Proposal: Increase the patch release visibility by establishing an organic schedule
Context
To better meet bug and security SLAs, Delivery has worked to update release processes and toolings towards a more frequent release schedule. Since 16.7 two patch releases (former security releases) have been scheduled twice a month, getting bug and security fixes sooner to our customers. Frequent patch releases is a practice Delivery will officially adopt as part of transforming patch releases to be SLO-driven (&1193 (closed))
Patch releases are scheduled every ~two weeks to meet the Release SLO. At the moment, the scheduling is a best-effort step manually performed by release managers and is limited to the upcoming patch release, this bounds the visibility and information of the patch release calendar to a limited group.
Similar to the monthly releases, scheduled on the third Thursday of each month, patch releases could also have an organic calendar established.
Proposal: Increase the patch release visibility by establishing an organic schedule.
The patch release cadence visibility can be increased by establishing a regular schedule around the monthly release date on Wednesdays:
| Schedule | Example for April |
|---|---|
| Second Wednesday of the month: Patch release | 2024-04-10 - Patch release 16.10, 16.9, and 16.8 |
| Third Thursday of the month: Monthly release | 2024-04-18 - 16.11 Monthly release |
| Fourth Wednesday of the month: Patch release | 2024-04-24 - Patch release 16.11, 16.10, and 16.9 |
The suggested cadence considers that:
- Patch releases are scheduled twice a month to accommodate the GitLab SLA/SLOs
- Patch releases can't conflict with the monthly release week due to tooling restrictions.
- The schedule proposed is still best-effort and subject to change based on the release calendar.
- Wednesday is the most optimal option for patch releases:
- Friday should be avoided and Thursday carries some risk in case things get delayed.
- Patch releases are performed in three business days, having them scheduled on Wednesday allows release managers to start the work on Monday.
- Wednesday space around the monthly release at the same time gives some buffer in case the release needs to be delayed.
Benefits of setting a regular cadence for patch releases.
- A regular patch release schedule provides predictability inside GitLab and therefore stability to GitLab customers.
- A schedule known in advance allows different GitLab stakeholders to prepare and plan as they would have a rough understanding of the patch release calendar.
- A regular schedule enforces the bug and security SLAs, as well as the release SLO.
- The organic schedule increases muscle memory creating an habit of the release calendar activities.
- The organic schedule pushes us closer to release automation
Future iteration:
- Create security tracking issue with the new pla... (#20029 - closed)
- Publish the upcoming patch release dates (#20032)