added docs for release process

doc/sphinx/devDoc/release.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+Release Process
+===============
+
+To build a new version of IOR,
+
+    $ docker run -it ubuntu bash
+    $ apt-get update
+    $ apt-get install -y git automake autoconf make gcc mpich
+    $ git clone -b rc https://github.com/hpc/ior
+    $ cd ior
+    $ ./travis-build.sh
+
+To create a new release candidate from RC,
+
+1. Disable the `check-news` option in `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE` inside configure.ac
+2. Append "rcX" to the `Version:` field in META
+3. Build a release package as described above
+
+To create a new minor release of IOR,
+
+1. Build the rc branch as described above
+2. Create a release on GitHub which creates the appropriate tag
+3. Upload the source distributions generated by travis-build.sh
+
+To create a micro branch of IOR (e.g., if a release needs a hotfix),
+
+1. Check out the relevant release tagged in the rc branch (e.g., `3.2.0`)
+2. Create a branch with the major.minor name (e.g., `v3.2`) from that tag
+3. Update the `Version:` in META
+4. Apply hotfix(es) to that major.minor branch
+5. Create the major.minor.micro release on GitHub
+
+To initiate a feature freeze,
+
+1. Merge the `master` branch into the `rc` branch
+2. Update the `Version:` field in META _of the master branch_ to be the _next_
+   release version, not the one whose features have just been frozen

doc/sphinx/index.rst

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
     devDoc/doxygen
     devDoc/CI
+    devDoc/release
 
 .. toctree::
     :hidden: