Add release checklist and testing information

This commit adds the checklist containing specific tasks to
be completed in stage of the release and the testing strategy
which defines the hardware/backends that are used to for running
the tests.

Signed-off-by: Gowtham Suresh Kumar <[email protected]>

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
    - [How to add operations to Parsec](contributing/adding_new_operation_how_to.md)
    - [Package management and versioning guide](contributing/package_management.md)
    - [The Parsec Release Process](contributing/release_process.md)
+   - [The Parsec Release Checklist](contributing/release_checklist.md)
 - [Archive](archive/README.md)
    - [System Architecture](archive/system_architecture.md)
 

src/contributing/release_checklist.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# The Parsec Release Checklist
+
+The release process is divided into 4 stages as shown below. Each stage has a discrete set of
+activities to be completed before progressing to the next stage. The list shown below is only a
+template, as there might be additional tasks specific to that release that might be added to
+different stages.
+
+Stages:
+
+- Prior to Code freeze
+   - [ ]  Publish new versions of all managed crates and configure parsec service and tool to use
+      them. See
+      this [guide](https://parallaxsecond.github.io/parsec-book/contributing/package_management.html).
+   - [ ]  Fix any pending issues
+   - [ ]  Check common dependency crates versions between the parsec service, parsec tool, and
+      other crates
+   - [ ]  Review PRs across Parsec repos
+   - [ ]  Merge approved PRs
+   - [ ]  Check the milestone list
+- During code freeze
+   - [ ]  Issue release candidate tag x.x.x-rc1
+   - [ ]  OpenSUSE packaging for the RC
+   - [ ]  Pull in the latest git dependencies in the crates to ensure the latest release would
+      work.
+   - [ ]  Execute the normal e2e tests on Raspberry Pi hardware:
+      - mbed-crypto
+      - TPM
+      - Nitrokey HSM (pluggable USB)
+   - [ ]  Execute fuzz testing for a week
+   - [ ]  Ask the Linux distributions packagers to try the tagged version
+   - [ ]  Ask the Parsec Yocto maintainers to try the tagged version
+   - [ ]  Ask any interested people to try the tagged version
+   - [ ]  Review the book and make sure all pages are up-to-date. In particular, make sure the
+      Threat Model is up to date.
+   - [ ]  Make sure all the markdown pages (like the README) look good.
+   - [ ]  Make sure the rustdoc pages (on docs.rs) are looking good (before and after the release).
+   - [ ]  If any bugs are reported, we fix bugs and then issue another release candidate, x.x.x-rcx
+   - [ ]  When All reported issues are addressed, make a GitHub release out of the last tag, which
+      includes its changelog, and ask maintainers to release this version of Parsec.
+- Release
+   - [ ]  Push the release tag for the service and the parsec-tool
+   - [ ]  Publish the new quickstart bundle and update the quickstart guide with it
+- Post-release
+   - [ ]  Close issues fixed in the release and the past milestone
+   - [ ]  Update, test, and upstream Yocto recipes for Parsec and parsec-tool
+   - [ ]  Make a new issue milestone for the next release
+   - [ ]  Update the [Roadmap](https://github.com/parallaxsecond/community/blob/main/ROADMAP.md)
+   - [ ]  Update the [Parsec Release
+      Process](https://parallaxsecond.github.io/parsec-book/contributing/release_process.html) 
+      with what we learned.
+   - [ ]  If any bugs are reported, make new MINOR or PATCH tags
+   - [ ]  Update the Parsec Tool demo
+
+*Copyright 2023 Contributors to the Parsec project.*

src/contributing/release_process.md

@@ -127,16 +127,29 @@ perform whatever testing is necessary to verify that the new feature has reached
 quality level for the release. Systems integrators and known adopters of Parsec will also be
 notified that a new release is available for integration testing.
 
+As part of the release testing, we run the end-to-end tests on a RaspberryPi for the following
+backends:
+
+- mbed crypto
+- TPM
+- Nitrokey HSM
+
+Further platforms and backends will be added to this in future releases. The results of the release
+testing are critical in determining if the parsec service and the tool is ready for release, and
+whether it meets the requirements and expectations of the end users. Any regressions will result in
+the creation of a new GitHub issue and will be flagged to the community for assessment as to whether
+it is a blocking issue for the release.
+
 ## Release Expectations
 
-There are currently no formal release expectations documented for the Parsec project. Release
-expectations would include information about supported operating system versions or distributions,
-supported hardware or hardware configurations, or non-functional expectations such as performance or
-scalability. Parsec is a public open source project and it can be used in a variety of contexts. It
-is the responsibility of the system integrator or Parsec adopter to ensure its suitability for use
-in any product or other context. Any questions around specific expectations and requirements can be
-raised with the Parsec maintainers through the available [community
-channels](https://github.com/parallaxsecond/community).
+Formal release expectations are still to be determined but all releases should follow the [Parsec
+Release
+Checklist](https://parallaxsecond.github.io/parsec-book/contributing/release_checklist.html) and
+enure that the new release works on a fixed set of platforms. Parsec is a public open source project
+and it can be used in a variety of contexts. It is the responsibility of the system integrator or
+Parsec adopter to ensure its suitability for use in any product or other context. Any questions
+around specific expectations and requirements can be raised with the Parsec maintainers through the
+available [community channels](https://github.com/parallaxsecond/community).
 
 ## Feature Branches