Skip to content

Prepare stable release 12.0

Explanation of variables
  • $(BUILD_SERVER) : the server the main builder is using to build a tor-browser release
  • $(STAGING_SERVER) : the server the signer is using to to run the signing process
  • $(ESR_VERSION) : the Mozilla defined ESR version, used in various places for building tor-browser tags, labels, etc
    • example : 91.6.0
  • $(RR_VERSION) : the Mozilla defined Rapid-Release version; Tor Browser for Android is based off of the $(ESR_VERSION), but Mozilla's Firefox for Android is based off of the $(RR_VERSION) so we need to keep track of security vulnerabilities to backport from the monthly Rapid-Release train and our frozen ESR train.
    • example: 103
  • $(ESR_TAG) : the Mozilla defined hg (Mercurial) tag associated with $(ESR_VERSION)
    • exmaple : FIREFOX_91_7_0esr_BUILD2
  • $(ESR_TAG_PREV) : the Mozilla defined hg (Mercurial) tag associated with the previous ESR version when rebasing (ie, the ESR version we are rebasing from)
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR) : the Tor Browser major version
    • example : 11
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR) : the Tor Browser minor version
    • example : either 0 or 5; Alpha's is always (Stable + 5) % 10
  • $(BUILD_N) : a project's build revision within a its branch; this is separate from the $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N) value; many of the Firefox-related projects have a $(BUILD_N) suffix and may differ between projects even when they contribute to the same build.
    • example : build1
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N) : the tor-browser build revision for a given Tor Browser release; used in tagging git commits
    • example : build2
    • NOTE : A project's $(BUILD_N) and $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N) may be the same, but it is possible for them to diverge. For example :
      • if we have multiple Tor Browser releases on a given ESR branch the two will become out of sync as the $(BUILD_N) value will increase, while the $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N) value may stay at build1 (but the $(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION) will increase)
      • if we have build failures unrelated to tor-browser, the $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N) value will increase while the $(BUILD_N) will stay the same.
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION) : the published Tor Browser version
    • example : 11.5a6, 11.0.7
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH) : the full name of tor-browser branch
    • typically of the form: tor-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)esr-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR-BROWSER_MINOR)-1
  • $(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH_PREV) : the full name of the previous tor-browser branch (when rebasing)
Desktop

torbutton : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/torbutton.git

  • Update translations :
    • ./import-translations.sh
      • NOTE : if there are no new strings imported then we are done here
    • Commit with message Translation updates
      • NOTE : only add files which are already being tracked
    • (Optional) Backport to maintenance branch if present and necessary
  • fixup! tor-browser's Bug 10760 : Integrate TorButton to TorBrowser core issue to point to updated torbutton commit
Android

Security Vulnerabilities Backport : https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/

  • NOTE : this work may have already occurred in the analogous stable release prep issue
  • Create tor-browser issue Backport Android-specific Firefox $(RR_VERSION) to ESR $(ESR_VERSION)-based Tor Browser
    • Link new backport issue to this release prep issue
  • Go through any Security Vulnerabilities fixed in Firefox $(RR_VERSION) (or similar) and create list of CVEs which affect Android that need to be a backported
    • Potentially Affected Components:
      • firefox
      • application-services
      • android-components
      • fenix

application-services (Optional) : TODO: we need to setup a gitlab copy of this repo that we can apply security backports to

  • Backport any Android-specific security fixes from Firefox rapid-release
  • Sign/Tag commit:
    • Tag : application-services-$(ESR_VERSION)-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR)-1-$(BUILD_N)
    • Message: Tagging $(BUILD_N) for $(ESR_VERSION)-based alpha
  • Push tag to origin

android-components (Optional) : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/android-components.git

  • Backport any Android-specific security fixes from Firefox rapid-release
  • Sign/Tag commit:
    • Tag : android-components-$(ESR_VERSION)-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR)-1-$(BUILD_N)
    • Message: Tagging $(BUILD_N) for $(ESR_VERSION)-based alpha)
  • Push tag to origin

fenix (Optional) : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/fenix.git

  • Backport any Android-specific security fixes from Firefox rapid-release
  • Sign/Tag commit:
    • Tag : tor-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR)-1-$(BUILD_N)
    • Message: Tagging $(BUILD_N) for $(ESR_VERSION)-based alpha)
  • Push tag to origin
Shared

tor-browser: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser.git

  • (Optional) Backport any Android-specific security fixes from Firefox rapid-release
  • (Optional, Chemspill) Backport security-fixes to both tor-browser and base-browser branches
  • (Optional) Rebase to $(ESR_VERSION)
    • Find the Firefox hg tag here : https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-esr102/tags
      • $(ESR_TAG) : <INSERT_TAG_HERE>
    • Identify the hg patch associated with above hg tag, and find the equivalent gecko-dev git commit (search by commit message)
      • gecko-dev commit : <INSERT_COMMIT_HASH_HERE>
      • Sign/Tag commit :
        • Tag : $(ESR_TAG)
        • Message : Hg tag $(ESR_TAG)
    • Create new branches with the discovered gecko-dev commit as HEAD named:
      • base-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)esr-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR-BROWSER_MINOR)-1
      • tor-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)esr-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR-BROWSER_MINOR)-1
    • Push new branches and esr tag to origin
    • Rebase base-browser patches onto the gecko-dev commit
    • Rebase tor-browser patches onto the base-browser branch
    • Compare patch-sets (ensure nothing weird happened during rebase):
      • rangediff: git range-diff $(ESR_TAG_PREV)..$(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH_PREV) $(ESR_TAG)..$(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH)
      • diff of diffs:
        • Do the diff between current_patchset.diff and rebased_patchset.diff with your preferred $(DIFF_TOOL) and look at differences on lines that starts with + or -
        • git diff $(ESR_TAG_PREV)..$(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH_PREV) > current_patchset.diff
        • git diff $(ESR_TAG)..$(TOR_BROWSER_BRANCH) > rebased_patchset.diff
        • $(DIFF_TOOL) current_patchset.dif rebased_patchset.deff
    • Open MR for the rebase
  • Sign/Tag base-browser commit:
    • NOTE : Currently we are using the Bug 40926: Implemented the New Identity feature commit as the dividing line between base-browser and tor-browser
    • Tag : base-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)esr-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR)-1-build1
    • Message: Tagging build1 for $(ESR_VERSION)esr-based alpha
  • Sign/Tag tor-browser commit :
    • Tag : tor-browser-$(ESR_VERSION)esr-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR)-1-$(FIREFOX_BUILD_N)
    • Message : Tagging $(FIREFOX_BUILD_N) for $(ESR_VERSION)esr-based alpha
  • Push rebased branches and tags to origin
  • Update Gitlab Default Branch to new Alpha branch: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/settings/repository
Build/Signing/Publishing

tor-browser-build: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser-build.git

Tor Browser Alpha (and Nightly) are on the main branch, while Stable lives in the various maint-$(TOR_BROWSER_MAJOR).$(TOR_BROWSER_MINOR) (and possibly more specific) branches

  • Update rbm.conf
    • var/torbrowser_version : update to next version
    • var/torbrowser_build : update to $(TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N)
    • (Desktop Only) var/torbrowser_incremental_from : update to previous Desktop version
      • IMPORTANT: Really actually make sure this is the previous Desktop version or else the make incrementals-* step will fail
  • Update projects/firefox/config
    • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match tor-browser tag
    • (Optional) var/firefox_platform_version : update to latest $(ESR_VERSION) if rebased
  • Update projects/geckoview/config
    • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match tor-browser tag
    • (Optional) var/geckoview_version : update to latest $(ESR_VERSION) if rebased
  • Update projects/translation-base-browser/config
    • git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's base-browser branch
  • Update projects/translation-base-browser-fluent/config
    • git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's basebrowser-newidentityftl branch
  • Update projects/tba-translations/config:
    • git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's fenix-torbrowserstringsxml branch
  • (Optional) Update projects/tor-android-service/config
    • git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's main branch
  • (Optional) Update projects/application-services/config: NOTE we don't have any of our own patches for this project
    • git_hash : update to appropriate git commit associated with $(ESR_VERSION)
  • Update projects/android-components/config:
    • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match alpha android-components tag
  • Update projects/fenix/config
    • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match fenix tag
    • (Optional) var/fenix_version : update to latest $(ESR_VERSION) if rebased
  • Update allowed_addons.json by running (from tor-browser-build root):
    • ./tools/fetch_allowed_addons.py > projects/browser/allowed_addons.json
  • Check for NoScript updates here : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript
    • (Optional) If new version available, update noscript section of input_files in projects/browser/config
      • URL
      • sha256sum
  • Check for OpenSSL updates here : https://www.openssl.org/source/
    • (Optional) If new 1.X.Y version available, update projects/openssl/config
      • version : update to next 1.X.Y version
      • input_files/sha256sum : update to sha256 sum of source tarball
  • Check for zlib updates here: https://github.com/madler/zlib/releases
    • (Optional) If new tag available, update projects/zlib/config
      • version : update to next release tag
  • Check for tor updates here : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/tags ; Tor Browser Alpha uses latest -alpha tagged tor (or latest of stable if newer)
    • (Optional) Update projects/tor/config
      • version : update to next release tag
  • Check for go updates here : https://golang.org/dl
    • NOTE : Tor Browser Alpha uses the latest Stable go version, while Tor Browser Stable uses the latest of the previous Stable major series version
    • (Optional) Update projects/go/config
      • version : update go version
      • input_files/sha256sum for go : update sha256sum of archive (sha256 sums are displayed on the go download page)
  • (Optional) Update the manual
    • Go to https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/manual/-/jobs/
    • Open the latest build stage
    • Download the artifacts (they come in a .zip file).
    • Rename it to manual_$PIPELINEID.zip
    • Upload it to people.tpo
    • Update projects/manual/config
      • Change the version to $PIPELINEID
      • Update the hash in the input_files section
      • Update the URL if you have uploaded to a different people.tpo home
  • Update ChangeLog.txt
    • Ensure ChangeLog.txt is sync'd between alpha and stable branches
  • Open MR with above changes
  • Begin build on $(BUILD_SERVER) (and fix any issues which come up)
  • Sign/Tag commit : make signtag-alpha
  • Push tag to origin

notify stakeholders

  • Email tor-qa mailing list: tor-qa@lists.torproject.org
    • Provide links to unsigned builds on $(BUILD_SERVER)
    • Call out any new functionality which needs testing
    • Link to any known issues
  • Email Tails dev mailing list: tails-dev@boum.org
    • Provide links to unsigned builds on $(BUILD_SERVER)

signing + publishing

  • Ensure builders have matching builds
  • On $(STAGING_SERVER), ensure updated:
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config
      • NSS_DB_DIR : location of the nssdb7 directory
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config.hosts
      • ssh_host_builder : ssh hostname of machine with unsigned builds
        • NOTE : tor-browser-build is expected to be in the $HOME directory)
      • ssh_host_linux_signer : ssh hostname of linux signing machine
      • ssh_host_macos_signer : ssh hostname of macOS signing machine
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config.macos-notarization
      • macos_notarization_user : the email login for a tor notariser Apple Developer account
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config.tbb-version
      • tbb_version : tor browser version string, same as var/torbrowser_version in rbm.conf (examples: 11.5a12, 11.0.13)
      • tbb_version_build : the tor-browser-build build number (if var/torbrowser_build in rbm.conf is buildN then this value is N)
      • tbb_version_type : either alpha for alpha releases or release for stable releases
  • On $(STAGING_SERVER) in a separate screen session, run the macOS proxy script:
    • cd tor-browser-build/tools/signing/
    • ./macos-signer-proxy
  • On $(STAGING_SERVER) in a separate screen session, ensure tor daemon is running with SOCKS5 proxy on the default port 9050
  • apk signing : TODO
  • run do-all-signing script:
    • cd tor-browser-build/tools/signing/
    • ./do-all-signing.sh
  • NOTE: at this point the signed binaries should have been copied to staticiforme
  • Update staticiforme.torproject.org:
    • From screen session on staticiforme.torproject.org:
    • Remove old release data from following places:
      • NOTE : Skip this step if the current release is Android or Desktop only
      • /srv/cdn-master.torproject.org/htdocs/aus1/torbrowser
      • /srv/dist-master.torproject.org/htdocs/torbrowser
    • Static update components : static-update-component cdn.torproject.org && static-update-component dist.torproject.org
    • Enable update responses : ./deploy_update_responses-alpha.sh
  • Publish APKs to Google Play:
    • Log into https://play.google.com/apps/publish
    • Select Tor Browser (Alpha) app
    • Navigate to Release > Production and click Create new release button
    • Upload the *.multi.apk APKs
    • If necessary, update the 'Release Name' (should be automatically populated)
    • Update Release Notes
      • Next to 'Release notes', click Copy from a previous release
      • Edit blog post url to point to most recent blog post
    • Save, review, and configure rollout percentage
      • 25% rollout when publishing a scheduled update
      • 100% rollout when publishing a security-driven release
    • Update rollout percentage to 100% after confirmed no major issues

website: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/tpo.git

  • databags/versions.ini : Update the downloads versions
    • torbrowser-stable/version : sort of a catch-all for latest stable version
    • torbrowser-stable/win32 : tor version in the expert bundle
    • torbrowser-*-stable/version : platform-specific stable versions
    • torbrowser-*-alpha/version : platform-specific alpha versions
    • tor-stable,tor-alpha : set by tor devs, do not touch
  • Push to origin as new branch, open 'Draft :' MR
  • Remove Draft: from MR once signed-packages are uploaded
  • Merge
  • Publish after CI passes and builds are published

blog: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/blog.git

  • Duplicate previous Stable or Alpha release blog post as appropriate to new directory under content/blog/new-release-tor-browser-$(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION) and update with info on release :
    • Update Tor Browser version numbers
    • Note any ESR rebase
    • Link to any Firefox security updates from ESR upgrade
    • Link to any Android-specific security backports
    • Note any updates to :
      • tor
      • OpenSSL
      • NoScript
    • Convert ChangeLog.txt to markdown format used here by :
      • tor-browser-build/tools/changelog-format-blog-post
  • Push to origin as new branch, open Draft: MR
  • Remove Draft: from MR once signed-packages are uploaded
  • Merge
  • Publish after CI passes and website has been updated

tor-announce mailing list

Edited by richard
To upload designs, you'll need to enable LFS and have an admin enable hashed storage. More information