Summary of Our Community Environments: 

Glossary

There are several types of releases:

• "QA Release": Updating the test3 environment with the latest build and selected work from dev3. 
• "Module Release" or "MonoRepo Release" - several need actual releases to get rid of "pre" https://github.com/openmrs/openmrs-distro-referenceapplication/blob/40c3f8309fa446c44ce0cdd8cbb9fc79aa19308c/frontend/spa-build-config.json#L30C1-L34C45 But they are stable. We do need a stronger release cadence around modules. 
• "RefApp Release": https://github.com/openmrs/openmrs-distro-referenceapplication/blob/3.0.0-beta.11/frontend/spa-build-config.json specifies the version of each . 
• "Tags": Moment in time snapshot - what the repo looked like at a particular point in time (points to a particular commit at a particular time where we released something)

Step 1: QA RELEASE:

FIRST, obtain squad permission/buy-in to do a release (e.g. announce on #openmrs3). THEN, in 1 PR, 2 Commits are needed: (Example)

• Step 1.1) Create Release PR:
  • TO ADD VERSIONING: Release Commit: (release) Create release commit for beta.9' This fixes the version numbers. Because we don't want the test3 version to be deployed on dev3 because that could undo more recent changes. So, in dev3, we ignore any release with the string '(release'
    • Why: Pins a specific version # for all modules that were set as "next" or "SNAPSHOT". This is currently manual because there's still some human judgement and decision making for several specific modules. Example: https://github.com/openmrs/openmrs-distro-referenceapplication/pull/737/commits/f588d806c2511d71f419268d3631b1dfa98781a3 
  • TO PROTECT DEV3: Release-Revert Commit: (release-revert) Reset to dev versions Second Commit with release revert message that unsets the fixed version numbers. 
  • Why: Ensures 'main' branch gets back to state where it is still pointing at 'next', to preserve the cutting-edge state of the dev3 environment. 
• Step 1.2) Add Tags
  • Tag Release Commit with a tag named after the version number, as shown in the tag list screenshot here:
    • 
• Step 1.3) QA Release then Happens Automatically
  • The Tag triggers the QA Release, AND the auto-rebuilding of Test3. In our Bamboo CI, the Deployment project called "Distribution 3.x Releases" is only triggered by tags. 
    
• Step 1.4) Announce test3 release & version number to community in #openmrs.

Step 2: Manual Checks

1. Confirm that tests are passing satisfactorily in Test3. Using the O3 QA Spreadsheet is highly recommended, in addition to checking the automated tests. Go through both the Baseline Checklist and any checks specific to that release - so that new features get some review.  
2. Remember: Keep an eye out for manual work that could be automated - we want to maximize how we use Automation and reduce manual overhead over time. 

Step 3: REFAPP RELEASE

Go to the Deployment Project, "Deploy Reference Application 3.x"  (under the "Deploy" option in the menu)

1. Click the cloud icon for the QA build:

2. "Create new release" → Use the last successful build, and name the release one version number higher than the last one.

4. Announce O3 Demo release & version number to community in #openmrs3 and on Talk. 

When we "Release O3", there are 3 major things to do: 

1) Release the O3 RefApp in GitHub here

2) Update the O3 RefApp Docker Containers

3) Push the new O3 RefApp release to our "production" environment, the O3 Demo

Note: You can see the history of releases here.