--- /dev/null
+# Release Process
+
+The Kubespray Project is released on an as-needed basis. The process is as follows:
+
+1. An issue is proposing a new release with a changelog since the last release. Please see [a good sample issue](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubespray/issues/8325)
+2. At least one of the [approvers](OWNERS_ALIASES) must approve this release
+3. The `kube_version_min_required` variable is set to `n-1`
+4. Remove hashes for [EOL versions](https://github.com/kubernetes/website/blob/main/content/en/releases/patch-releases.md) of kubernetes from `*_checksums` variables.
+5. Create the release note with [Kubernetes Release Notes Generator](https://github.com/kubernetes/release/blob/master/cmd/release-notes/README.md). See the following `Release note creation` section for the details.
+6. An approver creates [new release in GitHub](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubespray/releases/new) using a version and tag name like `vX.Y.Z` and attaching the release notes
+7. An approver creates a release branch in the form `release-X.Y`
+8. The corresponding version of [quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:vX.Y.Z](https://quay.io/repository/kubespray/kubespray) and [quay.io/kubespray/vagrant:vX.Y.Z](https://quay.io/repository/kubespray/vagrant) container images are built and tagged. See the following `Container image creation` section for the details.
+9. The `KUBESPRAY_VERSION` variable is updated in `.gitlab-ci.yml`
+10. The release issue is closed
+11. An announcement email is sent to `dev@kubernetes.io` with the subject `[ANNOUNCE] Kubespray $VERSION is released`
+12. The topic of the #kubespray channel is updated with `vX.Y.Z is released! | ...`
+
+## Major/minor releases and milestones
+
+* For major releases (vX.Y) Kubespray maintains one branch (`release-X.Y`). Minor releases (vX.Y.Z) are available only as tags.
+
+* Security patches and bugs might be backported.
+
+* Fixes for major releases (vX.Y) and minor releases (vX.Y.Z) are delivered
+ via maintenance releases (vX.Y.Z) and assigned to the corresponding open
+ [GitHub milestone](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubespray/milestones).
+ That milestone remains open for the major/minor releases support lifetime,
+ which ends once the milestone is closed. Then only a next major or minor release
+ can be done.
+
+* Kubespray major and minor releases are bound to the given `kube_version` major/minor
+ version numbers and other components' arbitrary versions, like etcd or network plugins.
+ Older or newer component versions are not supported and not tested for the given
+ release (even if included in the checksum variables, like `kubeadm_checksums`).
+
+* There is no unstable releases and no APIs, thus Kubespray doesn't follow
+ [semver](https://semver.org/). Every version describes only a stable release.
+ Breaking changes, if any introduced by changed defaults or non-contrib ansible roles'
+ playbooks, shall be described in the release notes. Other breaking changes, if any in
+ the contributed addons or bound versions of Kubernetes and other components, are
+ considered out of Kubespray scope and are up to the components' teams to deal with and
+ document.
+
+* Minor releases can change components' versions, but not the major `kube_version`.
+ Greater `kube_version` requires a new major or minor release. For example, if Kubespray v2.0.0
+ is bound to `kube_version: 1.4.x`, `calico_version: 0.22.0`, `etcd_version: v3.0.6`,
+ then Kubespray v2.1.0 may be bound to only minor changes to `kube_version`, like v1.5.1
+ and *any* changes to other components, like etcd v4, or calico 1.2.3.
+ And Kubespray v3.x.x shall be bound to `kube_version: 2.x.x` respectively.
+
+## Release note creation
+
+You can create a release note with:
+
+```shell
+export GITHUB_TOKEN=<your-github-token>
+export ORG=kubernetes-sigs
+export REPO=kubespray
+release-notes --start-sha <The start commit-id> --end-sha <The end commit-id> --dependencies=false --output=/tmp/kubespray-release-note --required-author=""
+```
+
+If the release note file(/tmp/kubespray-release-note) contains "### Uncategorized" pull requests, those pull requests don't have a valid kind label(`kind/feature`, etc.).
+It is necessary to put a valid label on each pull request and run the above release-notes command again to get a better release note)
+
+## Container image creation
+
+The container image `quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:vX.Y.Z` can be created from Dockerfile of the kubespray root directory:
+
+```shell
+cd kubespray/
+nerdctl build -t quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:vX.Y.Z .
+nerdctl push quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:vX.Y.Z
+```
+
+The container image `quay.io/kubespray/vagrant:vX.Y.Z` can be created from build.sh of test-infra/vagrant-docker/:
+
+```shell
+cd kubespray/test-infra/vagrant-docker/
+./build vX.Y.Z
+```
+
+Please note that the above operation requires the permission to push container images into quay.io/kubespray/.
+If you don't have the permission, please ask it on the #kubespray-dev channel.
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