Apache™ FOP Development: Release Process

Introduction

This page documents the process of creating a Apache™ FOP release. FOP releases are coordinated by some designated member of the team. The purpose of documenting it here is to facilitate consistency, ensure that the process is captured, and to allow others to comment on the process.

The checklist below is based on a combination of input from from Christian Geisert and Simon Pepping.

1. Define the new release

• Determine which open bugs must be solved before a release can take place (release critical bugs). Make this bug depend on each release critical bug and write a short argument why the bug is release critical.

• Determine whether this is a Release Candidate or a Release.

• Determine whether further testing is required.

• Commit any outstanding changes

2. Prepare the new release

• Create a branch calledfop-v_vv

• Edit release notes (README in the root).

• Check and update the copyright year in NOTICE and build.xml.

• Update version number inbuild.xml,releasedist.xml and allpom.xml (not to be merged back into main).

• Update dependancy versions inpom.xml to release versions.

• Commit and push changes

• Build the dist files (ant -f releasedist.xml release-dist) and upload them to your web directory ongithub.io

• Compare with last release zips for files added and missing

3. Publish the new release

• Upload the dist and signature files to your web directory on github.io

4. Vote for the new release

• Start a vote for the release ongeneral@xmlgraphics.apache.org. The message should point to the release files. The vote should remain open for 7 days.

• When the release is accepted, copy the release files, their checksum files and the signature files to svn repohttps://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/xmlgraphics/fop/ in the subdirectoriessource andbinaries. Remove old release files.

5. Update material

5.1 Git

• Merge the changes of the git release branch back into main (not the version number in the build files).

• Tag the source tree with the release ID.

5.2 Jira

• Ask an FOP Jira admin to
  • rename main entry into the new release name,
  • and create a new main entry

5.3 Website

• Clone repo https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/xmlgraphics-website.git

• Copy xmlgraphics-website/content/fop/trunk directory to a new directory with the new version number.

• Compare last version directory with new version directory, and update as needed.

• Look at old commits to see other changes needed outside this directory.

• Commit and push

5.4 Maven

• Run: mvn clean install javadoc:jar source:jar repository:bundle-create -B -DskipTests

• Copy the *-bundle.jar files to a new directory

• Run this command

python signmvn.py:

importosimportshutildefaddasc(bundle,afile):os.system('jar xf '+bundle+' '+afile)ifos.path.exists(afile):os.system('gpg --armor --detach-sign --force-v3-sigs --batch --verbose '+afile)os.system('jar uf '+bundle+' '+afile+'.asc')os.remove(afile)os.remove(afile+'.asc')forbundleinos.listdir('.'):ifbundle.endswith('bundle.jar'):addasc(bundle,'pom.xml')addasc(bundle,bundle.replace('-bundle',''))addasc(bundle,bundle.replace('-bundle','-javadoc'))addasc(bundle,bundle.replace('-bundle','-sources'))addasc(bundle,bundle.replace('-bundle','-tests'))

• Upload to: https://repository.apache.org/#staging-upload check for errors at https://repository.apache.org/#stagingRepositories

• Setup staging config in ~/.m2/settings.xml, rename ~/.m2/repository

settings.xml:

<settings><profiles><profile><id>myprofile</id><repositories><repository><id>my-repo2</id><name>your custom repo</name><url>https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/staging</url></repository></repositories></profile></profiles><activeProfiles><activeProfile>myprofile</activeProfile></activeProfiles></settings>

• Make a test pom.xml and test pulling artifacts

pom.xml:

<projectxmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd"><modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion><groupId>com.mycompany.app</groupId><artifactId>my-app</artifactId><packaging>jar</packaging><version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version><name>my-app</name><url>http://maven.apache.org</url><dependencies><dependency><groupId>org.apache.xmlgraphics</groupId><artifactId>fop</artifactId><version>2.10</version></dependency></dependencies></project>

• Release artifacts at https://repository.apache.org/#stagingRepositories

6. Announce the new release

Post announcements on following suggested lists:

• fop-dev@xmlgraphics.apache.org
• fop-users@xmlgraphics.apache.org
• general@xmlgraphics.apache.org
• general@xml.apache.org
• announce@apache.org (from your apache.org address)
• xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com (subscriber-only)
• xsl-fo@yahoogroups.com (subscriber-only)
• www-xsl-fo@w3.org
• docbook-apps@lists.oasis-open.org (subscriber-only)
• dita-users@yahoogroups.com (subscriber-only) (http://dita-ot.sourceforge.net/)
• http://xslfo-zone.com/news/index.jsp
• http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL/
• http://freshmeat.net/projects/fop/

Resources

The following is a sample of some other project release checklists, which might be consulted for ideas:

• Apache Batik

• Apache Ant

• Apache Cactus

Following are links with information about mirroring:

• Apache Mirroring

• Stefan Bodewig'sMaking your Downloads Mirrorable

Copyright © 2025 The Apache Software Foundation, Licensed undertheApache License, Version 2.0.
Apache, Apache XML Graphics, Apache FOP, Apache Batik, the Apache logo, and theApache XML Graphics logos are trademarks ofThe ApacheSoftware Foundation. All other marks mentioned may be trademarks or registeredtrademarks of their respective owners.