Release post - GitLab 12.0

Process improvements? Have suggestions for improving the release post process as we go? Please capture them in the retrospective issue!

Review Apps: https://release-12-0.about-src.gitlab.com/2019/06/22/gitlab-12-0-released/

Release post:

• Intro: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/source/posts/2019-06-22-gitlab-12-0-released.html.md
• Items: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/data/release_posts/2019_06_22_gitlab_12_0_released.yml
• Images: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/tree/release-12-0/source/images/12_0

Related files:

• Features YAML link: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/data/features.yml
• Features YAML Images link: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/source/images/feature_page/screenshots
• Homepage card: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/source/includes/home/ten-oh-announcement.html.haml
• MVPs: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-0/data/mvps.yml

Handbook references:

• Blog handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/
• Release post handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/
• Markdown guide: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/

People:

• Release Post Managers: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/managers/
• Release Managers: https://about.gitlab.com/community/release-managers/

Release post manager	Tech writer	Messaging	Social
@jeremy	@eread	@johnjeremiah	@evhoffmann

General contributions

Due date: 2019-06-14 (6th working day before the 22nd)

All contributions added by team members, collaborators, and Product Managers (PMs).

Author's checklist

Due date: 2019-06-14 (6th working day before the 22nd)

The PM leading the post is responsible for adding and checking the following items: @jeremy

• Label MR: ~"blog post" release release post ~P1
• Assign the MR to yourself
• Add a release post retrospective issue (example) and provide a link to it at the top of this MR description with the text Process Improvements? Have suggstions for improving the release post process as we go? Capture them in the [Retrospective issue]().
• Check the reviewers on Slack and add their names (and your own) replacing each @mention in the MR description checklists
• Add milestone
• Update the links and due dates in this MR description
• Make sure the blog post have all initial files, as well as this MR template contains the latest template
• Add authorship (author's data)
• Ask the messaging lead to add the introduction by the 6th working day before the 22nd
• Add MVP (MVP block)
• Add MVP to data/mvps.yml
• Make sure the PM for the MVP feature adds a corresponding feature block if applicable, linking from the MVP section
• Add cover image (12_0-cover-image.jpg) (compressed)
• Add social sharing image (gitlab-12-0-released.png) (compressed)
• Make sure all feature descriptions are positive and cheerful
• Make sure all features listed in the direction page are included in the post
• Mention the Distribution PM asking them if there's any relevant info to be added to the upgrade warning section. If not, delete the upgrade block in the relese post data file
• Mention managers to remind them to add their team performance improvements: @gitlab-com/backend-managers and @gitlab-org/frontend/frontend-managers
• Check with the Messaging Lead on what the top features should be.
• Check if deprecations are included
• Alert people one working day before each due date (post a comment to #release-post Slack channel)
• Make sure all images (png, jpg, and gifs) are smaller than 300 KB each
• Run the release post through an automated spell and grammar check
• Pull master into the release post branch and resolve any conflicts
• Perform the content review

Recurring blocks

Due date: 2019-06-14 (6th working day before the 22nd)

The following sections are always present, and managed by the PM or Eng lead owning the related area:

• Mention the below individuals after feature freeze
• Add GitLab Runner improvements: @brendan
• Add Omnibus improvements: @ebrinkman
• Add Mattermost update to the Omnibus improvements section: @ebrinkman
• Add Performance improvements: @DouweM, @smcgivern, @ayufan

Feature blocks

Due date: 2019-06-14 (6th working day before the 22nd)

The Product Managers are responsible for adding their feature blocks to the release post by the due date for general contributions. PMs are also responsible for adding any notable Community Contributions.

PMs: please check your box only when all your features and deprecations were added with completion (documentation links, images, etc). Pls don't check if there are still things missing.

Note: be sure to reference your Direction items and Release features. All items which appear in our Upcoming Releases page should be included in the relevant release post.

• Mention the below individuals after feature freeze
• Manage (@jeremy)
• Plan (@ebrinkman)
• Create:Source Code (@jramsay)
• Create:Knowledge (@phikai)
• Create:Editor (@phikai)
• Verify (@brendan)
• Package (@trizzi)
• Release (@cstasik)
• Secure (@NicoleSchwartz )
• Configure (@danielgruesso)
• Monitor - APM (@kencjohnston)
• Monitor - Debug & Health (@sarahwaldner)
• Fulfillment (@tipyn)
• Distribution (@ebrinkman)

Tip: make your own checklist:

• Primary features
• Improvements (secondary features)
• Deprecations
• Documentation updated
• Documentation links added to the post
• Community contributions documented and added to the post
• Illustrations added to the post (compressed, max width = 1000 pixels)
• Update features.yml (with accompanying screenshots)

Review

Ideally, complete the review until the 4th working day before the 22nd, so that the 3rd and the 2nd working day before the release could be left for fixes and small improvements.

Content review

Due date: 2019-06-17 (5th working day before the 22nd)

Performed by the author of the post: @jeremy

• Label MR: ~"blog post" release review-in-progress
• Check all comments in the thread (make sure no contribution was left behind)
• Check Features' names
• Check Features' availability (Core, Starter, Premium, Ultimate badges)
• Reorder primary and secondary features according to their relevance to the user (most impactful features come first)
• Check Documentation links (all feature blocks contain documentation_link)
• Make sure documentation_link links to feature webpages when available
• Features were added to data/features.yml (with accompanying screenshots)
• Check all images size < 300KB (compress them all with TinyPNG or similar tool)
• Pull master, resolve any conflicts
• Make sure all discussions in the thread are resolved
• Mention @markpundsack, @kencjohnston, @jlenny, and @ebrinkman to remind them to review
• Assign the MR to the next reviewer (structural check)
• Lock features.yml with File Locking on the 21st

Structural check

Due date: 2019-06-19 (3rd working day before the 22nd)

The structural review is performed by a technical writer: @eread

• Add the label review-structure
• Pull master into the release post branch and resolve any conflicts
• Check frontmatter (entries, syntax)
• Check image_title and twitter_image
• Check image shadow applied correctly in release post data. Look for image_noshadow: true when an image already has shadow
• Ensure videos and iframes are wrapped in <figure class="video_container"> tags (for responsiveness)
• Ensure all text is consistently hard wrapped at a suitable column boundary
• Check headings are in sentence case
• Check feature and product names are in capital case
• Check if images are harmonic/consistent
• Check any .gitkeep files and delete them if any
• Add or check cover img reference (at the end of the post). Data in cover_img in release post Yaml file
• Ensure content is balanced between the columns (both columns are even)
• Ensure links have meaningful text for SEO (e.g., "click here" is bad link text)
• Check for badges consistency (applied to all headings)
• Double check that all features are documented
• Check that all links to about.gitlab.com content are relative URLs
• Check the anchor links in the intro. All links in the release post markdown file should point to something in the release post Yaml file
• Remove any remaining instructions (comments) from the release post files
• Run a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links and ping reporters directly on Slack asking them to fix broken links
• Update the release post templates and release post handbook with anything that comes up during the process
• Pull master into the release post branch and resolve any conflicts (again)
• Report any problems from structural check in the #release-post channel by pinging the reporters directly for each problem. Do NOT ping @all or @channel nor leave a general message that no one will pay attention to. If possible, ensure any issues are tracked by open discussions in the merge request
• Post a comment in the #company-announcements channel linking to the review app + merge request reminding the team to take a look at the release post and to report problems in #release-post. Template to use (replace links):

  Hey all! This month's release post is almost ready! Take a look at it and report any problems in #release-post.
  MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/merge_requests/1234
  Review app: https://release-12-0.about-src.gitlab.com/2019/06/22/gitlab-12-0-released/

• Remove the label review-structure.
• Assign the MR to the next reviewer (Marketing).

Further reviews

Due date: 2019-06-20 (2nd working day before the 22nd)

• Marketing review (PMMs - messaging lead): @johnjeremiah
  • Write the introduction (by the 6th working day before the 22nd)
  • Check/copyedit feature blocks
  • Check/copyedit features.yml
  • Check/copyedit homepage blurb
  • Check/copyedit social sharing text
  • Mention Mark P (@markpundsack) for final check
  • Remove the label review-in-progress
  • Assign the MR back to the author

On the 22nd

The author of the post is responsible for merging the MR and following up with possible adjustments/fixes: @jeremy.

At 12:00 UTC

• Read the important notes below
• At ~12:30 UTC, ping the release managers on the #releases Slack channel asking if everything is on schedule, and to coordinate timing with them:
  • If anything is wrong with the release, or if it's delayed, you must ping the messaging lead on #release-post so that they coordinate anything scheduled on their side (e.g., press releases, other posts, etc).
  • If everything is okay, the packages should be published at 13:30 UTC, and available publicly around 14:10 UTC.
  • Ask the release managers to ping you when the packs are publicly available (and GitLab.com is up and running on the release version)
• Mention @sumenkovic to remind him to send the swag pack to the MVP
• Check if all the anchor links in the intro are working
• Check if there are no broken links in the review app (use a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links)
• Pull master and fix any conflicts
• Check if there isn't any alert on Slack's #release-post and #company-announcements channels
• Check if there isn't any alert on this MR thread
• Check if the tweet copy is ready and someone is ready to share on social media

At 13:50 UTC

• Check if there aren't any conflicts. If there are any, pull master again and fix them.

Once the release manager confirmed that the packages are publicly available:

• Unlock features.yml just before merging.
• Verify that the 11.0 to 12.0 YT video has been made public: "It's still unlisted on YT, so we need to be sure to make it public just before the post goes live."
• Merge the MR at 14:10-14:20 UTC.
• Wait for the pipeline. It should take ~40min to complete.
• Check the look on social media with Twitter Card Validator and Facebook Debugger.
• Check for broken links again once the post is live.
• Share on social media (or make sure someone else does) only when you're sure everything is okay.
• Share the links to the post and to the tweet on the #release-posts and #company-announcements on Slack.

@dsumenkovic [is helping with the tweet](https://gitlab.slack.com/archives/C3TRESYPJ/p1560896427173700?thread_ts=1560894427.167300&cid=C3TRESYPJ when we go live, @evhoffmann is on the LinkedIn and FB posts at 9a Pacific. Thank you both very much for the help.

Important notes

• The post is to be live on the 22nd at 15:00 UTC. It should be merged and as soon as GitLab.com is up and running on the new release version (or the latest RC that has the same features as the release), and once all packages are publicly available. Not before. Ideally, merge it around 14:20 UTC as the pipeline takes about 40 min to run.
• The usual release time is 15:00 UTC but it varies according to the deployment. If something comes up and delays the release, the release post will be delayed with the release.
• Coordinate the timing with the release managers. Ask them to keep you in the loop. Ideally, the packages should be published around 13:30-13:40, so they will be publicly available around 14:10 and you'll be able to merge the post at 14:20ish.
• Once the post is live, wait a few minutes to see if no one spot an error (usually posted in #company-announcements), then share on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or make sure someone (Emily vH, JJ, Marcia) does. Coordinate the social sharing with them beforehand.
• Keep an eye on Slack and in the blog post comments for a few hours to make sure no one found anything that should be fixed.

data/release_posts/2019_06_22_gitlab_12_0_released.yml

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ features:
         [fast forking](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/607)
         by directly creating the fork in a deduplicated state. Currently the
         fork is first created, then deduplicated.
-    
+
     - name: "Git integration for JupyterHub"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/clusters/applications.html#jupyter-git-integration"
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ features:
       description: | # supports markdown
         Deploying JupyterHub via GitLab's Kubernetes integration provides an easy way to get started with
         Jupyter notebooks, which can be used to create and share documents that contain live code, visualizations, and even runbooks.
-        
+
         Starting with GitLab 12.0, JupyterLab’s Git extension is automatically provisioned and configured when installing JupyterHub
         onto your Kubernetes cluster. This integration enables full version control of your notebooks as well as issuance of Git
         commands within Jupyter. Git commands can be issued via the Git tab on the left panel or via Jupyter’s command line prompt.
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ features:
         In GitLab 12.0, we're very happy to welcome a contribution from [Wolphin](https://gitlab.com/q_wolphin) to improve this feature
         by allowing users to include multiple extends snippets in a single job and with multiple extends you can now achieve streamlined and dry CI configuration.  Thanks Wolphin!
-        
+
     - name: "Collapsable Job Logs"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: "" # required
@@ -143,11 +143,11 @@ features:
       stage: verify
       issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/14664"
       description: | # supports markdown
-        In GitLab 12.0, we're adding the ability to expand and collapse the log output from GitLab CI/CD jobs.  
-        This will allow users to more easily debug certain steps in the job, and provide a great overview of the steps when desired - 
-        or a detailed view if you want to see the entire output.  
-        
-        This originally started as a community contribution from [Matthias van de Meent](https://gitlab.com/matthias.vandemeent).  
+        In GitLab 12.0, we're adding the ability to expand and collapse the log output from GitLab CI/CD jobs.
+        This will allow users to more easily debug certain steps in the job, and provide a great overview of the steps when desired -
+        or a detailed view if you want to see the entire output.
+
+        This originally started as a community contribution from [Matthias van de Meent](https://gitlab.com/matthias.vandemeent).
         Thank you Matthias for your contribution!
     - name: "Lock all memberships to LDAP"
@@ -184,10 +184,10 @@ features:
       stage: manage
       issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/5615"
       description: |
-        Compliance-minded organizations may wish to ensure that projects - which may include important code in a repository - can only be 
-        archived, rather than deleted and permanently lost. With an instance-level setting to prevent project deletion by non-admins, 
+        Compliance-minded organizations may wish to ensure that projects - which may include important code in a repository - can only be
+        archived, rather than deleted and permanently lost. With an instance-level setting to prevent project deletion by non-admins,
         instances can feel more secure knowing that projects are being [archived](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/settings/#archiving-a-project)
-        and retained. 
+        and retained.
     - name: "Template inclusion in pipelines can now be enforced at the instance level"
       available_in: [premium, ultimate] # required
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ features:
         Note, versions of JGit prior to 3.5.0 are incompatible with the bitmap
         hash cache.
- 
+
     - name: "Feature Flag token rotation"
       available_in: [premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/operations/feature_flags.html#configuring-feature-flags" # webpage or documentation - required
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ features:
       reporter: kai # required
       stage: create # required if the feature belongs to a DevOps stage.
       issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/5276" # required
-      description: | 
+      description: |
        In 12.0 changes made in the Web IDE will now be synced to the Web Terminal. User changes made
        in the Web IDE can now be tested within the Web Terminal before committing them to the project.
@@ -375,12 +375,12 @@ features:
       description: | # supports markdown
         Existing installations of Knative can now take advantage of GitLab Serverless. Simply [add the existing
         cluster manually](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/clusters/#adding-an-existing-kubernetes-cluster),
-        add the relevant Serverless templates to your project, and GitLab will do the rest. 
-        
+        add the relevant Serverless templates to your project, and GitLab will do the rest.
+
         This means you can now use GitLab Serverless with hosted Knative offerings, such
         as Google's [Cloud Run on GKE](https://cloud.google.com/run/) or IBM's
         [hosted Knative service](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/containers?topic=containers-serverless-apps-knative).
-        
+
     - name: "Create issue for each triggered alert by default"
       available_in: [ultimate] # required
       documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/integrations/prometheus.html#taking-action-on-incidents-ultimate" # webpage or documentation - required
@@ -392,6 +392,17 @@ features:
         To make sure critical alerts do not get missed, issues will now be created by default. This configuration
         can still be disabled by navigating to Settings > Operations > Incidents.
+    - name: "Link and access Zoom meeting from Issue"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate] # required
+      documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/issues/issue_data_and_actions.html" # webpage or documentation - required
+      image_url: "" # optional - recommended
+      reporter: sarahwaldner # required
+      stage: monitor # required if the feature belongs to a DevOps stage.
+      issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/62966" # required
+      description: | # supports markdown
+          In 12.0, we have made it easy to collaborate with teammates on an issue via a Zoom conference call. Paste a Zoom meeting link in the description of an issue.
+          GitLab will detect the link and display a "Join Zoom meeting" button at the top underneath the title surfacing it to all collaborators.
+
     - name: "Get notified when your CI Minutes usage quota has run out"
       available_in: [free, bronze, silver, gold] # required
       documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/admin_area/settings/continuous_integration.html" # webpage or documentation - required
@@ -399,7 +410,7 @@ features:
       stage: manage # required if the feature belongs to a DevOps stage.
       issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/11629" # required
       description: | # supports markdown
-        Group owners will now be notified via email to let them know that the group's CI Minutes Usage Quota has expired, with instructions on how to purchase more CI Minutes. 
+        Group owners will now be notified via email to let them know that the group's CI Minutes Usage Quota has expired, with instructions on how to purchase more CI Minutes.
     - name: "Add ability to query epics GraphQL API"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
@@ -432,7 +443,7 @@ features:
       description: | # supports markdown
         Our existing design for discussions for merge requests and issues involved many boxes and borders, often times
         making it difficult to follow the conversation. In 12.0, we introduced a redesign to enhance the user experience of discussions.
-        
+
     - name: "Additional issue stats from the issues API"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: "https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/issues_statistics.html" # required
@@ -535,7 +546,7 @@ features:
       issue_url: "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/merge_requests/11226" # required
       description: | # supports markdown
         When dismissing a vulnerabilities identified by our scanners, there is now a field available to add a reason detailing why the vulnerability was dismissed. This will allow security teams and developers to be able to review the history and understand why items were not remediated.
-   
+
 # Omnibus and performance (required)
     - name: "Omnibus improvements"
@@ -608,13 +619,13 @@ upgrade:
 # DEPRECATIONS (optional)
 # include as many deprecation blocks as necessary
 deprecations:
-  - feature_name: "GitLab Geo requires Hashed Storage in GitLab 12.0"  
-    due: Jun. 22, 2019  
-    reporter: fzimmer   
+  - feature_name: "GitLab Geo requires Hashed Storage in GitLab 12.0"
+    due: Jun. 22, 2019
+    reporter: fzimmer
     description: |
       With GitLab 12.0, GitLab Geo requires [Hashed Storage](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/repository_storage_types.html#hashed-storage)
-      to mitigate race conditions on secondary nodes. Please use `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:geo:check` 
-      to see if Hashed Storage is enabled and all projects are migrated. See the 
+      to mitigate race conditions on secondary nodes. Please use `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:geo:check`
+      to see if Hashed Storage is enabled and all projects are migrated. See the
       documentation on [how to migrate to Hashed Storage](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/repository_storage_types.html#how-to-migrate-to-hashed-storage).
       This was also noted in [gitlab-ce#40970](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/40970).
@@ -647,31 +658,31 @@ deprecations:
       In order to see these deployments in your deploy boards all you need to do is push a new
       deployment and GitLab will use the new labels for your deployments.
-  
-  - feature_name: "Removal of `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` environment variable"  
-    due: Jun. 22, 2019  
-    reporter: danielgruesso  
+
+  - feature_name: "Removal of `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` environment variable"
+    due: Jun. 22, 2019
+    reporter: danielgruesso
     description: |
       The new `KUBE_INGRESS_BASE_DOMAIN` environment variable was
       [introduced as part of GitLab 11.8](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/52363). It is no longer
       necessary to use `AUTO_DEVOPS_DOMAIN` to define multiple domains as these can now be defined individually on the cluster page.
-  - feature_name: "Remove support for skip-auto-migrations file"  
-    due: Jun. 22, 2019  
-    reporter: ebrinkman  
+  - feature_name: "Remove support for skip-auto-migrations file"
+    due: Jun. 22, 2019
+    reporter: ebrinkman
     description: |
       In GitLab 12.0, we are completely [removing support for skip_auto_migrations file](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/issues/3787).
       This was previously deprecated in GitLab version 10.6.
-  
-  - feature_name: "Removal of Prometheus 1.x support"  
-    due: Jun. 22, 2019  
-    reporter: ebrinkman  
+
+  - feature_name: "Removal of Prometheus 1.x support"
+    due: Jun. 22, 2019
+    reporter: ebrinkman
     description: |
       In GitLab 12.0, we are completely [removing support for Prometheus 1.x](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/issues/3797).
-  - feature_name: "Deprecation of openSUSE 42.3"  
-    due: Jun. 22, 2019  
-    reporter: ebrinkman  
+  - feature_name: "Deprecation of openSUSE 42.3"
+    due: Jun. 22, 2019
+    reporter: ebrinkman
     description: |
       OpenSUSE 42.3 reaches end of life on June 30, 2019. We will continue to [build packages](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/issues/4395)
       for it until GitLab version 12.1, with plans to drop support in 12.2
@@ -728,7 +739,7 @@ deprecations:
       Some Linux distributions in which you could install GitLab Runner have reached
       End of Life support.
-      In GitLab 12.0, GitLab Runner no longer distributes packages to those Linux distributions. 
+      In GitLab 12.0, GitLab Runner no longer distributes packages to those Linux distributions.
       A full list of distributions which are no longer supported can be found in our
       [documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/linux-repository.html).
       Thanks, [Javier Jardón](https://gitlab.com/jjardon) for your
@@ -803,7 +814,7 @@ deprecations:
     reporter: NicoleSchwartz # required
     description: |  # example (supports markdown)
       Support for Python 2 would be dropped in a future GitLab release due to Python 2.7 reaching the [end of its life](https://pythonclock.org/) on January 1st, 2020.
- 
+
   - feature_name: "Secure License Management will start being called License Compliance in GitLab 12.0"
     due: GitLab 12.0. # example
     reporter: NicoleSchwartz # required