601660 - generate custom updater-only update for 10.5 users

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Release Engineering :: General, defect)

Description

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Nightly updates for 10.5 users are currently disabled due to fallout from bug 571367 (see bug 600289). Given the nature of the problem (we needed to make changes to the updater itself to avoid it failing to relaunch the updated build, bug 600362), we need to update users in two steps: first get them a build with an updated updater, and then get them to a build with the changes from bug 571367 (universal i386/x86_64).

I propose we do this first for nightlies as a test run, and then again on the beta channel prior to the beta 7 release.

Comment 1

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

So I can be clear: what's the effect if we don't do this? The "burp" (where after an update the user sees a startup crash, but then after that it works fine?) or an all out "user can't update, can't run Firefox".

Comment 2

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

If we don't do this, the b6->b7 experience (or nightly update experience once we re-enable those) for 10.5 users will be:

1) update downloads, we restart to apply
2) updater applies update
3) updater fails to launch newly updated build: http://grab.by/6H7H
4) re-launching manually then works fine

If we're OK with that experience, we don't need to do this at all...

Comment 3

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

As long as we can verify that comment 2 is what happens, then yeah, I'm fine with it for the 6,000 or so people who will be affected.

Comment 4

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

I've gone through the update manually and verified that that's what happens.

Comment 5

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Sucks, but ultimately I don't think it's worth the effort.

Comment 6

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Note that this will also affect someone on 10.5 who manually downloaded a Mac nightly between 2010-09-26 (when config change in bug 571367 was made) and 2010-10-02 (when bug 600777 landed) - their updates will be completely broken.

Comment 7

[Armen [:armenzg]]

(In reply to comment #2)
> If we don't do this, the b6->b7 experience (or nightly update experience once
> we re-enable those) for 10.5 users will be:
> 
> 1) update downloads, we restart to apply
> 2) updater applies update
> 3) updater fails to launch newly updated build: http://grab.by/6H7H
> 4) re-launching manually then works fine
> 
> If we're OK with that experience, we don't need to do this at all...

I have verified on staging that this is exactly what happens for 10.5 users from beta6 to beta7.

From comment 3 I assume we are fine in here.