Releasing, Versioning and Deprecation

[felixfontein]

Introduction

This issue describes how and when community.general is released, and to announce updates to the release/versioning schedule. The next section (Next release) is always updated to contain the next version to be released. Other changes to this first post are always announced by separate posts in this issue.

Next releases

Release	When	Min ansible-core	Notes
10.2.0	around Dec 30th	2.15
9.5.3	around Dec 30th	2.13
8.6.9	when necessary	2.13

Check Python minimum requirements for ansible-core.

Releasing schedule for major and minor versions

• 2020-06-20: 0.2.0 (a couple of days after ansible-base 2.10 beta 1 is out; released from master branch)
• last week of 2020-07: 1.0.0 major release

From then on:

• release minor versions shortly before Ansible x.y.0 releases, i.e. roughly every four weeks
• major versions every 6 months (release how-to).

The precise dates will be announced on time. Before Ansible releases we might introduce additional minor releases to fix issues.

If no new commit has been merged for a minor release, it must be skipped. Major versions must not be skipped.

The schedule for minor versions might be adjusted in the future (maybe once per month, maybe something else). The release schedule for patch versions (see below) would be adjusted.

Releasing schedule for patch versions

• Patch versions x.y.z until the last minor release of a major release branch will only be released when necessary. The intended frequency is never, they are reserved for packaging failures, or fixing major breakage / security problems.
• Once the last minor release of a major release branch (usually x.2.0, generally x.Y.0) has been released, there will be bugfix releases x.Y.z.
• These releases will happen regularly and when necessary.

Versioning

• galaxy.yml in the master branch will always contain the version of the next major or minor release. It will be updated right after a release.
• version_added needs to be used for every new feature and module/plugin, and needs to coincide with the next minor/major release version. (This will eventually be enforced by CI.)

Branching

• Releasing minor and major releases is done from stable-x branches.
  • Shortly (usually a few hours) before a new major release, stable-x is branched.
• New features can be backported to the current stable-x release branch after x.0.0, and until the last minor release for stable-x has been released.
  • Once a new major version is released, there will be no more minor releases for previous stable-x branches.
  • From then on, only bugfixes are allowed for ~6 months (backporting to the current two major releases).
  • After that, only major bugfixes security fixes are allowed for another ~6 months (backporting to the current three major releases).
  • This means that next to the main branch, the three latest stable-x branches receive backports.
  • New features must not break backwards compatibility!
• Backporting process:
  • Until x.2.0, maintainers can merge backports themselves via bot. The bot will hopefully also allow to create backports automatically (if possible without conflicts). (We hope that they know the rules: no breaking of backwards compatibility!)
  • From x.2.0 on, only RM will merge backports.

Deprecation

• Deprecations are done by version number (not by date).
• New deprecations can be added during every minor release, under the condition that they do not break backwards compatibility.
• Deprecations are expected to have a deprecation cycle of at least 2 major versions (i.e. ~1 year). Maintainers can use a longer deprecation cycle if they want to support the old code for that long.

Changelogs

• Every change that does not only affect docs or tests must have a changelog fragment.
  • Exception: fixing/extending a feature that already has a changelog fragment and has not yet been released. Such PRs must always link to the original PR(s) they update.
  • Use your common sense!
  • (This might change later. The trivial category should then be used to document changes which are not important enough to end up in the text version of the changelog.)
  • Fragments must not be added for new module PRs and new plugin PRs. The only exception are test and filter plugins: these are not automatically documented yet.
• The (x+1).0.0 changelog continues the x.0.0 changelog.
  • A x.y.0 changelog with y > 0 is not part of a changelog of a later X.*.* (with X > x) or x,Y,* (with Y > y) release.
  • A x.y.z changelog with z > 0 is not part of a changelog of a later (x+1).*.* or x.Y.z (with Y > y) release.
  • Since everything adding to the minor/patch changelogs are backports, the same changelog fragments of these minor/patch releases will be in the next major release's changelog. (This is the same behavior as in ansible/ansible.)
• Changelogs do not contain previous major releases, and only use the ancestor feature (in changelogs/changelog.yaml) to point to the previous major release.
• Changelog fragments are removed after a release is made.

Ansible-core support

For every new major release of community.general, the collection drops support for all ansible-core versions that have been End of Life for at least a couple of weeks before the release date.

[felixfontein]

bot_skip

[felixfontein]

We did a maintenance release this morning, 0.2.1, which is 0.2.0 with all references to the master branch changed to main (see #605).

We recently also did a 0.3.0-experimental.meta.redirects release, which was taken from master at that point and has all symlinks replaced by meta/runtime.yml redirect entries. This is mainly for testing the meta redirect feature, and it is included in the current Ansible 2.10.0a2 release. It will not be continued, and community.general 1.x.y will keep the symlinks (and thus will work fine with Ansible 2.9). (Maybe community.general 2.0.0 will stop using the symlinks and stick to meta/runtime.yml redirect.) Today we also made another releases 0.3.0-experimental.meta.redirects-2 and 0.3.0-experimental.meta.redirects-3, the latest is 0.3.0-experimental.meta.redirects with references to master changed to main.

[felixfontein]

The 1.0.0 release will be on Friday, July 31st.

[felixfontein]

Version 1.0.0 has been released. From now on, bugfixes and new features that are merged need to be backported to the stable-1 branch to appear in new 1.x.y releases.

The 1.1.0 release is regularly scheduled for end of September. Since the Ansible 2.10.0 beta freeze is on 2020-08-14, we might release 1.1.0 already then.

[felixfontein]

It was decided at the community meeting to do the 1.1.0 release on 2020-08-18 (Ansible 2.10 beta freeze).

[felixfontein]

Version 1.2.0 1.1.0 has been released. It will be included in Ansible 2.10.0.

[felixfontein]

Version 1.2.0 will be released on 2020-09-30, i.e. next week Wednesday.

[felixfontein]

Version 1.2.0 has been released. Next release will be 1.3.0 at ~end of November.

[felixfontein]

I plan to release 1.3.0 in four days (Thursday, November 26th).

[felixfontein]

1.3.0 has been released. The next 1.x.y release will be 1.3.1, whenever there is sufficient content.

The next version including new features will be 2.0.0, planned for end of January 2021.

[felixfontein]

We decided at the community meeting that patch releases (1.3.x) will be made roughly every three weeks, resp. shortly before Ansible 2.10.x releases. Assuming there are bugfixes to release, of course. This rythm might change in February 2021 when Ansible 3.0.0 is released (with community.general 2.0.0).

[felixfontein]

1.3.1 will be released on December 21th (i.e. tomorrow).

[felixfontein]

1.3.1 has been released. 1.3.2 might be released at the beginning of January, before Ansible 2.10.5 is released, if we have any new bugfixes by then.

[felixfontein]

1.3.2 has been released now. The next bugfix release 1.3.3 will probably be in three weeks, i.e. similar to when 2.0.0 will be released.

[felixfontein]

1.3.3 has been released, addressing CVE-2021-20178. 1.3.4 will be released in ~two weeks, i.e. as planned for 1.3.3 before.

[felixfontein]

1.3.4 has been released, addressing CVE-2021-20180. 1.3.5 will be released in ~two weeks, i.e. as planned for 1.3.3/1.3.4 before.

[felixfontein]

5.8.10 has been released. This was the final 5.x.y release, the 5.x.y release train is now End of Life.

[felixfontein]

6.6.7 has been released. This is the last regular 6.x.y bugfix release; from now on 6.x.y will only receive major bugfixes and security fixes, until it will be EOL in roughly 6 months when community.general 9.0.0 will be released.

[felixfontein]

7.5.1 and 8.0.1 have been released. The next expected 7.x.y release will be 7.5.2 on December 4th, and the next expected 8.x.y release will be either 8.0.2 if a further bugfix release is needed for Ansible 9.0.0rc1 or a possible rc2, or 8.1.0 (also December 4th) for Ansible 9.1.0.

[felixfontein]

8.0.2 has been released for inclusion in Ansible 9.0.0rc1. In case a second release candidate will be necessary for Ansible 9.0.0, a 8.0.3 release might be made, but for now I'm assuming the next 8.x.y release will be 8.1.0.

[felixfontein]

7.5.2 has been released. The next 7.x.y release will be 7.5.3, released probably around January 1st.

[felixfontein]

8.1.0 has been released. The next 8.x.y release will probably be 8.2.0, released around January 1st.

[felixfontein]

8.2.0 and 7.5.3 have been released. The next 8.x.y release will probably be 8.3.0, and the next 7.x.y relesae will be 7.5.4, probably both released around January 29th.

[felixfontein]

8.3.0 and 7.5.4 have been released. The next 8.x.y release will probably be 8.4.0, and the next 7.x.y release will be 7.5.5, probably both released around February 26th.

[felixfontein]

7.5.5 has been released. The next expected 7.5.x release will be 7.5.6, probably around March 25th.

[felixfontein]

8.4.0 has been released. The next expeted 8.x.y release will be 8.5.0 around March 25th.

[felixfontein]

6.6.8 has been released with bugfixes and some security fixes. 7.5.6 and 8.5.0 will follow later today.

[felixfontein]

7.5.6 and 8.5.0 have been released with new features (8.5.0 only), bugfixes, and some security fixes. The next expected releases are 8.6.0 and potentially 7.5.7 in four weeks.

[felixfontein]

7.5.7 and 8.6.0 have been released with new features and modules (8.6.0 only) and bugfixes (both). The next expected releases for these release streams are 6.6.9, 7.5.8, 8.6.1 in four weeks.

Please note that 8.6.0 will be the last 8.x.0 minor release. The next major release, 9.0.0, will happen in four weeks for inclusion in Ansible 10.0.0b1 (https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/roadmap/COLLECTIONS_10.html#release-schedule), in time for Ansible 10's feature freeze.

Please note that at the same time, 6.6.9 will be the last 6.x.y release. The 6.x.y release stream will be End of Life from that point on.

[felixfontein]

6.6.9 has been released. This is the last 6.x.y release. The 6.x.y release train is therefore End of Life. Thanks to everyone who contributed to it and worked on it!

[felixfontein]

7.5.8 and 8.6.1 have been released. From now on, 7.5.x release will only come with security fixes and major bugfixes, and no more regular bugfixes. The 9.0.0 release will follow later today.

[felixfontein]

9.0.0 has been released 🎉 The next 9.x.y release will be either 9.0.1 around May 27th, for inclusion in Ansible 10.0.0rc1, or 9.1.0 around June 17th, for inclusion in Ansible 10.1.0.

[felixfontein]

9.0.1 is out with a few bugfixes for inclusion in Ansible 10.0.0rc1. If there is another Ansible 10 release candidate, we might have a 9.0.2 release in a week. Otherwise, the next 9.x.y release will likely be 9.1.0 around June 17th for Ansible 10.1.0.

[felixfontein]

9.1.0 and 8.6.2 have been released with bugfixes and new features (for 9.1.0). The next expected releases will be around July 15th, potentially also 1-2 days earlier.

[felixfontein]

8.6.3 has been released with bugfixes. The next expected 8.x.y release (8.6.4) will be around August 12th.

[Andersson007]

9.2.0 has been released with bugfixes and new features. The next expected release (9.3.0) will be around September 15th.

[felixfontein]

8.6.4 has been released with bugfixes. The next expected 8.x.y release (8.6.5) will be around September 9th.

[felixfontein]

9.3.0 has been released with new features and bugfixes. The next expected 9.x.y release is 9.4.0 around September 9th.

[felixfontein]

8.6.5 has been released with new bugfixes. The next expected 8.x.y release (8.6.6) will be around October 7th.

[felixfontein]

9.4.0 has been released with new features and bugfixes. The next expected 9.x.y release is 9.5.0 around October 7th. Note that this will likely be the last 9.x.y feature release, and 10.0.0 will be released roughly four weeks after 9.5.0 for Ansible 11.0.0's feature freeze (https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/roadmap/COLLECTIONS_11.html#release-schedule).

[felixfontein]

8.6.6 and 9.5.0 have been released with new features (9.5.0 only) and bugfixes. The next expected 8.x.y and 9.x.y releases will be 8.6.7 and 9.5.1, respectively. Note that 9.5.0 was the last feature release for community.general 9.x.y. The next feature release will be 10.0.0, to be released in ~four weeks.

[felixfontein]

7.5.9 and 8.6.7 have been released with bugfixes. Note that 7.5.9 is the last 7.x.y release; the 7.x.y release train is now effectively End of Life. Thanks to everyone who contributed to 7.x.y releases!

[felixfontein]

9.5.1 has been released with bugfixes. The next 9.5.x release will be 9.5.2, expected around December 2nd.

[felixfontein]

10.0.0 is out! 🎉 The next planned 10.x.y release is 10.1.0, to be released around December 2nd. There might be a 10.0.1 around November 11th or 18th, if needed, in time for Ansible 11.0.0rc1 or 11.0.0rc2 (https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/roadmap/COLLECTIONS_11.html#release-schedule).

[felixfontein]

I released an 10.0.1 bugfix release for inclusion in Ansible 11.0.0rc1. If necessary there might be another 10.0.x bugfix release in a week, otherwise the next 10.x.y release will be 10.1.0 around December 2nd.

[felixfontein]

10.1.0, 9.5.2, and 8.6.8 have been released with bugfixes, and 10.1.0 also has new modules and plugins and other features. The next 10.x.0 and 9.5.x releases will likely happen on December 30th, and the next 8.6.x release will happen only when necessary (since there is no more regular Ansible 9.x.y release).