25.1.0 Release Checklist

[jflo]

• Confirm at least 24 hours prior anything outstanding for release with other maintainers on #besu-release in Discord
• Update changelog if necessary, and merge a PR for it to main
  • Notify maintainers about updating changelog for in-flight PRs
• Optional: for hotfixes, create a release branch and cherry-pick, e.g. release-<version>-hotfix
  • Optional: for hotfixes, create a PR into main from the hotfix branch to see the CI checks pass
• On the appropriate branch/commit, create a calver tag for the release candidate, format example: 25.1.0-RC1
  • git tag 25.1.0-RC1
  • git push upstream 25.1.0-RC1
• Sign-off with team; announce the tag in #besu-release in Discord
  • Targeting this tag for the burn-in: https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/releases/tag/25.1.0-RC1
• Consensys staff start burn-in using this tag
• Seek sign off for burn-in
  • Pass? Go ahead and complete the release process
  • Fail? Put a message in #besu-release in Discord indicating the release will be aborted because it failed burn-in
• Optional: Perform a dry run with https://github.com/consensys/protocols-release-sandbox to test the workflows
  • Sync fork in github
  • git checkout <sha of 24.4.0-RC1>
  • git tag 24.4.0
  • git push <your remote name> 24.4.0
  • Manually run https://github.com/Consensys/protocols-release-sandbox/actions/workflows/draft-release.yml using main branch and 24.4.0 tag
• Back on besu, using the same git sha as 24.4.0-RC1, create a calver tag for the FULL RELEASE, example format 24.4.0
  • git checkout 24.4.0-RC1
  • git tag 24.4.0
  • git push upstream 24.4.0
• Manually run https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/actions/workflows/draft-release.yml using main branchand the FULL RELEASE tag name, i.e.24.4.0. Note, this workflow should always be run from main` branch (hotfix tags will still be released even if they were created based on another branch)
  • publishes artefacts and version-specific docker tags but does not fully publish the GitHub release so subscribers are not yet notified
• Check all draft-release workflow jobs went green
• Check binary SHAs are correct on the release page
• Check artifacts exist in https://hyperledger.jfrog.io/ui/repos/tree/General/besu-maven
• Update release notes in the GitHub draft release, save draft and sign-off with team
• Publish draft release ensuring it is marked as latest release (if appropriate)
  • this is now public and notifies subscribed users
  • makes the release "latest" in github
  • publishes the docker latest tag variants
• Create homebrew release PR using update-version workflow
  • If the PR has not been automatically created, create the PR manually using the created branch update-<version>
• Verify homebrew release once the PR has merged using brew tap hyperledger/besu && brew install besu on MacOSX to verify latest version has been installed
• Delete the burn-in nodes (unless required for further analysis eg performance)
• Social announcements