Release SecureDrop 2.12.0

[zenmonkeykstop]

This is a tracking issue for the release of SecureDrop 2.12.0

Tentatively scheduled as follows:

Pre-release announcement: 2025-02-27
Release date: 2024-03-06 (tentative)

Release manager: @zenmonkeykstop
Deputy release manager: @cfm
Localization manager: @cfm
Communications manager: @nathandyer

SecureDrop maintainers and testers: As you QA 2.12.0, please report back your testing results as comments on this ticket. File GitHub issues for any problems found, tag them "QA: Release".

Test debian packages will be posted on https://apt-test.freedom.press signed with the test key.

QA Matrix for 2.12.0

Test Plan for 2.12.0

Prepare release candidate (2.12.0~rc1)

• Link to latest version of Tails, including release candidates, to test against during QA
• Prepare 2.12.0~rc1 release changelog
• Branch off release/2.12.0 from develop
• Prepare 2.12.0-rc1
• Build debs, preserving build log, and put up 2.12.0~rc1 on test apt server
• Commit build log.

After each test, please update the QA matrix and post details for Basic Server Testing, Application Acceptance Testing and release-specific testing below in comments to this ticket.

Final release

• Push signed tag
• Pre-Flight: Test updater logic in Tails (apt-qa tracks the release branch in the LFS repo)
• Build final Debian packages(and preserve build log)
• Commit package build log to https://github.com/freedomofpress/build-logs
• Pre-Flight: Test that install and upgrade from 2.11.1 to 2.12.0 works w/ prod repo debs (apt-qa.freedom.press polls the release branch in the LFS repo for the debs)
• Flip apt QA server to prod status (merge to main in the LFS repo)
• Merge Docs branch changes to main and verify new docs build in securedrop-docs repo
• Prepare release messaging

Post release

• Create GitHub release object
• Once release object is created, update versions in securedrop-docs and Wagtail
• Verify new docs show up on https://docs.securedrop.org
• Publish announcements
• Merge changelog back to develop
• Update roadmap wiki page: https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/wiki/Development-Roadmap

[legoktm]

For QA scenarios, there are some notes at #7407. I never got around to figuring out how to turn the snapshots Erik and I took into actual running servers again, but it should be theoretically possible... I think.

Also I don't know if we had tested restoring a backup created with focal on a noble server (i.e. the classic upgrade method). This is still important since that's our backup plan, literally, as the backups are created on focal and we'd be asking people to restore them on a noble system.