From ba6fac36925e7036006cb42d746a90be0b4af5f4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jim Myhrberg Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2017 00:33:53 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Initial reworking of maintenance branches into release branches --- common-flow.md | 177 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- 1 file changed, 96 insertions(+), 81 deletions(-) diff --git a/common-flow.md b/common-flow.md index c29acac..a467447 100644 --- a/common-flow.md +++ b/common-flow.md @@ -27,17 +27,12 @@ Terminology - **Merge Target** - A branch that is the intended merge target for a change branch. Typically the merge target branch will be the same as the source branch. -- **Maintenance Branches** - Used for maintaining old versions and releasing - PATCH updates when the master branch has moved on. Should follow a - `stable-X.Y` naming pattern, where `X` is MAJOR version and `Y` is MINOR - version. - **Pull Request** - A means of requesting that a change branch is merged in to its merge target, allowing others to review, discuss and approve the changes. -- **Release** - Consists of a version bump commit directly on the master branch, - and a git tag named according to the new version string placed on said commit. -- **Maintenance Release** - Just like a regular release, except the version bump - commit and release tag are on a maintenance branch instead of the master - branch. +- **Release** - Consists of a version bump commit, and a git tag named according + to the new version string placed on said commit. +- **Release Branches** - Used both for short-term preparations of a release, and + also for long-term maintenance of older version. Git Common-Flow Specification (Common-Flow) ------------------------------------------- @@ -55,22 +50,21 @@ interpreted as described in [RFC 2119](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119). 4. The master branch SHOULD always be in a "as near as possible ready for release/production" state to reduce the friction of creating a new release. -2. Changes +2. Change Branches 1. Changes MUST be performed on a separate branch that SHOULD be referred to as a "change branch". All change branches MUST have descriptive names. It is RECOMMENDED that you commit often locally, and you SHOULD regularly push your work to the same named branch on the remote server. 2. When a change branch is created, the branch that it is created from SHOULD be referred to as the "source branch". Each change branch also - needs a designated "merge target branch", typically this will be the same + needs a designated "merge target" branch, typically this will be the same as the source branch. 3. Change branches MUST be regularly updated with any changes from their source branch. This MUST be done by rebasing the change branch on top of - the source branch. To be clear you MUST NOT merge a source branch into a - change branch. + the source branch. 4. After rebasing a change branch on top of its source branch you MUST push - the change branch to the remote server. This will require you do a force - push, and you SHOULD use the "--force-with-lease" git push option. + the change branch to the remote server. This will require you to do a + force push, and you SHOULD use the "--force-with-lease" git push option. 5. To merge a change branch into its merge target branch, you MUST open a "pull request" (or equivalent) so others can review and approve your changes. @@ -81,7 +75,89 @@ interpreted as described in [RFC 2119](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119). 7. To get feedback, help, or generally just discuss a change branch with others, it is RECOMMENDED you do this by creating a pull request and discuss the changes with others there. -3. Git Best Practices +3. Versioning + 1. The project MUST have its version hard-coded somewhere in the + code-base. It is RECOMMENDED that this is done in a file called "VERSION" + located in the root of the project. + 2. If you are using a "VERSION" file in the root of the project, this MUST + only contain the exact version string. + 3. The version string SHOULD follow the Semantic Versioning + () format. Use of Semantic Versioning is OPTIONAL, + but the version string MUST NOT have a "v" prefix. For example "v2.11.4" + is bad, and "2.11.4" is good. +4. Releases + 1. To create a new release, you MUST create a "version bump" commit which + changes the hard-coded version string of the project. The version bump + commit MUST have a git tag created on it and named as the exact version + string. + 2. If you are not using a release branch, then the version bump commit MUST + be created directly on the master branch. + 3. The version bump commit MUST have a commit message title of "Bump version + to VERSION". For example, if the new version string is "2.11.4", the + first line of the commit message MUST read: "Bump version to 2.11.4" + 4. The release tag on the version bump commit MUST be named exactly the same + as the version string. The tag name can OPTIONALLY be prefixed with + "v". For example the tag name can be either "2.11.4" or "v2.11.4". + 5. It is RECOMMENDED that release tags are lightweight tags, but you can + OPTIONALLY use annotated tags if you want to include changelog + information in the release tag itself. + 6. If you use annotated release tags, the first line of the annotation MUST + read "Release VERSION". For example for version "2.11.4" the first line + of the tag annotation would read "Release 2.11.4". The second line must + be blank, and the changelog MUST start on the third line. +5. Release Branches + 1. Any branch that has a name starting with "release-" SHOULD be referred to + as a "release branch". + 2. Use of release branches is OPTIONAL. + 3. Changes in a release branch SHOULD typically come from work being + done against the master branch. Meaning changes SHOULD only trickle + downwards from the master branch. If a change needs to trickle back up + into the master branch, that work should have happened against the master + branch in the first place. One exception to this is version bump commits. + 4. There are two types of release branches; short-term, and long-term. +6. Short-Term Release Branches + 1. Used for creating a specific versioned release. + 2. A short-term release branch is RECOMMENDED if there is a lengthy + pre-release verification process to avoid a code freeze on the master + branch. + 3. MUST have a name of "release-VERSION". For example for version + "2.11.4" the release branch name MUST be "release-2.11.4". + 4. When using a short-term release branch, the version bump commit and + release tag MUST be made directly on the release branch itself. + 5. Only very minor changes should be performed on a short-term release + branch directly. Any larger changes SHOULD be done in the master branch, + and SHOULD be pulled into the release branch by rebasing it on top of the + master branch the same was a change branch pulls in updates from its + source branch. + 6. After the version bump commit and release tag have been created, the + release branch MUST be merged back into its source branch and then + deleted. Typically the source branch will be the master branch. +7. Long-Term Release Branches + 1. Used for work on versions which are not currently part of the master + branch. Typically this is useful when you need to create a new + maintenance release for a older version. + 2. The branch name MUST have a non-specific version number. For example + a long-term release branch for creating new 2.9.x releases would be + named "release-2.9". + 3. To create a new release from a long-term release branch, you MUST + create a version bump commit and release tag directly on the release + branch. + 4. A long-term release branch MUST be created from the relevant release + tag. For example if there is a security fix for all 2.9.x releases, + the latest of which is "2.9.7", we create a new branch called + "release-2.9" off of the "2.9.7" release tag. The security fix + release will then end up being version "2.9.8". +8. Bug Fixes & Rollback + 1. You MUST NOT under any circumstances force push to the master branch. + 2. If a change branch which has been merged into the master branch is found + to have a bug in it, the bug fix work MUST be done as a new separate + change branch and MUST follow the same workflow as any other change + branch. + 3. If a change branch is wrongfully merged into master, or for any other + reason the merge must be undone, you MUST undo the merge by reverting the + merge commit itself. Effectively creating a new commit that reverses all + the relevant changes. +9. Git Best Practices 1. All commit messages SHOULD follow the Commit Guidelines and format from the official git documentation: @@ -96,71 +172,10 @@ interpreted as described in [RFC 2119](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119). pull" to avoid unnecessary merge commits. You can make this the default behavior of "git pull" with "git config --global pull.rebase true". 5. It is RECOMMENDED that all branches be merged using "git merge --no-ff". - This makes sure the reference to the original branch is kept in the commits, - allows one to revert a merge by reverting a single merge commit, and creates - a merge commit to mark the integration of the branch with master. -4. Versioning - 1. The project MUST have its version hard-coded somewhere in the - code-base. It is RECOMMENDED that this is done in a file called "VERSION" - located in the root of the project. - 2. If you are using a "VERSION" file in the root of the project, this MUST - only contain the exact version string. - 3. The version string SHOULD follow the Semantic Versioning - () format. Use of Semantic Versioning is OPTIONAL, - but the version string MUST NOT have a "v" prefix. For example "v2.11.4" - is bad, and "2.11.4" is good. -5. Releases - 1. To create a new release, you MUST create a "version bump" commit directly - on the master branch which changes the hard-coded version value of the - project. The version bump commit MUST have a git tag created on it and - named as the exact version string. - 2. A version bump commit MUST have a commit message title of "Bump version - to VERSION". For example, if the new version string is "2.11.4", the - first line of the commit message MUST read: "Bump version to 2.11.4" - 3. The release tag on the version bump commit MUST be named exactly the same - as the version string. The tag name can OPTIONALLY be prefixed with - "v". For example the tag name can be either "2.11.4" or "v2.11.4". - 4. It is RECOMMENDED that release tags are lightweight tags, but you can - OPTIONALLY use annotated tags if you want to include changelog - information in the release tag itself. - 5. If you use annotated release tags, the first line of the annotation MUST - read "Release VERSION". For example for version "2.11.4" the first line - of the tag annotation would read "Release 2.11.4". The second line must - be blank, and the changelog MUST start on the third line. -6. Bug Fixes & Rollback - 1. You MUST NOT under any circumstances force push to the master branch. - 2. If a change branch which has been merged in to the master branch is found - to have a bug in it, the bug fix work MUST be done as a new separate - change branch and MUST follow the same workflow as any other change - branch. - 3. If a change branch is wrongfully merged in to master, or for any other - reason the merge must be undone, you MUST undo the merge by reverting the - merge commit itself. Effectively creating a new commit that reverses all - the relevant changes. -7. Maintenance Releases - 1. Any branch that has a name starting with "stable-" SHOULD be referred to - as a "maintenance branch". - 2. Maintenance branches are used for managing new releases of older - versions. Typically this is used to provide security updates for older - versions when the master branch has moved on to a point that a new - release for the old version cannot be made from the master branch. - 3. A "maintenance release" is identical to a regular release, except the - version bump commit and the release tag are placed on the maintenance - branch instead of on the master branch. - 3. A maintenance branch SHOULD follow a "stable-X.Y" naming pattern, where - "X" is the MAJOR version and "Y" is the minor version. - 4. A maintenance branch MUST be created from the relevant release tag. For - example if there is a security fix for all 2.9.x releases, the latest of - which is "2.9.7", we create a new branch called "stable-2.9" off of the - "2.9.7" release tag. The security fix release will then end up being - version "2.9.8". - 5. When working on a maintenance release, the relevant maintenance branch - MUST be thought of as the master branch for that maintenance work. - 6. Changes in a maintenance branch SHOULD typically come from work being - done against the master branch. Meaning changes SHOULD only trickle - downwards from the master branch. If a change needs to trickle back up - into the master branch, that work should have happened against the master - branch in the first place. + This makes sure the reference to the original branch is kept in the + commits, allows one to revert a merge by reverting a single merge commit, + and creates a merge commit to mark the integration of the branch with + master. About -----