# Sidecar Release Process

This page describes the process for releasing a kubernetes-csi sidecar.

## Prerequisites

The release manager must:

* Be a member of the kubernetes-csi organization. Open an
  [issue](https://github.com/kubernetes/org/issues/new?assignees=&labels=area%2Fgithub-membership&template=membership.md&title=REQUEST%3A+New+membership+for+%3Cyour-GH-handle%3E) in
  kubernetes/org to request membership
* Be a top level approver for the repository. To become a top level approver,
  the candidate must demonstrate ownership and deep knowledge of the repository
  through active maintainence, responding to and fixing issues, reviewing PRs,
  test triage.
* Be part of the maintainers or admin group for the repository. admin is a
  superset of maintainers, only maintainers level is required for cutting a
  release.  Membership can be requested by submitting a PR to kubernetes/org.
  [Example](https://github.com/kubernetes/org/pull/1467)

## Updating CI Jobs
Whenever a new Kubernetes minor version is released, our kubernetes-csi CI jobs
must be updated.

[Our CI jobs](https://k8s-testgrid.appspot.com/sig-storage-csi-ci) have the
naming convention `<hostpath-deployment-version>-on-<kubernetes-version>`.

1. Jobs should be actively monitored to find and fix failures in sidecars and
   infrastructure changes early in the development cycle. Test failures are sent
   to kubernetes-sig-storage-test-failures@googlegroups.com.
1. "-on-master" jobs are the closest reflection to the new Kubernetes version.
1. Fixes to our prow.sh CI script can be tested in the [CSI hostpath
   repo](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-host-path) by modifying
   [prow.sh](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-host-path/blob/master/release-tools/prow.sh)
   along with any overrides in
   [.prow.sh](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-host-path/blob/master/.prow.sh)
   to mirror the failing environment. Once e2e tests are passing (verify-unit tests
   will fail), then the prow.sh changes can be submitted to [csi-release-tools](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-release-tools).
1. Changes can then be updated in all the sidecar repos and hostpath driver repo
   by following the [update
   instructions](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-release-tools/blob/master/README.md#sharing-and-updating).
1. New pull and CI jobs are configured by
   [gen-jobs.sh](https://github.com/kubernetes/test-infra/blob/master/config/jobs/kubernetes-csi/gen-jobs.sh).
   New pull jobs that have been unverified should be initially made optional.
   [Example](https://github.com/kubernetes/test-infra/pull/15055)
1. Once new pull and CI jobs have been verified, and the new Kubernetes version
   is released, we can make the optional jobs required, and also remove the
   Kubernetes versions that are no longer supported.

## Release Process
1. Identify all issues and ongoing PRs that should go into the release, and
  drive them to resolution.
1. Download v2.8+ [K8s release notes
  generator](https://github.com/kubernetes/release/tree/master/cmd/release-notes)
1. Generate release notes for the release. Replace arguments with the relevant
  information.
    * For new minor releases on master:
        ```
        GITHUB_TOKEN=<token> release-notes --discover=mergebase-to-latest
        --github-org=kubernetes-csi --github-repo=external-provisioner
        --required-author="" --output out.md
        ```
    * For new patch releases on a release branch:
        ```
        GITHUB_TOKEN=<token> release-notes --discover=patch-to-latest --branch=release-1.1
        --github-org=kubernetes-csi --github-repo=external-provisioner
        --required-author="" --output out.md
        ```
1. Compare the generated output to the new commits for the release to check if
   any notable change missed a release note.
1. Reword release notes as needed. Make sure to check notes for breaking
   changes and deprecations.
1. If release is a new major/minor version, create a new `CHANGELOG-<major>.<minor>.md`
   file. Otherwise, add the release notes to the top of the existing CHANGELOG
   file for that minor version.
1. Submit a PR for the CHANGELOG changes.
1. Submit a PR for README changes, in particular, Compatibility, Feature status,
   and any other sections that may need updating.
1. Check that all [canary CI
  jobs](https://k8s-testgrid.appspot.com/sig-storage-csi-ci) are passing,
  and that test coverage is adequate for the changes that are going into the release.
1. Make sure that no new PRs have merged in the meantime, and no PRs are in
   flight and soon to be merged.
1. Create a new release following a previous release as a template. Be sure to select the correct
   branch. This requires Github release permissions as required by the prerequisites.
   [external-provisioner example](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/external-provisioner/releases/new)
1. If release was a new major/minor version, create a new `release-<minor>`
   branch at that commit.
1. Update [kubernetes-csi/docs](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/docs) sidecar
   and feature pages with the new released version.
1. After all the sidecars have been released, update
   CSI hostpath driver with the new sidecars in the [CSI repo](https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-host-path/tree/master/deploy)
   and [k/k
   in-tree](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/tree/master/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/hostpath/hostpath)
