Cantera Ubuntu Packages

This repository contains a Docker-based system for preparing and testing builds of Cantera packages for the Ubuntu PPA.

Prerequisites

• Check out a copy of the cantera repository that includes the Debian packaging info in ~/src/cantera
• Make sure you have created a GPG key and registered it with Launchpad, that you have membership in the cantera-team, that the key is not expired, and that it is stored in ~/.gnupg.
  • Check for key expiration by running gpg --list-keys
  • If you have an expired key, the exiration date can be updated by running gpg --quick-set-expire KEYID PERIOD, where PERIOD can be something like 2y.
  • Launchpad requires that your key is registered with keyserver.ubuntu.com. If you have not previously registered the key, or you have updated its expiration date, you will need to send it using the command: gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --send-keys <yourkeyID>
  • Then go through the process of updating the key on Launchpad.
• Check out a copy of this repository in ~/src/cantera-ubuntu
• Install Docker in "rootless" mode, or otherwise set it up so your user can run the docker build command

Preparing branches to build Ubuntu packages

General ideas

• Keep a branch for each Ubuntu series and Cantera version that we currently support, e.g. ubuntu20.04-ct2.6. This branch contains the contents of the debian subdirectory, where all of the package-specific files live.
• For each new Ubuntu series, create new branches from the preceding series.
• For each new Cantera release, create new branches from the tagged commits for the last release that was along the main branch, i.e. not on a maintenance branch like 2.4.
• Tag the commits for the versions that get uploaded to Launchpad and actually work (knowing that there will be failures)
• Delete the old branches when we stop publishing packages for a particular series or Cantera version - we'll still have the tagged commits to track the history.

Steps for a new Cantera release branch

Using Cantera 2.6.0 release as an example

• Create the "pristine" tar file corresponding to the release
  • From the cantera repo, run: git archive v2.6.0 --output=../cantera-ubuntu/cantera_2.6.0.orig.tar.gz --prefix=cantera-2.6.0/
  • Note the trailing slash on the prefix
  • For pre-release versions, format the version as 2.6.0~b2
  • Once this file has been uploaded to Launchpad for a particular version, that exact file must be used for all subsequent uploads (for example, for builds targeting different Ubuntu releases). If you lose this file, download it again from a different Launchpad build rather than trying to recreate it.
• Check out the branch for the most recent Ubuntu release supported by the previous Cantera release, e.g. git checkout ubuntu20.04-ct2.6
• Create a new branch for the new Cantera version, e.g. git checkout -b ubuntu20.04-ct2.6.
• Merge the release commit, e.g. git merge v2.6.0
• Add a new entry to debian/changelog
  • dch -i can be used to automatically generate a template for the Changelog message
  • replace UNRELEASED with the correct Ubuntu series name (e.g. bionic)
  • Delete the suffix ubuntu1 in the version. The version should look like 2.5.0-1+focal0, where:
    • 2.5.0 is the Cantera release
    • -1 is an Ubuntu package version number, which should be incremented for any changes that affect the packages for any Ubuntu series
    • focal0 names the series, with a suffix that is incremented for each build for that series. This number must be incremented each time the package is uploaded to Launchpad, even if the build fails.
    • For alpha/beta releases, a ~ needs to be inserted before the alpha/beta suffix so they will be seen as coming before the stable release, for example 2.5.0~b2-1+focal0.
  • Add a message, e.g. New upstream release
  • If you create the Changelog entry manually, running date --rfc-2822 will give you a correctly formatted date string.
• Commit all changes
• Create additional branches starting from the merge commit for each supported Ubuntu release. You may need to remove some changelog entries to make sure the versions are strictly increasing.

Steps for adding a new Ubuntu version

• Update the list of Ubuntu versions in build_images.sh
• Create a new entry in debian/changelog following the above guidelines

Deal with any patches needed

• Install sudo apt install git-buildpackage
• Create .git/gbp.conf with contents that look like the following:

  [DEFAULT]
  upstream-branch = main
  upstream-tag = v%(version)s
  debian-branch = ubuntu20.04-ct2.6

• Run gbp pq import to convert the existing patches into a new "patch queue" branch
  • If the patch queue branch already exists, run gbp pq rebase instead.
• Make any changes desired and commit them to this branch. This can include cherry-picking commits onto this branch.
• Run gbp pq export. This will create the patch files and return you to the debian-branch
• Run git add debian/patches and git commit.

Create Docker images for each supported Ubuntu version

• Run build_images.sh

Build & test packages

• Update vars.sh to specify the correct values for SHORT_VERSION, FULL_VERSION, BASE_REF and PPA_TARGET.
  • For stable releases, PPA_TARGET=cantera-team/Cantera
  • For alpha/beta releases, PPA_TARGET=cantera-team/cantera-unstable.
  • Also, remember that alpha/beta versions must include a tilde to maintain correct version order, for example 3.0.0~b1.
• Launch a Docker container for an Ubuntu version, e.g. ./run.sh 21.10
• To test the package build, run ./build.sh from inside the container. Fix any errors by making additional commits in the cantera repo on the host system. Changes made at this stage do not require incrementing the build number.
• To install the generated packages locally and run some tests, run:
  • ./test-python-local.sh
  • ./run-samples-local.sh
• To just install the packages without running the tests directly, run ./install-python-local.sh and/or ./install-dev-local.sh

Upload to Launchpad

• If the test build succeeds, upload to Launchpad by running ./put.sh. This should prompt you for the passphrase on your GPG key in order to sign the package.
• If the Launchpad build succeeds, test installing and using the resulting package by running:
  • ./test-python-ppa.sh
  • ./run-samples-ppa.sh
  • Check that ck2yaml and any other binaries are available as expected
• To just install the packages without running the tests directly, run ./install-ppa.sh
• If the build works, tag the relevant commit using the Ubuntu version string, e.g. ubuntu-2.5.0-1+focal1.
• Repeat this process for each supported Ubuntu series.

Backporting dependencies

Note: these instructions have not been updated for the Docker-based process

We may need to backport some of our dependencies for older Ubuntu releases, and upload them to the PPA as well. The approximate process for this is as follows:

apt install devscripts
export DEBEMAIL="[email protected]"
export DEBFULLNAME="Your Name"
mkdir -p ~/src/somepackage-backport
cd ~/src/somepackage-backport

Go to the page for the version of the package you want on https://packages.ubuntu.com, and get the url for the 'dsc' file. Then, run:

dget -u http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/blahblahblah.dsc

The -u flag is needed because I haven't figured out yet how to get it to verify signatures correctly.

cd into the package directory, then run:

dch -i

And complete the new Changelog message.

• replace UNRELEASED with the correct Ubuntu release name (e.g. bionic)
• replace the suffix ubuntu1 in the version with a correctly sequenced name including the release, like bionic2. This version should be greater than any version previously uploaded to the PPA.
• Add a message, e.g. "Backport to Bionic"

Save and close, then run:

debuild -S

Install any missing build dependencies that it yells about, if necessary. Cross fingers and hope for the best. Finally, run:

cd ..
dput ppa:launchpad_username/ppa_name somepackage......._source.changes