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title: "FreeBSD 4.10 Release Process"
sidenav: download
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<h1>Introduction</h1>

<p>This is a specific schedule for the release of FreeBSD 4.10.  For
  more general information about the release engineering process,
  please see the <a href="../../../releng/index.html" shape="rect">Release
  Engineering</a> section of the web site.</p>

<p>General discussions about the release engineering process or
  quality assurance issues should be sent to the public <a href="mailto:FreeBSD-qa@FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">freebsd-qa</a> mailing list.
  <a href="../../../doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/misc.html#DEFINE-MFC" shape="rect">MFC</a>
  requests should be sent to <a href="mailto:re@FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">re@FreeBSD.org</a>.</p>

<h1>Schedule</h1>

<table class="tblbasic">
  <tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Action</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Expected</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Actual</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Description</td>
      </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Reminder announcement</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">30&nbsp;Mar&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">30&nbsp;Mar&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Release Engineers send announcement email to
      <tt>developers@FreeBSD.org</tt> with a rough schedule for the FreeBSD
      4.10 release.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">4.10-BETA Testing Guide published</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">30&nbsp;Mar&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">30&nbsp;Mar&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">A <a href="../../../releases/4.10R/qa.html" shape="rect">testing guide</a>
      should be published with information about recent changes and
      areas of the system that should be thoroughly tested during the
      pre-release/RC period.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announce the Ports Freeze</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">03&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">03&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Someone from <tt>portmgr@</tt> should email
    <tt>freebsd-ports@</tt> and BCC: <tt>developers@</tt> to set a date
    for the week long ports freeze and tagging of the ports tree.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>4.10-BETA</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">7&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">10&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>newvers.sh</tt>, and <tt>release.ent</tt> updated.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Code freeze begins</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">7&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">7&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">After this date, all commits to the <tt>RELENG_4</tt> branch
      must be approved by <a href="mailto:re@FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">re@FreeBSD.org</a>.  Certain highly
      active documentation committers are exempt from this rule for
      routine man page / release note updates.  Heads-up emails
      should be sent to the <tt>developers@</tt>, <tt>stable@</tt>
      and <tt>qa@</tt> lists.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELENG_4_10</tt> branch</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">21&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">The release branch is created.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Unfreeze the tree</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">22&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announcement to <tt>developers@</tt> explaining that
      commits to <tt>RELENG_4</tt> no longer require approval.  Also
      note the policy for commits to the <tt>RELENG_4_10</tt>
      branch.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>4.10-RC</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>newvers.sh</tt> and <tt>release.ent</tt> updated.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">First release candidate</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">21&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">22&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">The first release candidate for the x86 and Alpha architecture is
      released.  ISO images should be uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.  A network install directory should
      be uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.  The
      <tt>packages/</tt> directory should be a <em>relative</em> symlink,
      as described in the releng article.  When the builds begin send a note to
      <a href="mailto:mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org</a>
      saying a "Normal Release Cycle" is beginning, RC ISOs and install
      directories will be coming through the next few weeks.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Heads up to <tt>-stable</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">21&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">23&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">A message should be sent to <tt>qa@FreeBSD.org</tt> and
    <tt>stable@FreeBSD.org</tt> after the first snapshot is uploaded.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Second release candidate</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">27&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">2&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Note: the release date of this candidate depends on the user
      experience with RC1.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Heads up to <tt>-stable</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">28&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">A message should be sent to <tt>qa@FreeBSD.org</tt> and
    <tt>stable@FreeBSD.org</tt> after the second snapshot is uploaded.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Third release candidate</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Note: the release date of this candidate depends on the user
      experience with RC2.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Heads up to <tt>-stable</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">A message should be sent to <tt>qa@FreeBSD.org</tt> and
    <tt>stable@FreeBSD.org</tt> after the third snapshot is uploaded.</td>
  </tr>


  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree frozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Only approved commits will be permitted to the <tt>ports/</tt>
      tree during the freeze.</td>
  </tr>


  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announce <tt>doc/</tt> tree slush</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">12&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Notification of the impending <tt>doc/</tt> tree slush should
      be sent to <tt>doc@</tt>.</td>
  </tr>


  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>doc/</tt> tree slush</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Non-essential commits to the <tt>en_US.ISO8859-1/</tt> subtree
      should be delayed from this point until after the <tt>doc/</tt>
      tree tagging, to give translation teams time to synchronize
      their work.</td>
  </tr>




  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree tagged</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">27&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">28&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELEASE_4_10_0</tt> tag for <tt>ports/</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree unfrozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">27&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">28&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">After the <tt>ports/</tt> tree is tagged,
      the <tt>ports/</tt> tree will be re-opened for commits, but
      commits made after tagging will not go in 4.10-RELEASE.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Final package build starts</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">The ports cluster and <a href="http://bento.FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">bento</a>
    build final packages.</td>
  </tr>


  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>doc/</tt> tree tagged.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Apr&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Version number bumps for <tt>doc/</tt> subtree.
      <tt>RELEASE_4_10_0</tt> tag for <tt>doc/</tt>.  <tt>doc/</tt>
      slush ends at this time.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Version numbers bumped.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    22&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">The files listed <a href="../../../doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/releng/article.html#VERSIONBUMP" shape="rect">here</a>
    are updated to reflect the fact that this is FreeBSD 4.10.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Update man.cgi on the website.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    22&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">25&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Make sure the 4.10 manual pages are being displayed by default
      for the man-&gt;web gateway.  Also make sure these man pages are
      pointed to by docs.xml.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">src tree tagged.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    22&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">25&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELENG_4_10_0_RELEASE</tt> tag for <tt>src/</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Final builds.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    22&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">26&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Final builds for x86 and Alpha in a pristine environment.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Warn <tt>mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    23&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">25&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Heads up email to <a href="mailto:mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org</a>
      to give admins time to prepare for the load spike to come.  The
      site administrators have frequently requested advance notice for
      new ISOs.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Upload to <tt>ftp-master</tt>.</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>4&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    23&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">26&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Release uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt> (packages
      should have been done before now, otherwise it chokes the mirror
      sites and propagation of the release bits takes too long)</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announcement</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><strike>5&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</strike>
	    <br clear="none" />
	    24&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">27&nbsp;May&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announcement sent out after a majority of the mirrors have
      received the bits.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Turn over to the secteam</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">--</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;June&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">RELENG_4_10 branch is handed over to
      the FreeBSD Security Officer Team in one or two weeks after the announcement.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<h1>Additional Information</h1>

<ul>
  <li><a href="../todo/" shape="rect">FreeBSD 4.10 developer todo list.</a></li>
  <li><a href="../qa/" shape="rect">FreeBSD 4.10 Quality Assurance Guide.</a></li>
  <li><a href="../../../releng/index.html" shape="rect">FreeBSD Release Engineering website.</a></li>
  <li><a href="../../../projects/busdma/index.html" shape="rect">FreeBSD busdma driver project page.</a></li>
</ul>


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