Apache SkyWalking Java Agent Release Guide

If you’re a committer, you can learn how to release SkyWalking in The Apache Way and start the voting process by reading this document.

Set up your development environment

Follow the steps in the Apache maven deployment environment document to set gpg tool and encrypt passwords.

Use the following block as a template and place it in ~/.m2/settings.xml.

<settings>
...
  <servers>
    <!-- To publish a snapshot of some part of Maven -->
    <server>
      <id>apache.snapshots.https</id>
      <username> <!-- YOUR APACHE LDAP USERNAME --> </username>
      <password> <!-- YOUR APACHE LDAP PASSWORD (encrypted) --> </password>
    </server>
    <!-- To stage a release of some part of Maven -->
    <server>
      <id>apache.releases.https</id>
      <username> <!-- YOUR APACHE LDAP USERNAME --> </username>
      <password> <!-- YOUR APACHE LDAP PASSWORD (encrypted) --> </password>
    </server>
   ...
  </servers>
</settings>

Add your GPG public key

  1. Add your GPG public key into the SkyWalking GPG KEYS file. If you are a committer, use your Apache ID and password to log in this svn, and update the file. Don’t override the existing file.
  2. Upload your GPG public key to the public GPG site, such as MIT’s site. This site should be in the Apache maven staging repository checklist.

Test your settings

This step is only for testing purpose. If your env is correctly set, you don’t need to check every time.

./mvnw clean install(this will build artifacts, sources and sign)

Prepare for the release

./mvnw release:clean
./mvnw release:prepare -DautoVersionSubmodules=true -Pall
  • Set version number as x.y.z, and tag as vx.y.z (The version tag must start with v. You will find out why this is necessary in the next step.)

You could do a GPG signature before preparing for the release. If you need to input the password to sign, and the maven doesn’t provide you with the opportunity to do so, this may lead to failure of the release. To resolve this, you may run gpg --sign xxx in any file. This will allow it to remember the password for long enough to prepare for the release.

Stage the release

./mvnw release:perform -DskipTests -Pall
  • The release will be automatically inserted into a temporary staging repository.

Build and sign the source code and binary package

export RELEASE_VERSION=x.y.z (example: RELEASE_VERSION=5.0.0-alpha)
cd tools/releasing
bash create_release.sh

This script takes care of the following things:

  1. Use v + RELEASE_VERSION as tag to clone the codes.
  2. Complete git submodule init/update.
  3. Exclude all unnecessary files in the target source tar, such as .git, .github, and .gitmodules. See the script for more details.
  4. Execute gpg and shasum 512 for source code tar.
  5. Use maven package to build the agent tar.
  6. Execute gpg and shasum 512 for binary tar.

apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z-src.tgz and files ending with .asc and .sha512 may be found in the tools/releasing folder. apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z.tgz and files ending with .asc and .sha512 may be found in the tools/releasing/apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z folder.

Upload to Apache svn

  1. Use your Apache ID to log in to https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/skywalking/java-agent/.
  2. Create a folder and name it by the release version and round, such as: x.y.z
  3. Upload the source code package to the folder with files ending with .asc and .sha512.
  4. Upload the distribution package to the folder with files ending with .asc and .sha512.

Make the internal announcements

Send an announcement mail in dev mail list.

Mail title: [ANNOUNCE] SkyWalking Java Agent x.y.z test build available

Mail content:
The test build of Java Agent x.y.z is available.

We welcome any comments you may have, and will take all feedback into
account if a quality vote is called for this build.

Release notes:

 * https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java/blob/master/changes/changes-x.y.z.md

Release Candidate:

 * https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/skywalking/java-agent/xxxx
 * sha512 checksums

Maven 2 staging repository:

 * https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/xxxx/org/apache/skywalking-java/

Release Tag :

 * (Git Tag) x.y.z

Release CommitID :

 * https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java/tree/(Git Commit ID)
 * Git submodule
   * apm-protocol/apm-network/src/main/proto: https://github.com/apache/skywalking-data-collect-protocol/tree/(Git Commit ID)

Keys to verify the Release Candidate :

 * https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/KEYS

Guide to build the release from source :

 > ./mvnw clean package

A vote regarding the quality of this test build will be initiated
within the next couple of days.

Wait for at least 48 hours for test responses

Any PMC member, committer or contributor can test the release features and provide feedback. Based on that, the PMC will decide whether to start the voting process.

Call a vote in dev

Call a vote in dev@skywalking.apache.org

Mail title: [VOTE] Release Apache SkyWalking Java Agent version x.y.z

Mail content:
Hi All,
This is a call for vote to release Apache SkyWalking Java Agent version x.y.z.

Release notes:

 * https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java/blob/master/changes/changes-x.y.z.md

Release Candidate:

 * https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/skywalking/java-agent/xxxx
 * sha512 checksums

Maven 2 staging repository:

 * https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/xxxx/org/apache/skywalking/

Release Tag :

 * (Git Tag) x.y.z

Release CommitID :

 * https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java/tree/(Git Commit ID)
 * Git submodule
   * apm-protocol/apm-network/src/main/proto: https://github.com/apache/skywalking-data-collect-protocol/tree/(Git Commit ID)

Keys to verify the Release Candidate :

 * https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/KEYS

Guide to build the release from source :

 > ./mvnw clean package

Voting will start now (xxxx date) and will remain open for at least 72 hours, Request all PMC members to give their vote.
[ ] +1 Release this package.
[ ] +0 No opinion.
[ ] -1 Do not release this package because....

Vote Check

All PMC members and committers should check these before casting +1 votes.

  1. Features test.
  2. All artifacts in staging repository are published with .asc, .md5, and *sha1 files.
  3. Source code and distribution package (apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z-src.tar.gz, apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z.tar.gz) are found in https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/skywalking/java-agent/x.y.z with .asc and .sha512.
  4. LICENSE and NOTICE are in the source code and distribution package.
  5. Check shasum -c apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z-src.tgz.sha512.
  6. Check gpg --verify apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z-src.tgz.asc apache-skywalking-apm-x.y.z-src.tgz
  7. Build a distribution package from the source code package (apache-skywalking-java-agent-x.y.z-src.tar.gz).
  8. Check the Apache License Header. Run docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/github/workspace apache/skywalking-eyes header check. (No binaries in source codes)

The voting process is as follows:

  1. All PMC member votes are +1 binding, and all other votes are +1 but non-binding.
  2. If you obtain at least 3 (+1 binding) votes with more +1 than -1 votes within 72 hours, the release will be approved.

Publish the release

  1. Move source codes tar and distribution packages to https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/java-agent/.
> export SVN_EDITOR=vim
> svn mv https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/skywalking/java-agent/x.y.z https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/java-agent
....
enter your apache password
....
  1. Release in the nexus staging repo.
  2. Public download source and distribution tar/zip are located in http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/skywalking/java-agent/x.y.z/xxx. The Apache mirror path is the only release information that we publish.
  3. Public asc and sha512 are located in https://www.apache.org/dist/skywalking/java-agent/x.y.z/xxx.
  4. Public KEYS point to https://www.apache.org/dist/skywalking/KEYS.
  5. Update the website download page. http://skywalking.apache.org/downloads/ . Add a new download source, distribution, sha512, asc, and document links. The links can be found following rules (3) to (6) above.
  6. Add a release event on the website homepage and event page. Announce the public release with changelog or key features.
  7. Send ANNOUNCE email to dev@skywalking.apache.org, announce@apache.org. The sender should use the Apache email account.
Mail title: [ANNOUNCE] Apache SkyWalking Java Agent x.y.z released

Mail content:
Hi all,

Apache SkyWalking Team is glad to announce the first release of Apache SkyWalking Java Agent x.y.z.

SkyWalking: APM (application performance monitor) tool for distributed systems,
especially designed for microservices, cloud native and container-based (Docker, Kubernetes, Mesos) architectures.

The Java Agent for Apache SkyWalking, which provides the native tracing/metrics/logging abilities for Java projects.

This release contains a number of new features, bug fixes and improvements compared to
version a.b.c(last release). The notable changes since x.y.z include:

(Highlight key changes)
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...

Please refer to the change log for the complete list of changes:
https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java/blob/master/changes/changes-x.y.z.md

Apache SkyWalking website:
http://skywalking.apache.org/

Downloads:
http://skywalking.apache.org/downloads/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AsfSkyWalking

SkyWalking Resources:
- GitHub: https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java
- Issue: https://github.com/apache/skywalking/issues
- Mailing list: dev@skywalkiing.apache.org


- Apache SkyWalking Team

Release Docker images

export SW_VERSION=x.y.z
git clone --depth 1 --branch v$SW_VERSION https://github.com/apache/skywalking-java.git
cd skywalking-java

curl -O https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/java-agent/$SW_VERSION/apache-skywalking-java-agent-$SW_VERSION.tgz
tar -xzvf apache-skywalking-java-agent-$SW_VERSION.tgz

export NAME=skywalking-java-agent
export HUB=apache
export TAG=$SW_VERSION

make docker.push.alpine docker.push.java8 docker.push.java11 docker.push.java17 docker.push.java21

Clean up the old releases

Once the latest release has been published, you should clean up the old releases from the mirror system.

  1. Update the download links (source, dist, asc, and sha512) on the website to the archive repo (https://archive.apache.org/dist/skywalking).
  2. Remove previous releases from https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/skywalking/java-agent.