1QEMU and the stable process 2=========================== 3 4QEMU stable releases 5-------------------- 6 7QEMU stable releases are based upon the last released QEMU version 8and marked by an additional version number, e.g. 2.10.1. Occasionally, 9a four-number version is released, if a single urgent fix needs to go 10on top. 11 12Usually, stable releases are only provided for the last major QEMU 13release. For example, when QEMU 2.11.0 is released, 2.11.x or 2.11.x.y 14stable releases are produced only until QEMU 2.12.0 is released, at 15which point the stable process moves to producing 2.12.x/2.12.x.y releases. 16 17What should go into a stable release? 18------------------------------------- 19 20Generally, the following patches are considered stable material: 21 22* Patches that fix severe issues, like fixes for CVEs 23 24* Patches that fix regressions 25 26If you think the patch would be important for users of the current release 27(or for a distribution picking fixes), it is usually a good candidate 28for stable. 29 30 31How to get a patch into QEMU stable 32----------------------------------- 33 34There are various ways to get a patch into stable: 35 36* Preferred: Make sure that the stable maintainers are on copy when you send 37 the patch by adding 38 39 .. code:: 40 41 Cc: qemu-stable@nongnu.org 42 43 to the patch description. By default, this will send a copy of the patch 44 to ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` if you use git send-email, which is where 45 patches that are stable candidates are tracked by the maintainers. 46 47* You can also reply to a patch and put ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` on copy 48 directly in your mail client if you think a previously submitted patch 49 should be considered for a stable release. 50 51* If a maintainer judges the patch appropriate for stable later on (or you 52 notify them), they will add the same line to the patch, meaning that 53 the stable maintainers will be on copy on the maintainer's pull request. 54 55* If you judge an already merged patch suitable for stable, send a mail 56 (preferably as a reply to the most recent patch submission) to 57 ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` along with ``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` and 58 appropriate other people (like the patch author or the relevant maintainer) 59 on copy. 60 61Stable release process 62---------------------- 63 64When the stable maintainers prepare a new stable release, they will prepare 65a git branch with a release candidate and send the patches out to 66``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` for review. If any of your patches are included, 67please verify that they look fine, especially if the maintainer had to tweak 68the patch as part of back-porting things across branches. You may also 69nominate other patches that you think are suitable for inclusion. After 70review is complete (may involve more release candidates), a new stable release 71is made available. 72