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title: "FreeBSD 5.3 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

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<h1>Introduction</h1>

<p>This is a specific schedule for the release of FreeBSD 5.3.  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>

<p>FreeBSD 5.3 will be the first release from the RELENG_5
  branch and thus will also be the first 5-STABLE release.</p>

<p>The current release engineering <a href="../../../releases/5.3R/todo.html" shape="rect">TODO list</a> is also available.
  This list is updated periodically through the release cycle.</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">Announce the Ports Freeze</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">15&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">15&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Someone from <tt>portmgr@</tt> should email
      for the two week long ports freeze and tagging of the ports
      tree.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>src/</tt> tree frozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announce the <tt>src/</tt> code freeze for 5.3.  Commits
      to the <tt>HEAD</tt> branch will be locked until the
      <tt>RELENG_5</tt> branch is created.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELENG_5</tt> branch creation</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Create the <tt>RELENG_5</tt> branch.  Commits to this branch will
      require Release Engineering approval until the
      <tt>RELENG_5_3</tt>
      branch is created.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Begin <tt>5.3-BETA1</tt> builds</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Begin building 5.3-BETA1 disc1 and disc2 for all Tier-1
      platforms. The first built typically requires several days to resolve
      latent problems on all platforms, so it will be started early.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Release <tt>5.3-BETA1</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">22&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA1 tier-1 platform images released and uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA2</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">27&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">29&nbsp;Aug&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA2 tier-1 platform images built, released, and
      uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA3</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA3 tier-1 platform images built, released, and
      uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree frozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;Sep&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">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA4</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">10&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">12&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA4 tier-1 platform images built, released, and
      uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA5</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA5 tier-1 platform images released and uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree tagged</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">11&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELEASE_5_3_0</tt> tag for
      <tt>ports/</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ports tree unfrozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">11&nbsp;Oct&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
      5.3-RELEASE.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Final package build starts</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">11&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">The ports cluster and <a href="http://pointyhat.FreeBSD.org" shape="rect">pointyhat</a> build final
      packages.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Turn off debugging for <tt>RELENG_5</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">7&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Turn off WITNESS, INVARIANTS, and malloc debugging options.  This will
      be the default for all RELENG_5 releases.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>doc/</tt> tree slush</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Announce the <tt>doc/</tt> slush for 5.3.
      From this time until the tagging of the <tt>doc/</tt> tree,
      non-critical changes should be postponed to allow translation
      teams time to finish their work for the release.
      If we can resolve problems before this expected date,
      <tt>doc/</tt> slush could start earlier.  At this point,
      we are considering on 10 Sep at earliest, and on 17 Sep at latest.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA6</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">26&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA6 tier-1 platform images released and uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>doc/</tt> tree tagged</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">26&nbsp;Sep&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Tag the <tt>doc/</tt> tree with
      <tt>RELEASE_5_3_0</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-BETA7</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">1&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">3&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-BETA7 tier-1 platform images released and uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>RELENG_5_3</tt> branched</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">8&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Branch of <tt>src/</tt> from <tt>RELENG_5</tt> for the release.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>src/</tt> unfrozen</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">8&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">16&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Unfreeze <tt>RELENG_5</tt> src. Continue to coordinate significant
      check-ins with <tt>re@FreeBSD.org</tt> until the release is final.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Build and release <tt>5.3-RC1</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">17&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">19&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.3-RC1 tier-1 platform images released and uploaded to
      <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org</tt>.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Version numbers bumped</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">22&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Oct&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 FreeBSD 5.3.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><tt>src/</tt> tree tagged</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">22&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">24&nbsp;Oct&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Tag the <tt>RELENG_5_3</tt> branch with
      <tt>RELENG_5_3_0_RELEASE</tt>.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Begin <tt>5.3-RELEASE</tt> builds</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">4&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Start 5.3-RELEASE Tier-1 builds.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Warn <tt>mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org</tt></td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Heads up email to <tt>mirror-announce@FreeBSD.org</tt> 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">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">6&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Release and packages uploaded to <tt>ftp-master.FreeBSD.org.</tt></td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">FreeBSD 5.3 Announced</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">6&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">FreeBSD 5.3 is announced to the mailing lists.</td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">FreeBSD 5.3 Press Release</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">6&nbsp;Nov&nbsp;2004</td>
    <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">A formal press release statement is in the works and should be
      released at this time to the <tt>www.FreeBSD.org</tt> website and various
      tech publications.</td>
  </tr>

</table>


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