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Prepare alpha release 12.5a4

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
  • $(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

NOTE It is assumed that the tor-browser rebase and security backport tasks have been completed

Build Updates

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

Tor Browser Alpha (and Nightly) are on the main branch

  • 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 Desktop-specific build configs
    • 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/translation/config:
      • run make list_translation_updates-alpha to get updated hashes
      • steps/base-browser/git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's base-browser branch
      • steps/base-browser-fluent/git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's basebrowser-newidentityftl branch
      • steps/tor-browser/git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's tor-browser branch
      • steps/fenix/git_hash : update with HEAD commit of project's fenix-torbrowserstringsxml branch
  • Update Android-specific build configs
    • (Optional) 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
    • (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 currently have any of our own patches for this project
      • git_hash : update to appropriate git commit associated with $(ESR_VERSION)
    • (Optional) Update projects/android-components/config:
      • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match alpha android-components tag
    • (Optional) Update projects/fenix/config
      • git_hash : update the $(BUILD_N) section to match fenix tag
      • (Optional) var/fenix_version : update to latest $(ESR_VERSION) if rebased
    • Update allowed_addons.json by running (from tor-browser-build root):
      • ./tools/fetch_allowed_addons.py > projects/browser/allowed_addons.json
  • Update common build configs
    • Check for NoScript updates here : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript
      • (Optional) If new version available, update noscript section of input_files in projects/browser/config
        • URL
        • sha256sum
    • Check for OpenSSL updates here : https://www.openssl.org/source/
      • (Optional) If new 1.X.Y version available, update projects/openssl/config
        • version : update to next 1.X.Y version
        • input_files/sha256sum : update to sha256 sum of source tarball
    • Check for zlib updates here: https://github.com/madler/zlib/releases
      • (Optional) If new tag available, update projects/zlib/config
        • version : update to next release tag
    • Check for tor updates here : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/tags
      • (Optional) Update projects/tor/config
        • version : update to latest -alpha tag or release tag if newer (ping dgoulet or ahf if unsure)
    • Check for go updates here : https://golang.org/dl
      • NOTE : Tor Browser Alpha uses the latest Stable major series go version
      • (Optional) Update projects/go/config
        • version : update go version
        • input_files/sha256sum for go : update sha256sum of archive (sha256 sums are displayed on the go download page)
    • Update the manual : https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/manual/-/jobs/
      • Download the artifacts.zip file from latest build stage row (download icon button on the right)
      • Rename it to manual_$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
    • Check the linked issues: ask people to check if any are missing, remove the not fixed ones
    • Run tools/fetch-changelogs.py $(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION) or tools/fetch-changelogs.py '#$(ISSUE_NUMBER)'
      • Make sure you have requests installed (e.g., apt install python3-requests)
      • The first time you run this script you will need to generate an access token; the script will guide you
    • Copy the output of the script to the beginning of ChangeLog.txt and adjust its output
      • If you used the issue number, you will need to write the Tor Browser version manually
    • Include any version updates for:
      • translations
      • OpenSSL
      • NoScript
      • Go
      • zlib
    • Include any ESR rebase for Firefox and GeckoView
  • Open MR with above changes
  • Begin build on $(BUILD_SERVER) (fix any issues which come up and update MR)
  • Merge
  • Sign/Tag commit: make signtag-alpha
  • Push tag to origin
Communications

notify stakeholders

email template 
  Hello All,

  Unsigned Tor Browser $(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION) alpha candidate builds are now available for testing:

  - https://tb-build-05.torproject.org/~$(BUILDER)/builds/release/unsigned/$(TOR_BROWSER_VERSION)/

  The full changelog can be found here:

  - https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser-build/-/raw/main/projects/browser/Bundle-Data/Docs/ChangeLog.txt
Signing

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
    • set-config.update-responses
      • update_responses_repository_dir : directory where you cloned git@gitlab.torproject.org:tpo/applications/tor-browser-update-responses.git
    • 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 : copy signed *multi.apk files to the unsigned build outputs directory
  • run do-all-signing script:
    • cd tor-browser-build/tools/signing/
    • ./do-all-signing.torbrowser
  • NOTE: at this point the signed binaries should have been copied to staticiforme
  • Update staticiforme.torproject.org:
    • From screen session on staticiforme.torproject.org:
    • Static update components : static-update-component cdn.torproject.org && static-update-component dist.torproject.org
    • Enable update responses : sudo -u tb-release ./deploy_update_responses-alpha.sh
    • 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 (again) : `static-update-component cdn.torproject.org && static-update-component
  • 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
      • Update Release Name to Tor Browser version number
      • 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
Publishing

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-alpha/version : sort of a catch-all for latest stable version
    • 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

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Edited by morgan
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