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# Docker Machine Release Process

The Docker Machine release process is fairly straightforward and as many steps
have been taken as possible to make it automated, but there is a procedure and
several "checklist items" which should be documented.  This document is intended
to cover the current Docker Machine release process.  It is written for Docker
Machine core maintainers who might find themselves performing a release.

1.  **Version Bump** -- When all commits for the release have been merged into
    master and/or the release branch, submit a pull request bumping the `Version`
    variable in `version/version.go` to the release version.  Merge said pull
    request.  
2.  **Compile Binaries** -- Pull down the latest changes to master and
    cross-compile the core binary and plugin binaries for each supported OS /
    architecture combination.  As you may notice, this can potentially take a _very_
    long time so you may want to use a script like [this one for cross-compiling
    them on DigitalOcean in
    parallel](https://gist.github.com/nathanleclaire/7f62fc5aa3df19a50f4e).
4.  **Upload Binaries** -- Use a script or sequence of commands such as [this
    one](https://gist.github.com/nathanleclaire/a9bc1f8d60070aeda361) to create a
    git tag for the released version, a GitHub release for the released version, and
    to upload the released binaries.  At the time of writing the `release` target in
    the `Makefile` does not work correctly for this step but it should eventually be
    split into a separate target and fixed.
5.  **Generate Checksums** -- `make release-checksum` will spit out the checksums
    for the binaries, which you should copy and paste into the end of the release
    notes for anyone who wants to verify the checksums of the downloaded artifacts.
6.  **Add Installation Instructions** -- At the top of the release notes, copy and
    paste the installation instructions from the previous release, taking care to
    update the referenced download URLs to the new version.
7.  **Add Release Notes** -- If release notes are already prepared, copy and
    paste them into the release notes section after the installation instructions.
    If they are not, you can look through the commits since the previous release
    using `git log` and summarize the changes in Markdown, preferably by category.
8.  **Update the CHANGELOG.md** -- Add the same notes from the previous step to the
    `CHANGELOG.md` file in the repository.
9.  **Generate and Add Contributor List** -- It is important to thank our
    contributors for their good work and persistence.  Usually I generate a list of
    authors involved in the release as a Markdown ordered list using a series of
    UNIX commands originating from `git` author information, and paste it into the
    release notes..  For instance, to print out the list of all unique authors since
    the v0.5.0 release:

            $ git log v0.5.0.. --format="%aN" --reverse | sort | uniq | awk '{printf "- %s\n", $0 }'
            - Amir Mohammad
            - Anthony Dahanne
            - David Gageot
            - Jan Broer
            - Jean-Laurent de Morlhon
            - Kazumichi Yamamoto
            - Kunal Kushwaha
            - Mikhail Zholobov
            - Nate McMaster
            - Nathan LeClaire
            - Olivier Gambier
            - Soshi Katsuta
            - aperepel
            - jviide
            - root

10. **Update the Documentation** -- Ensure that the `docs` branch on GitHub (which
    the Docker docs team uses to deploy from) is up to date with the changes to be
    deployed from the release branch / master.
11. **Verify the Installation** -- Copy and paste the suggested commands in the
    installation notes to ensure that they work properly.  Best of all, grab an
    (uninvolved) buddy and have them try it.  `docker-machine -v` should give them
    the released version once they have run the install commands.
12. (Optional) **Drink a Glass of Wine** -- You've worked hard on this release.
    You deserve it.  For wine suggestions, please consult your friendly neighborhood
    sommelier.
