Release Flatcar Container Linux Alpha 3913.0.0, Beta 3874.1.0, Stable 3815.2.1

[sayanchowdhury]

The release of the following Flatcar Container Linux version is planning March 18th, 2024

• Alpha 3913.0.0
• Beta 3874.1.0
• Stable 3815.2.1

The blocker issues for the release are:

• [x] initrd_size_decrease: remove mlxsw_spectrum/mlxsw_core kernel modules https://github.com/flatcar/scripts/pull/1734
• [x] add dracut i18n_module required for systemd https://github.com/flatcar/bootengine/pull/87
• [x] Update to systemd v255 https://github.com/flatcar/scripts/pull/1679

1. Preparation

Owner: Sayan

• [x] A. Go/No-Go hackmd doc created from HackMD template for test tracking and release notes: (update the link here)
• [x] B. All planned changes are merged & blocker bugs are fixed, last nightly reviewed for problems.
• [x] C. Check that the kernel PR are merged for the channel(s) to be released.

2. Build

Owner: Sayan

• [x] A. Branched off the main branch (only for new major).
• [x] B. Tagged all the build branches.
• [x] C. Started the Jenkins builds, post the links into this issue as comment.

3. Release

i. The Go/No-Go Meeting

Owner: Sayan

• [x] A. Test status captured in the HackMD document.
• [x] B. All tests are Green.
• [x] C. Release notes / announcements added to Go/No Go doc from container/image_changes job by selecting Timestamps: None.
• [x] D. QA: Checked the diff for image file list, packages, and image size in the container/image_changes job output.
• [x] E. Conduct Matrix Go/No Go meeting (inc. release notes review).

ii. Artifacts goes public

Owner: Sayan

• [x] A. Created the Release Notes on the scripts repo for the respective tags on GitHub as GitHub Releases.
• [x] B. Ran the container/release Release job.
• [x] C. Images uploaded with copy-to-origin.sh.
• [x] D. Symlink to "current" updated with set-symlink.sh.
• [x] E. Website updated with ./update-flatcar-versions.sh and PR merged.

iii. Payload

Owner: @dongsupark

• [x] A. Update payload signed/uploaded.
• [x] B. Release package published in Nebraska (Prerequisite: 3.ii.E should marked done).

iv. Cloud Marketplace & Cluster API

Owner:

• A. Azure

  • [ ] Offers updated and started publishing.
  • [ ] Sent the offers to publish to Live.

• B. GCP

  • [ ] Offer deployment package uploaded to Google Bucket & submit for verification.
  • [ ] Offer Publish

• C. Cluster API for new Stable

  • [ ] Azure: Manually run ./azure-sig.sh to create New Shared Community Gallery Images
  • [x] ~~OpenStack: documentation~~

4. Announcements

Owner:

• [x] A. Sent announcement to Mailing Lists
• [x] B. Sent Tweet out to Twitter, and Toot out to Mastodon
• [x] C. Brief version announcement in slack (k8s slack #flatcar) and the Flatcar Matrix channel

[jepio]

Are we sure the systemd-255 PR is ready for the next release?

[sayanchowdhury]

We had a discussion yesterday, and we are pushing to release the systemd-255 PR for the next release. In case, there are too many blockers we would go without it.

[jepio]

That's fair, didn't know about the discussion.

[ader1990]

From what I understood, it's better to have the systemd upgrade as fast as possible so that it is available in the alpha channel to be tried on, given that we have the CIs passing and a good degree of confidence that the change is in a good shape.

[t-lo]

Fixed a typo in the Beta version (it's 3874.1.0, not 3878.1.0).

[sayanchowdhury]

Alpha 3913.0.0 http://jenkins.infra.kinvolk.io:8080/job/container/job/packages_all_arches/3664/cldsv/ Beta 3874.1.0 http://jenkins.infra.kinvolk.io:8080/job/container/job/packages_all_arches/3662/cldsv/ Stable 3815.2.1 http://jenkins.infra.kinvolk.io:8080/job/container/job/packages_all_arches/3663/cldsv/

[sayanchowdhury]

Flatcar website PR: https://github.com/flatcar/flatcar-website/pull/312