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Release post - GitLab 13.8

Farnoosh Seifoddini requested to merge release-13-8 into master

Process Improvements? Have suggestions for improving the release post process as we go? Capture them in the Retrospective issue.

Release post:

Related files:

Handbook references:

People:

Release post manager Tech writer Messaging Social
@fseifoddini @marcia @williamchia DRI: @wspillane & @social for Slack Checklist item

Release post kickoff (@fseifoddini)

Due date: 2021-01-07 (By the 7th)

Before starting on this checklist, you should have created the release post branch and required files as explained in the Handbook

  • Verify this MR is labeled ~"blog post" release release post priority1 and assigned to you (the Release Post Manager)

  • Add the current milestone to this MR

  • Create a release post retrospective issue by using the Release post retrospective template, and use Release Post X.Y Retrospective as a title. Once created, update the link at the top of this MR description. Example retro issue.

  • Replace each @mention in this MR description with the names of the Release Post Manager, Tech Writer, Messaging Lead, and Social Lead for this release

  • Update the links in this MR description

  • Update all due dates in this MR description

  • Make sure the release post branch has all initial files: sites/marketing/source/releases/posts/YYYY-MM-DD-gitlab-X-Y-released.html.md, data/release_posts/X_Y/mvp.yml and data/release_posts/X_Y/cta.yml

  • Add the release number and your name as the author to sites/marketing/source/releases/posts/YYYY-MM-22-gitlab-X-Y-release.html.md

  • Per guidance on communication for the release, create the X-Y-release-post-prep channel in Slack, and invite @tw_lead and @pmm_lead. As a topic, add the release post MR, the link to the review app, and the link of the retro issue:

    MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/1234
Review App: https://release-X-Y.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/YYYY/MM/DD/gitlab-X-Y-released/
Retro issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/1234

  • Update the topic in the #release-post channel:

    MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/1234
Preview page: https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/
Review App: https://release-X-Y.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/YYYY/MM/DD/gitlab-X-Y-released/

  • Set up a 15 minute weekly standup with the TW lead and Messaging lead to touch base and troubleshoot. If times zones conflict, this is not mandatory. Sample agenda

  • In the #release-post Slack channel, remind Product Managers that all content blocks (features, recurring, bugs, etc.) should be drafted, and under review by the 10th. All direction items and notable community contributions should be included in the release post.

  • Confirm your local dev environment is running a current version of Ruby. See Handbook section Local dev environment setup to run content assembly script.

Release post item creation reminder (@release_post_manager)

Due date: 2021-01-08 (On the 10th)

  • Remind the product managers in the #release-post channel that today is the day to have Release Post Items created and in review by the PMM and TW counterparts

Recurring items starting on the 12th: @release_post_manager

General Content Review As PMs finalize their release post items it can be helpful for the RPM to review and offer feedback. This reduces backpressure on the 17th as items are merged and provides additional review from someone with a fresh perspective. You can start this as early as the 12th, but this should be an ongoing task leading up to content assembly on the 18th. Review each MR labeled Ready for content that follows handbook guidance. See What RPM should look for when reviewing content blocks.

To easily manage and track reviewed items do the following:

  • Bookmark a filtered MR list similar to this to track release post items you haven't reviewed. (note: add the correct milestone to that filter)
  • Add the rp manager reviewed label to any RP item you've reviewed.

Reminding and Alerting DRIs It's important to keep DRIs up to date regularly with items they need to deliver for the release post. Especially given how async and distributed GitLab team members are early reminders are very helpful.

  • Alert DRIs (PMs, EMs and others as needed) at least one working day before each due date (post a comment to #release-post Slack channel)

General contributions @release_post_manager

The release post is authored following a changelog style system. Each item should be in an individual YAML file.

Contribution instructions

See Handbook: Contributing to the release post.

Content blocks

Due date: 2021-01-10 (by the 10th)

Product Managers are responsible for raising MRs for their content blocks and ensuring they are reviewed by necessary contributors by the due date. Content blocks should also be added for any epics or notable community contributions that were delivered.

Product Managers are also responsible for making sure all required (Tech Writing) and recommended (PM Director and PMM) reviews get done for their content blocks. To help reviewers prioritize what to review, PMs should communicate which content blocks are most important for review by applying the proper labels to the release post item MR prior to assigning the MR to reviewers. (ex: Tech Writing, Direction, Deliverable, etc). PMs can also follow these guidelines to help decide which content blocks should get PM Director and PMM reviews.

To enable Engineering Managers to merge the content blocks as soon as an issue has closed, PMs should ensure all scheduled items have MRs created for them and have the Ready label applied when content contribution and reviews are completed.

Product Managers should only check their box below when all their content blocks (features, deprecations, etc.) are complete (documentation links, images, etc.). Please don't check the box if there are still things missing.

Reminder: be sure to reference your Direction items and Release features. All items which appear in our Upcoming Releases page should be included in the relevant release post. For more guidance about what to include in the release post please reference the Product Handbook.

  • Manage
    • Access (@mushakov)
    • Compliance (@mattgonzales)
    • Import (@hdelalic)
    • Optimize (@ljlane)
  • Create
    • Source Code (@danielgruesso)
    • Code Review (@phikai)
    • Editor (@ericschurter)
    • Gitaly (@mjwood)
    • Ecosystem (@deuley)
  • Plan
    • Project Management (@gweaver)
    • Product Planning (@cdybenko)
    • Certify (@mjwood)
  • Verify
    • Continuous Integration (@thaoyeager)
    • Pipeline Authoring (@dhershkovitch)
    • Runner (@DarrenEastman)
    • Testing (@jheimbuck_gl)
  • Package
    • Package (@trizzi)
  • Release
    • Release (@ogolowinski)
  • Configure
    • Configure (@nagyv-gitlab)
  • Monitor
    • Monitor (@sarahwaldner)
  • Secure
    • Static Analysis (@tmccaslin)
    • Dynamic Analysis (@derekferguson)
    • Composition Analysis (@NicoleSchwartz)
    • Fuzz Testing (@stkerr)
    • Threat Insights (@matt_wilson)
  • Protect
    • Container Security (@sam.white)
  • Growth
    • Activation (@jstava)
    • Conversion (@s_awezec)
    • Expansion (@timhey)
    • Adoption (@mkarampalas)
    • Product Intelligence (@kokeefe)
  • Fulfillment
    • Purchase (@amandarueda)
    • Provision (@amandarueda)
  • Enablement
    • Distribution (@joshlambert)
    • Geo (@fzimmer)
    • Memory (@fzimmer)
    • Global Search (@JohnMcGuire)
    • Database (@fzimmer)
    • Infrastructure (@awthomas)

Recurring content blocks

Due date: 2021-01-10 (by the 10th)

The following sections are always present and managed by the PM or Eng lead owning the related area.

  • Add GitLab Runner improvements: @DarrenEastman
  • Add Omnibus improvements: @joshlambert
  • Add Mattermost update to the Omnibus improvements section: @joshlambert

Due date: 2021-01-10 (10th)

Final Merge

Due date: 2021-01-17 (17th)

Engineering managers listed in the MRs are responsible for merging as soon as the implementing issue(s) are officially part of the release. All release post items must be merged on or before the 17th of the month. Earlier merges are preferred whenever possible. If a feature is not ready and won't be included in the release, the EM should push the release post item to the next milestone.

To assist managers in determining whether a release contains a feature. The following procedure documented here is encouraged to be followed. In the coming releases, Product Management and Development will prioritize automating this process both so it's less error prone and to make the notes more accurate to release cut.

Content assembly and initial review (@fseifoddini)

Note: Final Content Assembly, Structural Check and Messaging Lead Review steps all happen in sequence on the 18th starting ~8am PST (America/Los_Angeles). If the Release Post Manager, TW Lead, and Messaging Lead span many timezones it's recommended you coordinate ahead of the 18th to understand how this could impact working hours for each team member. If need be, the time of initiated the final content assembly and the subsequent coordinated tasks can be shifted, as long as Final content review with the CEO and EVP Product begin no later than 9 AM PT on the 19th, to allow enough time for feedback/updates.

Due date: 2021-01-12 (12th or earlier)

  • In the comments in this MR, mention @gitlab-com/backend-managers and @gitlab-org/frontend/frontend-managers and ask them to add their team Performance Improvements and Bugs Fixes to the MRs you've created, referencing links to the specific MRs
  • Copy the link from your post in this MR to @gitlab-com/backend-managers and @gitlab-org/frontend/frontend-managers and share it in Slack #development and Slack #eng-managers
  • In Slack #release-post, share the link to the Bug Fixes MR and ask PMs to work with their EM to add high impact bugs to the MR
  • In the #release-post and #community-relations Slack channels, request MVP nominations with a link to an issue for collaboration. Example 13.6 Release Post Issue - 13.8 issue: #10336 (closed)

Due date: 2021-01-15 (15th or earlier)

  • Select a cover image.
  • Verify that the selected cover image has not been used before.
    • Tip: MacOS users, navigate to the source/images/ directory and use the search bar in the Finder to search for cover. Make sure the scope is set to only search "images". This won't reveal all previous images, but the last couple years have had pretty consistent naming.
  • On the release-X-Y branch, add the cover image to source/images/X_Y/X_Y-cover-image.jpg. Tip: Be sure to use an _ between release numbers, not a -
  • In sites/marketing/source/releases/posts/YYYY-MM-DD-gitlab-X-Y-released.html.md, add details about the source image.
  • Choose an MVP for this release
    • If no MVP nominations have been posted to #release-post by the 15th, send a reminder to #release-post and solicit additional recommendations by posting to #core and #community-relations.
    • If one or more quality nominations have been received, choose one and notify the Product team in #release-post of your choice. Use this chance to solicit any last-minute nominations and confirm that the contribution your pick was nominated for will make it into this release.
  • A day before the TW review date / merge of the Bugs and Performance Improvements MRs remind @gitlab-com/backend-managers and @gitlab-org/frontend/frontend-managers about the content deadline by revisiting and commenting on the Slack threads in #development and #eng-managers by referencing links to the specific MRs

Due date: 2021-01-15 (17th or earlier)

  • Mention the Distribution PM reminding them to add any relevant upgrade warning by doing an upgrade MR
  • Ask the Messaging Lead to finalize the introduction by the 18th
  • Check with the Messaging Lead to see if they need help pinning down the final themes/features for the intro
  • If there are no deprecation MRs, ask in the #release-post Slack channel if there are any deprecations to be included
  • Finalize your MVP selection and work with the nominator of the MVP to write the MVP section in data/release_posts/X_Y/mvp.yml on the release-X-Y branch
  • Make sure the PM for the MVP feature adds a corresponding content block if applicable, linking from the MVP section
  • On the release-X-Y branch, add the MVP's name and other profile info to data/mvps.yml

Due date: YYYY-MM-DD (18th at 8 AM PT and NO earlier)

  • Lock the unreleased directory to prevent more release posts from merging there.

    • Post in Slack release-post and eng-managers channels that the folder is now locked till the final merge is complete on the 22nd, reminding that all work must shift to the release post branch.

  • Perform final content assembly by pulling all content block MRs merged to master into the release post branch by using the following commands locally (one command at a time):

    git checkout master
git pull
git checkout release-x-y
git pull
git merge master
bin/release-post-assemble
git push origin release-x-y

  • Do a visual check of the release-X-Y content block and image folders to make sure paths and names are correct

  • Make sure the release post branch View App generates as expected

  • Do a visual check of the blog post and ordering of content blocks for secondary items to confirm they are grouped by stage in descending alphabetical order.

  • Notify the PM team in #release-post Slack channel, including a link to the View App, that final content assembly has happened and all work must now shift from master onto the release post branch via coordination with the release post manager. In the same Slack post, remind PMs they need to check the View app to make sure all their content is showing up as expected with correct image/video links, etc. Note: If the release post assembly script fails, look at the bottom of this section of the release post handbook page for further instruction

Due date: YYYY-MM-DD (18th)

  • Remind PMs to review their content blocks for accuracy in the View app and check off their content and recurring blocks by tagging them into this MR
  • Label this MR: ~"blog post" release review-in-progress
  • Check if there are no broken links in the View App (use a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links)
    • Links to confidential issues may be missed. It is helpful to check for broken links as an unauthenticated GitLab user (either logged out, in another browser, or in Incognito mode).
    • If there are links to external blogs that are still broken in the View app, check with PMs, Messaging leads and others as needed to make sure the referenced blogs go live before the 22nd
  • Check all comments in the MR thread (make sure no contribution was left behind)
  • Make sure all discussions in the thread are resolved
  • Assign the MR to the next reviewer (structural check)

Other reviews

Ideally, complete the reviews by the 19th of the month, so that the 2 days before the release can be left for fixes and small improvements.

Marketing content and positioning (Messaging Lead)

*Due date: 2021-01-20 (13th - 20th)

The Marketing content, positioning and reviews are done by the Messaging lead: @williamchia

  • Starting any time after the 22nd of the previous month and until final merge on the 17th of the next month, you can look at X-Y Preview page for the latest features available on .com that will likely get packaged for the current release cycle on the 22nd
  • Before the 13th, you should have a shortlist of top release themes/features - process listed in release post handbook page. One handy way to look for the most impactful features is to filter release post items labeled with release post itemprimary
  • On the 13th, post a message on #release-post slack channel (no need to directly ping anyone) for feedback from the product team on top features (give a list of 4-5 themes or 8-10 features)
  • Before the 14th, commit the first (rough) draft of the release post introduction with the various themes/features selected above in YYYY-MM-DD-gitlab-X-Y-released.html.md in the release X-Y branch. Notify the TW lead that the draft introduction is available
  • Before the 15th and after you've had a chance to get feedback from the rest of the product team on the 13th, share your initial themes/features as a note/thread in Slack (not the MR) with the EVP of Product @sfwgitlab and the VP of Product @adawar in #release-post for early feedback. This way they have a chance to provide input sooner rather than later. It is recommended to use the template defined in https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#template-for-reviews.
  • After EOD on the 17th, you can look for merged release post items with label 'Ready' which indicate features making it in the release, to update your draft introduction based on any changes in the release. At this time you should also be able to reference the latest View app the release post manager publishes on the 18th. Ensure that you link to the features within the release post rather than documentation. For example, for a feature named "Define test cases in GitLab", the link from the introduction should point to "#define-test-cases-in-gitlab"
  • Before the 18th, check/copyedit feature blocks (optional as it is reviewed by PMM leads for the stages)
  • Before the 18th, check/copyedit features.yml (optional as it is reviewed by PMM leads for the stages)
  • By the 18th, reorder primary features by stage and/or according to their relevance per the theme of your release post intro (to re-order adjust the primary and top filenames to an alphanumeric order e.g. 01.yml 02.yml). Reordering primary features is an option but not required. The primary features are in the folder data/release_posts/XX_X.
  • By the 18th, post your top 3 themes/features in #release-post slack channel. Make sure to cc the Head of Products (@adawar and @sfwgitlab and Directors
  • By the 18th, after receiving feedback from Heads of Product and Directors, revise as required and let the Release Post Manager know when updates are complete so they can begin Final content review
  • After the release post manager successfully runs content block assembly on the morning of 18th, use the View App to identify and add the correct anchor links for the features included in release post introduction. Ping the TW lead once this is complete and assign them to the issue.
  • After the release post manager successfully runs content block assembly, add a sentence in the introductory paragraph to state how many new features (top, primary and secondary) have been shipped. See 13.6 release post opening lines as an example. To get the number, you'll do a hand count of just features (do not include bugs, performance improvements, upgrades, etc.) in /data/release_posts/X_Y on the current release-X-Y branch.

The following steps typically happen after Structural Check is complete:

  • Before the 20th, add a video link to the kickoff call recording at the bottom of the release post introduction. You can find the video once it's available on the direction page
  • Before the 20th, update data/release_posts/X_Y/cta.yml with any relevant CTA (Commit promotion, for example). Ensure that X_Y in the file path reflects the current release. If there isn't a specific call to action to add, use this as the default button text: "Join us for an upcoming event" with a link to '/events/'. Reference this example from 13.1 under data/release_posts/13_1/cta.yml if needed.
  • Before the 20th, on the release-x-y branch, update the release blurb for the homepage (check /sites/marketing/source/includes/home/ten-oh-announcement.html.haml). In the announcement file, update the description of the blog post with the relevant details for the current release including the current release number and dates as appropriate.
  • Before 20th, ensure that the social sharing text for the click to tweet button on the bottom of the release post is available in the introduction
  • On 20th, assign the MR back to the Release Post Manager
  • After the 22nd of the release month, review this list and update as required

Structural check (Technical Writing Lead)

Due date: 2021-01-18 (18th)

The structural check is performed by the technical writing lead: @marcia

For suggestions that you are confident don't need to be reviewed, change them locally and push a commit directly to save the PMs from unneeded reviews. For example:

  • clear typos, like this is a typpo
  • minor front matter issues, like single quotes instead of double quotes, or vice versa
  • extra whitespace

For any changes to the content itself, make suggestions directly on the release post diff, and be sure to ping the reporter for that block in the suggestion comment, so that they can find it easily.

  • Add the label review-structure.
  • Check frontmatter entries and syntax.
  • Check that images match the context in which they are used, and are clear.
  • Check all images (png, jpg, and gifs) are smaller than 150 KB each.
  • Check for duplicate entries.
  • Check that features introduced in this release do not reference the two previous releases (this often happens as features may slip to a future release after an RPI is already written)
  • Check all dates mentioned in entries, ensuring they refer to the correct year.
  • Remove any .gitkeep files accidentally included.
  • Add or check cover_img: license block (at the end of the post). Should include image_url:, license:, license_url:.
  • Check the anchor links in the intro after the message lead has notified the TW lead that this is complete. All links in the release post markdown file should point to something in the release post Yaml file.
  • Run a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links and ping reporters directly on Slack asking them to fix broken links.
    • Links to confidential issues may be missed. It is helpful to check for broken links as an unauthenticated GitLab user (either logged out, in another browser, or in Incognito mode).
  • Run a spelling check against the Release Post's View app. For example, using Webpage Spell-Check for Google Chrome.
  • Report any problems from structural check in the #release-post channel by pinging the reporters directly for each problem. Do NOT ping @all or @channel nor leave a general message to which no one will pay attention. If possible, ensure open discussions in the merge request track any issues.
  • Post a comment in the #whats-happening-at-gitlab channel linking to the View App + merge request reminding the team to take a look at the release post and to report problems in #release-post. CC the release post manager and messaging lead. Template to use (replace links): 
    Hey all! This month's release post is almost ready! Take a look at it and either
report any problems in #release-post, or leave a comment to the release post MR.
MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/merge_requests/1234
View app: https://release-X-Y.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/YYYY/MM/DD/gitlab-X-Y-released/index.html
  • Remove the label review-structure.
  • Assign the MR to the next reviewer (Marketing content and reviews).
  • Within 1 week, update the release post templates and release post handbook with anything that comes up during the process. => !72268 (merged)

Final content review (@release_post_manager)

Due date: 2021-01-18 (18th - 19th)

  • Check to be sure there are no broken links in the View app (use a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links)
  • Mention @sytse, @sfwgitlab, and @adawar in #release-post on Slack when the post has been generated for their review per these communication guidelines
  • Capture any feedback from Slack into a single comment on the Release Post MR with action items assigned to the DRIs to address. More info here

Incorporating Feedback - Due date: YYYY-MM-DD (by the 20th)

  • Make sure all feedback from CEO and Product team reviews have been addressed by working with DRIs of those areas as needed
  • If you receive feedback about the ordering Primary Items work with the Messaging Lead to determine how you might adjust the order.
  • If applicable re-order Secondary items by adjusting the titles in the content blocks. More information to consider about altering secondary items here | technical instructions
  • Make sure there are no open feedback items in this MR or in Slack #release-post channel
  • On 20th, ping VP Product Management (@adawar) for final check in Slack #release-post
  • After VP Product Management review, remove the label review-in-progress

Preparing to merge to master (@release_post_manager)

On the 21st

  • Make sure the homepage card was updated by the Messaging lead on the release X-Y branch.
  • Check with the Messaging lead to confirm the social sharing copy is finalized (should be visible in View app at this point)
  • Lock features.yml on the master branch with File Locking on the 21st
  • Mention @community-team on Slack #swag to ask them to send the swag pack to the MVP
  • Check if all the anchor links in the intro are working
  • Confirm there are no broken links in the View app (use a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links)
  • Check the total features count statement in the introductory paragraph to make sure the number stated is accurate, and if not, update it and inform the Messaging lead. To get the number, you'll do a hand count of just features (do not include bugs, performance improvements, upgrades, etc.) in /data/release_posts/X_Y on the current release-X-Y branch.
  • Check to make sure all unresolved threads on this MR are resolved and there are no merge conflicts. If you need help resolving merge conflicts ask for help in #handbook-escalation in Slack

On the 22nd (@release_post_manager)

At 12:30 UTC

  • Read the important notes below
  • Release Managers will alert you in #release-post if there are any issues with the release. You can follow along on the release issue to see the packaging progress on the 22nd | issue list example issue. The #releases slack channel is also a good place to track any updates or announcements.
    • If anything is wrong with the release, or if it's delayed, you must ping the messaging lead on #release-post so that they coordinate anything scheduled on their side (e.g., press releases, other posts, etc).
    • If everything is okay, the packages should be published at 13:30 UTC, and available publicly around 14:10 UTC.
  • Check to make sure there aren't any alerts on Slack #release-post and #whats-happening-at-gitlab channels
  • Check to make sure there aren't any alerts on this MR or merge conflicts

Merging to master (@release_post_manager)

At 13:50 UTC

Once the release manager confirmed that the packages are publicly available by pinging you in Slack:

  • Unlock features.yml just before merging.
  • Merge the MR at 14:10-14:20 UTC.
  • Wait for the pipeline. This can take anywhere from 20-45 minutes to complete.
  • Check the live URL on social media (after MR is merged) with Twitter Card Validator and Facebook Debugger. You may get a warning from Facebook that says "Missing Properties - The following required properties are missing: fb:app_id" - this can be ignored.
  • Check for broken links again once the post is live.
  • Handoff social posts to the social team and confirm that it's ready to publish: Mention @social in the #release-post Slack channel; be sure to include the live URL link and social media copy (you can copy/paste the final copy from the View app).
    • A member of the social team will schedule the posts at the next available best time on the same day. The social team will mark the Slack message with a ⏳ once scheduled and add scheduled times to the post thread for team awareness. Further details are listed below in the Important Notes Section.
  • Share the links to the post on the #release-posts and #whats-happening-at-gitlab channels on Slack.
  • IMPORTANT Unlock (https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/file_lock.html#lock-a-file-or-a-directory) the unreleased directory to stop preventing more release posts from merging there.

What to do if your pipeline fails

For assistance related to failed pipelines or eleventh-hour issues merging the release post, follow the Handbook on-call process by asking for assistance in the #handbook-escalation Slack channel. Cross post the thread from #handbook-escalation in #release-post so all Product Managers and release post stakeholders are aware of status and delays.

Important notes

  • The post is to be live on the 22nd at 15:00 UTC. It should be merged and as soon as GitLab.com is up and running on the new release version (or the latest RC that has the same features as the release), and once all packages are publicly available. Not before. Ideally, merge it around 14:20 UTC as the pipeline takes about 40 min to run.
  • The usual release time is 15:00 UTC but it varies according to the deployment. If something comes up and delays the release, the release post will be delayed with the release.
  • Coordinate the timing with the [release managers (https://about.gitlab.com/community/release-managers/). Ask them to keep you in the loop. Ideally, the packages should be published around 13:30-13:40, so they will be publicly available around 14:10 and you'll be able to merge the post at 14:20ish.
  • Once the release post is live, wait a few minutes to see if no one spots an error (usually posted in #whats-happening-at-gitlab or #company-fyi), then follow the handoff to social team checklist item above.
  • The tweet to share on Slack will not be live, it will be scheduled during a peak awareness time on the 22nd. Once the tweet is live, the social team will share the tweet link in the #release-post and in the #whats-happening-at-gitlab Slack channels.
  • Keep an eye on Slack and in the blog post comments for a few hours to make sure no one found anything that needs fixing.
Edited by Farnoosh Seifoddini

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