etcd release guide

    The guide talks about how to release a new version of etcd.

    The procedure includes some manual steps for sanity checking, but it can probably be further scripted. Please keep this document up-to-date if making changes to the release process.

    etcd community members are assigned to manage the release each etcd major/minor version as well as manage patches and to each stable release branch. The managers are responsible for communicating the timelines and status of each release and for ensuring the stability of the release branch.

    Prepare release

    All releases version numbers follow the format of .

    • Ensure the relevant milestone on GitHub is complete. All referenced issues should be closed, or moved elsewhere.
    • Remove this release from roadmap, if necessary.
    • Ensure the latest upgrade documentation is available.
    • Bump , if necessary.
    • Add feature capability maps for the new version, if necessary.

    Patch version release

    • To request a backport, devlopers submit cherrypick PRs targeting the release branch. The commits should not include merge commits. The commits should be restricted to bug fixes and security patches.
    • The release patch manager reviews the cherrypick PRs. Please discuss carefully what is backported to the patch release. Each patch release should be strictly better than it’s predecessor.
    • The release patch manager will cherry-pick these commits starting from the oldest one into stable branch.

    Write release note

    • Write introduction for the new release. For example, what major bug we fix, what new features we introduce or what performance improvement we make.
    • Put [GH XXXX] at the head of change line to reference Pull Request that introduces the change. Moreover, add a link on it to jump to the Pull Request.
    • Find PRs with release-note label and explain them in NEWS file, as a straightforward summary of changes for end-users.
    • Bump hardcoded Version in the repository to the latest version ${VERSION}.
    • Ensure all tests on CI system are passed.
    • Manually check etcd is buildable in Linux, Darwin and Windows.
    • Manually check upgrade etcd cluster of previous minor version works well.
    • Manually check new features work well.
    • Add a signed tag through git tag -s ${VERSION}.
    • Sanity check tag correctness through git show tags/$VERSION.
    • Push the tag to GitHub through git push origin tags/$VERSION. This assumes corresponds to ““.

    Build release binaries and images

    • Ensure docker is available.

    Run release script in root directory:

    1. TAG=gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd ./scripts/release.sh ${VERSION}

    It generates all release binaries and images under directory ./release.

    Sign binaries, images, and source code

    The following commands are used for public release sign:

    The public key for GPG signing can be found at CoreOS Application Signing Key

    • Set release title as the version name.
    • Follow the format of previous release pages.
    • Attach the generated binaries and signatures.
    • Select whether it is a pre-release.

    Publish docker image in gcr.io

    • Push docker image:
    1. gcloud docker -- login -u _json_key -p "$(cat /etc/gcp-key-etcd.json)" https://gcr.io
    3. for TARGET_ARCH in "-arm64" "-ppc64le" ""; do
    4.   gcloud docker -- push gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd:${VERSION}${TARGET_ARCH}
    • Add latest tag to the new image on if this is a stable release.

    Publish docker image in Quay.io

    • Build docker images with quay.io:
    • Push docker image:
    1. docker login quay.io
    3. for TARGET_ARCH in "-arm64" "-ppc64le" ""; do
    4.   docker push quay.io/coreos/etcd:${VERSION}${TARGET_ARCH}
    5. done
    • Add latest tag to the new image on quay.io if this is a stable release.
    • Follow the format of .
    • Make sure to include a list of authors that contributed since the previous release - something like the following might be handy:

    Post release

    • Create new stable branch through git push origin ${VERSION_MAJOR}.${VERSION_MINOR} if this is a major stable release. This assumes corresponds to ““.