Add documentation for re-bootstrapping the VMR (#4247)

* Add documentation for re-bootstrapping the VMR

* Apply suggestions from code review

Co-authored-by: Matt Thalman <[email protected]>

* Add note about dotnet-source-build installer tag

---------

Co-authored-by: Matt Thalman <[email protected]>

Author: MichaelSimons

Documentation/VMR-re-bootstrapping.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# How to re-bootstrap the toolset used to build the VMR
+
+.NET utilizes itself to build. Therefore, in order to build .NET from source, you
+first need to acquire or build a bootstrapping .NET SDK and other tooling such
+as [Arcade](https://github.com/dotnet/arcade). Re-bootstrapping is the term used to describe when the bootstrapped
+toolset need to be updated. This document describes the steps to re-bootstrap
+the VMR.
+
+# When is it appropriate to re-bootstrap?
+
+As part of the release process, the toolset is updated (e.g. PRs are created via
+the release automation). Outside of a release, re-bootstrapping is only permitted
+during preview releases. It is not allowed during RC, GA, or servicing releases.
+The reason it is not allowed during non-preview releases is because of the negative
+impact it has on Linux distro maintainers who source build .NET. It is often a long
+and time consuming process for them to re-bootstrap. It is likely to cause
+significant delays in the release/availability of .NET within the distros that are
+source built.
+
+# Why is re-bootstrap necessary?
+
+Re-bootstrapping is necessary when .NET takes a dependency on new functionality
+added within the bootstrap toolset. For example suppose a new compiler feature is
+added. In order for a repo to take a dependency on the new feature, a re-bootstrap
+would be necessary. The implication of this, and the restrictions of when
+re-bootstrapping is allowed, means that repos should, in general, wait to take a
+dependency on a new toolset feature until after that feature has been released.
+
+# Steps to re-bootstrap
+
+1. Update previous source-build artifacts
+    1. Find a [dotnet-source-build](https://dev.azure.com/dnceng/internal/_build?definitionId=1219)
+    with the desired changes.
+    1. Retrieve the built SDKs from the following legs:
+        1. Alpine\<nnn\>_Online_MsftSdk_x64
+        1. CentOSStream\<8\>_Online_MsftSdk_x64
+    1. Upload the SDKs to https://dotnetcli.blob.core.windows.net/source-built-artifacts/sdks/
+1. Update .NET SDK
+    1. Find the [dotnet-installer-official-ci](https://dev.azure.com/dnceng/internal/_build?definitionId=286)
+    build that best matches the dotnet-source-build. The following is the suggested
+    order of precedence for finding the best match.
+        1. A build from the same commit.
+            1. From the [dotnet-source-build](https://dev.azure.com/dnceng/internal/_build?definitionId=1219),
+            look at the build's installer tag.
+            1. From a VMR commit, you can find the corresponding installer commit
+            by looking at the [source-manifest.json](https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet/blob/main/src/source-manifest.json).
+        1. The next passing build after the same commit.
+        1. In the odd case where the are no passing builds after the commit, you
+        can try using an earlier passing build.
+    1. Retrieve the built SDK version from the build.
+    1. Update the dotnet version in the [global.json](https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet/blob/main/global.json).
+1. Update arcade
+    1. Lookup the arcade commit and version. From a VMR commit, you can find the
+    corresponding arcade commit/version by looking at the [source-manifest.json](https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet/blob/main/src/source-manifest.json).
+    1. Update the arcade SDK version in the [global.json](https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet/blob/main/global.json).
+    1. Update the arcade dependency commit and version in the [Version.Details.xml](https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet/blob/main/eng/Version.Details.xml).
+
+[Tracking issue for automating this process.](https://github.com/dotnet/source-build/issues/4246)