Release Checklist

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
  • No migrations added in the last release that would need to be removed.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering as well as SignedExtensions have stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
  • No new extrinsics.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.
  • Verify the weights are up-to-date.
• Verify that the various pieces of XCM config are sane.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Run integration tests.
  • Teleport Relay -> Statemin* and back.
  • Create asset (if applicable), mint and transfer
• Push runtime upgrade to Westmint and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new polkadot-collator versions have run on the network
  without issue.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/cumulus/releases with relevant release
  notes.
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release.

---

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westmint and Statemine collators for 12h prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes separated into sections.

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Runtime version bump between RCs

The clients need to be aware of runtime changes. However, we do not want to bump the
spec_version for every single release candidate. Instead, we can bump the impl field of the version
to signal the change to the client.

Old Migrations Removed

Previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades should be removed.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering & Storage

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. It also checks if there have been any changes in storage. In case of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

To run it, in the Run Workflow dropdown:

1. Use workflow from: to ignore, leave master as default
2. The WebSocket url of the reference node:
   • Statemine: wss://kusama-statemine-rpc.paritytech.net
   • Westmint: wss://westmint-rpc.polkadot.io
3. A url to a Linux binary for the node containing the runtime to test: Paste the URL of the latest release-candidate binary from the draft-release on Github. The binary has to previously be uploaded to S3 (Github url link to the binary is constantly changing)
   • https://releases.parity.io/cumulus/statemine-v6.0.0-rc1/polkadot-collator
4. The name of the chain under test. Usually, you would pass a local chain:
   • Statemine: statemine-local
   • Westmint: westmint-local
5. Click Run workflow

When the workflow is done, click on it and download the zip artifact, inside you'll find an output.txt file. The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Note: Extrinsic function signatures changes (adding/removing & ordering arguments) are not caught by the job, so those changes should be reviewed "manually"

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

Until paritytech#631 is done, running the benchmarks is a manual process:

1. Connect to the bechmarking machine
2. Make sure no one else is using the machine with htop check
3. Pull in the branch of Cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
4. Recompile cargo build --release --features runtime-benchmarks
5. From the root directory run nohup ./scripts/benchmarks.sh & (it will take quite a few hours)
6. Checkout in your local machine to the branch of cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
7. scp from the host to your local machine the weights for Statemine, Westmint and Statemint you'll find in:
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemine/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/westmint/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemint/src/weights
8. Commit the changes in your local and create a PR

Cumulus Release Checklist

This is the release checklist for Polkadot statemine-v99. All following
checks should be completed before publishing a new release. The current release candidate can be
checked out with git checkout release-statemine-v99

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase prior to forking to a release-
candidate branch.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering has stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Verify Polkadot JS API are up to date with the latest
  runtime changes.
• Push runtime upgrade to Westend and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new client versions have run on the network
  without issue for 12 hours.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/releases with relevant release
  notes
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westend, Kusama, and
Polkadot validators for at least 12 hours prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes (those labelled with B[1-9]-* labels) separated into sections

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Old Migrations Removed

Any previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades must be removed
to prevent them from executing a second time. The on_runtime_upgrade function
can be found in runtime/<runtime>/src/lib.rs.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. In case
of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, you may manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

There are three benchmarking machines reserved for updating the weights at
release-time. To initialise a benchmark run for each production runtime
(westend, kusama, polkadot):

• Go to https://gitlab.parity.io/parity/polkadot/-/pipelines?page=1&scope=branches&ref=master
• Click the link to the last pipeline run for master
• Start each of the manual jobs:
  • 'update_westend_weights'
  • 'update_polkadot_weights'
  • 'update_kusama_weights'
• When these jobs have completed (it takes a few hours), a git PATCH file will
  be available to download as an artifact.
• On your local machine, branch off master
• Download the patch file and apply it to your branch with git patch patchfile.patch
• Commit the changes to your branch and submit a PR against master
• The weights should be (Currently manually) checked to make sure there are no
  big outliers (i.e., twice or half the weight).

Polkadot JS

Ensure that a release of Polkadot JS API contains any new types or
interfaces necessary to interact with the new runtime.

Cumulus Release Checklist

This is the release checklist for Polkadot statemine-v99. All following
checks should be completed before publishing a new release. The current release candidate can be
checked out with git checkout release-statemine-v99

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase prior to forking to a release-
candidate branch.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering has stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Verify Polkadot JS API are up to date with the latest
  runtime changes.
• Push runtime upgrade to Westend and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new client versions have run on the network
  without issue for 12 hours.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/releases with relevant release
  notes
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westend, Kusama, and
Polkadot validators for at least 12 hours prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes (those labelled with B[1-9]-* labels) separated into sections

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Old Migrations Removed

Any previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades must be removed
to prevent them from executing a second time. The on_runtime_upgrade function
can be found in runtime/<runtime>/src/lib.rs.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. In case
of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, you may manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

There are three benchmarking machines reserved for updating the weights at
release-time. To initialise a benchmark run for each production runtime
(westend, kusama, polkadot):

• Go to https://gitlab.parity.io/parity/polkadot/-/pipelines?page=1&scope=branches&ref=master
• Click the link to the last pipeline run for master
• Start each of the manual jobs:
  • 'update_westend_weights'
  • 'update_polkadot_weights'
  • 'update_kusama_weights'
• When these jobs have completed (it takes a few hours), a git PATCH file will
  be available to download as an artifact.
• On your local machine, branch off master
• Download the patch file and apply it to your branch with git patch patchfile.patch
• Commit the changes to your branch and submit a PR against master
• The weights should be (Currently manually) checked to make sure there are no
  big outliers (i.e., twice or half the weight).

Polkadot JS

Ensure that a release of Polkadot JS API contains any new types or
interfaces necessary to interact with the new runtime.

Release Checklist

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
  • No migrations added in the last release that would need to be removed.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering as well as SignedExtensions have stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
  • No new extrinsics.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.
  • Verify the weights are up-to-date.
• Verify that the various pieces of XCM config are sane.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Run integration tests.
  • Teleport Relay -> Statemin* and back.
  • Create asset (if applicable), mint and transfer
• Push runtime upgrade to Westmint and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new polkadot-collator versions have run on the network
  without issue.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/cumulus/releases with relevant release
  notes.
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release.

---

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westmint and Statemine collators for 12h prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes separated into sections.

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Runtime version bump between RCs

The clients need to be aware of runtime changes. However, we do not want to bump the
spec_version for every single release candidate. Instead, we can bump the impl field of the version
to signal the change to the client.

Old Migrations Removed

Previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades should be removed.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering & Storage

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. It also checks if there have been any changes in storage. In case of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

To run it, in the Run Workflow dropdown:

1. Use workflow from: to ignore, leave master as default
2. The WebSocket url of the reference node:
   • Statemine: wss://kusama-statemine-rpc.paritytech.net
   • Westmint: wss://westmint-rpc.polkadot.io
3. A url to a Linux binary for the node containing the runtime to test: Paste the URL of the latest release-candidate binary from the draft-release on Github. The binary has to previously be uploaded to S3 (Github url link to the binary is constantly changing)
   • https://releases.parity.io/cumulus/statemine-v6.0.0-rc1/polkadot-collator
4. The name of the chain under test. Usually, you would pass a local chain:
   • Statemine: statemine-local
   • Westmint: westmint-local
5. Click Run workflow

When the workflow is done, click on it and download the zip artifact, inside you'll find an output.txt file. The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Note: Extrinsic function signatures changes (adding/removing & ordering arguments) are not caught by the job, so those changes should be reviewed "manually"

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

Until paritytech#631 is done, running the benchmarks is a manual process:

1. Connect to the bechmarking machine
2. Make sure no one else is using the machine with htop check
3. Pull in the branch of Cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
4. Recompile cargo build --profile production --locked --features runtime-benchmarks
5. From the root directory run nohup ./scripts/benchmarks.sh & (it will take quite a few hours)
6. Checkout in your local machine to the branch of cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
7. scp from the host to your local machine the weights for Statemine, Westmint and Statemint you'll find in:
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemine/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/westmint/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemint/src/weights
8. Commit the changes in your local and create a PR

Cumulus Release Checklist

This is the release checklist for Polkadot statemine-v99. All following
checks should be completed before publishing a new release. The current release candidate can be
checked out with git checkout release-statemine-v99

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase prior to forking to a release-
candidate branch.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering has stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Verify Polkadot JS API are up to date with the latest
  runtime changes.
• Push runtime upgrade to Westend and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new client versions have run on the network
  without issue for 12 hours.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/releases with relevant release
  notes
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westend, Kusama, and
Polkadot validators for at least 12 hours prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes (those labelled with B[1-9]-* labels) separated into sections

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Old Migrations Removed

Any previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades must be removed
to prevent them from executing a second time. The on_runtime_upgrade function
can be found in runtime/<runtime>/src/lib.rs.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. In case
of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, you may manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

There are three benchmarking machines reserved for updating the weights at
release-time. To initialise a benchmark run for each production runtime
(westend, kusama, polkadot):

• Go to https://gitlab.parity.io/parity/polkadot/-/pipelines?page=1&scope=branches&ref=master
• Click the link to the last pipeline run for master
• Start each of the manual jobs:
  • 'update_westend_weights'
  • 'update_polkadot_weights'
  • 'update_kusama_weights'
• When these jobs have completed (it takes a few hours), a git PATCH file will
  be available to download as an artifact.
• On your local machine, branch off master
• Download the patch file and apply it to your branch with git patch patchfile.patch
• Commit the changes to your branch and submit a PR against master
• The weights should be (Currently manually) checked to make sure there are no
  big outliers (i.e., twice or half the weight).

Polkadot JS

Ensure that a release of Polkadot JS API contains any new types or
interfaces necessary to interact with the new runtime.

Release Checklist

This is the release checklist for Statemine v6 and the initial version of
Statemint 🎉 (also v6 because of code parity with Statemine).
All following checks should be completed before publishing a
new release of the Statemine runtime. The current release candidate can be
checked out with git checkout release-statemine-v6.

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks. @apopiak
  • No migrations added in the last release that would need to be removed.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering as well as SignedExtensions have stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not. @NachoPal
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters. @apopiak
  • No new extrinsics.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic. @NachoPal
  • Verify the weights are up-to-date. @NachoPal
• Verify that the various pieces of XCM config are sane. @apopiak

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Verify Polkadot JS API are up to date with the latest
  runtime changes.
• Push runtime upgrade to Westmint and verify network stability.

Initial Statemint Release

On top of the regular runtime release process, this release will also need to cover the following points:

• genesis configuration for Statemint @apopiak
• determine setStorage call for governance to set the initial state Statemint should have after the upgrade (replacing the usual genesis process, but making use of the genesis config) @apopiak
• create adusted chain spec that will be used for syncing Statemint @NachoPal
• test the upgrade process (including setStorage calls) @apopiak

All Releases

• Check that the new polkadot-collator versions have run on the network
  without issue. @PierreBesson
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/cumulus/releases with relevant release
  notes @chevdor
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release @chevdor

Notes

Burn In

Ensure that Parity DevOps has run the new release on Westmint and Statemine collators for 12h prior to publishing the release.

Build Artifacts

Add any necessary assets to the release. They should include:

• Linux binary
• GPG signature of the Linux binary
• SHA256 of binary
• Source code
• Wasm binaries of any runtimes

Release notes

The release notes should list:

• The priority of the release (i.e., how quickly users should upgrade) - this is
  based on the max priority of any client changes.
• Which native runtimes and their versions are included
• The proposal hashes of the runtimes as built with
  srtool
• Any changes in this release that are still awaiting audit

The release notes may also list:

• Free text at the beginning of the notes mentioning anything important
  regarding this release
• Notable changes separated into sections.

Spec Version

A runtime upgrade must bump the spec number. This may follow a pattern with the
client release (e.g. runtime v12 corresponds to v0.8.12, even if the current
runtime is not v11).

Old Migrations Removed

Previous on_runtime_upgrade functions from old upgrades should be removed.

New Migrations

Ensure that any migrations that are required due to storage or logic changes
are included in the on_runtime_upgrade function of the appropriate pallets.

Extrinsic Ordering & Storage

Offline signing libraries depend on a consistent ordering of call indices and
functions. Compare the metadata of the current and new runtimes and ensure that
the module index, call index tuples map to the same set of functions. It also checks if there have been any changes in storage. In case of a breaking change, increase transaction_version.

To verify the order has not changed, manually start the following Github Action. It takes around a minute to run and will produce the report as artifact you need to manually check.

To run it, in the Run Workflow dropdown:

1. Use workflow from: to ignore, leave master as default
2. The WebSocket url of the reference node:
   • Statemine: wss://kusama-statemine-rpc.paritytech.net
   • Westmint: wss://westmint-rpc.polkadot.io
3. A url to a Linux binary for the node containing the runtime to test: Paste the URL of the latest release-candidate binary from the draft-release on Github. The binary has to previously be uploaded to S3 (Github url link to the binary is constantly changing)
   • https://releases.parity.io/cumulus/statemine-v6.0.0-rc1/polkadot-collator
4. The name of the chain under test. Usually, you would pass a local chain:
   • Statemine: statemine-local
   • Westmint: westmint-local
5. Click Run workflow

When the workflow is done, click on it and download the zip artifact, inside you'll find an output.txt file. The things to look for in the output are lines like:

• [Identity] idx 28 -> 25 (calls 15) - indicates the index for Identity has changed
• [+] Society, Recovery - indicates the new version includes 2 additional modules/pallets.
• If no indices have changed, every modules line should look something like [Identity] idx 25 (calls 15)

Note: Adding new functions to the runtime does not constitute a breaking change
as long as the indexes did not change.

Note: Extrinsic function signatures changes (adding/removing & ordering arguments) are not caught by the job, so those changes should be reviewed "manually"

Proxy Filtering

The runtime contains proxy filters that map proxy types to allowable calls. If
the new runtime contains any new calls, verify that the proxy filters are up to
date to include them.

Benchmarks

Until paritytech#631 is done, running the benchmarks is a manual process:

1. Connect to the bechmarking machine 149.202.69.202
2. Make sure no one else is using the machine with htop check
3. Pull in the branch of Cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
4. Recompile cargo build --release --features runtime-benchmarks
5. From the root directory run nohup ./scripts/benchmarks.sh & (it will take quite a few hours)
6. Checkout in your local machine to the branch of cumulus that has the version of Statemine you want to release
7. scp from the host to your local machine the weights for Statemine, Westmint and Statemint you'll find in:
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemine/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/westmint/src/weights
   • /polkadot-parachains/statemint/src/weights
8. Commit the changes in your local and create a PR

Polkadot JS

Ensure that a release of Polkadot JS API can interact with the new runtime (mostly related to RPCs with the new metadata).