Kubernetes 1.26 Release Information

Information regarding the current release cycle including important dates, Release Team contact information, tracking spreadsheets and more!

Kubernetes 1.26: Electrifying

Kubernetes 1.26 Release Logo

Kubernetes 1.26 is named Electrifying to raise awareness that Kubernetes orchestrates huge systems that consume a lot of energy and this is simply a problem. Electrifying also represents the increased automation we use in the release team and the fact that this community is simply electrifying.

Tracking docs

Guides

Major release cycle events

The 1.26 release cycle is as follows:

Timeline

WhatWhoWhenWeekCI Signal
Start of Release CycleLeadMonday 5th September 2022week 1master-blocking
Start Enhancements TrackingEnhancements LeadMonday 5th September 2022week 1
Schedule finalizedLeadFriday 9th September 2022week 1
Team finalizedLeadFriday 9th September 2022week 1
1.26.0-alpha.1 releasedBranch ManagerTuesday 20th September 2022Week 3
Start Release Notes DraftRelease Notes LeadTuesday 20th September 2022week 3
Production Readiness FreezeEnhancements LeadThursday 29th September 2022week 4
Begin Enhancements FreezeEnhancements Lead01:00 UTC Friday 7th October 2022 / 18:00 PDT Thursday 6th October 2022week 5master-blocking, master-informing
1.26.0-alpha.2 releasedBranch ManagerTuesday 11th October 2022Week 6
Begin Friday APAC-friendly meetingsLeadFriday 21th October 2022Week 7
KubeCon NAOctober 24-28 2022week 8
1.26.0-alpha.3 releasedBranch ManagerTuesday 1st November 2022week 91.26-blocking, master-blocking, master-informing
Call for ExceptionsLeadMonday 31st October 2022week 9
Brace Yourself, Code Freeze is ComingComms / Bug TriageMonday 31st October 2022week 9
Begin Feature blog freezeComms Lead01:00 UTC Wednesday 2nd November 2022 / 18:00 PDT Tuesday 1st November 2022week 9
Release retrospective part 1Community17:00 UTC Wednesday 2nd November 2022 / 10:00 PDT Wednesday 2nd November 2022week 9
Begin Code FreezeBranch Manager01:00 UTC Wednesday 9th November 2022 / 17:00 PDT Tuesday 8th November 2022week 10
1.26.0-beta.0 releasedBranch ManagerThursday 10th November 2022week 10
Docs deadline — Open placeholder PRsDocs LeadThursday 10th November 2022week 10
Deprecations and Removals blog publishedCommsThursday 10th November 2022week 10
Begin Burndown (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday meetings)LeadMonday 14th November 2022Week 11
Test FreezeBranch Manager01:00 UTC Wednesday 16th November 2022 / 17:00 PDT Tuesday 15th November 2022week 11
Docs deadline — PRs ready for reviewDocs LeadTuesday 15th November 2022Week 11
1.26.0-rc.0 releasedBranch ManagerTuesday 15th November 2022week 11
release-1.26 branch createdBranch ManagerTuesday 15th November 2022week 11
release-1.26 jobs createdBranch ManagerTuesday 15th November 2022week 11
Major Themes deadlineCommsTuesday 15th November 2022week 11
Start final draft of Release NotesRelease Notes LeadTuesday 15th November 2022week 11
Release blog ready to reviewComms / Docs01:00 UTC Wednesday 16th November 2022 / 17:00 PDT Tuesday 15th November 2022week 11
Burndown Meetings daily (Tuesday & Thursday over Slack)LeadMonday 21st November 2022week 12
Major Themes completeRelease Notes LeadTuesday 29th November 2022week 13
Docs complete — All PRs reviewed and ready to mergeDocs LeadTuesday 29th November 2022week 13
Feature blogs ready to reviewEnhancement Owner / SIG LeadsTuesday 29th November 2022week 13
1.26.0-rc.1 releasedBranch ManagerTuesday 29th November 2022week 13
Release Notes complete — reviewed & merged to k/kRelease Notes LeadThursday 8th Decemberweek 14
v1.26.0 releasedBranch ManagerFriday 9th December 2022week 14
Release blog publishedCommsFriday 9th December 2022week 14
ThawBranch ManagerFriday 9th December 2022week 14
Release retrospective Part 2Community17:00 UTC / 09:00 PDT Tuesday 13th Decemberweek 15
Release retrospective part 3 (Note: Only if items get spill over from Retro Part 2, we will have Part 3)Community17:00 UTC / 09:00 PDT Wednesday 14th Decemberweek 15

Phases

Please refer to the release phases document.