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Release Management Scheduling Remainder of 2025 into early 2026 (18.4 - 18.9)

Context

It is time to start planning the upcoming release management cover for the 18.4, 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, 18.8, 18.9 releases. For reference, you can see the previous schedule.

Given end of year planning, we are trying to map out the next 6 RMs so that we have a rough sketch in place for the end of the year. Note, Duo helped me make some of this issue, thanks Duo, but happy to take feedback on layout etc.

Note about weekly RM

We are holding off on this work in light of the possibility of getting contractors to help us with Release Management work. If that becomes a reality, the monthly RM will be the tier 2 help/escalation point and input seemed to be that a monthly backup would be better.

Release Managers TODO

Please put your name down for the milestones you would be available to cover. Please note the new release dates for these quarters. Writing your name down for a milestone is only an indication of your availability, it will not result in your being assigned to cover every milestone.

Due Date: 2025-07-25

On 2025-07-30, we will work through all the options and create an MR with a sustainable schedule for you all to approve. We will do our best to avoid having RM rotations with all the team members belonging to the same team to give each team enough time to carry on project work.

Release Schedule

The following table shows the release schedule and availability tracking for release managers:

Milestone Release Date Dates Coverage Period EMEA Availability AMER Availability APAC Availability
18.4 2025-09-18 2025-08-19 - 2025-09-18 @dat.tang.gitlab @mayra-cabrera, @jennykim-gitlab @madelacruz, @siddharthkannan
18.5 2025-10-16 2025-09-19 - 2025-10-16 @anganga, @dat.tang.gitlab, @jrogena, @rpereira2 @mayra-cabrera, @acafefebrissy, @jennykim-gitlab @siddharthkannan
18.6 2025-11-20 2025-10-17 - 2025-11-20 @anganga, @jrogena @acafefebrissy @madelacruz
18.7 2025-12-18 2025-11-21 - 2025-12-18 @anganga, @dat.tang.gitlab, @jrogena, @rpereira2 @skarbek, @mayra-cabrera, @jennykim-gitlab @madelacruz
18.8 2026-01-15 2025-12-19 - 2026-01-15 @dat.tang.gitlab @skarbek, @mayra-cabrera @madelacruz, @siddharthkannan
18.9 2026-02-19 2026-01-16 - 2026-02-19 @anganga, @dat.tang.gitlab, @jrogena, @rpereira2 @skarbek, @mayra-cabrera, @acafefebrissy, @jennykim-gitlab @madelacruz, @siddharthkannan

Key Considerations

  • Holiday Coverage: Version 18.7 (December 18) and 18.8 (January 15) will require special attention due to holiday periods
  • Stable Branch Creation: With the earlier stable branch creation initiative, stable branches will be created one week earlier than the release date
  • Patch Release Coordination: Each release manager will also need to coordinate any patch releases during their coverage period

Tasks

  • Identify available release managers for each time zone
  • Assign primary and backup release managers for each version
  • Coordinate holiday coverage for 18.7 and 18.8 (future issue)
  • Update release manager documentation with assignments
  • Communicate assignments to the team
  • Create calendar entries for release manager rotations

Related Issues/Epics

Managers TODO

Edited by Jenny Kim