silverstripe-framework/docs/en/05_Contributing/04_Release_Process.md

summary: Describes the process followed for "core" releases.

Release Process

This page describes the process followed for "core" releases (mainly the framework and cms modules).

Release Maintainer

The current maintainer responsible for planning and performing releases is Ingo Schommer (ingo at silverstripe dot com).

Release Planning

Our most up-to-date release plans are typically in the "framework" milestone and "cms" milestone. New features and API changes are discussed on the core mailinglist. They are prioritised by the core team as tickets on github.com. In addition, we collect community feedback on silverstripe.uservoice.com. Any feature ideas we're planning to implement will be flagged there.

Release dates are usually not published prior to the release, but you can get a good idea of the release status by reviewing the release milestone on github.com. Releases will be announced on the release announcements mailing list.

Releases of the cms and framework modules are coupled at the moment, and they follow the same numbering scheme.

Release Numbering

SilverStripe follows Semantic Versioning.

Note: Until November 2014, the project didn't adhere to Semantic Versioning. Instead, a "minor release" in semver terminology was treated as a "major release" in SilverStripe. For example, the 3.1.0 release contained API breaking changes, and the 3.1.1 release contained new features rather than just bugfixes.

Supported versions

At any point in time, the core development team will support a set of releases to varying levels:

• The current master will get new features, bug fixes and API changes that might require major refactoring before going into a release. At the moment, bugfixing and feature development might happen on the current major release branch (e.g. 3), to be merged forward to master regularly.
• Applicable bugfixes on master will also be merged back to the last major release branch, to be released as the next patch release
• Security fixes will be applied to the current master and the previous two major releases (e.g. 4.0, 3.2 and 3.1).

Deprecation

Needs of developers (both on core framework and custom projects) can outgrow the capabilities of a certain API. Existing APIs might turn out to be hard to understand, maintain, test or stabilise. In these cases, it is best practice to "refactor" these APIs into something more useful. SilverStripe acknowledges that developers have built a lot of code on top of existing APIs, so we strive for giving ample warning on any upcoming changes through a "deprecation cycle".

How to deprecate an API:

• Add a @deprecated item to the docblock tag, with a {@link <class>} item pointing to the new API to use.
• Update the deprecated code to throw a [api:Deprecation::notice()] error.
• Both the docblock and error message should contain the target version where the functionality is removed. So, if you're committing the change to a 3.1 minor release, the target version will be 4.0.
• Deprecations should not be committed to patch releases
• Deprecations should only be committed to pre-release branches, ideally before they enter the "beta" phase. If deprecations are introduced after this point, their target version needs to be increased by one.
• Make sure that the old deprecated function works by calling the new function - don't have duplicated code!
• The commit message should contain an API prefix (see "commit message format")
• Document the change in the changelog for the next release
• Deprecated APIs can be removed only after developers have had sufficient time to react to the changes. Hence, deprecated APIs should be removed in MAJOR releases only. Between MAJOR releases, leave the code in place with a deprecation warning.
• Exceptions to the deprecation cycle are APIs that have been moved into their own module, and continue to work with the new minor release. These changes can be performed in a single minor release without a deprecation period.

Here's an example for replacing Director::isDev() with a (theoretical) Env::is_dev():

:::php
/**
 * Returns true if your are in development mode
 * @deprecated 4.0 Use {@link Env::is_dev()} instead.
 */
public function isDev() {
	Deprecation::notice('4.0', 'Use Env::is_dev() instead');
	return Env::is_dev();
}

This change could be committed to a minor release like 3.2.0, and remains deprecated in all subsequent minor releases (e.g. 3.3.0, 3.4.0), until a new major release (e.g. 4.0.0), at which point it gets removed from the codebase.

Deprecation notices are enabled by default on dev environment, but can be turned off via either _ss_environment.php or in your _config.php. Deprecation notices are always disabled on both live and test.

mysite/_config.php

:::php
Deprecation::set_enabled(false);

_ss_environment.php

:::php
define('SS_DEPRECATION_ENABLED', false);

Security Releases

Reporting an issue

Report security issues to security@silverstripe.com. Please don't file security issues in our bugtracker.

Acknowledgment and disclosure

In the event of a confirmed vulnerability in SilverStripe core, we will take the following actions:

• Acknowledge to the reporter that we’ve received the report and that a fix is forthcoming. We’ll give a rough timeline and ask the reporter to keep the issue confidential until we announce it.
• Assign a unique identifier to the issue in the format SS-<year>-<count>, where <count> is a padded three digit number counting issues for the year. Example: SS-2013-001 would be the first of the year 2013. Additionally, CVE numbers are accepted.
• Halt all other development as long as is needed to develop a fix, including patches against the current and one previous major release (if applicable).
• Pre-announce the upcoming security release to a private mailing list of important stakeholders (see below).
• We will inform you about resolution and announce a new release publically.

You can help us determine the problem and speed up responses by providing us with more information on how to reproduce the issue: SilverStripe version (incl. any installed modules), PHP/webserver version and configuration, anonymised webserver access logs (if a hack is suspected), any other services and web packages running on the same server.

Severity rating

Each security release includes an overall severity rating and one for each vulnerability. The rating indicates how important an update is:

Severity	Description
Critical	Critical releases require immediate action. Such vulnerabilities allow attackers to take control of your site and you should upgrade on the day of release. Example: Directory traversal, privilege escalation
Important	Important releases should be evaluated immediately. These issues allow an attacker to compromise a site's data and should be fixed within days. Example: SQL injection.
Moderate	Releases of moderate severity should be applied as soon as possible. They allow the unauthorized editing or creation of content. Examples: Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in template helpers.
Low	Low risk releases fix information disclosure and read-only privilege escalation vulnerabilities. These updates should also be applied as soon as possible, but with an impact-dependent priority. Example: Exposure of the core version number, Cross Site Scripting (XSS) limited to the admin interface.

Pre-announce Mailinglist

In addition to our public disclosure process, we maintain a private mailinglist where upcoming security releases will be pre-announced. Members in this list will receive a security pre-announcement as soon as it has been sufficiently researched, alongside a timeline for the upcoming release. This will happen a few days before the announcement goes public alongside new release, and most likely before a patch has been developed.

Since we’ll distribute sensitive info on unpatched vulnerabilities in this list, the selection criteria for joining naturally has to be strict. Applicants should provide references within the community, as well as a demonstrated need for this level of information (e.g. a large website with sensitive customer data). You don’t need to be a client of SilverStripe Ltd to get on board, but we will need to perform some low-touch background checks to ensure identity. Please contact security@silverstripe.org for details.

Quality Assurance and Testing

The quality of our software is important to us, and we continously test it for regressions through a broad suite of unit and integration tests. Most of these run on Travis CI, and results are publicly available for the framework and cms modules. In addition, some build configurations (e.g. running on Windows) are tested through a TeamCity instance hosted at teamcity.silverstripe.com (click "Login as guest").