Release 2024a

[gabryelreyes]

This checklist is based on the Release Procedure

Pre-Release

• [ ] Write a blog post announcing the new release.
• [x] Decide which issues must be closed for this release.
• [x] Close all relevant issues Tracker
• [x] Move remaining issues to the next release
• [x] Regenerate thumbnails with docs/generate_thumbnails.py (020ed558c308d412410965aeb90ed9f3cc19e544)
• [x] Update changelog files for the release if necessary (e.g. merge previous and current year, etc.). (Not necessary)
• [x] Update all the worlds and check for unwanted warnings by running the tests/test_worlds.py script (may take a long time).
• [x] If new robots/simulations are available, eventually improve the guided tour.
• [x] Sort ChangeLog entries in order of importance.
• [ ] Create Package
  • [ ] Merge the develop branch into master branch.
  • [ ] Create a tag with the last commit on the Webots repository.
  • [ ] Create a tag with the last commit on the Webots-Docker repository.
  • [ ] Create a tag with the last commit on the Webots-Snap repository.
  • [ ] Perform the QA test preferably on a clean computer. Test log

Release

• [x] Run scripts/new_version/new_version_file_headers.sh
• [ ] Open a PR (from master in released) ??
• [ ] Merge the PR
• [ ] Upload the webots/resources/web/wwi files to https://cyberbotics.com/wwi/R2024a/
• [ ] Update Cyberbotics's web site: webots_current_version.txt
• [ ] Publish the snap package on the release channel on snapcraft.io
• [ ] Update the debian repository on cyberbotics.com/debian from a Linux machine

Post-release

• [ ] Switch the Github tag from draft to release.
• [ ] Close the corresponding Github milestone.
• [ ] Announce the release on:
  • [ ] Twitter
  • [ ] Discord
  • [ ] LinkedIn
  • [ ] robotics-worldwide mailing list.
  • [ ] euron-dist mailing list.
  • [ ] ROS discourse.
  • [ ] Reddit.
  • [ ] HackerNews.
  • [ ] cyberbotics newsletter.
• [ ] Announce the release privately to the users waiting for it.
• [ ] Update Wikipedia (at least the release): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webots
• [ ] Update the version on the webots repo.
• [ ] In the released branch, update the urls that are not updated by scripts/new_version/new_version.sh (commented files).
• [ ] Check that the documentation serves the correct files. jsDelivr caches the files up to 24h so it may be necessary to purge the cache manually: https://github.com/cyberbotics/cyberbotics/blob/master/wiki/How-to-purge-jsDelivr-cache.md
• [ ] Update the other repos:
  • [ ] https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots_ros
  • [ ] https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots_ros2 (Update the tag for the CI tests on master and develop)
  • [ ] https://github.com/cyberbotics/urdf2webots (major releases only: the header line of the proto files should refer to the new version of Webots, create a new release with a new tag will publish the updated pip package)
  • [ ] https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots-snap (several references to the current version)
  • [ ] https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots-docker (several references to the current version)
  • [ ] https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/blob/master/Casks/webots.rb#L2-L3
• [ ] Add a new UTM image to the webots_ros2 wiki, in the macOS installation instructions. The new image should contain the new webots_ros2 release, compatible with the new version of Webots (e.g. version 2023.0.0 for Webots R2023a).
• [ ] Update the online demos to work with the new version: https://www.cyberbotics.com/animations/soccer_example/soccer.html

[gabryelreyes]

Decide which issues must be closed for this release.

I would like to wait for #6591 as we are actively working on it. The rest that are assigned to R2024a, we can move it to R2024b

[gabryelreyes]

Update all the worlds and check for unwanted warnings by running the tests/test_worlds.py script (may take a long time).

Tests fail: #6599

[gabryelreyes]

Could someone take over the QA tests for macOS? Maybe @brettle or @CoolSpy3 ? We also need help with Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04

[CoolSpy3]

Unfortunately, I don't actually have a mac to test on, so I can't help with mac QA. I could conceivably run the Ubuntu tests (in a vm), but I'll be out next week, and my schedule's going to start to get kind of crazy toward the end of the month & onwards, so if someone else is available, they could probably deliver faster results.

[brettle]

Could someone take over the QA tests for macOS? Maybe @brettle or @CoolSpy3 ? We also need help with Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04

Sorry for the slow reply. Although I have access to a MacOS laptop, I currently have other priorities in terms of webots-related work. That said, before your comment, @CoolSpy3 and I were already talking about the possibility of assisting with a getting the R2024a release out. I think @CoolSpy3 was hoping to get #6354 and #6566 addressed first. He is currently actively working on at least #6354. All that is to say, I can help QA on MacOS, just not quite yet. If someone else can do it before I'm ready, they definitely should.

I can't QA directly on ubuntu because I'm running Fedora 40.

[gabryelreyes]

Sounds good, I see there are 2 PRs open for the issues you mentioned. So I would wait for these, and then make the release at that point.

[ShuffleWire]

From what I've read, it look like https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots/pull/6548 it ready to merge from some time now. Do you want to include it into the release ? Maybe ping the author if need be ? BTW : Looking forward for a new release !

[omichel]

From what I've read, it look like #6548 it ready to merge from some time now. Do you want to include it into the release ?

Unfortunately, it doesn't pass the tests and should be fixed if we want to include it in the release. @harunkurtdev.

[harunkurtdev]

From what I've read, it look like #6548 it ready to merge from some time now. Do you want to include it into the release ?

Unfortunately, it doesn't pass the tests and should be fixed if we want to include it in the release. @harunkurtdev.

Hello sir, I will today.

[harunkurtdev]

From what I've read, it look like #6548 it ready to merge from some time now. Do you want to include it into the release ?

Unfortunately, it doesn't pass the tests and should be fixed if we want to include it in the release. @harunkurtdev.

Sir, it is all test passed, it ready for include it in new relaese.

[lukicdarkoo]

Instead of 2024a, I would rather target 2025a to reflect the release year better (Webots 2025a would normally be released at the end of this year).

A few other things:

• I would drop support for Ubuntu 20.04 and add support for Ubuntu 24.04 (Webots typically supports two latest Ubuntu LTS versions). The CI should be adapted accordingly.
• Without Ubuntu 20.04 support we will not be able to support ROS (1) either. The CI should be adapted accordingly.

Given that ROS (1) is still widely used, I may write a tutorial on how to utilize Docker to run Noetic + Webots R2023a

[CoolSpy3]

Closing as R2025a has been released.