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Releasing ResoDrive

Use increasing release versions and retain published tags. Withdraw known-broken downloads when necessary, with an explanation in the replacement release notes. Replacing a version is an exceptional owner-approved recovery operation; an existing installation of that version cannot discover it as a newer update. On the local development drive, keep only the current public build artifacts rather than archiving local copies.

Repository visibility

The built-in update checker follows GitHub's public releases/latest redirect; it does not consume the anonymous REST API quota. Therefore the production repository and its published releases must be public. A private repository returns 404 to installed clients unless every client is given a GitHub credential, which ResoDrive intentionally does not request or store.

Private development can still happen in a separate private repository, but the release source/tag and assets consumed by users must be mirrored to the configured public repository before publishing.

Release procedure

  1. Set VersionPrefix in Directory.Build.props.
  2. Rewrite RELEASE_NOTES.md in short, plain language for the current release and update other release-facing documentation as needed.
  3. Run ./build.ps1 on Windows and smoke-test the setup executable, portable package, and MSI. Complete the UAC upgrade checks below before publishing.
  4. Commit the release and create an annotated tag matching the version exactly, for example git tag -a v0.3.0 -m "ResoDrive 0.3.0".
  5. Push the commit and tag. The Release workflow rebuilds and tests from the tag, uploads the versioned ZIP, MSI, setup executable, SHA-256 files, and stable ResoDrive-Setup.exe download, then creates a draft GitHub release.
  6. Download the draft's assets and verify their SHA-256 sidecars. Complete the desktop UAC and actual prior-version updater checks using those exact assets. Record installer outcome, installed commit and preservation of account data. Do not rebuild or replace the accepted assets.
  7. Publish the accepted draft and mark it latest. Confirm that Settings > Components > ResoDrive discovers the published version.

GitHub Actions are pinned to immutable commit hashes. Dependabot proposes action and NuGet updates for review.

Installer regression gate

Activation tests must not synchronously block xUnit worker threads while waiting for pipe callbacks on the same pool. Run their mutex-owning test bodies on dedicated threads and await completion from xUnit. A September 2026 release run exposed starvation that was reproduced with DOTNET_PROCESSOR_COUNT=1; both workflows now repeat the application tests under that constraint. Do not mask it with longer timeouts or repeated release attempts.

Process-ownership fixtures must wait for a child readiness signal before reading its executable identity. Process.Start returning does not guarantee that Windows has populated MainModule; immediate reads caused an intermittent null reference in the remote-wipe boundary test. Keep the actual ownership checks unchanged.

Read the September 2026 installer incident before changing installer shutdown, IPC security, or updater handoff code.

An elevated CI runner alone cannot prove that a normal user's app can be upgraded. From an unelevated Windows PowerShell session, run the isolated reproduction:

./tests/elevation-smoke.ps1 -PreviousAppPath 'C:\Program Files\rdrive\resodrive.exe' -NewAppPath './artifacts/win-x64/resodrive/resodrive.exe'

The test copies the old single-file app, creates disposable settings and cache, launches the old host normally, and requests UAC elevation for the new package's preparation helper. It checks process exit and unchanged settings/cache hashes. It never uses production accounts. Keep its result.json and preparation logs. Also verify the real in-app update from the prior public version and inspect the installed ProductVersion/commit. A build, mocked exit code, or XML assertion is not a substitute for this check. Never skip an upload block to make a test pass.

For a nondefault data directory, use ResoDriveDataRoot="D:\path\to\data" with the setup executable or RDRIVE_DATA_ROOT="D:\path\to\data" with msiexec. A process-local environment variable alone is not propagated through the Windows Installer service. The built-in updater passes the active data root explicitly.

Signing

Current local packages include SHA-256 sidecars but are not Authenticode signed. Before broad distribution, configure a protected CI signing identity and sign the executables, MSI, and setup bundle before release publication. Never place a signing certificate or password in the repository; use GitHub environment secrets or an external key-signing service.