contribute
Release process

Release process

Context
1. Release types
2. Plan your journey
Prepare your checklist
TRAP: whenever you go AFK for long times
Requirements
1. Packages
2. System configuration
3. Configuration files
Environment
Pre-freeze
1. Check the Release Manager role
2. Coordinate with Debian security updates
Sanity check
Freeze
1. If preparing a RC
2. If preparing a Bugfix release
3. In any case
Set base branch
Manual testing coordination
Update included files
1. Upgrade Tor Browser
2. Update PO files
If preparing a final release
1. If preparing a Major release
2. If preparing a Bugfix release
Update other base branches
Update more included files
1. Changelog
2. Included website
3. Ignored versions for automatic upgrades
Enable OpenPGP signing
Build the almost-final images
SquashFS file order
Build images
1. Sanity check
2. Finalize and tag the release
3. Prepare the versioned APT suites
4. Build the final images
5. Verify that Jenkins reproduced your images
6. Initialize the website release branch
Generate the OpenPGP signatures and Torrents
Get the internal manual testing started
Prepare incremental upgrades
1. Sanity checks
2. Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits locally
3. ISO history
4. Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits on Jenkins
5. Verify that Jenkins reproduced your IUKs
6. Prepare upgrade-description files
7. Prepare the image description file for the download verification
Check that incremental upgrades are working
Done with OpenPGP signing
Upload images
1. Sanity check
2. Delete obsolete IUKs
3. Publish the ISO, IMG, and IUKs over HTTP
4. Announce, seed and test the Torrents
Run the automated test suite
1. Automatically re-run failures
Public testing
1. If you're publishing a RC
Lead the internal manual testing to conclusion
Notify the Trusted Reproducer
Prepare announcements and blog posts
1. If preparing a final release
2. If preparing a RC
3. In any case
4. Draft the Tor blog post
Go wild!
1. Wait for the HTTP mirrors to catch up
2. Sanity checks
3. Push
4. Bug tracker [if preparing a final release]
5. Twitter
6. Request the publication of the Tor blog post
7. Amnesia news
Prepare for the next development cycle
1. If you just released a final release
2. If you just released an RC
Related pages

See the release schedule.

Context

Release types

There are exactly 3 types of releases:

A bugfix release
A major release
A release candidate. A release candidate can only be made for a major release

We will not cover beta release in this document.

Both a bugfix release and a major release are called "final". A release candidate is not a final release.

Sections that only apply to some of those types of release, we'll have it written clearly in the title.

If you want to know whether the release you are doing is a major or not, you need to check our release calendar, and use these criteria:

if nothing is specified about being a major, then it's most probably a bugfix release
if it is a major, there has to be a release candidate before the final

Plan your journey

The release process is long. With proper planning and some luck, it's almost enjoyable.

Here are some useful tips that will hopefully help you have a pleasant release process:

if time allows, try to unblock other people's work. For example, reaching the Get the internal manual testing started on Monday would be great, because it allows manual testers to plan their job better.
when you are clocking off, or just spending some time afk, consider keeping your CPU busy with some long-running jobs. Here are some good candidates:
- Building the final image
- Building IUKs
- Running the automated test suite
cross your fingers 🤞

Prepare your checklist

Merge the current master branch into the branch used to prepare the release (stable for a bugfix release, testing for a major release, devel for a RC).
Copy this very file from the branch used to prepare the release to some place outside of Git.
Close the version of this file that's in Git.
From now on, follow the instructions in your own local copy, using it as a checklist: delete steps once you've successfully completed them. This ensures you won't mistakenly skip a step, without relying on memory, so "oops, I forgot X" cannot happen.
Remove useless sections. Some sections of this checklist only apply to specific release types (RC, Major, Bugfix, etc.). While you can skip them just-in-time, it's easier and less error-prone to do that now that you have a fresh mind. You can search for ^##* If.

TRAP: whenever you go AFK for long times

Keep this section at the top of this copy of the release process, so you don't forget

When you clock off, or take any other kind of long break, please comunicate this on XMPP. Clarify:

when do you expect to come back
what's the status right now
try to give an ETA (or clarify that you cannot) for reaching this steps:
- When will the final image be available?
- When will manual testers be able to start their work?

Requirements

Packages

To release Tails you'll need some packages installed:

oathtool gitlab-cli j2cli intltool jq tidy libnotify-bin mktorrent podman pwgen python3-bs4 python3-debian python3-git python3-gitlab python3-jinja2 python3-html2text python3-sh python3-toml python3-voluptuous transmission-cli moreutils wl-clipboard rename i18nspector

Note: if the Debian version you are running does not include all required Go packages, such as podman, you should be able to install them from a more recent Debian release with APT pinning.
perl5lib dependencies
iuk dependencies
squashfs-tools-ng and libsquashfs1 from Bookworm
po4a 0.62:
- Different versions extract Markdown headings in a different way, which makes tons of strings fuzzy.
- Different versions emit different sets of message flags, some of which are not supported by i18nspector yet.
packages to build a local version of the website

System configuration

Enable unprivileged user namespaces

If you're running a Debian kernel older than 5.10.1-1~exp1, set the kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone sysctl to 1:
```
  echo 'kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1' \
     | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/unprivileged-user-namespaces.conf && \
  sudo sysctl --system
```

Configuration files

To release Tails you need:

The correct version of python3-gitlab.

~/.python-gitlab.cfg

You need at least this content:

  [global]
  ssl_verify = true

  [TailsRM]
  url = https://gitlab.tails.boum.org
  per_page = 100
  private_token = XXX

  [Tails]
  url = https://gitlab.tails.boum.org
  per_page = 100
  private_token = XXX

Then:

In the TailsRM section, set the value of the private_token option to the role-release-automation GitLab user's API token, which you'll find in rm.git's keyringer. Test it with:
```
python-gitlab --gitlab TailsRM -o json  project-issue get --project-id 3 --iid 18122 | jq .title
```
In the Tails section, set the value of the private_token option to a GitLab API token for your own user. Test it with:
```
python-gitlab --gitlab Tails -o json  project-issue get --project-id 3 --iid 18122 | jq .title
```

~/.config/tails/release_management/local.yml

If you have no such file yet, copy config/release_management/examples/local.yml there and adjust to your local environment.
Optional: configure automailer by running ./bin/automailer.py --long-help, which will give you tips on how to configure it. This will make sending emails a bit easier.

Environment

To be able to copy'n'paste the code snippets found on this page, you need to set a bunch of environment variables.

Generate the base environment

To generate the ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml template, run:
```
 ./bin/rm-config generate-boilerplate
```
Edit ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml and replace FIXME:s:
```
  "${EDITOR:?}" ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
```

Ensure there's a iuks/v2 directory under the directory you specified for isos in ~/.config/tails/release_management/local.yml.

 python3 <<EOF
 import yaml,os
 from pathlib import Path
 fpath = Path(os.path.expanduser("~/.config/tails/release_management/local.yml"))
 isos = Path(yaml.safe_load(fpath.open())["isos"])
 iuks = isos / "iuks/v2"
 if not iuks.exists(): raise Exception("IUKS dir '%s' not found" % iuks)
 EOF

Generate the resulting environment variables and export them into your environment:
```
 . $(./bin/rm-config generate-environment --stage base)
```

Notes

Unless the release process explicitly instructs you to change the value of one such variable, treat it as a constant: else, inconsistency will surely arise, which can cause trouble later on.
Regarding version numbers, what follows supports just fine the case when we do something else than alternating bugfix and major releases consistently. For example, if the next two releases are bugfix ones, do not set $NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION to one of these bugfix releases. Instead, set it to the version number of the next major release.
The $NEXT*VERSION constants are used only for two types of operations: preparing upgrade-description files and adding changelog entries. This two types of operations have to be consistent with each other: for example, if one adds a dummy entry for version X in a changelog, an UDF must exist for version X as well… hence the use of shared constants to encode the values that must be the same on both sides :)

Pre-freeze

Check the Release Manager role

Make sure all the shift preparation steps, in the release manager role documentation, have been done. Fill the gaps if needed, otherwise the release process will be blocked later.

Coordinate with Debian security updates

Look at the list of upcoming Debian Security Advisories (DSA) found in the Debian security tracker's Git repository and in the debian-security-announce mailing list.

Rationale: we don't want to release Tails and learn 2 days later about important security issues fixed by Debian security updates. In some cases, it may be worth delaying a Tails release a bit, while waiting for a DSA to happen.

Sanity check

Visit the Jenkins RM view and check that the jobs for the release branch have good enough results:

the last build and reproducibility testing builds have succeeded for:
- if you're preparing a final release: the release branch
- else, if you're preparing a release candidate: the devel branch
look at the last build of the corresponding test_Tails_ISO_* job; if anything looks unusual or fishy, check the few previous builds to see if it's a one-off robustness issue, a serious regression, or what not. In particular:

Check the results of Scenario: All packages are up-to-date. If it does not pass, evaluate whether the problems fixed in the missing package update are worth delaying the release. If not, create an issue to track them.

Freeze

This section ensures freezing is done. Freezing is relevant for Release Candidates and for bugfix releases. You can skip this if you're releasing a final major version.

If preparing a RC

Check that you are indeed preparing a RC:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]

Follow this part ONLY if you are preparing the release candidate for a major release.

Merge the master Git branch into devel:

 git checkout devel && git fetch origin && git merge origin/devel && git merge --no-ff origin/master

Merge each APT overlay suite listed in the devel branch's config/APT_overlays.d/ into the devel APT suite:
```
 ./bin/merge-APT-overlays devel
```
Merge the devel Git branch into the testing one:
```
 git checkout testing && git merge origin/testing && git merge devel
```
... and check that the resulting config/APT_overlays.d/ in the testing branch is empty.
Hard reset the testing custom APT suite to the current state of the devel one:
```
 ./bin/reset-custom-APT-suite testing devel
```
Freeze the time-based APT repository snapshots that shall be used during the code freeze, and those used by our builder VM:
```
 ./bin/freeze-all-APT-snapshots
```
Make it so the time-based APT repository snapshots are kept around long enough, by bumping their Valid-Until half a year from now:
```
 git checkout "$RELEASE_BRANCH" && \
 ./bin/bump-APT-snapshots-expiration-date 183
```

If preparing a Bugfix release

Check that you are indeed preparing a Bugfix:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ] && [ "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" -eq 0 ]

Follow this part ONLY if you are preparing a bugfix release.

Merge the master Git branch into stable:

 git checkout stable && git fetch && git merge origin/stable && git merge --no-ff origin/master

Merge each APT overlay suite listed in the stable branch's config/APT_overlays.d/ into the stable APT suite:
```
 ./bin/merge-APT-overlays stable
```

In any case

Look at tails/tails-private. If anything was merged there during the current development cycle, you need to merge.

Set base branch

Reset the release branch's config/base_branch:

(
    echo "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" > config/base_branch
    git commit config/base_branch \
      -m "Restore ${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}'s base branch." || :
)

Manual testing coordination

Bootstrap internal manual testing coordination:

To create a new pad, visit https://pad.tails.net/new

To give the pad a clear title, add this section on top:

 cat <<EOF
 ---
 title: Testing ${VERSION:?}
 ---
 EOF

Set the PAD environment variable to the URL of this pad.
Copy the manual test suite into this pad.

Generate boilerplate for the call for manual testing:

 ./bin/generate-call-for-manual-testers \
    --dist "${DIST:?}" \
    --pad "${PAD:?}" \
    --version "${VERSION:?}" | ./bin/automailer.py

Send the call for manual testing:
- encrypt and sign your email
- use the headers and body generated above
- adjust the body as needed

Update included files

Upgrade Tor Browser

If you did not import the new Tor Browser yet, do so now.

Update PO files

Expected time: 15-30 minutes depending on how many errors you'll get.

Pull updated translations for languages translated in Transifex, refresh the code PO files, and commit the result, including new PO files:

(
 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}"
 set -x
 err() { echo "Error $*"; exit 1; }
 ./import-translations || err "importing translations"
 ./refresh-translations || err "refreshing translations"
 ./submodules/jenkins-tools/slaves/lint_po || err "in lint"
 ./bin/check-po-msgfmt || err "in msgfmt"
 git add po
 git commit -m 'Update PO files.' || :
)

If lint_po complains:

rollback the offending PO files and retry; worst case, delete it
send a note to tails-l10n@boum.org [public] so that they get in touch with whoever can fix them.

Regenerate the localization list:

./bin/locale-descriptions generate > config/chroot_local-includes/usr/share/tails/browser-localization/descriptions

Take a look at error lines that are suggesting you to add more languages to po/po-to-mozilla.toml. Copy-paste everything into a new issue (title: Update mozilla locale descriptions, content: https://tails.net/contribute/release_process/update_locale_descriptions/ ) and move on.

Manually inspect the diffs:

git diff config/chroot_local-includes/usr/share/tails/browser-localization/descriptions

Line reordering is fine
The only lines added or removed should reflect the addition or removal of a file with a matching name in po/.

For example, if you see zz-YY:YY added in config/chroot_local-includes/usr/share/tails/browser-localization/descriptions it must be because of a po/zz_YY.po which includes a line "Language: zz_YY\n", or po/zz.po and "Language: zz\n" if a zz="zz_YY" mapping exists in po/po-to-mozilla.toml.

Commit the changes (if any):

git commit -m "Refresh localization list" config/chroot_local-includes/usr/share/tails/browser-localization/descriptions || :

If preparing a final release

If we're about to prepare the images for a final (non-RC) release, then follow these instructions:

If preparing a Major release

Check that you are indeed preparing a major release:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ] && [ "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" -eq 1 ]

Merge each APT overlay suite listed in the testing branch's config/APT_overlays.d/ into the testing custom APT suite:

    ./bin/merge-APT-overlays testing

If preparing a Bugfix release

Check that you are indeed preparing a bugfix release:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ] && [ "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" -eq 0 ]

For bugfix releases, we generally do not put any RC out, so freeze time is the same as preparing the actual release. Hence, the following steps have already been done above, and this section is a noop in the general case.

Merge each APT overlay suite listed in the stable branch's config/APT_overlays.d/ into the stable custom APT suite:

    ./bin/merge-APT-overlays stable

Update other base branches

Merge the release branch into devel:
```
 ./bin/merge-main-branch "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" devel
```
If you did not proceed with the merge, it means you're in a non-standard situation, and need to investigate what's appropriate to do.
Thaw, on the devel branch, the time-based APT repository snapshots being used during the freeze:
```
 git checkout devel && \
 ./auto/scripts/apt-snapshots-serials thaw && \
 git commit \
     -m "Thaw APT snapshots." \
     config/APT_snapshots.d/*/serial || :
```
It's fine if that results in a no-op (it depends on how exactly previous operations were performed).
Look at the APT overlays for $RELEASE_BRANCH and devel:
```
 for branch in ${RELEASE_BRANCH} devel; do
     git switch ${branch}
     echo "{{{ ${branch}"
     ls config/APT_overlays.d/
     echo "}}}"
 done
```
Verify that the $RELEASE_BRANCH and devel branches have nothing in config/APT_overlays.d/. If there still are unmerged APT overlays at this point (which is odd), please fix the situation by merging them using bin/merge-APT-overlays.

Push the modified branches to Git:

 git push origin                          \
    "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}:${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" \
    devel:devel

Update more included files

Changelog

Update the Changelog entry for the release you're preparing:

git checkout "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" && \
./bin/update-changelog --version "${MILESTONE:?}"

If you're preparing a release candidate:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]
Set the version for the new entry in debian/changelog to $VERSION: the above code has incorrectly set it to $MILESTONE.

If you're preparing a release candidate or a major release:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ] || [ "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" -eq 1 ]
For each merge request listed in the new Changelog entry, copy the "Closes: #NNNNNN" string from the MR description into the relevant section of the Changelog.

In any case

Then, gather other useful information from the diff between the previous version's .packages file and the one from the to-be-released images:

Generate the diff.

if <span class="createlink"> &#34;&#36;&#123;DIST&#58;&#63;&#125;&#34; &#61; stable </span>; then
    NEW_BRANCH="$RELEASE_BRANCH"
else
    NEW_BRANCH=devel
fi

diff --color=never -u \
    "wiki/src/torrents/files/tails-amd64-${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION}.packages" \
    <(curl --silent "https://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_${NEW_BRANCH}/lastSuccessful/archive/latest.packages") \
 | wdiff --diff-input  --terminal | grep -v --perl-regexp '^[~.:+a-zA-Z_0-9 \t\s-]*$'

In the diff, look for:
- new upstream releases of applications mentioned in features
- new upstream releases of other important components such as the Linux kernel
And those changes in debian/changelog

Sanity check the version, commit, and push:

 if [ "$(dpkg-parsechangelog -SVersion)" = "${VERSION:?}" ]; then
    git commit debian/changelog -m "Update changelog for ${VERSION:?}."
 else
    echo 'Error: version mismatch: please compare ${VERSION:?} with the last entry in debian/changelog'
 fi && \
 git push origin "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"

Let Technical Writers know that the changelog is ready

Open the GitLab issue about the release notes

Notify @technical-writers that the changelog is ready, and provide them a link to latest relevant Jenkins built image, so they can use that to make screenshots or write documentation:

(
     echo "Dear @technical-writers,"
     echo "- The changelog entry is ready: https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/blob/${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}/debian/changelog"
     echo "- The latest corresponding images built by Jenkins are there: https://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_${NEW_BRANCH}/lastSuccessful/archive/build-artifacts"
) | pee cat wl-copy

Included website

./bin/prepare-included-website-for-release

Expect this to take 5-15 minutes. While the website is building, if this is not a good time for taking a break, you can follow the "Enable OpenPGP signing" instructions.

Ignored versions for automatic upgrades

Add to $IGNORED_TAGS, in ./bin/iuk-source-versions, any recent alpha or beta release that gets no security support, and as such, shall not get automatic upgrades. Here is a useful heuristics: if we did not do our manual test suite on a release, it does not get security support.

Enable OpenPGP signing

If you have an OpenPGP smart card

If you have an OpenPGP smart card with a Tails signing subkey, go fetch it.

Until you reach "Done with OpenPGP signing":

You may leave it plugged.
You may unplug it, when you are not signing anything with it, if that's more convenient for you.

Otherwise: importing the signing key

This is only relevant when the master key has been reassembled, e.g. for signing a Tails emergency release where none of the usual release managers are available.

You should never import the Tails signing key into your own keyring, and a good practice is to import it to a tmpfs to limit the risks that the private key material is written to disk:

export GNUPGHOME=$(mktemp -d)
sudo mount -t ramfs ramfs "${GNUPGHOME:?}"
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) "${GNUPGHOME:?}"
sudo chmod 0700 "${GNUPGHOME:?}"
gpg --homedir ${HOME:?}/.gnupg --export ${TAILS_SIGNATURE_KEY:?} | gpg --import
gpg --import path/to/private-key

Let's also ensure that strong digest algorithms are used for our signatures, like the defaults we set in Tails:

cp config/chroot_local-includes/etc/skel/.gnupg/gpg.conf "${GNUPGHOME:?}"

Build the almost-final images

Build ISO and USB images from the release branch, with $TAILS_BUILD_OPTIONS set like this:
- Set defaultcomp, so we can more accurately optimize our SquashFS file ordering.
- Do not set keeprunning, nor ignorechanges, nor rescue. Expected time: 15-45 minutes depending on your computer.
Keep the resulting build artifacts until the end of this release process.
Record where the manifest of needed packages is stored:
1. To update the ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml template with newly required variables, run:
  
  ./bin/rm-config generate-boilerplate --stage built-almost-final
2. Edit ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml and replace FIXME:s:
  
  "${EDITOR:?}" ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
3. Generate the resulting environment variables and export them into your environment:
  
  . $(./bin/rm-config generate-environment --stage built-almost-final)

SquashFS file order

Expected time: 20 minutes

Feel free to skip this section when preparing an emergency release.

Install the almost-final USB image to a USB stick.
Boot this USB stick a first time to trigger re-partitioning.
Shut down this Tails.
If possible, set up a wired connection to avoid having to deal with wireless settings.
Boot this USB stick on bare metal again.
Add profile login to the kernel command-line
Unless you've set up a wired connection, connect to Wi-Fi.
Automatically connect to Tor with Tor Connection.
Wait for Tor Connection to report success.
Start Tor Browser.
Backup the old sort file: cp config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort{,.old}
3 minutes after the start of the GNOME session, the boot-profile process will be killed. Retrieve the new sort file from /var/log/boot-profile.
Copy the new sort file to config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort.
To remove:
- runtime-generated files that don't exist in the rootfs, in order to avoid confusing noise in the build output
- the bits about kill-boot-profile at the end: they're only useful when profiling the boot
- some hardware-dependent files
Run this command:
```
    ./bin/clean-squashfs-sort-file config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort
```

Inspect the Git diff (including diff stat), apply common sense:

 diff -NaurB \
     <( cut -d' ' -f1 config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort.old | sort ) \
     <( cut -d' ' -f1 config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort     | sort ) \
     | less

Commit the new SquashFS sort file and clean up

 git commit -m 'Updating SquashFS sort file' \
     config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort && \
 rm -f config/binary_rootfs/squashfs.sort.old

Build images

Expected time: 50-95 minutes depending on your computer and the available Jenkins workers.

Sanity check

Verify that the Tor Browser release used in Tails still is the most recent. Also look if there's a new -buildX tag (e.g. tor-browser-60.3.0esr-8.0-1-build1) for the Firefox version the Tor Browser we want to ship is based on in these Git repositories:

tor-browser-build activity (maint-X.Y branch)
tor-browser activity

A new tag may indicate that a new Tor Browser release or rebuild is imminent.

Better catch this before people spend time doing manual tests.

Finalize and tag the release

Mark the version as "released" in the changelog:

 dch --release --no-force-save-on-release --maintmaint && \
 git commit -m "Mark Tails ${VERSION:?} as released." debian/changelog

To update the ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml template with newly required variables, run:
```
 ./bin/rm-config generate-boilerplate --stage finalized-changelog
```
Edit ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml and replace FIXME:s:
```
  "${EDITOR:?}" ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
```
Generate the resulting environment variables and export them into your environment:
```
 . $(./bin/rm-config generate-environment --stage finalized-changelog)
```

Tag the release:

 git tag -u "${TAILS_SIGNATURE_KEY:?}" \
         -m "tagging version ${VERSION:?}" "${TAG:?}" && \
 git push origin "${TAG:?}" "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"

Prepare the versioned APT suites

Expected time: 15 minutes

Versioned APT suite in our custom APT repository

Within a few minutes after pushing the new release's Git tag, a cronjob creates a new APT suite in our custom APT repository. This new APT suite is called $TAG and is initially empty.

Wait for this APT suite to be created and initialize it with the packages currently found in the APT suite corresponding to the branch used to prepare the release:

  while ! ssh reprepro@incoming.deb.tails.boum.org reprepro list "${TAG:?}" >/dev/null 2>&1; do
     sleep 5
  done && \
  ssh reprepro@incoming.deb.tails.boum.org \
     tails-merge-suite "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" "${TAG:?}"

Tagged snapshots of upstream APT repositories

Create tagged snapshots of upstream APT repositories:

  ./bin/tag-apt-snapshots "${ALMOST_FINAL_BUILD_MANIFEST:?}" "${TAG:?}"

Note:

This command takes a while (about a dozen minutes).
It's expected that the packages that were pulled from our custom APT repository are listed under "some packages were not found anywhere" (because we are currently not using time-based snapshots for our custom APT repository). However, no other package should be on that list. Now, we have a "safety" net, in case you don't notice such a problem: if other packages are missing, the next build (that will use the newly created partial, tagged APT repository) will fail.

Build the final images

Expected time: 30-75 minutes depending on your computer and the available Jenkins workers.

Build the final images:
```
 rake build
```
Do not set keeprunning nor rescue in $TAILS_BUILD_OPTIONS. Our build system will apply the correct compression settings automatically so don't bother setting it yourself.

If the build fails and you commit some last-minute fix, then you must redo the previous step where you re-tag and force-push to origin!
Manually start a build of the release branch on Jenkins, removing other builds from the Build Queue if needed so it can start immediately. Take note of which job number was used for later (see matching_jenkins_images_build_id below).

Note that jenkins automatically started a build earlier when you pushed the tag, but since the versioned APT suite wasn't finished by then we avoid using that build and rely on the manually started one to be safe.
Make sure the Jenkins build is right: you can recognize this is the case, when you see Jenkins starts building the website (which should happen in \~2-3 minutes, at least on dragon). Jenkins will take 20-65 minutes to complete the build, depending on the isoworkerN that is used.
This could be a good time for break!
Compare the new build manifest with the one from the previous, almost-final build:
```
 diff -Naur \
    "${ALMOST_FINAL_BUILD_MANIFEST:?}" \
    "${ARTIFACTS:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.build-manifest"
```
They should be identical, except that the debian-security serial might be higher.

Verify that Jenkins reproduced your images

Verify that Jenkins reproduced your images:

(
 set -eu
 cd "${ARTIFACTS:?}"
 url="https://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}/lastSuccessful/archive/build-artifacts/tails-build-artifacts.shasum"
 curl "$url" > SHA512SUMS-jenkins.txt
 grep --perl-regexp '[.]img|iso' SHA512SUMS-jenkins.txt | sha512sum -c -
)

If the ISO and USB images hashes match

yay, we're good to go!

The .build-manifest may differ — that's OK. Then:

To update the ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml template with newly required variables, run:
```
./bin/rm-config generate-boilerplate --stage reproduced-images
```
Edit ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml and set the matching_jenkins_images_build_id value to the ID of this job (an integer):
```
"${EDITOR:?}" ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
```
Generate the resulting environment variables and export them into your environment:
```
. $(./bin/rm-config generate-environment --stage reproduced-images)
```

If there is a hash mismatch

Now we are in a tricky situation: on the one hand it seems like a poor idea to block users from benefiting from this release's security updates, but on the other hand the failure might imply that something nefarious is going on. At this stage, no matter what, immediately fetch Jenkins' image, compare it with your, and try to rule out build system compromise:

  sudo diffoscope \
      --text diffoscope.txt \
      --html diffoscope.html \
      --max-report-size 262144000 \
      --max-diff-block-lines 10000 \
      --max-diff-input-lines 10000000 \
          path/to/your/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso \
          path/to/jenkins/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso

Do the same for the USB image as well.

Then carefully investigate the diffoscope report:

If you cannot rule out that the difference is harmful: let's take a step back; we might be compromised, so we are in no position to release. Halt the release, involve the rest of foundations@tails.net, and then try to re-establish trust in all build machines and infra involved, etc. Have fun!
Otherwise, if the change is definitely harmless:
- If the source of non-determinism is identified quickly and is easy and fast to fix, and the QA of the current images has not gone very far (so at least that time is not wasted), then you should consider abandoning the current version, and immediately start preparing an emergency release with:
  - the reproducibility fix,
  - a new changelog entry,
  - adjustments to the release notes so they are re-purposed for this emergency release (the abandoned release gets none, since it effectively never will be released publicly).
- Otherwise, if the fix looks time-consuming or difficult, let's release anyway. But let's add a known issue about "This Tails release does not build reproducibility" to the release notes, linking to the issue where the nature of the reproducibility failure is clearly described.

Initialize the website release branch

The final steps towards publishing the release will be done in a new, dedicated branch.

if [ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]; then
    git checkout -b "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" origin/master && \
    git push -u origin "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"
else
    git checkout -b "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" "${TAG:?}" && \
    git push -u origin "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"
fi

Generate the OpenPGP signatures and Torrents

Run the following command to create a directory with a suitable name, go there, move the built images to this brand new directory, generate detached OpenPGP signatures for the images to be published (in the same directory as the images and with a .sig extension), then go up to the parent directory, create a .torrent file and check the generated .torrent files metadata:

./bin/generate-images-signatures-and-torrents

Get the internal manual testing started

Tell testers that they can start testing. Remember to encrypt and sign your email!

./bin/automailer.py <<EOF
To: rm@tails.net, sajolida@pimienta.org
Subject: Testing Tails ${VERSION:?}
X-Attach: $(/bin/ls -1 "$ISOS/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.packages" "$ISOS/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/"tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.{iso,img}.sig "$ISOS/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}".{iso,img}.torrent | tr '\n' ,)

You can now download the images, verify them using the attached signatures, and start testing:

https://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}/builds/${MATCHING_JENKINS_IMAGES_BUILD_ID:?}/archive/build-artifacts/

To verify downloaded data, run:

    gpg --verify tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.img.sig tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.img
    gpg --verify tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso.sig tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso

Please note that the attached Torrents don't work yet.
EOF

Send a message on XMPP, too:

Tails Team, please check your inbox and get the QA started!

Prepare incremental upgrades

Reference: design documentation

Sanity checks

Check that you have the correct version of squashfs-tools-ng and libsquashfs1 installed:

[ "$(dpkg-query --showformat '${Version}\n' --show squashfs-tools-ng)" \
  = '1.2.0-1' \
] || echo 'ERROR! Your squashfs-tools-ng is not the required version, so any generated IUKs will *not* be reproducible!'
[ "$(dpkg-query --showformat '${Version}\n' --show libsquashfs1)" \
  = '1.2.0-1' \
] || echo 'ERROR! Your libsquashfs1 is not the required version, so any generated IUKs will *not* be reproducible!'

Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits locally

Verify there's enough free disk space in $IUKS_DIR:

N_IUKS="$(echo ${IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS?:} | wc -w)"
MIN_DISK_SPACE=$((N_IUKS * 700))
FREE_DISK_SPACE=$(/bin/df --block-size=M --output=avail "${IUKS_DIR:?}" \
   | tail -n1 | sed --regexp-extended 's,M$,,')
if [ "$FREE_DISK_SPACE" -lt "$MIN_DISK_SPACE" ]; then
   echo "ERROR! Not enough free space in ${IUKS_DIR:?}"
fi

To build the IUKS, run this command:

(
IUK_CREATION_LOG=$(mktemp --tmpdir=/var/tmp wrap_tails_create_iuks.XXXXXXXX.log)
(
   set -eu
   set -o pipefail
   WORK_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
   TAILS_REMOTE="$(git -C "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT?:}" remote get-url origin)"
   PUPPET_TAILS_REMOTE=$(echo -n "${TAILS_REMOTE?:}" | perl -p -E 's,:tails/tails(?:[.]git)?\z,:tails/puppet-tails,')
   cd "${WORK_DIR?:}"
   git clone "$PUPPET_TAILS_REMOTE"
   TMPFILES_CONF=/etc/tmpfiles.d/tails-create-iuks.conf
   OUR_TMPDIR=/var/tmp/tails-create-iuks
   echo "D ${OUR_TMPDIR} 0755 root root -" | sudo tee "$TMPFILES_CONF"
   sudo systemd-tmpfiles --remove --create "$TMPFILES_CONF"
   N_IUKS="$(echo ${IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS?:} | wc -w)"
   MIN_DISK_SPACE=$((N_IUKS * 3000))
   FREE_DISK_SPACE=$(/bin/df --block-size=M --output=avail "${OUR_TMPDIR:?}" \
      | tail -n1 | sed --regexp-extended 's,M$,,')
   if [ "$FREE_DISK_SPACE" -lt "$MIN_DISK_SPACE" ]; then
      echo "ERROR! Not enough free space in ${OUR_TMPDIR:?}"
      exit 2
   fi
   time                                                                   \
   sudo                                                                   \
   nice                                                                   \
   ./puppet-tails/files/jenkins/slaves/isobuilders/wrap_tails_create_iuks \
       --tails-git-remote "file://${RELEASE_CHECKOUT?:}/.git"             \
       --tails-git-commit "${TAG?:}"                                      \
       --source-date-epoch "${SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH?:}"                       \
       --local-isos-dir "${ISOS?:}"                                       \
       --tmp-dir "${TMPDIR:-${OUR_TMPDIR}}"                                        \
       --output-dir "${IUKS_DIR?:}"                                       \
       --source-versions "${IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS?:}"                       \
       --new-version "${VERSION?:}"                                       \
       --verbose                                                          \
       --jobs "$(grep '^core id' /proc/cpuinfo | sort -u | wc -l)"        \
       2>&1 | tee "$IUK_CREATION_LOG"
) && \
 cd "${IUKS_DIR?:}" && \
 sha256sum Tails_amd64_*_to_${VERSION?:}.iuk > "${IUKS_HASHES?:}"
)

This command takes a long time. In parallel, while it is running, you can follow the next steps:

ISO history
Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits on Jenkins (you can start the build, but stop at the rm-config --stage built-iuks step which has to wait for your local IUK build to finish)
If you expect you will have to do some manual testing yourself and you have a spare computer, you can prepare a USB stick and start testing.

ISO history

In this section, you will push the released ISO and USB images and their artifacts (.buildlog, .build-manifest, and .packages files) to our Tails ISO history git-annex repo, so that:

The Jenkins build_IUKs job can fetch them.
Our isotesters can fetch them from there for their testing.

Make sure that Jenkins has finished building the images so you have set MATCHING_JENKINS_IMAGES_BUILD_ID (see above), then run:

cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
./bin/add-release-to-iso-history \
    --version "${VERSION:?}" \
    --isos "${ISOS:?}" \
    --release-branch "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" \
    --matching-jenkins-images-build-id "${MATCHING_JENKINS_IMAGES_BUILD_ID:?}"

Then, wait (a few minutes, */15 crontab) until the images appear on https://iso-history.tails.boum.org/?C=M&O=D:

(
    dirurl="https://iso-history.tails.boum.org/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/"
    isourl="${dirurl}tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso"
    isopath="$ISOS/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso"
    while ! curl --silent --fail --head "$isourl" > /dev/null; do
        sleep 10
    done
    echo "Dir created: ${dirurl}"
    expected_size="$(stat -L -c %s "${isopath}")"
    while true
    do
        size=$(curl --silent --head "${isourl}" | grep -iPo '^content-length:\s*\K\d+')
        echo "FOUND: ${size} bytes"
        if [ "$size" -eq "${expected_size}" ]; then
            echo 'FOUND: ready'
            notify-send "Image published" 'found in ISO history'
            exit 0
        fi
        sleep 10
    done
)

Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits on Jenkins

Make sure the push to ISO history (started in the previous section) has finished, and that images have appeared on the web server: https://iso-history.tails.boum.org/?C=M&O=D
On https://jenkins.tails.boum.org/job/build_IUKs/configure, adjust the SOURCE_VERSION axis to list all versions in $IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS, and save the updated configuration.
On https://jenkins.tails.boum.org/job/build_IUKs/build?delay=0sec, fill the form with these values:
- TAILS_GIT_COMMIT: the value of $TAG in your release environment
- SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH: the value of $SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH in your release environment, i.e. the same value you are using to "Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits locally"; you can find it in ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
- NEW_VERSION: the value of $VERSION in your release environment
- EXTRA_ARGS: leave it blank
Click the Build button
After a few seconds, a new build appears on top of the Build History sidebar. Click on the progress bar of this new build.
Record the ID of the Jenkins build_IUKs build:
1. To update the ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml template with newly required variables, run:
```
./bin/rm-config generate-boilerplate --stage built-iuks
```
2. Edit ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml and set the candidate_jenkins_iuks_build_id value to the ID of that build_IUKs build (an integer):
```
"${EDITOR:?}" ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml
```
3. Generate the resulting environment variables and export them into your environment:
```
. $(./bin/rm-config generate-environment --stage built-iuks)
```
Wait until the build_IUKs build completes successfully. It should take about 15 minutes for each member of the $IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS list, distributed across isoworkerN workers.

If you have a fast computer, you'll be waiting for Jenkins to be done, while your CPU is idle. Consider starting the automated test suite in the meanwhile to optimize this: running it does not depend on any of the IUK-related steps.

Verify that Jenkins reproduced your IUKs

Compare the IUKs

Run this command to verify that Jenkins reproduced your IUKs:

"${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}"/bin/copy-iuks-to-rsync-server-and-verify \
   --hashes-file "${IUKS_HASHES:?}" \
   --work-dir /srv/tmp \
   --jenkins-build-id "${CANDIDATE_JENKINS_IUKS_BUILD_ID:?}"

The download step takes a few minutes.

If this verification succeeds, good!

Otherwise, see the next sections.

If it fails with `urllib.error.HTTPError: HTTP Error 404: Not Found`

This problem can be expected when we are maintaining Tails N.x together with Tails (N+1).y.

If this is the case:

Run the same command, adding the --ignore-404 option
In the output of this second attempt, verify that the only missing IUKs are not relevant to this release

If IUK verification fails

if the last command failed:

Visit this page: https://jenkins.tails.boum.org/job/build_IUKs/lastBuild/parameters/

It tells you which parameters you've passed to the upstream Jenkins job, which spawned the many workers. Make sure to use the build history browser to find the right build_IUKs job in case there were several attempts; the URL above assumes the last build is what you're interested in (see lastBuild part).
Double-check that you've passed the correct parameters.

If you notice you made a mistake, build the IUKs on Jenkins again, and do the verification again.

Else, if the parameters where correct, then follow the next steps.
Leave the IUKs built by Jenkins where they already are (in rsync.lizard:/srv/tmp): at least in some cases, this will speed up uploading your own IUKs later by a 500+ factor, thanks to rsync --partial --inplace.
File an issue about this problem.

Specify:
- Which set of parameters you've passed to the build_IUKs
  
  job, so that the person who'll investigate the problem can reproduce it.
- The ID of the build that failed to reproduce your locally-built IUKs.
Set:
- /label ~"To Do" ~"Core Work:Foundations Team" ~"C:Continuous Integration" ~"C:Upgrader" ~"C:Release management"
- milestone: the next release
Later on, after you're done with OpenPGP signing, you will upload the IUKs you've built locally.

Prepare upgrade-description files

Prepare upgrade-description files (see the upgrade-description files specification for details).

In most cases the example command below is exactly the one you should run. But in order to tell whether you're in one of the exceptional cases when you have to adjust that command, it's important that you understand what follows.

At this step, we use the tails-iuk-generate-upgrade-description-files tool in order to:

Create a new upgrade-description for the version being released and for the next one, that expresses that no upgrade is available for these ones yet.

This is what the --version and --next_version arguments in the example command below do. You do not need to modify them.
For every recent previous release that's not listed in $IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS: tell the users of that old version they need to manually upgrade to the version being released.

The example command below only does it automatically to notify users of N.x that they should upgrade to (N+1).y. But in other cases, you need to do this manually.

To do so, pass this previous version to --previous_version.

Run this command, after adjusting it if needed as explained above:

 ${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}/config/chroot_local-includes/usr/src/iuk/bin/tails-iuk-generate-upgrade-description-files \
     --version "${VERSION:?}" \
     $( \
         if [ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]; then
             echo \
                 --next_version "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
                 --next_version "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}~rc1" \
                 --next_version "${NEXT_PLANNED_BUGFIX_VERSION:?}" \
                 --next_version "${NEXT_POTENTIAL_EMERGENCY_VERSION:?}"
         else
             echo \
                 --next_version "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
                 --next_version "${SECOND_NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}"
         fi
     ) \
     $( \
         for version in $(echo ${IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS:?}); do
            echo "--previous_version ${version:?}"
         done \
     ) \
     $( \
         find ${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}/wiki/src/upgrade/v2/Tails \
            -type d \
            -name "$((${VERSION%%.*}-1)).*" \
            -printf '--previous_version %f ' \
     ) \
     --iso "${ISO_PATH:?}" \
     --iuks "${IUKS_DIR:?}" \
     --release_checkout "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" \
     --major_release "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" \
     --channel "${DIST:?}"

Create an armoured detached signature for each created or modified upgrade-description file.
```
 ./bin/sign-updated-udfs
```
Verify that all UDFs are correctly signed:
```
 ./bin/check-udfs-signature
```
If this isn't the case, check what went wrong in the signing step!

Add and commit the upgrade-description files and their detached signatures to the Git branch used to prepare the release ($WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH):

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git add wiki/src/upgrade && \
 git commit -m "Update upgrade-description files." && \
 git push origin ${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}

Copy the generated UDF for the previous stable release to the test channel in $MASTER_CHECKOUT, modify their content accordingly, sign them, commit and push:
```
 ./bin/publish-test-udfs
```

Prepare the image description file for the download verification

If preparing a RC, skip this part:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

Update the image description file (IDF) used by the verification JavaScript:

cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT?:}" && \
./bin/idf-content \
   --version "${VERSION:?}" \
   --iso "${ISO_PATH:?}" \
   --img "${IMG_PATH:?}" \
   > wiki/src/install/v2/Tails/amd64/stable/latest.json && \
git add wiki/src/install/v2/Tails/amd64/stable/latest.json && \
git commit -m "Update IDF for download verification" && \
git push origin "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"

Check that incremental upgrades are working

Check if the upgrades file looks good:

(
set -e
cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}"
for version in ${TEST_IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS:?}; do
    echo "Upgrade from ${version}:"
    udf="wiki/src/upgrade/v2/Tails/${version}/amd64/test/upgrades.yml"
    echo -n "- IUK: "
    grep --quiet --fixed-strings "to_${VERSION}.iuk" "$udf" && echo ok || echo missing
    echo -n "- ISO: "
    grep --quiet --fixed-strings -- "-${VERSION}.iso" "$udf" && echo ok || echo missing
done
)

The above output should not mention any missing IUKs/ISOs, except when releasing a new major version (N+1).0 (i.e. when Tails is upgraded to a new Debian major release) when it is expected that the previous stable N.x release has no IUK (but it should have an ISO!).

Done with OpenPGP signing

Unplug your OpenPGP smartcard and store it away, so you don't plug it back semi-mechanically later on.

Beware! If your have to plug your OpenPGP smart card or reassemble the key again after this point it invalidates everything done for the reproduction of this release so it has to be started from the beginning:

the original text is restored on the pad, and
some tester follows it from scratch, and
the Trusted Reproducer follows awaits the new input from said tester and then starts from scratch.

So please try to avoid this!

If you don't know, or don't remember, why plugging the smart card again would invalidate all that work: you're not alone. We've all been there. We will document this: #20617.

Upload images

Sanity check

Verify once more that the Tor Browser we ship is still the most recent (see above).

Delete obsolete IUKs

Skip this section if you're preparing a non-final release (beta, RC):

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

Delete the IUKs that upgrade to any beta or RC corresponding to the version you are preparing:

first check that it's not going to remove anything we want to keep:

 ssh rsync.lizard /bin/sh -c \
     \"find /srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/iuk/v2  \
            /srv/rsync/tails/tails/stable/iuk/v2 \
            -type f \
            -name "*_to_${VERSION:?}~*.iuk" \
            -not -name '*~test_*~test.iuk' \
            -not -name '*~testoverlayfs_*~testoverlayfs.iuk' \
            -not -name '*~testoverlayfsng_*~testoverlayfsng.iuk' \
            -ls \
     \"

then actually delete the files:

 ssh rsync.lizard /bin/sh -c \
     \"find /srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/iuk/v2  \
            /srv/rsync/tails/tails/stable/iuk/v2 \
            -type f \
            -name "*_to_${VERSION:?}~*.iuk" \
            -not -name '*~test_*~test.iuk' \
            -not -name '*~testoverlayfs_*~testoverlayfs.iuk' \
            -not -name '*~testoverlayfsng_*~testoverlayfsng.iuk' \
            -print -delete \
     \"

Rationale: avoid the need for mirrors to store 3 concurrent sets of IUKs (#17944). It's OK to delete them now, because we're past the deadline we've announced in the call for testing.

Publish the ISO, IMG, and IUKs over HTTP

If the IUKs reproducibility check you did earlier has failed, then upload the IUKs you've built to our rsync server (we trust your machine more than our Jenkins):

for source_version in $(echo ${IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS:?}); do
   rsync --partial --inplace --progress -v \
      "${IUKS_DIR:?}/Tails_amd64_${source_version:?}_to_${VERSION:?}.iuk" \
      rsync.lizard:/srv/tmp/
done

While waiting for the IUKs to be uploaded, you can proceed with the next steps.

Upload the ISO and USB image signatures to our rsync server:

scp "${ISO_PATH:?}.sig" "${IMG_PATH:?}.sig" rsync.lizard:

Copy the ISO and USB images to our rsync server, verify their signature, move them in place with proper ownership and permissions:

cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
./bin/copy-images-to-rsync-server-and-verify \
    --version "${VERSION:?}" \
    --dist "${DIST:?}" \
    --release-branch "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" \
    --matching-jenkins-images-build-id "${MATCHING_JENKINS_IMAGES_BUILD_ID:?}"

Update the time in project/trace file on our rsync server and on the live website (even for a release candidate):

./bin/update-trace-time \
   "Updating trace file after uploading the ISO and USB images for ${VERSION:?}."

At this stage, either IUKs were reproduced by Jenkins and left on the rsync server in a temporary location, or you must wait until the upload of the locally built IUKs (started in the first part of this section) is completed.

Finally, move the IUKs in place with proper ownership and permissions and update the time in project/trace file on our rsync server and on the live website (even for a release candidate):

./bin/publish-iuks

As tracked on #19396, it might well be that Mirrorbits will miss this update. Let's be sure that this happens via

ssh rsync.lizard "sudo cat /etc/mirrorbits-rpc-password && echo" \
  | ssh rsync.lizard mirrorbits -a refresh -rehash

If, at a later stage of the process, you realize Mirrorbits is still not "noticing" that mirrors are up-to-date, don't be afraid of refreshing/rehashing again, or even restart the whole service (which also triggers a rehash):

ssh rsync.lizard sudo systemctl restart mirrorbits.service

Announce, seed and test the Torrents

Check if there's enough space on our Bittorrent seed to import the new ISO and USB images:

ssh bittorrent.lizard df -h /var/lib/transmission-daemon/downloads

If not, list already running Torrents:

ssh bittorrent.lizard transmission-remote --list

… set $ID to the oldest one and delete it (do this both for the ISO and USB images):

ssh bittorrent.lizard transmission-remote -t "${ID:?}" --remove-and-delete

… and finally check disk space again:

ssh bittorrent.lizard df -h /var/lib/transmission-daemon/downloads

Now you can announce and seed the Torrents for the release you're preparing:

./bin/announce-and-seed-torrents

Test that you can start downloading the ISO and USB images with a BitTorrent client. It can take a few dozen minutes before this works.

Manual testers can now do the "Torrents" part of the manual test suite, so delete "⚠ Wait until the Release Manager […]" in that section on the testing pad.

Run the automated test suite

This is not a required step: check the manual testers pad and see if anyone volunteered for that. But if noone did, start the automated test suite. The sooner, the better.

You probably already know how to do that, but keep this in mind:

you need to use the --old-iso option
you probably want to specify --tmpdir to point to a non-volatile directory. The default lives in /tmp/, which might lead to unpleasant surprises if, for whatever reasons, you need to turn off your computer.
if you are running this and going AFK for long time (ie: overnight) you might want to keep your CPU busy by rerunning failed scenarios. See the "Automatically re-run failures" section.
if the following conditions are met:
- you are making out an emergency release OR you still feel the need to make the release as soon as possible for security reasons
- and you are not running test overnight, so skipping tests will reduce the lead time
- then, feel free to skip testing @not_release_blocker, setting what=(--tag ~@not_release_blocker) in the following example.

Automatically re-run failures

The file test-rerun.sh will help you rerunning the test suite automatically, which avoids wasting CPU.

cp bin/test-rerun.sh ../

Tweak it: the tmpdir might especially need some customization based on your directory structure.

export VERSION ISOS PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION
../test-rerun.sh

Public testing

If you're publishing a RC

Using check-mirrors, choose a fast mirror that already has the tentative ISO and USB images. E.g. https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/tails/ or https://mirrors.wikimedia.org/tails/ are reliable and have plenty of bandwidth:

 (
     success=false
     while true; do
         for mirror in mirrors.wikimedia.org mirrors.edge.kernel.org; do
             url="https://$mirror/tails/"
             if [[ -z "$(./check-mirrors.rb --allow-multiple --fast --channel ${DIST:?} \
                 --url-prefix "$url" \
                 tails-amd64-${VERSION:?} )" ]]
             then
                 echo "WORKING: $url"
                 success=true
             fi
         done
         $success && exit 0
         sleep 1m
     done
 )

Emailed tails-testers@boum.org to ask them to test the tentative images:
- Point them to the up-to-date mirror you've found previously.
- This is a public list, don't point to the pad.
- Make a deadline clear: until when is feedback useful?

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ] && ./bin/automailer.py <<EOF
To: tails-testers@boum.org
Subject: Call for testing: ${VERSION?}

Hi,

The *candidate* images for Tails ${VERSION} are ready for testing:

https://download.tails.net/tails/stable/tails-amd64-${VERSION}/tails-amd64-${VERSION}.img

They did not go through our entire QA yet.

Please test and report back by Tuesday, 09:00 UTC.

Thanks!
EOF

Lead the internal manual testing to conclusion

Make sure that enough people are here to run the tests, that they report their results in due time, and that they make it clear when they're leaving for good.
Ensure the "Incremental upgrades" part of the manual test suite is done:
1. Wait until the IUKs are available:
```
for old in ${TEST_IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS:?}; do
    while ! curl --silent --head --location --fail "https://download.tails.net/tails/stable/iuk/v2/Tails_amd64_${old}_to_${VERSION:?}.iuk"
    do
        sleep 30
    done
done
```
2. Delete "⚠ Wait until the Release Manager […]" in the "Incremental upgrades" section on the pad. Replace "⚠ PLACEHOLDER" in that section with the versions to run the test from (i.e. the versions that UDFs were added for when running publish-test-udfs earlier):
```
echo ${TEST_IUK_SOURCE_VERSIONS:?}
```
Fill the holes and make sure that the automated and manual test suites are done in due time.
If you were the one running the automated test suite, check its results.
Triage test results (except for the reproducibility test), reproduce bugs as needed, decide what the next step is and make sure it happens: add to known issues? file an issue? release blocker? improve the test description (steps, expected outcome)?

Notify the Trusted Reproducer

Send an email to the TR telling them they can now start the Reproducibility test.

Note that the Trusted Reproducer has 72 hours to complete this check, you do not have to wait for this to be completed, just make sure they are informed that the Reproducibility check can be started.

./bin/automailer.py <<EOF
Subject: Trusted Reproducer for ${VERSION:?}

You can now start the reproducibility test.
EOF

Prepare announcements and blog posts

What follows in this section happens on the $WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH branch in ${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}, making sure we catch up with the technical writers who have likely prepared release notes:

cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
   git checkout "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" && \
   git fetch && \
   git merge "origin/${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH?:}"

If no release notes where prepared, create one with placeholders:

cp wiki/src/news/version_${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}.mdwn \
   wiki/src/news/version_${VERSION:?}.mdwn &&
${EDITOR:?} wiki/src/news/version_${VERSION:?}.mdwn

Make sure to:

adjust the !meta date at the top.
adjust all version numbers everywhere appropriately.
add placeholders to the "Changes and updates" and "Fixed problems", e.g. "This section will be updated soon. Sorry for the inconvenience!".
add any known issues to the "Known issues" section.

The technical writers will update the release notes after the release.

If preparing a final release

Skip this part if preparing a RC.

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

Rename, copy, garbage collect and update various files:

./bin/add-release-files-to-website

Then, build the website and commit this last set of changes:

if [ "$(./bin/po4a-version)" = 0.62 ]; then
    ./build-website && \
    git add wiki/src/{inc,torrents} && \
    git commit -m "Update various website source files for ${VERSION:?}"
else
    echo "Wrong po4a version"
fi

Ensure our technical writer has written the announcement for the release in wiki/src/news/version_${TAG:?}.mdwn.

Generate an announcement mentioning the security vulnerabilities affecting the previous version in wiki/src/security/known_security_vulnerabilities_in_${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}.mdwn, in order to let the users of the old versions know that they have to upgrade:

    ./bin/generate-security-advisory \
       --previous-version "${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}" \
       --version "${VERSION:?}" \
       --tag "${TAG:?}" \
    > "wiki/src/security/known_security_vulnerabilities_in_${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}.mdwn"

Remove obsolete bits from wiki/src/home/testing.html. For example, remove any text that's specific to a release candidate we may have published for the version you are preparing.

If preparing a RC

Skip this part if preparing a final release:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]

Copy the signatures and the Torrents into the website repository:

cp "${ISO_PATH:?}.sig" \
   "${IMG_PATH:?}.sig" \
   "${ISOS:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}".{iso,img}.torrent \
   "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}/wiki/src/torrents/files/"

If our technical writer did not prepare the announcement for the release, write it yourself:

Set this environment variable, in the format YYYY-MM-DD:
- FINAL_RELEASE_DATE: the date when we plan to publish the final release you're preparing a RC for

Generate the boilerplate contents from the template:

 ./bin/generate-call-for-testing \
    --version "${VERSION:?}" \
    --tag "${TAG:?}" \
    --date "${RELEASE_DATE:?}" \
    --final-version "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
    --final-date "${FINAL_RELEASE_DATE:?}" \
 > ${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}/wiki/src/news/test_${TAG:?}.mdwn

Edit ${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}/wiki/src/news/test_${TAG:?}.mdwn:
- Mention major user-visible improvements.
- Document important config changes that users of the Persistent Storage have to do themselves.
- Document known issues.
- Look for FIXME.

In wiki/src/home/testing.html, in the "Current calls for testing" section, add a bullet point with a pointer to the call for testing for this release candidate (https://tails.net/news/test_$TAG/, that you just wrote).

In any case

Generate PO files for the pages added or updated earlier in this section, and publish them on the $WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH branch:

if [ "$(./bin/po4a-version)" = 0.62 ]; then
    ./build-website && \
    git add wiki/src && \
    git commit -m "Releasing version ${VERSION:?}" && \
    git push origin "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"
else
    echo "Wrong po4a version"
fi

Draft the Tor blog post

Skip this if you are not preparing a stable release.

Generate the draft blog post:

  ./bin/generate-Tor-blog-post "${VERSION:?}" "${TAG:?}" "${DIST:?}" "${RELEASE_DATE:?}"

Copy the introduction sentences of the body into the summary section of the draft blog post. If there is no such sentence, this can be enough: Tails ${VERSION:?} is out.
Proof-read the draft blog post
Prepare a draft merge request against the Tor blog
- Use your personal account on their GitLab
- Follow the Tor documentation. It's OK to create the MR on the command line instead of in the GitLab Web IDE.
- Take inspiration from previous MR
- Reuse our existing lead image:
  - cd into the directory you created for the new blog post
  - Create a symlink to the existing lead image:
```
ln -s ../../../assets/static/images/blog/tails.jpeg lead.jpg && \
git add lead.jpg
```

Go wild!

Wait for the HTTP mirrors to catch up

Look at the mirror status.

(
  base='https://download.tails.net/tails/stable'
  echo \
    "${base}/iuk/v2/Tails_amd64_${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}_to_${VERSION:?}.iuk?mirrorlist" \
    "${base}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.iso?mirrorlist" \
    "${base}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}/tails-amd64-${VERSION:?}.img?mirrorlist" \
)

Wait for each of these pages to include: - at least 6 working mirrors - at least one among the fallback mirrors: https://download.tails.net/tails/?mirrorlist

To disable mirrors that are lagging behind:

Set their weight to 0 in the mirrors pool.
Push to the tails/mirror-pool master branch.
Verify that the CI pipeline passed on https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/mirror-pool/-/pipelines.
Notify sysadmins@tails.net, so they communicate with the operators of the outdated mirrors.

Sanity checks

Check for any feedback in the Internal testing pad.
Check for any feedback on tails-testers@boum.org
Verify once more that the Tor Browser we ship is still the most recent (see above).

Push

Push the last commits to our Git repository and put master in the following state:

( cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
  git push origin \
      "${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}:${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" \
      devel:devel \
) && \
(
  set -eu
  cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}"
  git fetch
  git merge origin/master
  git merge --edit "origin/${WEBSITE_RELEASE_BRANCH:?}"
  git submodule update --init
  echo "stable" > config/base_branch
  git diff-index --quiet HEAD config/base_branch || \
    git commit config/base_branch \
      -m "Restore master's base branch." \
)

Close the "Write release notes" ticket manually since Closes: statements are not sufficient when updating master.

Finally, push the master branch to make the changes go live on our website:

( cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
  git push origin master:master \
)

Wait for the release to be fully published, that is for the website to have been fully refreshed. To do so, first wait for the [!tails_gitlab desc="GitLab CI pipeline" tails/tails/-/pipelines/]] triggered by your last push to build and deploy the website. And then:

If you're publishing a final release

Check:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

wait until all these conditions are met: - https://tails.net/news/ includes the release notes - https://tails.net/news/index.de.html includes the release notes - https://tails.net/torrents/files/ includes the files for the new release

If you're publishing a RC

Check:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]

wait until https://tails.net/news/test_$TAG/ is live.

Bug tracker [if preparing a final release]

Skip this part if preparing a release candidate:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

Ensure you have an up-to-date tails:gitlab-triage-stable container image:

 cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout master && \
 ./config/gitlab-triage/bin/ensure-up-to-date-container-image

Postpone to the next scheduled release any remaining open issue and merge request whose milestone is the version you've just released:

 cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout master && \
 ./bin/gitlab-triage-post-release \
     --host-url "$(bin/gitlab-url TailsRM)" \
     --token "$(bin/gitlab-api-token TailsRM)"

Finally, submit a MR against tails/gitlab-config to close the just-released milestone. See this as an example: tails/gitlab-config!18

A cheap way to do this, could be to use Gitlab web interface to create the MR

Assign the MR to the on-duty sysadmin (see link to "Semi-public calendar" in https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/summit/-/wikis/Teams#sysadmins).

Issues linked from the website

Go through the issues linked from the documentation and support sections of the website to identify the issues that might be resolved in this release.

cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
find wiki/src/{doc,support} ! -path wiki/src/support/known_issues/graphics.mdwn -name "*.mdwn" -o -name "*.html" | xargs cat | \
    ruby -e 'puts STDIN.read.scan(/\[\[!tails_ticket\s+(\d+)[^\]]*\]\]/)' | \
    while read ticket; do
        ticket_status="$(python-gitlab --gitlab TailsRM -o json --fields state project-issue get --project-id 2 --iid "$ticket" | jq --raw-output .state)"
        if [ -z "${ticket_status:-}" ]; then
            echo "Failed to find the status of #${ticket:?}" >&2
            continue
        fi
        if [ "${ticket_status:?}" = "closed" ]; then
            echo "It seems issue #${ticket:?} has been fixed. Please find all instances on the website and adjust them as needed. Ticket URL: https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/${ticket:?}"
        fi
    done

Create a GitLab issue to list them.

Title: Issues linked from the website for Tails $VERSION Labels: Core Work:Technical writing and To Do

Twitter

Check in the comments of the issue for the release notes if the technical writers have prepared a tweet. Otherwise tweet a simple link to the release notes:

echo "Tails ${VERSION:?} is out: https://tails.net/news/version_${TAG:?}/"

To login:

Get username and password:

keyringer tails-rm decrypt credentials.asc | grep twitter.com
Get the OTP code:

oathtool -b --totp \ "$(keyringer tails decrypt credentials.asc | grep 'twitter OTP code' | grep -Po 'otpauth://totp/.[?]secret=\K[A-Z0-9]' )"

Request the publication of the Tor blog post

Skip this section unless you have prepared a draft Tor blog post earlier.

Check if you have developer status on https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/blog/-/project_members

If you have developer status

To inspect the result, see the pipeline of the MR, in particular the deploy-review job. On top of the job page, a message will tell "This job is deployed to ". Click on the link to the environment. Then click on "View deployment". Check if everything looks good.
Merge!
Once merged a new pipeline is started whose last stage (Deploy) will require manual action: click on it to open a menu where you will see "deploy-prod ▶️", then click on the ▶️ to deploy.

Else

Mark the merge request as ready by remove the Draft: prefix, and request a review from one of your fellow RMs who has Developer status

Amnesia news

Log in and accept the release announcement (it's been automatically sent to amnesia-news@ every half hour and is stuck in the moderation queue).

The password is in keyringer in rm.git.

Prepare for the next development cycle

If you just released a final release

Check that you are indeed preparing a final release:

[ "${DIST:?}" = stable ]

If you just released a new stable release, remove the previous stable release from:
- our rsync server: ssh rsync.lizard sudo rm -rf /srv/rsync/tails/tails/stable/tails-amd64-${PREVIOUS_STABLE_VERSION:?}/
- our Bittorrent seed: get the previous release's Transmission IDs (ISO and USB image, use comma-separated values) with:
```
ssh bittorrent.lizard transmission-remote --list | grep --fixed-strings "tails-amd64-${PREVIOUS_VERSION:?}-i"
```
  Then delete them with (PREVIOUS_VERSION_TRANSMISSION_IDS must be a comma-separated list of IDs, based on the previous command):
```
ssh bittorrent.lizard transmission-remote \
    -t "${PREVIOUS_VERSION_TRANSMISSION_IDS:?}" --remove-and-delete
```
  Finally, check that everything looks good:
```
ssh bittorrent.lizard transmission-remote --list
```
Remove any remaining RC for the just-published release from rsync.lizard:/srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/.
1. Check if there is anything:
```
ssh rsync.lizard find /srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/ -type f
```
2. Decide what to do!

If you've published a final release, remove IUKs that upgrade to an older version as they were superseded by this release:

first check that it's not going to remove anything we want to keep:

ssh rsync.lizard /bin/sh -c \
    \"find /srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/iuk/v2  \
           /srv/rsync/tails/tails/stable/iuk/v2 \
           -type f -name '*.iuk' \
           -not -name "*_to_${VERSION:?}.iuk" \
           -not -name '*~test_*~test.iuk' \
           -not -name '*~testoverlayfs_*~testoverlayfs.iuk' \
           -not -name '*~testoverlayfsng_*~testoverlayfsng.iuk' \
           -ls \
    \"

then actually delete the files:

ssh rsync.lizard /bin/sh -c \
    \"find /srv/rsync/tails/tails/alpha/iuk/v2  \
           /srv/rsync/tails/tails/stable/iuk/v2 \
           -type f -name '*.iuk' \
           -not -name "*_to_${VERSION:?}.iuk" \
           -not -name '*~test_*~test.iuk' \
           -not -name '*~testoverlayfs_*~testoverlayfs.iuk' \
           -not -name '*~testoverlayfsng_*~testoverlayfsng.iuk' \
           -print -delete \
    \"

Check how much space our mirrors need:
```
 ssh rsync.lizard du -sh /srv/rsync/tails
```
Compare it to the minimum disk space we ask of our mirror operators (80 GiB) and determine if any further action is needed to either reduce our usage by deleting stuff, or asking them to give us more space.

Delete Git branches that were merged:

 cd "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout master && \
 git fetch && \
 git merge origin/master && \
 git submodule update --init && \
 bare_repo=$(mktemp -d) && \
 git clone --bare --reference "${MASTER_CHECKOUT:?}" \
    git@gitlab-ssh.tails.boum.org:tails/tails \
    "${bare_repo:?}" && \
 PYTHONPATH=lib/python3 ./bin/delete-merged-git-branches \
    --repo "${bare_repo:?}" && \
 rm -rf "${bare_repo:?}"

On the stable branch, remove all old versions that were never released from wiki/src/upgrade/v2/Tails:
```
 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout stable && \
 ./bin/remove-unused-udfs --before-version "${VERSION:?}"
```
Explanation: the post-release APT repository steps from the previous stable release will usually have had us prepare for an emergency release that was never made.
Pull master back and merge it into stable:
```
 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git fetch origin && \
 git checkout stable && \
 git merge origin/master
```
Note: After a final major release is published, it's normal to leave the testing branch alone: it will only become relevant again when the next freeze starts.

Put the stable Git branch and the corresponding APT suite in the desired shape:

 if [ "${MAJOR_RELEASE:?}" -eq 1 ]; then
    ./bin/reset-custom-APT-suite stable testing && \
    git checkout stable && \
    if [ $(find config/APT_overlays.d -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l) -gt 1 ]; then
       git rm config/APT_overlays.d/* && \
       git commit config/APT_overlays.d/ \
          -m "Empty the list of APT overlays: they were merged"
    fi
 fi

Increment the version number in stable's debian/changelog, so that next builds from the stable branch do not use the APT suite meant for the last release:

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT}" && \
 git checkout stable && \
 dch --newversion "${NEXT_STABLE_CHANGELOG_VERSION:?}" \
    "Dummy entry for next release." && \
 git commit debian/changelog \
    -m "Add dummy changelog entry for ${NEXT_STABLE_CHANGELOG_VERSION:?}."

Merge the release branch and its APT suite into devel:
```
 ./bin/merge-main-branch "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" devel
```
When there's a merge conflict, the script aborts to let you resolve the conflict. Then:
1. Resolve the conflict, git add and git merge --continue.
2. Re-run the exact same merge-main-branch command.

Check if the version number of the last entry in devel's debian/changelog matches the next major release, so that next builds from the devel branch do not use the APT suite meant for the last release; if this is not the case yet, run:

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT}" && \
 git checkout devel && \
 dch --newversion "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
    "Dummy entry for next release." && \
 git commit debian/changelog \
    -m "Add dummy changelog entry for ${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}."

If this command outputs anything:
```
  git show devel:config/chroot_apt/preferences \
     | grep -E '^Explanation: freeze exception'
```
Then checkout the devel branch, and there thaw the packages that were granted freeze exceptions.
Verify that the snapshots used in the release branch are ok, e.g. they use the correct snapshots, and they were bumped appropriately (they should expire after the next planned major release date). Look carefully at the output of this command:
```
 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" && \
 ./bin/apt-snapshots-expiry
```
Push the resulting branches:
```
 git push origin stable testing devel
```
Check the Mozilla and Tor Browser release calendars:
- Tor Browser release calendar
  - What we're looking for here is the release events, not the rebase ones
  - If it looks surprising, check their release preparation issues. If necessary, ask the Tor Browser developers.
- Google calendar
- Release schedule
If the upcoming release dates in the Mozilla calendar does not match what we have in our release calendar, then alert tails-dev@boum.org, rm@tails.net, and explicitly Cc the designated RM for that upcoming release.

Announce the date of the next release:

  ./bin/automailer.py <<EOF
  To: tails-dev@boum.org,tails-l10n@boum.org
  Subject: Release schedule for Tails ${NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION:?}

  Hi,

  XXX will be the RM for Tails ${NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION:?}

  The current plan is:

   - Monday, XXX: build images, start testing
   - Tuesday, XXX: release

  Developers, please:

    - Book time for automated and manual QA during office hours,
      from Monday 15:00 to Tuesday 11:00 (Europe/Berlin).
      If you can't, please let the RM know.

    - During these 2 days, don't push any change to the branch
      used for the release.

  EOF

If a release candidate is planned, include it in the release schedule and the call for manual testers.

Check the entries in our release calendar for the next two (2) releases.

Each of them must:
- exist
- say who is the release manager
- say who is the trusted reproducer
If any of this information is missing, open an issue for each release that lacks a RM or TR:
```
/label ~"C:Release management" ~"Core Work:Foundations Team" ~"To Do" ~"P:Elevated" 
/milestone %"Tails_${NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION:?}" 
```
Include this information:
- For the Trusted Reproducer
  - Your job will be to reproduce the ISO and USB images for the RC (if applicable) and final release within 72 hours after the RM has unplugged their smartcard.
  - If you volunteer, you must immediately read the "Preparation" section of the instructions: https://tails.net/contribute/release_process/reproducibility/#preparation
If you are the release manager for the next release too, look at the tasks that must be done at the beginning of your shift in the release manager role page.

Otherwise, kindly remind the next release manager about this :)
- Send an email to the next RM with:
  - subject "RM for Tails NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION"
  - body: "This is a reminder that you will be RM for Tails NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION. Please see https://tails.net/contribute/working_together/roles/release_manager/#shift".
    
    ./bin/automailer.py <<EOF Subject: RM for Tails ${NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION}
    
    This is a reminder that you will be RM for Tails ${NEXT_PLANNED_VERSION}.
    
    Please see https://tails.net/contribute/working_together/roles/release_manager/#shift EOF
- If there's a release candidate scheduled before our next release, do the same for the release manager of that release candidate.

Put aside the configuration file used for this release:

 mkdir -p ~/.config/tails/release_management/old && \
 mv ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml \
    ~/.config/tails/release_management/old/${VERSION:?}.yml.disabled

You're done for today! Suggestion: enjoy some time AFK :)
Tomorrow, make sure Jenkins manages to build all updated major branches: https://jenkins.tails.boum.org/view/RM/.

If you just released an RC

Check that you are indeed preparing a RC:

[ "${DIST:?}" = alpha ]

If this command outputs anything:
```
 git show devel:config/chroot_apt/preferences \
    | grep -E '^Explanation: freeze exception'
```
Then checkout the devel branch, and there thaw all packages (if any) that were granted freeze exceptions.

On the devel branch, thaw the time-based APT repository snapshots:

 git checkout devel && \
 ./auto/scripts/apt-snapshots-serials thaw && \
 git commit \
     -m "Thaw APT snapshots." \
     config/APT_snapshots.d/*/serial || :

This should generally be a no-op but if there was some hiccup earlier it could be needed.

Increment the version number in debian/changelog on the branch used for the release, to match the upcoming non-RC release, so that the next builds from it do not use the APT suite meant for the RC:

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT}" && \
 git checkout "${RELEASE_BRANCH:?}" && \
 dch --newversion "${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
    "Dummy entry for next release." && \
 git commit debian/changelog \
    -m "Add dummy changelog entry for ${NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}."

Increment the version number in devel's debian/changelog to match the second next major release, so that images built from there have the right version number:

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT}" && \
 git checkout devel && \
 dch --newversion "${SECOND_NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}" \
    "Dummy entry for next release." && \
 git commit debian/changelog \
    -m "Add dummy changelog entry for ${SECOND_NEXT_PLANNED_MAJOR_VERSION:?}." || :

Merge testing into devel (keeping a single changelog entry, for the second next major release), and push them:

 cd "${RELEASE_CHECKOUT:?}" && \
 git checkout devel && \
 git merge testing && \
 git push origin testing devel

Follow the "Verify that the snapshots used in the release branch are ok" step for final releases, above.
In our release calendar, mark the entry about the version that you've just released as released by adding " - Released" to the title.

Put aside the configuration file used for this release:

 mkdir -p ~/.config/tails/release_management/old && \
 mv ~/.config/tails/release_management/current.yml \
    ~/.config/tails/release_management/old/${VERSION:?}.yml.disabled

Delete your local copy of the IUKs [XXX:automate]

Delete logs

 rm -f /var/tmp/wrap_tails_create_iuks*.log

You're done for today! Suggestion: enjoy some time AFK :)
Tomorrow, on https://jenkins.tails.boum.org/view/RM/, make sure Jenkins successfully:
- builds devel and ${RELEASE_BRANCH}
- builds the website
- checks PO files

Context

Release types

Plan your journey

Prepare your checklist

TRAP: whenever you go AFK for long times

Requirements

Packages

System configuration

Configuration files

Environment

Generate the base environment

Notes

Pre-freeze

Check the Release Manager role

Coordinate with Debian security updates

Sanity check

Freeze

If preparing a RC

If preparing a Bugfix release

In any case

Set base branch

Manual testing coordination

Update included files

Upgrade Tor Browser

Update PO files

If preparing a final release

If preparing a Major release

If preparing a Bugfix release

Update other base branches

Update more included files

Changelog

If you're preparing a release candidate:

If you're preparing a release candidate or a major release:

In any case

Included website

Ignored versions for automatic upgrades

Enable OpenPGP signing

If you have an OpenPGP smart card

Otherwise: importing the signing key

Build the almost-final images

SquashFS file order

Build images

Sanity check

Finalize and tag the release

Prepare the versioned APT suites

Versioned APT suite in our custom APT repository

Tagged snapshots of upstream APT repositories

Build the final images

Verify that Jenkins reproduced your images

If the ISO and USB images hashes match

If there is a hash mismatch

Initialize the website release branch

Generate the OpenPGP signatures and Torrents

Get the internal manual testing started

Prepare incremental upgrades

Sanity checks

Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits locally

ISO history

Build the Incremental Upgrade Kits on Jenkins

Verify that Jenkins reproduced your IUKs

Compare the IUKs

If it fails with urllib.error.HTTPError: HTTP Error 404: Not Found

If IUK verification fails

Prepare upgrade-description files

Prepare the image description file for the download verification

Check that incremental upgrades are working

Done with OpenPGP signing

Upload images

Sanity check

Delete obsolete IUKs

Publish the ISO, IMG, and IUKs over HTTP

Announce, seed and test the Torrents

Run the automated test suite

Automatically re-run failures

Public testing

If you're publishing a RC

Lead the internal manual testing to conclusion

Notify the Trusted Reproducer

Prepare announcements and blog posts

If preparing a final release

If it fails with `urllib.error.HTTPError: HTTP Error 404: Not Found`