test" task. You'll need to run the RC tests manually.
- Uninstall all previous versions of GMAT.
- Install the version being tested.
- Check "Enable MATLAB interface".
- Leave "Associate file types" unchecked.
- Update the test system repo (located at
C:\Users\testuser\Documents\GmatTest
) - In MATLAB (64-bit):
- Run:
>> cd C:\Users\testuser\Documents\GmatTest\bin
- Run (replace
#
with RC number andÂ<config>
with "internal
" or "public
"):>> diary('..\log\R2014a-rc#-<config>.log')
- Run (this command copies application files such as SPICE kernels needed for regression tests into the new installation of GMAT):
>> preparegmat('C:\Path\To\GMAT')
- In
C:\Users\testuser\Documents\GmatTest\bin
, copy the appropriate template (autorundef.R2014aInternal.template.m
orautorundef.R2014aPublic.template.m
) to a new name (such asautorundef.R2014aRc1Internal.m
) and fill in the values:RunDef.Build
: "R2014a-rc#-<config>
"RunDef.GmatExe
: path to installedGMAT.exe
RunDef.RegressionBuild
: last build date if testing RC1 (look inGmatTest\output
for latest folder, such as2013-07-31
), otherwise, "R2014a-rc#-<config>
"
- Run:
>>gmattest <name of rundef.m>
(e.g.autorundef.R2014aRc1Internal.m
)Â
- Wait until run completes (usually 8+ hours)
- Run:
>>diary('off')
- Run:
- In a Windows
cmd
window, post results to network usingrobocopy
:>robocopy "
C:\Users\testuser\Documents\GmatTest
\output\R2014a-rc#-<config>" "\\mesa-file\595\GMAT\TestResults\win7\R2014a-rc#-<config>" /E /MT /LOG:%TEMP%\robocopy.txt