# SDP Release Process Overview

## Introduction

This document describes the process used to release the Server Deployment Package (SDP). This is intended for staff developing the SDP.

## Preparation

A dedicated SDP workspace should be used for releasing the SDP, separate from any you might use for SDP development. This dedicated release workspace should not contain any cruft files such as editor temp files.  The release process mechanisms prevents known-cruft files from being added such as `*~` files and `.DS_Store` files on Mac.  Using a clean dedicated release workspace guarantees no local excess files can sneak into the packaging process.

## Procedure

### Step 1: Plan!

Use [this JIRA Project](https://perforce.atlassian.net/jira/software/c/projects/SDP/issues) to plan your work.  This JIRA instance is only accessible with Perforce corporate SSO.

The SDP product owner determines what the release will be.  That is **2024.1** (aka **2024.1, GA Release**). 

The SDP shares the same major version as Helix Core (e.g. 2024.1).  Versions in JIRA use the major version number, and append an integer as the patch identifier. The patch number is omitted for the GA release, and increments starting from 1 for each patch after a major release.  SDP patches release on a schedule independent of P4D.

### Step 2: Develop!

Develop and test changes in dev branch.  This will occur over time.

When an issue is marked as complete, do the following in JIRA to get it included in the Release Notes:

* Set the Fix version value to the next release, currently 2024.1.
* Update the `P4Blog` field of the JIRA issue with the SDP review URL from The Workshop, e.g. https://swarm.workshop.perforce.com/reviews/29811

### Step 3: Verify SDP Regression Tests

Verify that the SDP regression test suite is successful.

The [SDP regression test suite](https://workshop-jenkins.das.perforce.com:8080/jobs/sdp-dev) is presently only accessible from the Perforce corporate VPN.

### Step 4: Determine Release Type and Release Date

Determine if the SDP release is to be Major, Patch, or Doc Only.

Starting with the 2021.2 release of P4D, SDP major releases are tied to the P4D release schedule, **with SDP releases occurring approximately 10-15 business days after P4D releases**.

Other releases will be Patch releases if there are any functionality changes, or Doc Only releases, where changes since the last release affect only documentation. The SDP documentation is key to its value, worth doing patch updates including only documentation changes.

### Step 5: Update Default P4D Version (Major Releases Only)

This step applies to major releases only; skip this for patch releases.

Modify the script `//guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/helix_binaries/get_helix_binaries.sh` as follows:

* Change the `Version=` value, incrementing the 3rd digit by one. So if the current value is `1.3.9`, increment to `1.3.10`.
* Change the `DefaultHelixVersion` value to match the current P4D GA release version with a value like `r24.1`.  The binaries for this release should be accessible under https://ftp.perforce.com/perforce/r24.1 (replacing `r24.1` with the new value).

### Step 6: Update P4*.json release list files (Major Releases Only

This step applies to major releases only; skip this for patch releases.

Edit the *P4*.json release list files used by `get_helix_binaries.sh`.

Starting from the root of your SDP workspace, do:

```
cd dev/helix_binaries.sh
p4 edit P4*.json
for jf in P4 P4D P4Broker P4Proxy; do
   curl -O "https://updates.perforce.com/static/${jf}/${jf}.json"
   p4 diff "${jf}.json"
done
```

Verify the contents of the downloaded *.json files contain valid JSON content. Then submit:

```
p4 submit -d "Updated JSON files" P4*.json
```

**REMINDER**:  The `DefaultHelixVersion` changes *only* for GA releases, not patches. Also, the P4*.json files need only be updated for major releases.

### Step 7: Target New P4D in SDP Regression Test Suite (Major Releases Only)

This step applies to major releases only; skip this for patch releases.

Update the SDP regression test suite to ensure that it references the new Helix Core release.

Here is a sample of the required change:

```
Change 29229 by tom_tyler@tom_tyler.P4MBPro4.test_sdp_dev on 2022/12/04 04:27:34

	Accounted for change to default Helix Server version.

Affected files ...

... //guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/Server/test/test_Upgrade.py#17 edit

Differences ...

==== //guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/Server/test/test_Upgrade.py#17 (text+x) ====

95c95
<     parser.add_argument('--to-version', default="23.2")
---
>     parser.add_argument('--to-version', default="24.1")
```

This code change might possibly break the regression.  It is important to re-verify that the regression test suite is still successful after this change, adapting as needed.

### Step 8: Update Release Notes

Update the doc/ReleaseNotes.adoc file, specifically the **Change History** section, by adding a new section titled something like **SDP 2024.1 Patch 1** to include the JIRA issues fixed since the last SDP release or patch.

Run a JIRA report of SDP issues with the target Fix version, e.g. 2024.1.1, and ensure all issues listed in the report are considered for inclusion in the release notes.

We don't need a JIRA issue for every change.  Create JIRA issues to cover the essentials of what changed.  Folks who want the gory details can look at changelists, but folks looking only at the release notes should get a useful summary of what's new in this release or patch, and if appropriate, what to be aware of when taking this release.

### Step 9: Load Release Tools

Load the latest SDP tools shell environment.

Change to the dir in your SDP workspace corresponding to `//guest/perforce_software/sdp/tools`, and do `p4 -s sync` followed by `source ./env.sh` in that directory.

### Step 10: Merge Down

Ensure the `dev` branch is updated from main.

This ensures any hot fixes that my have been made directly in `main` branch are considered for incorporation in the formal release.

```
   $ p4 merge -n -b perforce_software-sdp-dev
   All revision(s) already integrated.
```

If there is anything to merge, take care of it in your regular SDP development workspace, not the release workspace. If needed, file new jobs and associate them with changes. Upon completion of any needed merge work.

### Step 11: Update Doc Versions (Major Releases Only)

This step applies to major releases only; skip this for patch releases.

Update AsciiDoc `revnumber` and `revdate`.

In all *.adoc files, verify that the `:revnumber:` and `:revdate:` tags in the file refer to the correct SDP release version and date the file was last modified -- updating it to the current date.  The *.adoc files appear in the `dev/doc` folder as well as the `Unsupported/dev/doc` folder; ensure both are updated.

The fields look something like this example in each *.adoc file:

```
:revnumber: v2024.1
:revdate: 2024-06-11
```

Review documents for any outdated references or content.

At this point all *.adoc files will be opened in the default changelist. Generate a pending changelist:

```
p4 --field Description="Updated rev{number,date} fields in adoc files for release." change -o | p4 change -i
```

Review the generated pending changelist, and submit. Ensure before submitting that the changelist contains only the *.adoc files.

```
p4 describe -s YourCL
p4 revert -a -c YourCL //...
p4 -s submit -c YourCL
```

### Step 12: Update TAG Refs in SDP Upgrade Script

This step applies to any release (major or patch) in which changes to the `p4_vars.template` or `instance_vars.template` files were made. Skip this for patch releases in which no changes to templates were made.

To verify whether changes are were made to the SDP Environment File since the last release or patch, do:

```
LastReleaseCL=$(p4 print -q //guest/perforce_software/sdp/main/Version|cut -d '/' -f 4|cut -d ' ' -f 1)

p4 changes //guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/Server/Unix/p4/common/config/p4_vars.template@$LastReleaseCL,@now

p4 changes //guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/Server/Unix/p4/common/config/instance_vars.template@$LastReleaseCL,@now
```

If no changes were made, skip to the next step.  Otherwise, modify the script `//guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/Server/Unix/p4/common/sdp_upgrade/sdp_upgrade.sh` as follows:

* Change the `Version=` value, incrementing the 3rd digit by one. So if the current value is `1.6.4`, increment to `1.6.5`.
* Search the file for `TAG:` comments.
 * Update `SDPEnvFileNewFormatVersion` if the format of the SDP Environment File `p4_vars` changed since the last release or patch.  Check with 
 * Update `SDPInstanceCfgFileNewFormatVersion` if the template for the Instance Config File changed since the last release or patch.
 * Update the `SDPTargetMajorVersion` to the new version about to be released.

### Step 13: Generate Script Docs

Ensure generated documentation is current.

Starting from the root of your SDP workspace, do:

```
cd dev/doc/gen
./gen_script_man_pages.sh -submit
```

Observe the output.  It may or may not create a new changelist in `//guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev/doc/gen/...`, depending on whether the various scripts have changed since docs were last generated for them.

This script runs scripts with the `-man` option and stores that in a file, which is then included in `SDP_Guide.Unix.adoc`.

### Step 14: Generate HTML and PDF Docs

NOTE: For the following to work, you will need some utilities, including `asciidoc`, `asciidoc-pdf`, and `markdown`.

Generate HTML and PDF files from the AsciiDoc (`*.adoc`) and Markdown files (`*.md`).

Starting from the root of your SDP workspace, do:

```
cd dev/doc
make clean all
p4 rec
cd ../Unsupported/doc
p4 --field Description="Regnerated docs for release." change -o | p4 change -i
```

Review the generated pending changelist, and submit. Ensure before submitting that the changelist contains only expected files, generally *.html and *.pdf files.

### Step 15: Update SDP Version File

Change to the directory in your SDP workspace corresponding to `//guest/perforce_software/sdp/dev`, and do something like this, adjusting MajorVersion as appropriate:

```
p4 edit Version
MajorVersion=2024.1
echo "Rev. SDP/MultiArch/$MajorVersion/$(p4 -ztag -F %change% changes -s submitted -m 1 ...) ($(date +'%Y/%m/%d'))." > Version
p4 diff Version
```

If the diff looks reasonable, proceed:

```
p4 submit -d "Updated Verison for release." Version
```

### Step 16: Copy Up

Push the files to main.

Change to the `dev` branch directory in your workspace.  Run `mdcu.sh` (Merge Down/Copy Up) script, which takes no arguments and is not interactive.  That script creates a pending changelist with the Copy Up main.

Massage the generated pending changelist description if desired.

**WARNING FOR PARTIAL RELEASES**: If this is to be a partial release, revert any files that are not ready to be released from the main branch. Also be sure the reverted files correlate to any jobs removed for a partial release.

Next, submit the generated pending changelist manually.

### Step 17: Package

After running this script, run `package_downloads.sh`.  This puts tar and zip files into the downloads folder.  Submit the generated changelist manually.