Add RELEASE.md

release_notes/RELEASE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Releasing OPEA
+
+## Release Cadence
+
+The following release cadence is for year 2024/2025. Please note that the dates listed below may not reflect the most up-to-date information
+
+| Version | Release Date |
+| --- | --- |
+| 0.6 | Jun 2024 |
+| 0.7 | Jun 2024 |
+| 0.8 | Jul 2024 |
+| 0.9 | Aug 2024 |
+| 1.0 | Sep 2024 |
+| 1.1 | Nov 2024 |
+| 1.2 | Jan 2025 |
+| 1.3 | Mar 2025 |
+| 1.4 | May 2025 |
+| 1.5 | Jul 2025 |
+| 1.6 | Sep 2025 |
+| 1.7 | Nov 2025 |
+
+## General Overview
+
+Releasing a new version of OPEA generally involves the following key steps:
+
+1. Feature/Dockerfile Freeze (2 weeks before the release)
+2. Code/Doc Freeze, and Creating the RC(Release Candidate) Branch (1 week before the release)
+3. Merging Cherry Picks to the RC Branch
+4. Creating Tag from RC Branch
+
+## Feature/Dockerfile Freeze
+
+Generally, this marks a point in the OPEA release process where no new features or Dockerfile updates are added to the `main` branch of OPEA projects. It typically occurs two weeks before the scheduled OPEA release.
+
+## Code/Doc Freeze, and Creating the RC Branch
+
+This is the point in the OPEA release process where no code changes or document changes are updated to the `main` branch of OPEA projects. It typically occurs one week before the scheduled OPEA release.
+
+### Preparing Creating RC Branch
+Following requirements needs to be met prior to creating the RC branch:
+- Implement all features and functionalities targeting this release.
+- Resolve all the known outstanding issues targeting this release.
+- Validation?? TODO
+
+### Creating RC Branch
+The RC branch are typically created from the `main` branch. The branch name must follow the following format: 
+```
+v{MAJOR}.{MINOR}rc
+```
+An example of this would look like:
+```
+v1.1rc
+```
+
+## Merging Cherry Picks to the RC Branch
+Fixes typically are necessary for bugs and regressions after code freeze. 
+
+### How to do Cherry Picking
+TODO
+
+### Cherry Picking Reverts
+TODO
+
+## Creating Tag from RC Branch
+The following requirements need to be met prior to creating final Release Candidate:
+- No outstanding issues in the milestone. No open issues/PRs whose has the milestone of this release(e.g. v1.1).
+- All the closed milestone PRs should be present in the release branch.
+
+You can use the following commands to create release tag.
+TODO
+
+