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Release Process

Documentation for releasing Helm charts and platform configuration for the CANFAR Science Platform.

CANFAR Release Cycle

The CANFAR Science Platform uses a version format YYYY.Q for quarterly releases:

  • 2025.1 - Q1 2025 release
  • 2025.2 - Q2 2025 release

Between releases, hotfix patches may be released as needed for critical issues.

Helm Chart Releases

Each Helm chart in this repository is versioned independently:

  • Charts follow semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
  • Release Please automation manages changelog and version bumps
  • Each chart has its own release cycle and CHANGELOG.md

Branching Model

  • main is the integration branch - all work merges via pull requests
  • Use conventional commits for automatic changelog generation
  • Hotfixes branch from the latest release tag and merge back to main

Release Workflow

1. Making Changes

  • Create a pull request to main
  • Use conventional commit messages (e.g., feat:, fix:, docs:)
  • Add appropriate labels for changelog categorization
  • Ensure all CI checks pass

2. Release Please Automation

Release Please automatically:

  • Detects changes to Helm charts
  • Determines version bump based on conventional commits
  • Updates CHANGELOG.md and Chart.yaml
  • Creates a release PR for each affected chart

3. Review and Merge

  • Review the generated changelog and version bump
  • Verify Helm chart values and configuration
  • Obtain required approvals
  • Merge the release PR to create tags and GitHub releases

4. Deployment

After release PR is merged:

  • Git tag is created automatically
  • GitHub release is published with changelog
  • Deploy to staging environment first
  • Run validation and smoke tests
  • Deploy to production after successful validation

Hotfix Process

For critical issues requiring immediate patches:

  1. Create hotfix/<issue> branch from affected release tag
  2. Apply fix and create PR to main
  3. Release Please generates patch release PR
  4. Follow standard review and merge process
  5. Deploy hotfix after testing

Pre-deployment Checklist

Before deploying a Helm chart release:

  • ✅ Review CHANGELOG for all changes
  • ✅ Verify chart values match intended configuration
  • ✅ Check for breaking changes or migrations
  • ✅ Ensure dependent services are compatible
  • ✅ Prepare rollback plan

Rollback Strategy

If issues are detected after deployment:

  1. Roll back to previous Helm chart version
  2. Document issue and root cause
  3. Create hotfix branch to address problem
  4. Follow hotfix process for patch release