Release 8.5

9th: (9 working days before the 22nd)

• Triage the Omnibus milestone
• Determine QA person and notify this person: @kelvinmutuma

11th: (7 working days before the 22nd)

• Ensure omnibus-gitlab is ready to build packages by asking the Omnibus maintainers

• Follow the Creating RC1 guide:

  • Update the "Installation from Source" guide (CE: !2766 (merged), EE: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!171)

  • Create the Update guides (CE: !2766 (merged), EE: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!171)

  • Merge CE master into EE master: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!175

  • In #operations (be sure to mention people than can deploy to GitLab.com):

    We’re starting the release tasks for `8.5.0-rc1`. Will anyone be able/available to
    deploy when the packages are out?

  • In #development:

    @here: We're about to release `8.5.0-rc1`. We will still merge
    `master` into `8-5-stable` for a few days (ideally no
    later than the 16th), but after that we will switch to the
    picking strategy documented here:
    https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#changes-for-stable-releases
    
    Please become familiar with this “process". Thanks in advance!
    
    Looking forward to merging/picking all your cool stuff in <%= version.to_patch %>!

  • Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc1 version using the release tools. (will auto-release the packages)

• Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc1

• Create the regression issue in the CE issue tracker: #13350 (closed)

• Tweet about 8.5.0-rc1 release:

  GitLab 8.5.0-rc1 is available: https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/unstable
  Use at your own risk. Please link regressions issues from
  https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/13350

• Do QA and fix anything coming out of it: #13380 (closed).

• Close the Omnibus milestone

17th: (3 working days before the 22nd)

• Merge ce/master into ce/8-5-stable

• Cherry-pick EE merge requests labeled Picked into Stable

• Create new 8.5.0-rc2, following the Creating subsequent RCs guide:

  • Merge ce/8-5-stable into ee/8-5-stable-ee following the Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart guide
  • Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc2 version using the release tools. (will auto-release the packages)

• Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc2

• Tweet about 8.5.0-rc2 release:

  GitLab 8.5.0-rc2 is available: https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/unstable
  Use at your own risk. Please link regressions issues from
  https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/13350

• Prepare the blog post

18th: (2 working days before the 22nd)

• Check that MVP is added to the MVP page

• Cherry-pick CE merge requests labeled Picked into Stable

• Cherry-pick EE merge requests labeled Picked into Stable

• Check that everyone is mentioned on the blog post using @all:

  Hello @all, this is the monthly release post that will go out on the 22nd,
  announcing the new GitLab version. Look through it to see if we can make any
  changes and feel free to comment with suggestions or questions!

  or, if the blog post is still very much a work in progress:

  Hello @all, this is the merge request for the monthly release post that will
  go out on the 22nd, announcing the new GitLab version. Right now it's all
  boilerplate, but feel free to remind us about things that shouldn't be left
  out!

19th: (1 working day before the 22nd)

• Cherry-pick CE merge requests labeled Picked into Stable

• Cherry-pick EE merge requests labeled Picked into Stable

• Create new 8.5.0-rc3, following the Creating subsequent RCs guide:

  • Merge ce/8-5-stable into ee/8-5-stable-ee following the Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart guide
  • Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc3 version using the release tools. (will auto-release the packages)

• Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc3

• Tweet about 8.5.0-rc3 release:

  GitLab 8.5.0-rc3 is available: https://packages.gitlab.com/gitlab/unstable
  Use at your own risk. Please link regressions issues from
  https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/13350

22nd before 1200 CET:

Release before 1200 CET / 2AM PST, to make sure the majority of our users get the new version on the 22nd and there is sufficient time in the European workday to quickly fix any issues.

• Remove (unreleased) from CHANGELOG
• Remove (unreleased) from CHANGELOG-EE (in gitlab-ee)
• Merge 8-5-stable into 8-5-stable-ee following the Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart guide
• Create the '8.5.0' tag with the release tools
• Try to do before 1100 CET: Tag and build the 8.5.0 version using the release tools (will auto-release the packages)
• Try to do before 1200 CET: Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0
• Try to do before 1200 CET: Publish the release blog post
• Create the 8.5.0 version on version.gitlab.com
• Tweet about the release
• Schedule a second Tweet of the release announcement with the same text at 1800 CET / 8AM PST

Initial merge request for the CE installation/upgrade guides: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/2766

Merge request for upgrading from 8.5 CE to EE: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/merge_requests/171

Marked the task Triage the [Omnibus milestone] as completed

Marked the task Update the "Installation from Source" guide (CE: !2766 (merged), EE: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!171) as completed

Marked the task Create the Update guides (CE: !2766 (merged), EE: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!171) as completed

/cc @JobV @marin @yorickpeterse @sytses @jacobvosmaer

Marked the task Merge CE master into EE master: gitlab-org/gitlab-ee!175 as completed

Marked the task Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc1 version using the [release tools]. (will auto-release the packages) as completed

Marked the task Create the regression issue in the CE issue tracker: #13350 (closed) as completed

Marked the task Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc1 as completed

Marked the task Tweet about 8.5.0-rc1 release: as completed

@kelvinmutuma You can start doing the QA now that RC1 is out. Thanks very much in advance!

Marked the task Do QA and fix anything coming out of it: #13380 (closed). as completed

Added ~155978 label

Marked the task Merge master into 8-5-stable as completed

Marked the task Merge 8-5-stable into 8-5-stable-ee following the [Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart] guide as completed

Marked the task Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc2 version using the [release tools]. (will auto-release the packages) as completed

Marked the task Prepare the [blog post] as completed

Marked the task Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc2 as completed

Marked the task Tweet about 8.5.0-rc2 release: as completed

Marked the task Check that MVP is added to the [MVP page] as completed

Marked the task Check that everyone is mentioned on the [blog post] using @all: as completed

Marked the task Cherry-pick CE merge requests labeled [Picked into Stable] as completed

Marked the task Cherry-pick EE merge requests labeled [Picked into Stable] as completed

Marked the task Merge ce/8-5-stable into ee/8-5-stable-ee following the [Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart] guide as completed

Marked the task Tag and build the 8.5.0-rc3 version using the [release tools]. (will auto-release the packages) as completed

Marked the task Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0-rc3 as completed

Marked the task Tweet about 8.5.0-rc3 release: as completed

Marked the task Merge 8-5-stable into 8-5-stable-ee following the [Merging a CE stable branch into its EE counterpart] guide as completed

Marked the task Create the '8.5.0' tag with the [release tools] as completed

Marked the task Try to do before 1100 CET: Tag and build the 8.5.0 version using the [release tools] (will auto-release the packages) as completed

Marked the task Remove (unreleased) from CHANGELOG-EE (in gitlab-ee) as completed

Marked the task Remove (unreleased) from CHANGELOG as completed

Marked the task Try to do before 1200 CET: Update GitLab.com with 8.5.0 as completed

Marked the task Try to do before 1200 CET: Publish the release [blog post] as completed

Marked the task Create the 8.5.0 version on version.gitlab.com as completed

Marked the task Tweet about the release as completed

Marked the task Schedule a second Tweet of the release announcement with the same text at 1800 CET / 8AM PST as completed

Status changed to closed