2ae4a997b8
Add document explaining the current Stable and LTS process. Signed-off-by: John McNamara <john.mcnamara@intel.com> Acked-by: Thomas Monjalon <thomas.monjalon@6wind.com>
100 lines
3.1 KiB
ReStructuredText
100 lines
3.1 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. stable_lts_releases:
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DPDK Stable Releases and Long Term Support
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==========================================
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This section sets out the guidelines for the DPDK Stable Releases and the DPDK
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Long Term Support releases (LTS).
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Introduction
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------------
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The purpose of the DPDK Stable Releases is to maintain releases of DPDK with
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backported fixes over an extended period of time. This provides downstream
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consumers of DPDK with a stable target on which to base applications or
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packages.
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The Long Term Support release (LTS) is a designation applied to a Stable
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Release to indicate longer term support.
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Stable Releases
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---------------
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Any major release of DPDK can be designated as a Stable Release if a
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maintainer volunteers to maintain it.
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A Stable Release is used to backport fixes from an ``N`` release back to an
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``N-1`` release, for example, from 16.11 to 16.07.
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The duration of a stable is one complete release cycle (3 months). It can be
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longer, up to 1 year, if a maintainer continues to support the stable branch,
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or if users supply backported fixes, however the explicit commitment should be
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for one release cycle.
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The release cadence is determined by the maintainer based on the number of
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bugfixes and the criticality of the bugs. Releases should be coordinated with
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the validation engineers to ensure that a tagged release has been tested.
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LTS Release
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-----------
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A stable release can be designated as an LTS release based on community
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agreement and a commitment from a maintainer. An LTS release will have a
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maintenance duration of 2 years.
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The current DPDK LTS release is 16.11.
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It is anticipated that there will be at least 4 releases per year of the LTS
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or approximately 1 every 3 months. However, the cadence can be shorter or
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longer depending on the number and criticality of the backported
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fixes. Releases should be coordinated with the validation engineers to ensure
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that a tagged release has been tested.
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What changes should be backported
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---------------------------------
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Backporting should be limited to bug fixes.
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Features should not be backported to stable releases. It may be acceptable, in
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limited cases, to back port features for the LTS release where:
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* There is a justifiable use case (for example a new PMD).
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* The change is non-invasive.
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* The work of preparing the backport is done by the proposer.
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* There is support within the community.
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The Stable Mailing List
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-----------------------
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The Stable and LTS release are coordinated on the stable@dpdk.org mailing
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list.
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All fix patches to the master branch that are candidates for backporting
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should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <http://dpdk.org/ml/listinfo/stable>`_
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mailing list.
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Releasing
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---------
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A Stable Release will be released by:
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* Tagging the release with YY.MM.n (year, month, number).
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* Uploading a tarball of the release to dpdk.org.
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* Sending an announcement to the `announce@dpdk.org <http://dpdk.org/ml/listinfo/announce>`_
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list.
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Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <http://dpdk.org/download>`_.
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ABI
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---
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The Stable Release should not be seen as a way of breaking or circumventing
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the DPDK ABI policy.
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