Prepare Tor Browser Alpha 12.5a5

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
$(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

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

Email tor-qa mailing list: tor-qa@lists.torproject.org
- Additional information:
  - Note any new functionality which needs testing
  - Link to any known issues
(Optional, only around build/packaging changes) Email downstream consumers:
- Recipients:
  - Tails dev mailing list: tails-dev@boum.org
  - Guardian Project: nathan@guardianproject.info
  - torbrowser-launcher: micah@micahflee.com
  - FreeBSD port: freebsd@sysctl.cz
  - OpenBSD port: caspar@schutijser.com
- Note any changes which may affect packaging/downstream integration
Email upstream stakeholders:
- (Optional, after ESR migration) Cloudflare: ask-research@cloudflare.com
  - NOTE : We need to provide them with updated user agent string so they can update their internal machinery to prevent Tor Browser users from getting so many CAPTCHAs

Signing

signing + publishing

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

tor-announce mailing list

Send an email to tor-announce@lists.torproject.org, using the same content as the blog post and subject "Tor Browser $version is released".

Edited Apr 18, 2023 by morgan

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