RELEASE.md

Aptos Release Process

Naming Conventions for Branches and Tags

========================================= main branch ==========================================>
                           \                                  \                         \
                            \___aptos-node-v1.2.0 tag          \                         \
                             \                                  \                         \
                              \      aptos-framework-v1.3.0 tag__\                     devnet branch
   aptos-framework-v1.2.0 tag__\                                  \                     
                                \___aptos-node-v1.2.4 tag          \___aptos-node-v1.3.0 tag
                                 \                                  \
                                  \                                  \
                             aptos-release-v1.2 branch         aptos-release-v1.3 branch

main branch

All current development occurs on the main branch. All new feature developments have a feature flag to gate it off during development. Feature flags are turned on after the development is complete and passes Governance.

devnet branch

The devnet branch is created on the main branch every week. It is used to deploy devnet and allows the Aptos Community to explore the most recent changes to the Aptos node binary and Aptos framework. Follow along in our #devnet-release channel on Discord.

aptos-release-vX.Y release branches

These are release branches based on Aptos release planning timeline. They are created off the main branch every 1-2 months.

aptos-node-vX.Y.Z release tag

The aptos node release tags are created for validator/fullnode deployment of the given release branch. The minor number Z will increment when a new hot-fix release is required on the release branch. Aptos team will publish the matching tag docker images on Aptos Docker Hub when it's available.

aptos-framework-vX.Y.Z release tag

The aptos framework release tags are created to facilitate the on-chain framework upgrade of the given release branch. The minor number Z will increment when a new hot-fix release or a new framework update is required on this release branch.

aptos-cli-vX.Y.Z release tag

The aptos cli release tags are created to track the CLI versions for community to use when developing on the Aptos network. It's always recommended to upgrade your CLI when a new version is released, for the best user experience. Learn how to update to the latest CLI version.

Aptos Release Lifecycle

(The time length here is a rough estimate, it varies depends on each release.)

• [day 0] A release branch aptos-release-vx.y will be created, with a commit hash abcde. The full test suite will be triggered for the commit hash for validation.
• [day 1] The release will be deployed to devnet.
• [day 7] Once the release passed devnet test, a release tag aptos-node-vx.y.z will be created, and get deployed to testnet.
• [day 14] After the binary release stablized on testnet, testnet framework will be upgraded.
• Hot-fixes release will be created as needed when a release version is soaking in testnet, and we will only promote a release from testnet to Mainnet after confirming a release version is stable.
• [day 24] Once confirmed that both binary upgrade and framework upgrade stablized on testnet, the release version will be deployed to 1% of the stake on Mainnet.
• [day 25] Wider announcement will be made for the community to upgrade the binary, aptos-node-vx.y.z will be updated with "[Mainnet]" in the release page, Mainnet validators will be slowly upgrading.
• [day 30] A list of framework upgrade proposals will be submitted to Mainnet for voting.
• [day 37] Proposals executed on-chain if passed voting.

Release Announcement

• Each of the network release will be announced on Aptos Network Discord. Follow mainnet-release, testnet-release, devnet-release channel to get updates.
• When a release is ready to deploy, a Github release page will be created in this repo as well. You can search for the most recent release version titled with "[Mainnet]" for production usage.

How we test each release at Aptos

Blockchain

• We write and maintain high quality unit tests to verify code behavior and according to the specifications. Check out our Codecov!
• Integration tests run on each PR verifying each component’s correctness.
• For large-scale and chaos testing, we use a custom test harness called Forge. Forge orchestrates a cluster of nodes based on the recommended production configuration to simulate different deployment scenarios, and can then submit a variety of different client traffic patterns. It can also inject chaos such as latency, bandwidth, network partitions, and simulate real-world scenarios. It runs on every PR and continuously on main and release branches.
• Performance tests run sequential and parallel execution benchmarks on an isolated machine. We verify the TPS (transactions per second) is within the target threshold range and watch for performance regressions.

Framework

• Unit tests
• Continuous replay-verify tests perform reconciliations in testnet and mainnet by executing all transactions and verifying the transaction results are correct and in agreement with state snapshots.
• Smoke tests run end-to-end tests on a single machine and verify node operations work as intended. Examples of tests include peer-to-peer transfer and module publish.
• Compatibility tests run multiple nodes with different versions to assert different framework versions can perform normal operations and participate in consensus.
• Framework upgrade tests run on each PR to validate new versions of the framework can be applied on top of the new binary version.