f.. meta::
description:

Releasing Krita

Making a release

Krita releases and update channels

At any point of time Krita users have access to four(!) versions of Krita. We calls these versions «channels», since they are «channels through which the users can get updates of the software».

  1. Krita Stable is the latest stable version of Krita that has been released to the users

  2. Krita Beta is the latest alpha or beta version of Krita

  3. Krita Plus is the latest stable release with all backported patches, built nightly

  4. Krita Next is the nightly build of the development (master) branch of Krita

On branching out a stable branch

When we change the stable branch name, e.g. when changing krita/5.2 into krita/5.3 we should update its name in several places to keep CI infrastructure working properly:

  1. APK signer: https://invent.kde.org/sysadmin/ci-utilities/-/blob/master/signing/apksigner-projects.yaml

  2. Windows signer: https://invent.kde.org/sysadmin/ci-utilities/-/blob/master/signing/windowsbinariessigner-projects.yaml

  3. Nightly builds publisher: https://invent.kde.org/sysadmin/ci-utilities/-/blob/master/signing/buildpublisher-projects.yaml

  4. Translations” «stable» branch: https://invent.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata/-/blob/master/projects-invent/graphics/krita/i18n.json

  5. Notify translators about the tranlsations branch switch!

  6. Update the link to «Krita Plus» ZSync channel in build-tools/ci-scripts/show-updates-status.py script

    • make sure you keep the old link in the script as well, until the branch is fully deprecated and removed from the CDN server (we need to keep the link up for some time to let people update to the new version)

  7. Update Krita version in master branch to be higher than in stable.

Before the release

  1. Coordinate with #kde-promo

  2. Notify translators of string freeze!

  3. Verify that the release notes page is done, like https://krita.org/en/krita-4-2-release-notes/

  4. Verify that all dependency builds are up to date. Remember that these builds are built from master, not from the stable branch.

Update version in source code

  1. !! REMOVE THE SURVEY LINK !! (or, if this is a beta, make a survey and update the survey link)

  2. update the version of krita5.xmlgui

  3. update the CMakeLists.txt version

  4. update the snapcraft.yaml file

  5. update the appstream screenshots: https://invent.kde.org/websites/product-screenshots

  6. update org.kde.krita.appdata.xml “s release tag in the BRANCH

  7. update download_release_artifacts.sh

  8. update Android version (keep in mind that all Krita releases on Android are marked as Beta at the moment): packaging/android/apk/build.gradle

  9. When releasing beta-version double-check that you updated to «beta1», not just plain «beta». Only «alpha» versions can be made without a number, because they are built nightly.

Update versions in the stable branch to avoid XMLGUI conflicts

  1. stable branch is always marked as «alpha» (without a number in the end)

  2. update the version of krita.xmlgui; it should be $(( $VERSION_IN_RELEASE_BRANCH + 1 ))

  3. update the CMakeLists.txt version

  4. update org.kde.krita.appdata.xml “s release tag

  5. packaging/android/apk/AndroidManifest.xml

Create the tarball

Create and push the tag

  1. Set the tag:

    git tag -a v5.1.0-beta1 -m "Krita 5.1.0 Beta1"

  2. Push the tag:

    git push origin refs/tags/v5.1.0-beta1:refs/tags/v5.1.0-beta1

  3. If you need to change the tag position (not recommended):

    # remove the previous tag

git push origin :refs/tags/v5.1.0-beta1

# make a new tag locally
git tag -a v5.1.0-beta1 -m "Krita 5.1.0 Beta1"

# push the new tag
git push origin refs/tags/v5.1.0-beta1:refs/tags/v5.1.0-beta1

# all Krita developers now have to refetch tags to
# get the updated tag position
git fetch origin --tags

Create the tarball

  1. Get the tarball from gitlab: https://invent.kde.org/graphics/krita/-/tags

  2. Unpack the tarball

  3. Rename folder from krita-v5.1.0-beta1 into krita-5.1.0-beta1 (without “v” prefix in the version string)

  4. Package the tarball as .gz and .xz

  5. Sign both tarballs:

    gpg --output krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.gz.sig --detach-sign krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.gz
gpg --output krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.xz.sig --detach-sign krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.xz

  6. Upload the gz tarball to files.kde.org, where builders can pick them up (the sigs and the xz tarball aren’t used for the binary builders):

Make Windows, Linux, macOS and Android packages

  1. Request four release builds on binary-factory.kde.org, after starting each build,go to «Console Output» section, click on «Input Requested» and choose a tarball version to build.

Runs

  1. Download all built artifacts using download_release_artifacts.sh script. Open the script and modify KRITA_VERSION variable to correspond to the version string.

  2. For each build check:

    • Krita starts

    • Localization works

    • Python plugins are available

    • Basic painting and most recently fixed bugs are fixed

  3. Sign the AppImage:

    gpg --detach-sign --output krita-5.1.0-beta-x86_64.appimage.sig krita-5.1.0-beta-x86_64.appimage

  4. Sign four Android packages (or send them to Halla for signing)

    Note: there is a useful script for signing them…

    • krita-arm64-5.1.0-beta1-unsigned.apk

    • krita-arm32-5.1.0-beta1-unsigned.apk

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1-unsigned.apk

    • krita-x86_64-5.1.0-beta1-unsigned.apk

    After signing, remove «-unsigned» suffix, so the signed packages would look like that:

    • krita-arm64-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-arm32-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-x86_64-5.1.0-beta1.apk

  5. Now you should have 18 files in your release folder

  6. Generate an md5sum.txt file for all of them:

    md5sum ./* > md5sum.txt

  7. Verify that the filesize of .zsync blob is different from the one stored on https://download.kde.org

    The filesize must be different, otherwise KDE’s mirroring system will not propagate the change automatically. If you see that the filesize is the same, notify sysadmins to update the mirrors manually.

    Please take it into account that «unstable» releases should have «Beta» in the zsync file name, not «Unstable» as you could guess. This word comes from $CHANNEL variable in build_image.sh script.

  8. Upload all files to download.kde.org (or ask sysadmins to do that using this manual ftp://upload.kde.org/README):

Note that the msix file is only for uploading to the Windows Store, it doesn’t need to be uploaded to download.kde.org.

  • to https://download.kde.org/unstable/krita/5.1.0-beta1/

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.gz

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.gz.sig

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.xz

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1.tar.xz.sig

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1-x86_64.appimage

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1-x86_64.appimage.sig

    • krita-x64-5.1.0-beta1-dbg.zip

    • krita-x64-5.1.0-beta1-setup.exe

    • krita-x64-5.1.0-beta1.zip

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1-dbg.zip

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1-setup.exe

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1.zip

    • krita-5.1.0-beta1.dmg

    • krita-arm64-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-arm32-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-x86-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • krita-x86_64-5.1.0-beta1.apk

    • md5sum.txt

  • to https://download.kde.org/unstable/krita/updates/

    • Krita-Beta-x86_64.appimage.zsync

Please don’t forget to replace «unstable» to «stable» for stable release builds. It should be replaced for both, packages themselves and zsync file

  1. Template ticket for sysadmins:

    Hi, sysadmins!

Could you please do the final steps for publishing Krita release?

There are two tasks:

1) Upload release artifacts (20 files) to download.kde.org:

    * Source link: https://files.kde.org/krita/release-5.1.0-beta1/
    * Destination link: https://download.kde.org/unstable/krita/5.1.0-beta1/

2) Upload updates ZSync artifacts (1 file) to download.kde.org:
    * Source link: https://files.kde.org/krita/release-5.1.0-beta1-updates/
    * Destination link: https://download.kde.org/unstable/krita/updates/

3) Add `Krita 5.1.0 Beta1` bugzilla version

  2. Now the folder on download.kde.org should have 21(!) files. Check if you missed something (and you surely did! :) ).

  3. Verify consistency of all ZSync AppImage update links using the special script:

    cd krita/
python build-tools/ci-scripts/show-updates-status.py

    It should show information like this:

    == Channel: Stable FAILED ==
ZSync URL: https://download.kde.org/stable/krita/updates/Krita-Stable-x86_64.appimage.zsync
ZSync exists: True
AppImage exists: False
    MTime:  Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:28:16 +0000
    Filename:  krita-5.2.2-x86_64.appimage
    URL:  https://binary-factory.kde.org/job/Krita_Release_Appimage_Build/124//artifact/krita-5.2.2-x86_64.appimage
    SHA-1:  16a1a640084446b45ea078d8b81cffc075144a02

== Channel: Beta (unstable) FAILED ==
ZSync URL: https://download.kde.org/unstable/krita/updates/Krita-Beta-x86_64.appimage.zsync
ZSync exists: True
AppImage exists: False
    MTime:  Thu, 14 Sep 2023 09:26:05 +0000
    Filename:  krita-5.2.0-rc1-x86_64.appimage
    URL:  https://binary-factory.kde.org/job/Krita_Release_Appimage_Build/121//artifact/krita-5.2.0-rc1-x86_64.appimage
    SHA-1:  4bd0f522c22f41e504bf1e9ced540fa11ed5ec53

== Channel: Plus FAILED ==
ZSync URL: https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/graphics/krita/krita/5.2/linux/Krita-Plus-x86_64.appimage.zsync
ZSync exists: False
AppImage exists: False

== Channel: Next ==
ZSync URL: https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/graphics/krita/master/linux/Krita-Next-x86_64.appimage.zsync
ZSync exists: True
AppImage exists: True
    MTime:  Tue, 02 Apr 2024 22:30:57 +0000
    Filename:  krita-5.3.0-prealpha-64b33ed808-x86_64.appimage
    URL:  https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/graphics/krita/master/linux/krita-5.3.0-prealpha-64b33ed808-x86_64.appimage
    SHA-1:  e360127c3c956499ed0266ad8eb9bcdad3789956

    Check the following:

    • none of the channels are marked with FAILED

    • AppImage’s filename is set to the one you just uploaded

    • Appimage’s URL is a full URL pointing to a seemingly correct location (see the definition of the «channels» above)

    • AppImage exists: True will tell you if the AppImage URL in downloadable, so you don’t have to recheck it yourself

    If you want to test ZSync manually, don’t use the system-provided package. Use this cli-tool provided by AppImage team: https://appimage.github.io/zsync2/

  4. If you are doing the first stable release after branching-out, e.g. the first release of «Krita 5.3.0», then make sure ask sysadmins to relink «Krita Plus krita/5.2» zsync file to «Krita Plus krita/5.3»

  5. If you are doing any stable release, manually switch zsync file of Krita Beta to the Krita Stable, to make sure users will get updates.

  6. If you are doing any release from a stable branch, manually update the version to the next one with suffix «alpha» to make sure that Krita Plus packages correctly show it to the user.

  7. Manually verify that the previous version of Krita AppImage can update to the new one from the GUI. It should use the .zsync file uploaded above.

Release coordination

  1. Mail KDE release coordination <release-team@kde.org>

  2. Send release notes for future Krita versions to news@publisher.ch

  3. Create bugzilla version: https://bugs.kde.org/editversions.cgi?product=krita Or file a sysadmin ticket for that.

  4. [only for a major release] Warn kde sysadmins that we’re going to release and that krita.org is going to take load. Just file a ticket on phabricator.

PR and Communications

Pre-release

  1. Update Kiki page

  2. Update press pack and page

  3. Verify if manual pages are updated, if not annoy @woltherav and add undocumented features to Krita: Manual

  4. Notify people that they can start making release demonstrations.

Release

  1. Update download page

  2. Publish the announcement and release notes

  3. Add release links to Release History section of the site: https://krita.org/en/about/krita-releases-overview/

  4. Add the release to the org.krita.org.appdata.xml file in MASTER.

Post-release

  • tumblr (wolthera)

  • BlenderArtists (wolthera)

  • deviantart (wolthera)

  • VK (dmitry)

  • blendernation (halla)

  • twitter (halla)

  • facebook (halla)

  • 3dpro (halla)

  • reddit (raghukamath)

Notes

Additional info can be found here: https://phabricator.kde.org/T10762