Should we roll out CentOS 7.6 support in a new version of 6.3 (6.3.1 or 6.3.0-1) or start with 6.4.0-Alpha1?

Should we roll out CentOS 7.6 support in a new version of 6.3 (6.3.1 or 6.3.0-1) or start with 6.4.0-Alpha1?

Add your comments directly to the page. Include links to any relevant research, data, or feedback.

Status

Decided

Impact

HIGH

Driver

@Brandon Riden (Unlicensed) 

Approver

 

Contributors

Informed

 

Due date

Jan 21, 2019

Outcome

The latest versions of EL will not be added until 6.4.0

Background

This discussion is to determine whether to roll out CentOS 7.6 support in a new version of SIMP 6.3, or in 6.4-Alpha1. All discussions are for 6.4 support. If we are making changes to SIMP itself, they should wait until 6.4, not be rolled into a 6.3 update as that would add to the time it would take for testing.

Relevant data

We can build SIMP on CentOS 7.6 iwth a few updates:
 - 30ish additions to the 7-pkglist (non-pruned packages)

 - An updated release_mappings file with 7.6 info

 - Updated marco version/url in packages.yaml

Options considered

 

Option 1:

Option 2:

 

Option 1:

Option 2:

Description

Roll out a new version of SIMP 6.3 (6.3.1 or 6.3.0-1)

Roll out 6.4.0-Alpha1

Pros and cons

Gets 7.6 support out sooner

Nothing on the SIMP side has changed, so it would make sense to push this out here

minimal changes to get a working ISO build

Would require a full test cycle to verify since this would be considered a Final SIMP release

Could potentially roll from one test cycle (this release) into the next (6.4 pre-release)

Could discourage updates with releases close to one another (either not grabbing this to wait for 6.4, or grabbing this and not 6.4)

Wouldn't require a full test cycle right now

Would allow for all pre-release cycles to catch potential bugs

Greater time between releases

The first 6.4 Alpha would contain no updates to SIMP, i.e, 6.3 and 6.4 Alpha are the same in a "SIMP" sense

Could cause issues with anyone who grabs 6.4 Alpha upgrading to 6.4 Final

 

 

 

Action items

Outcome

Option 2 was selected - Wait to update EL versions in 6.4.0