diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index a4e943372bd..3463cbb5c82 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -174,11 +174,20 @@ pull_request_rules:
           branches, such as:
           * `backport-7.17` is the label to automatically backport to the 7.17 branch.
           * `backport-8./d` is the label to automatically backport to the `8./d` branch. `/d` is the digit.
+          * `backport-8.x` is the label to automatically backport to the `8.x` branch.
 
           **NOTE**: `backport-skip` has been added to this pull request.
       label:
         add:
           - backport-skip
+  - name: add backport-8.x for the all the PRs targetting main
+    conditions:
+      - -label~=^backport-\d
+      - base=main
+    actions:
+      label:
+        add:
+          - backport-8.x
   - name: remove backport-skip label
     conditions:
       - label~=^backport-\d
@@ -360,3 +369,17 @@ pull_request_rules:
         labels:
           - "backport"
         title: "[{{ destination_branch }}] {{ title }} (backport #{{ number }})"
+  - name: backport patches to 8.x branch
+    conditions:
+      - merged
+      - base=main
+      - label=backport-8.x
+    actions:
+      backport:
+        assignees:
+          - "{{ author }}"
+        branches:
+          - "8.x"
+        labels:
+          - "backport"
+        title: "[{{ destination_branch }}] {{ title }} (backport #{{ number }})"
diff --git a/cmd/intake-receiver/version.go b/cmd/intake-receiver/version.go
index 740e7426b88..f5d3ff4c781 100644
--- a/cmd/intake-receiver/version.go
+++ b/cmd/intake-receiver/version.go
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
 package main
 
 // version matches the APM Server's version
-const version = "8.16.0"
+const version = "9.0.0"
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5aa8bc53446..c136119f214 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ x-logging: &default-logging
     max-size: "1g"
 services:
   elasticsearch:
+    # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
     image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
     ports:
       - 9200:9200
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ services:
     logging: *default-logging
 
   kibana:
+    # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
     image: docker.elastic.co/kibana/kibana:8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
     ports:
       - 5601:5601
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ services:
     logging: *default-logging
 
   metricbeat:
+    # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
     image: docker.elastic.co/beats/metricbeat:8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
     environment:
       ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS: '["http://elasticsearch:9200"]'
diff --git a/internal/version/version.go b/internal/version/version.go
index 26b6c4915d7..0ac5980913b 100644
--- a/internal/version/version.go
+++ b/internal/version/version.go
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
 package version
 
 // Version holds the APM Server version.
-const Version = "8.16.0"
+const Version = "9.0.0"
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
index 27e704a1a11..a38e4d1153c 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/apm-server.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ kind: ApmServer
 metadata:
   name: apm-server
 spec:
+  # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
   version: 8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
   count: 1
   http:
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
index 20c4d5fc99c..e06ace5efe4 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/elasticsearch.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ kind: Elasticsearch
 metadata:
   name: elasticsearch
 spec:
+  # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
   version: 8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
   auth:
     fileRealm:
diff --git a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
index 265df722443..c0aafd47726 100644
--- a/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
+++ b/testing/infra/k8s/base/stack/kibana.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ kind: Kibana
 metadata:
   name: kibana
 spec:
+  # TODO: replace with a pinned version such as 9.0.0-aaaaaaaa-SNAPSHOT
   version: 8.16.0-3a37a73c-SNAPSHOT
   count: 1
   elasticsearchRef: