This document explains how to release Django.
\nPlease, keep these instructions up-to-date if you make changes! The point\nhere is to be descriptive, not prescriptive, so feel free to streamline or\notherwise make changes, but update this document accordingly!
\nThere are three types of releases that you might need to make:
\nSecurity releases: disclosing and fixing a vulnerability. This’ll\ngenerally involve two or three simultaneous releases – e.g.\n3.2.x, 4.0.x, and, depending on timing, perhaps a 4.1.x.
Regular version releases: either a final release (e.g. 4.1) or a\nbugfix update (e.g. 4.1.1).
Pre-releases: e.g. 4.2 alpha, beta, or rc.
The short version of the steps involved is:
\nIf this is a security release, pre-notify the security distribution list\none week before the actual release.
Proofread the release notes, looking for organization and writing errors.\nDraft a blog post and email announcement.
Update version numbers and create the release package(s).
Upload the package(s) to the djangoproject.com server.
Verify package(s) signatures, check if they can be installed, and ensure\nminimal functionality.
Upload the new version(s) to PyPI.
Declare the new version in the admin on djangoproject.com.
Post the blog entry and send out the email announcements.
Update version numbers post-release.
There are a lot of details, so please read on.
\nYou’ll need a few things before getting started:
\nA GPG key. If the key you want to use is not your default signing key, you’ll\nneed to add -u you@example.com to every GPG signing command below, where\nyou@example.com is the email address associated with the key you want to\nuse. You will also need to add -i you@example.com to the twine call.
An install of some required Python packages:
\n$ python -m pip install wheel twine\nAccess to Django’s project on PyPI. Create a project-scoped token following\nthe official documentation and set up\nyour $HOME/.pypirc file like this:
~/.pypirc[distutils]\n index-servers =\n pypi\n django\n\n[pypi]\n username = __token__\n password = # User-scoped or project-scoped token, to set as the default.\n\n[django]\n repository = https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/\n username = __token__\n password = # A project token.\nAccess to the djangoproject.com server to upload files.
Access to the admin on djangoproject.com as a «Site maintainer».
Access to post to django-announce.
If this is a security release, access to the pre-notification distribution\nlist.
If this is your first release, you’ll need to coordinate with another releaser\nto get all these things lined up.
\nA few items need to be taken care of before even beginning the release process.\nThis stuff starts about a week before the release; most of it can be done\nany time leading up to the actual release:
\nIf this is a security release, send out pre-notification one week before\nthe release. The template for that email and a list of the recipients are in\nthe private django-security GitHub wiki. BCC the pre-notification\nrecipients. Sign the email with the key you’ll use for the release and\ninclude CVE IDs (requested with Vendor:\ndjangoproject, Product: django) and patches for each issue being fixed.\nAlso, notify django-announce of the upcoming\nsecurity release.
As the release approaches, watch Trac to make sure no release blockers\nare left for the upcoming release.
Check with the other mergers to make sure they don’t have any uncommitted\nchanges for the release.
Proofread the release notes, including looking at the online version to\ncatch any broken links or reST errors, and\nmake sure the release notes contain the correct date.
Double-check that the release notes mention deprecation timelines\nfor any APIs noted as deprecated, and that they mention any changes\nin Python version support.
Double-check that the release notes index has a link to the notes\nfor the new release; this will be in docs/releases/index.txt.
If this is a feature release, ensure translations from Transifex have been\nintegrated. This is typically done by a separate translation’s manager\nrather than the releaser, but here are the steps. Provided you have an\naccount on Transifex:
\n$ python scripts/manage_translations.py fetch\nand then commit the changed/added files (both .po and .mo).\nSometimes there are validation errors which need to be debugged, so avoid\ndoing this task immediately before a release is needed.
Update the django-admin manual page:
\n$ cd docs\n$ make man\n$ man _build/man/django-admin.1 # do a quick sanity check\n$ cp _build/man/django-admin.1 man/django-admin.1\nand then commit the changed man page.
\nIf this is the alpha release of a new series, create a new stable branch\nfrom main. For example, when releasing Django 4.2:
\n$ git checkout -b stable/4.2.x origin/main\n$ git push origin -u stable/4.2.x:stable/4.2.x\nAt the same time, update the django_next_version variable in\ndocs/conf.py on the stable release branch to point to the new\ndevelopment version. For example, when creating stable/4.2.x, set\ndjango_next_version to '5.0' on the new branch.
If this is the «dot zero» release of a new series, create a new branch from\nthe current stable branch in the django-docs-translations repository. For\nexample, when releasing Django 4.2:
\n$ git checkout -b stable/4.2.x origin/stable/4.1.x\n$ git push origin stable/4.2.x:stable/4.2.x\nWrite the announcement blog post for the release. You can enter it into the\nadmin at any time and mark it as inactive. Here are a few examples: example\nsecurity release announcement, example regular release announcement,\nexample pre-release announcement.
\nOK, this is the fun part, where we actually push out a release!
\nCheck Jenkins is green for the version(s) you’re putting out. You\nprobably shouldn’t issue a release until it’s green.
\nA release always begins from a release branch, so you should make sure\nyou’re on a stable branch and up-to-date. For example:
\n$ git checkout stable/4.1.x\n$ git pull\nIf this is a security release, merge the appropriate patches from\ndjango-security. Rebase these patches as necessary to make each one a\nplain commit on the release branch rather than a merge commit. To ensure\nthis, merge them with the --ff-only flag; for example:
$ git checkout stable/4.1.x\n$ git merge --ff-only security/4.1.x\n(This assumes security/4.1.x is a branch in the django-security repo\ncontaining the necessary security patches for the next release in the 4.1\nseries.)
If git refuses to merge with --ff-only, switch to the security-patch\nbranch and rebase it on the branch you are about to merge it into (git\ncheckout security/4.1.x; git rebase stable/4.1.x) and then switch back and\ndo the merge. Make sure the commit message for each security fix explains\nthat the commit is a security fix and that an announcement will follow\n(example security commit).
For a feature release, remove the UNDER DEVELOPMENT header at the\ntop of the release notes and add the release date on the next line. For a\npatch release, remove the Expected prefix and update the release date,\nif necessary. Make this change on all branches where the release notes for a\nparticular version are located.
Update the version number in django/__init__.py for the release.\nPlease see notes on setting the VERSION tuple below for details\non VERSION.
If this is a pre-release package, update the «Development Status» trove\nclassifier in setup.cfg to reflect this. Otherwise, make sure the\nclassifier is set to Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable.
Tag the release using git tag. For example:
$ git tag --sign --message="Tag 4.1.1" 4.1.1\nYou can check your work by running git tag --verify <tag>.
Push your work, including the tag: git push --tags.
Make sure you have an absolutely clean tree by running git clean -dfx.
Run make -f extras/Makefile to generate the release packages. This will\ncreate the release packages in a dist/ directory.
Generate the hashes of the release packages:
\n$ cd dist\n$ md5sum *\n$ sha1sum *\n$ sha256sum *\nCreate a «checksums» file, Django-<<VERSION>>.checksum.txt containing\nthe hashes and release information. Start with this template and insert the\ncorrect version, date, GPG key ID (from\ngpg --list-keys --keyid-format LONG), release manager’s GitHub username,\nrelease URL, and checksums:
This file contains MD5, SHA1, and SHA256 checksums for the source-code\ntarball and wheel files of Django <<VERSION>>, released <<DATE>>.\n\nTo use this file, you will need a working install of PGP or other\ncompatible public-key encryption software. You will also need to have\nthe Django release manager's public key in your keyring. This key has\nthe ID ``XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX`` and can be imported from the MIT\nkeyserver, for example, if using the open-source GNU Privacy Guard\nimplementation of PGP:\n\n gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-key XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\n\nor via the GitHub API:\n\n curl https://github.com/<<RELEASE MANAGER GITHUB USERNAME>>.gpg | gpg --import -\n\nOnce the key is imported, verify this file:\n\n gpg --verify <<THIS FILENAME>>\n\nOnce you have verified this file, you can use normal MD5, SHA1, or SHA256\nchecksumming applications to generate the checksums of the Django\npackage and compare them to the checksums listed below.\n\nRelease packages\n================\n\nhttps://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/<<MAJOR VERSION>>/<<RELEASE TAR.GZ FILENAME>>\nhttps://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/<<MAJOR VERSION>>/<<RELEASE WHL FILENAME>>\n\nMD5 checksums\n=============\n\n<<MD5SUM>> <<RELEASE TAR.GZ FILENAME>>\n<<MD5SUM>> <<RELEASE WHL FILENAME>>\n\nSHA1 checksums\n==============\n\n<<SHA1SUM>> <<RELEASE TAR.GZ FILENAME>>\n<<SHA1SUM>> <<RELEASE WHL FILENAME>>\n\nSHA256 checksums\n================\n\n<<SHA256SUM>> <<RELEASE TAR.GZ FILENAME>>\n<<SHA256SUM>> <<RELEASE WHL FILENAME>>\nSign the checksum file (gpg --clearsign --digest-algo SHA256\nDjango-<version>.checksum.txt). This generates a signed document,\nDjango-<version>.checksum.txt.asc which you can then verify using gpg\n--verify Django-<version>.checksum.txt.asc.
If you’re issuing multiple releases, repeat these steps for each release.
\nNow you’re ready to actually put the release out there. To do this:
\nUpload the release package(s) to the djangoproject server, replacing\nA.B. with the appropriate version number, e.g. 4.1 for a 4.1.x release:
\n$ scp Django-* djangoproject.com:/home/www/www/media/releases/A.B\nIf this is the alpha release of a new series, you will need to create the\ndirectory A.B.
\nUpload the checksum file(s):
\n$ scp Django-A.B.C.checksum.txt.asc djangoproject.com:/home/www/www/media/pgp/Django-A.B.C.checksum.txt\nTest that the release packages install correctly using pip. Here’s one\nmethod:
$ RELEASE_VERSION='4.1.1'\n$ MAJOR_VERSION=`echo $RELEASE_VERSION| cut -c 1-3`\n\n$ python -m venv django-pip\n$ . django-pip/bin/activate\n$ python -m pip install https://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/$MAJOR_VERSION/Django-$RELEASE_VERSION.tar.gz\n$ deactivate\n$ python -m venv django-pip-wheel\n$ . django-pip-wheel/bin/activate\n$ python -m pip install https://www.djangoproject.com/m/releases/$MAJOR_VERSION/Django-$RELEASE_VERSION-py3-none-any.whl\n$ deactivate\nThis just tests that the tarballs are available (i.e. redirects are up) and\nthat they install correctly, but it’ll catch silly mistakes.
\nRun the confirm-release build on Jenkins to verify the checksum file(s)\n(e.g. use 4.2rc1 for\nhttps://media.djangoproject.com/pgp/Django-4.2rc1.checksum.txt).
Upload the release packages to PyPI (for pre-releases, only upload the wheel\nfile):
\n$ twine upload -s dist/*\nGo to the Add release page in the admin, enter the new release number\nexactly as it appears in the name of the tarball\n(Django-<version>.tar.gz). So for example enter «4.1.1» or «4.2rc1»,\netc. If the release is part of an LTS branch, mark it so.
If this is the alpha release of a new series, also create a Release object\nfor the final release, ensuring that the Release date field is blank,\nthus marking it as unreleased. For example, when creating the Release\nobject for 4.2a1, also create 4.2 with the Release date field blank.
Make the blog post announcing the release live.
For a new version release (e.g. 4.1, 4.2), update the default stable version\nof the docs by flipping the is_default flag to True on the\nappropriate DocumentRelease object in the docs.djangoproject.com\ndatabase (this will automatically flip it to False for all\nothers); you can do this using the site’s admin.
Create new DocumentRelease objects for each language that has an entry\nfor the previous release. Update djangoproject.com’s robots.docs.txt\nfile by copying entries from manage_translations.py robots_txt from the\ncurrent stable branch in the django-docs-translations repository. For\nexample, when releasing Django 4.2:
$ git checkout stable/4.2.x\n$ git pull\n$ python manage_translations.py robots_txt\nPost the release announcement to the django-announce, django-developers,\ndjango-users mailing lists, and the Django Forum. This should include a\nlink to the announcement blog post.
If this is a security release, send a separate email to\noss-security@lists.openwall.com. Provide a descriptive subject, for example,\n«Django» plus the issue title from the release notes (including CVE ID). The\nmessage body should include the vulnerability details, for example, the\nannouncement blog post text. Include a link to the announcement blog post.
Add a link to the blog post in the topic of the #django IRC channel:\n/msg chanserv TOPIC #django new topic goes here.
You’re almost done! All that’s left to do now is:
\nUpdate the VERSION tuple in django/__init__.py again,\nincrementing to whatever the next expected release will be. For\nexample, after releasing 4.1.1, update VERSION to\nVERSION = (4, 1, 2, 'alpha', 0).
Add the release in Trac’s versions list if necessary (and make it the\ndefault by changing the default_version setting in the\ncode.djangoproject.com’s trac.ini, if it’s a final release). The new X.Y\nversion should be added after the alpha release and the default version\nshould be updated after «dot zero» release.
If it’s a final release, update the current stable branch and remove the\npre-release branch in the Django release process on Trac.
If this was a security release, update Archive of security issues with\ndetails of the issues addressed.
There are several items to do in the time following the creation of a new\nstable branch (often following an alpha release). Some of these tasks don’t\nneed to be done by the releaser.
\nCreate a new DocumentRelease object in the docs.djangoproject.com\ndatabase for the new version’s docs, and update the\ndocs/fixtures/doc_releases.json JSON fixture, so people without access\nto the production DB can still run an up-to-date copy of the docs site.
Create a stub release note for the new feature version. Use the stub from\nthe previous feature release version or copy the contents from the previous\nfeature version and delete most of the contents leaving only the headings.
Increase the default PBKDF2 iterations in\ndjango.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2PasswordHasher by about 20%\n(pick a round number). Run the tests, and update the 3 failing\nhasher tests with the new values. Make sure this gets noted in the\nrelease notes (see the 4.1 release notes for an example).
Remove features that have reached the end of their deprecation cycle. Each\nremoval should be done in a separate commit for clarity. In the commit\nmessage, add a «refs #XXXX» to the original ticket where the deprecation\nbegan if possible.
Remove .. versionadded::, .. versionadded::, and .. deprecated::\nannotations in the documentation from two releases ago. For example, in\nDjango 4.2, notes for 4.0 will be removed.
Add the new branch to Read the Docs. Since the automatically\ngenerated version names («stable-A.B.x») differ from the version names\nused in Read the Docs («A.B.x»), create a ticket requesting\nthe new version.
Request the new classifier on PyPI. For example\nFramework :: Django :: 3.1.
Update the current branch under active development and add pre-release\nbranch in the Django release process on Trac.
Django’s version reporting is controlled by the VERSION tuple in\ndjango/__init__.py. This is a five-element tuple, whose elements\nare:
Major version.
Minor version.
Micro version.
Status – can be one of «alpha», «beta», «rc» or «final».
Series number, for alpha/beta/RC packages which run in sequence\n(allowing, for example, «beta 1», «beta 2», etc.).
For a final release, the status is always «final» and the series\nnumber is always 0. A series number of 0 with an «alpha» status will\nbe reported as «pre-alpha».
\nSome examples:
\n(4, 1, 1, "final", 0) → «4.1.1»
(4, 2, 0, "alpha", 0) → «4.2 pre-alpha»
(4, 2, 0, "beta", 1) → «4.2 beta 1»