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Prepare Tor Browser Legacy 13.5.10

Release Prep Tor Browser Legacy

  • NOTE It is assumed the tor-browser release rebase and security backport tasks have been completed
Explanation of variables
  • ${BUILD_SERVER}: the server the main builder is using to build a browser release
  • ${BUILDER}: whomever is building the release on the ${BUILD_SERVER}
    • example: pierov
  • ${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 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
  • ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}: the Tor Browser version in the format
    • example: 12.5a3, 12.0.3
  • ${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
    • ⚠️ WARNING: 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
  • ${TBB_BUILD_TAG}: the tor-browser-build build tag used to build a given Tor Browser version
    • example: tbb-12.5a7-build1
  • ${RELEASE_DATE}: the intended release date of this browser release; for ESR schedule-driven releases, this should match the upstream Firefox release date
    • example: 2024-10-29
Build Configuration

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

  • Tag tor-browser in tor-browser.git
    • example: tor-browser-115.17.0esr-13.5-1-build1
    • Run: 
      ./tools/browser/sign-tag.torbrowser legacy ${BUILD_N}

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

Tor Browser Legacy is on the maint-13.5 branch

  • Changelog bookkeeping:
    • Ensure all commits to tor-browser and tor-browser-build for this release have an associated issue linked to this release preparation issue
    • Ensure each issue has a platform (Windows, MacOS, Desktop, All Platforms) and potentially Build System labels
  • Create a release preparation branch from the maint-13.5 branch
  • Run release preparation script:
    • ⚠️ WARNING: You may need to manually update the firefox/config file's browser_build field if tor-browser.git has not yet been tagged (e.g. if security backports have not yet been merged and tagged)
    ./tools/relprep.py --tor-browser --date ${RELEASE_DATE} ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}
  • Review build configuration changes:
    • rbm.conf
      • var/torbrowser_version: updated to next browser version
      • var/torbrowser_build: updated to ${TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N}
      • var/browser_release_date: updated to build date. For the build to be reproducible, the date should be in the past when building.
        • ⚠️ WARNING: If we have updated var/torbrowser_build without updating the firefox, then we can leave this unchanged to avoid forcing a firefox re-build (e.g. when bumping var/torbrwoser_build to build2, build3, etc due to non-firefox related build issues)
      • (Desktop Only) var/torbrowser_incremental_from: updated to previous Desktop version
        • NOTE: We try to build incrementals for the previous 3 desktop versions
        • ⚠️ WARNING: Really actually make sure this is the previous Desktop version or else the make torbrowser-incrementals-* step will fail
    • projects/firefox/config
      • browser_build: updated to match tor-browser tag
      • (Optional) var/firefox_platform_version: updated to latest ${ESR_VERSION} if rebased
    • (Optional) projects/translation/config:
      • steps/base-browser/git_hash: updated with HEAD commit of project's base-browser branch
      • steps/tor-browser/git_hash: updated with HEAD commit of project's tor-browser branch
    • (Optional) projects/browser/config:
      • (Optional) NoScript: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript
        • URL updated
          • ⚠️ WARNING: If preparing the release manually, updating the version number in the url is not sufficient, as each version has a random unique id in the download url
        • sha256sum updated
    • (Optional) projects/openssl/config: https://www.openssl.org/source/
      • NOTE: Only if new LTS version (3.0.X currrently) available
      • version: updated to next LTS version
      • input_files/sha256sum: updated to sha256 sum of source tarball
    • (Optional) projects/zlib/config: https://github.com/madler/zlib/releases
      • NOTE: Only if new tag available
      • version: updated to next release tag
    • (Optional) projects/zstd/config: https://github.com/facebook/zstd/releases
      • NOTE: Only if new tag available
      • version: updated to next release tag
      • git_hash: updated to the commit corresponding to the tag (we don't check signatures for Zstandard)
    • (Optional) projects/tor/config https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/tags
      • version: updated to latest non -alpha tag or release tag if newer (ping dgoulet or ahf if unsure)
    • (Optional) projects/go/config https://go.dev/dl
      • go_1_22: updated to latest 1.22 version
      • input_files/sha256sum for go: update sha256sum of archive (sha256 sums are displayed on the go download page)
    • (Optional) projects/manual/config
    • ChangeLog-TBB.txt: ensure correctness
      • Browser name correct
      • Release date correct
      • No Android updates
      • All issues added under correct platform
      • ESR updates correct
      • Component updates correct
  • Open MR with above changes, using the template for release preparations
    • NOTE: target the maint-13.5 branch
  • Merge
  • Sign+Tag
    • NOTE this must be done by one of:
      • boklm
      • dan
      • ma1
      • morgan
      • pierov
    • Run: 
      make torbrowser-signtag-release
  • Push tag to upstream
  • Build the tag:
    • Run: 
      make torbrowser-release && make torbrowser-incrementals-release
      • Tor Project build machine
      • Local developer machine
    • Submit build request to Mullvad infrastructure:
      • NOTE this requires a devmole authentication token
      • NOTE this also requires you be connected to Gothenburg Mulvad VPN exit se-got-wg-101
      • Run: 
        make torbrowser-kick-devmole-build
Website

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

  • Generate release blog post
    • Run:
    ./tools/signing/create-blog-post.torbrowser
    • NOTE this script creates the new blog post from a template (edit ./tools/signing/set-config.blog to set you local blog directory)
    • (Optional) Note any ESR update
    • (Optional) Thank any users which have contributed patches
    • (Optional) Draft any additional sections for new features which need testing, known issues, etc
  • Push to origin as new branch and open MR
  • Review
  • Merge
    • ⚠️ WARNING: Do not deploy yet!
Signing

release signing

  • Assign this issue to the signer, one of:
    • boklm
    • ma1
    • morgan
    • pierov
  • Ensure all builders have matching builds
  • On ${STAGING_SERVER}, ensure updated:
    • NOTE Having a local git branch with maint-13.5 as the upstream branch with these values saved means you only need to periodically git pull --rebase and update the set-config.tbb-version file
    • tor-browser-build is on the right commit: git tag -v tbb-${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}-${TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N} && git checkout tbb-${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}-${TOR_BROWSER_BUILD_N}
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config.hosts
      • ssh_host_builder: ssh hostname of machine with unsigned builds
      • ssh_host_linux_signer: ssh hostname of linux signing machine
      • builder_tor_browser_build_dir: path on ssh_host_builder to root of builder's tor-browser-build clone containing unsigned builds
    • tor-browser-build/tools/signing/set-config.rcodesign-appstoreconnect
      • appstoreconnect_api_key_path: path to json file containing appstoreconnect api key infos
    • 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, ensure tor daemon is running with SOCKS5 proxy on the default port 9050
  • On ${STAGING_SERVER} in a separate screen session, run do-all-signing script:
    • Run: 
      cd tor-browser-build/tools/signing/ && ./do-all-signing.torbrowser
    • NOTE: on successful execution, the signed binaries and mars should have been copied to staticiforme and update responses pushed
Signature verification
Check whether the .exe files got properly signed and timestamped 
# Point OSSLSIGNCODE to your osslsigncode binary
pushd tor-browser-build/${channel}/signed/$TORBROWSER_VERSION
OSSLSIGNCODE=/path/to/osslsigncode
../../../tools/authenticode_check.sh
popd
Check whether the MAR files got properly signed 
# Point NSSDB to your nssdb containing the mar signing certificate
# Point SIGNMAR to your signmar binary
# Point LD_LIBRARY_PATH to your mar-tools directory
pushd tor-browser-build/${channel}/signed/$TORBROWSER_VERSION
NSSDB=/path/to/nssdb
SIGNMAR=/path/to/mar-tools/signmar
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/mar-tools/
../../../tools/marsigning_check.sh
popd
Publishing

website

  • On staticiforme.torproject.org, static update components:
    • Run: 
      static-update-component cdn.torproject.org && static-update-component dist.torproject.org
  • Deploy tor-blog MR
  • On staticiforme.torproject.org, remove old release:
    • NOTE: Skip this step if we need to hold on to older versions for some reason (for example, this is an Andoid or Desktop-only release, or if we need to hold back installers in favor of build-to-build updates if there are signing issues, etc)
    • /srv/cdn-master.torproject.org/htdocs/aus1/torbrowser
    • /srv/dist-master.torproject.org/htdocs/torbrowser
    • Run: 
      static-update-component cdn.torproject.org && static-update-component dist.torproject.org
  • (Optional) Generate and deploy new update responses
    • NOTE: This is only required if there will be no corresponding 14.0 release (i.e. this is an emergency legacy-only 13.5 release). Normally, legacy update responses are generated and deployed as part of the 14.0 release.
    • ⚠️ WARNING: This is a little bit off the beaten track, ping boklm or morgan if you have any doubts
    • From the maint-14.0 branch:
      • Update rbm.conf
        • var/torbrowser_legacy_version: update to ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}
          • NOTE this is the browser version for the legacy branch, not the 14.0 branch
        • var/torbrowser_legacy_platform_version: update to ${ESR_VERSION}
          • NOTE this is ESR version for the legacy branch, not the 14.0 branch
      • Generate update responses:
        • Run: 
          make torbrowser-update_responses-release
      • Commit new update responses to tor-browser-update-responses.git:
        • Run: 
          updaterespdir=/path/to/tor-browser-update-responses.git
cp torbrowser/release/update-responses/update-responses-release-${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}.tar "$updaterespdir"
cd "$updaterespdir"
git pull
rm -Rf update_3/release
tar -C update_3 update-responses-release-${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}.tar
rm update-responses-release-${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}.tar
git add update_3/release
git commit -m "release: new version, ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION}"
git push
# print the commit hash and copy past it for the next step
git show -s --format=%H
    • On staticiforme.torproject.org, deploy new update responses:
      • Enable update responses, passing the commit hash as argument (replace $commit): 
        sudo -u tb-release ./deploy_update_responses-release.sh $commit
Communications

tor-announce mailing list

  • Email tor-announce mailing list
    • Recipients 
      tor-announce@lists.torproject.org
    • Subject 
      New Release: Tor Browser ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION} (Windows, macOS)
    • Body 
      Hi everyone,

Tor Browser ${TOR_BROWSER_VERSION} has now been published for legacy Windows and macOS platforms. For details please see our blog post:
- ${BLOG_POST_URL}

Changelog:
# paste changelog as quote here
Edited by Pier Angelo Vendrame
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