Document package release procedure

RELEASING.md

@@ -112,4 +112,62 @@ git push
    are properly added to the `main` branch.
 
 6. Create a GitHub release from the tag. See [GitHub documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/releasing-projects-on-github/managing-releases-in-a-repository#creating-a-release)
-   for instructions.
+   for instructions.
+
+### DEB/RPM Packaging Workflow
+
+#### Pre-requisites
+
+Before building the packages, ensure that the release itself, either the alpha
+or prod versions, is published on PyPI.
+
+Additionally, VPN needs to be enabled for the build page.
+
+#### Build Process
+
+In the future, building the DEB/RPM packages will be a simple one-step button
+click of the green **Build** button on the Globus Compute Agent
+[build page here](https://builds.globus.org/jenkins/job/BuildGlobusComputeAgentPackages/build?delay=0sec).
+
+As a temporary workaround, we need to add a few lines to manually set some
+env variables in our [JenkinsFile](https://github.com/globus/globus-compute/blob/743fa1e398fd40a00efb5880c55e3fa6e47392fc/compute_endpoint/packaging/JenkinsFile#L24) before triggering the build, as detailed below.
+
+1. Git checkout both the current release branch that was recently pushed to
+   PyPI, ie. ``v2.23.0`` or ``v2.25.0a0`` and the ``build_for_stable`` branch
+2. Rebase ``build_for_stable`` on the release branch which should result in
+   adding the following ~6 lines:
+
+        ...
+              env.BRANCH_NAME = scmVars.GIT_BRANCH.replaceFirst(/^.*origin\//, "")
+        +     env.TAG_NAME = sh(returnStdout: true, script: "git tag --contains | head -1").trim()
+              env.SOURCE_STASH_NAME = "${UUID.randomUUID()}"
+              echo "env.BRANCH_NAME = ${env.BRANCH_NAME}"
+              sh "git clean -fdx"
+
+        +     // temporary hack to build for stable
+        +     sh "git checkout build_for_stable"
+        +     env.TAG_NAME = "v2.23.0"
+        +     env.DEFAULT_BRANCH = "build_for_stable"
+        +
+              dir("compute_endpoint/packaging/") {
+        ...
+
+3. Change the ``env.TAG_NAME`` above to the current production release version
+    * Note that ``env.TAG_NAME`` determines whether the build is sent to
+      the ``unstable`` repo or also to the ``testing`` and ``stable`` ones.
+    * Example of unstable repo:
+        * https://downloads.globus.org/globus-connect-server/unstable/rpm/el/9/x86_64/
+    * Example of stable repo:
+        * https://downloads.globus.org/globus-connect-server/stable/rpm/el/9/x86_64/
+    * The logic of whether a release is stable is determined by whether the
+      package version of Globus Compute Endpoint set in ``version.py`` or
+      ``setup.py`` matches ``env.TAG_NAME`` above.   If they are unequal, then
+      [publishResults.groovy line 85](https://github.com/globusonline/gcs-build-scripts/blob/168617a0ccbb0aee7b3bee04ee67940bbe2a80f6/vars/publishResults.groovy#L85)
+      will be (``tag`` : v2.23.0) != (``stable_tag`` : v2.23.0a0), where
+      stable_tag is constructed from the package version of an alpha release.
+4. Commit and push your ``build_for_stable`` branch
+5. (Access on VPN) Click the [build button here](https://builds.globus.org/jenkins/job/BuildGlobusComputeAgentPackages/build?delay=0sec)
+6. Wait 20-30 minutes and confirm that the [build is green](https://builds.globus.org/jenkins/job/BuildGlobusComputeAgentPackages/)
+7. For production release, we will have finished the build before the GCS
+   team, and can notify them that our build is complete.  They then will
+   publish all packages when they finish their builds, which includes ours.

compute_endpoint/packaging/JenkinsFile

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ pipeline {
                     env.BRANCH_NAME = scmVars.GIT_BRANCH.replaceFirst(/^.*origin\//, "")
                     env.SOURCE_STASH_NAME = "${UUID.randomUUID()}"
                     echo "env.BRANCH_NAME = ${env.BRANCH_NAME}"
+                    echo "env.DEFAULT_BRANCH = ${env.DEFAULT_BRANCH}"
                     sh "git clean -fdx"
 
                     dir("compute_endpoint/packaging/") {