<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"> </div> <div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Mar 9, 2021 at 3:06 PM Brian Murray <<a href="mailto:brian@ubuntu.com">brian@ubuntu.com</a>> wrote: </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On Mon, Mar 08, 2021 at 11:58:18AM -0500, Corey Bryant wrote: > On Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 5:16 PM Corey Bryant <<a href="mailto:corey.bryant@canonical.com" target="_blank">corey.bryant@canonical.com</a>> > wrote: > > > Hello SRU Team, > > > > I'm writing to discuss delivery of patches from extended maintenance > > stable branches as snapshots. > > > > This would occur during the extended maintenance phase of an upstream > > stable branch, which falls between the maintained phase and EOL phase. > > I would see this process being similar to the current process that is used > > to deliver stable point releases, described at: > > <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OpenStack/StableReleaseUpdates" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OpenStack/StableReleaseUpdates</a>. > > > > Snapshots refers to the process by which we currently deliver package > > updates during a development release and prior to the final release. For > > example, nova 3:22.0.1+git2021012713.d92c0740c6-0ubuntu1 in hirsute > > contains everything in the upstream master git branch up to commit hash > > d92c0740c6. > > > > == What is Extended Maintenance? == > > First, it's worth understanding what the upstream "Maintained" phase is. > > During this phase, upstream regularly releases stable point releases that > > are based on a specific commit (e.g. the latest HEAD commit for the > > stable/queens branch at a point in time), and we then package those point > > releases up in distro. > > > > Following the "Maintained" phases is the "Extended Maintenance" phase. > > During this phase, upstream no longer cuts any stable point releases for > > that stable branch, however patches continue to be backported to the > > branch. This is the phase where we would like to have the ability to > > deliver snapshots of stable branches. This would allow us to pick up all > > stable branch patches since, say, the final point release for stable/queens > > (bionic). For example, the current version of nova in bionic is > > 2:17.0.13-0ubuntu1, and that is based on the final point release for > > upstream stable/queens. If we were to do a snapshot today for nova in > > bionic, it would be versioned along the lines of > > 2:17.0.13+git2021022200.944443a7b0-0ubuntu1. > > > > More details on upstream maintenance phases can be reviewed at: > > <a href="https://docs.openstack.org/project-team-guide/stable-branches.html#maintenance-phases" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://docs.openstack.org/project-team-guide/stable-branches.html#maintenance-phases</a> > > > > == Advantages of Stable Snapshots == > > * Less overhead for the OpenStack engineering and SRU teams. Currently we > > have various cherry-picked patches that are dealt with via separate SRU > > bugs requiring individual testing. > > * As the cherry-pick process is reactive, many of these SRUs tend to be > > high impact or critical for users, requiring immediate action from these > > teams. > > * We have a lot of users that are now on, and moving to, bionic (queens) > > and we would like to be more proactive in fixing bugs for them. > > * This would naturally result in a regular cadence along the lines of the > > monthly stable point release cadence that we currently follow. > > * Cherry-picking individual patches can increase regression potential for > > frequently modified code when they don't apply cleanly. > > * All patches that have landed in an extended maintenance branch have > > already landed in all ensuing stable branches and master, therefore > > negating much of the regression potential mentioned in "Disadvantages" > > below. > > > > == Disadvantages == > > * Upstream stable branches that are in extended maintenance do not > > guarantee the same upstream test coverage that supported branches do. The > > maintenance-phases documentation states "There is no statement about the > > level of testing and upgrades from Extended Maintenance are not supported > > within the Community." > > > > == What Ubuntu Releases would this affect? == > > Stable snapshots would only be needed for Ubuntu LTS releases (Upstream > > "Maintained" period is 18 months for stable branches). Currently this would > > only be applicable to Ubuntu 18.04 as bionic is the only LTS with a > > corresponding upstream stable branch that's in extended maintenance. > > > > == How many patches are we talking about? == > > For a sampling of stable/queens, new snapshots would pick up this many > > patches: > > > > nova: 337 > > neutron: 106 > > heat: 47 > > cinder: 21 > > glance: 11 > > designate: 11 > > swift: 10 > > horizon: 8 > > keystone: 7 > > > > A few of those look daunting, yes, but perhaps that depends on how you > > look at it. Also please keep in mind, queens has been in extended > > maintenance since October of 2019 so this would be quite the one-time > > waterfall for bionic. In the future we'd pick up fewer patches at a time at > > a regular cadence. > > > > Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please let me know if you have > > any opinions or questions about this approach. > > > > Corey > > > > Hello SRU Team, > > I wanted to see if I could revive this topic and discuss the possibility of > moving forward with stable snapshots as described in this thread. > > Would it make sense to add this to a meeting agenda or is the mailing list > a good place to discuss? The Ubuntu SRU team does have a monthly meeting (conducted via Google Meet or whatever it is called now) and the next one is scheduled for Thursday, March 18th. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend that meeting but perhaps the other SRU team members can invite you so it can be discussed. </blockquote><div> </div><div>Thanks, that would be great.</div><div> </div><div>Corey </div></div></div>