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Preparing A Release

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Dave Parker edited this page Feb 1, 2026 · 40 revisions

These notes are primarily intended for reference by the PRISM development team when building and distributing public releases.

Preliminary steps for public releases

1. Final checks/changes to code

  • Make sure all local changes are git pushed and that GitHub CI passed
  • Make sure all commits are documented in CHANGELOG.txt
  • Make sure prism -help is up-to-date with all commits
  • Add version number and release date to CHANGELOG.txt
  • Set new version number in prism/Version.java
  • git commit -a -m 'Version info.' && git push

2. Update manual

  • Document changes or new features (on local copy)
  • Set version number on Main/Welcome and Main/AllOnOnePage
  • Upload manual from local copy
  • Download local copy (make doc) and commit/push (git add ../manual/ && git commit -m 'Update manual.' && git push). NB: Change PRISM_MANUAL_WEBSITE in the Makefile to download from the local copy, but doing it from the live one seems to work slightly better, even if the new manual goes live slightly too early.

Publishing a public release

1. Create GitHub release

  • Create new release for PRISM or PRISM-games
  • Set (new) "Tag version" to e.g. v4.10; no need for "Release title"
  • Paste bulleted list from CHANGELOG.txt into description field

2. Build source/binary files and attach as assets

  • Go to GitHub actions for PRISM or PRISM-games
  • Select "Build/publish release binaries (Linux, Mac)"
  • Choose "Run workflow" with "Target tag" set to e.g. v4.10 and "Upload..." ticked
  • Same for "Build/publish release binaries (Windows)"
  • Check files added to release successfully

3. Update source/binary + web files on web site

  • In both local and remote prism-www/dl directory, set, e.g.:
TOOL=prism-games
VERSION=3.2.2
  • Then:
if [[ -n "$TOOL" && -n "$VERSION" ]]; then
	DISTRS=("src" "linux64-x86" "linux64-arm" "mac64-x86" "mac64-arm" "win64-x86")
	for DISTR in "${DISTRS[@]}"; do
		if [[ "$DISTR" == win* ]]; then
			DISTR_FILE="${TOOL}-${VERSION}-${DISTR}-installer.exe"
			DISTR_PERM=755
		else
			DISTR_FILE="${TOOL}-${VERSION}-${DISTR}.tar.gz"
			DISTR_PERM=644
		fi
		wget -O "${DISTR_FILE}" "https://github.com/prismmodelchecker/${TOOL}/releases/download/v${VERSION}/${DISTR_FILE}"
		chmod ${DISTR_PERM} "${DISTR_FILE}"
	done
else
	echo "Please set TOOL and VERSION"
fi
  • Update download.php page

Post release

  • Set version number suffix in prism/Version.java back to dev
  • git commit src/prism/Version.java -m 'Version info (dev).'

Building a source distribution

A source distribution is built from a local git checkout. From the prism directory, where PRISM is usually compiled, run:

make release_source

This assembles all the files needed into, for example, release/prism-4.8-src.tar.gz. This is done by taking an archive of the local master branch on git. You can change the branch if you wish, e.g.:

make release_source BRANCH=HEAD
make release_source BRANCH=newfeature

By default, the version number (4.8 above) is automatically extracted from prism/Version.java, but can be overridden if required:

make release_source VERSION=4.8.1
make release_source BRANCH=newfeature VERSION=newfeature

Building a binary distribution

A binary distribution is built from a local copy of the source, either an unzipped source release or a local git checkout. From the prism directory, where PRISM is usually, compiled, run:

make release

This makes sure that PRISM is compiled afresh, builds prism.jar containing all the Java class files, and assembles all the files needed into, for example, release/prism-4.8-mac64-arm.tar.gz. It's advisable to also run at least a few tests to make sure that the compiled code works properly:

etc/tests/run.sh

If building the release on a clean VM, the prism-install-* scripts in etc/scripts install everything that is needed and (optionally) compile the master branch.

PRISM

On (Unbuntu) Linux:

/bin/bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-ubuntu) --nobuild

On Windows (in a Command Prompt and Cygwin shell respectively:

"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -Command "wget -Uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-windows.bat -Outfile prism-install-windows.bat" && cmd /K .\prism-install-windows.bat

/bin/bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-cygwin) --nobuild

And then (all OSs):

export VERSION=X.X
wget https://www.prismmodelchecker.org/dl/prism-$VERSION-src.tar.gz
tar xfz prism-$VERSION-src.tar.gz
cd prism-$VERSION-src/prism && make release && etc/tests/run.sh

PRISM-games

On (Unbuntu) Linux:

/bin/bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism-games/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-ubuntu) --nobuild

On Windows (in a Command Prompt and Cygwin shell respectively:

"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -Command "wget -Uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism-games/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-windows.bat -Outfile prism-install-windows.bat" && cmd /K .\prism-install-windows.bat

/bin/bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prismmodelchecker/prism-games/master/prism/etc/scripts/prism-install-cygwin) --nobuild

And then (all OSs):

export VERSION=X.X
wget https://www.prismmodelchecker.org/dl/prism-games-$VERSION-src.tar.gz
tar xfz prism-games-$VERSION-src.tar.gz
cd prism-games-$VERSION-src/prism && make release && etc/tests/run.sh

Customisations

By default, the version number (4.8 above) is automatically extracted from prism/Version.java, but can be overridden if required:

make release VERSION=4.8.1

The platform name (arm above) is derived automatically from the current build, but can be changed. For example, to cross-compile for (older) Intel macOS on a (newer) Arm-based Mac, use:

make release ARCH=x86_64

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