Apache CloudStack 4.0 Release Plan

Apache CloudStack 4.0 Release Plan:
A lot has been happening since CloudStack was proposed as an project for Apache and accepted as an incubating project. Since April, a lot of work has been going on to do things “the Apache way” and prepare for the first release out of the Apache incubator. If you’re not on the developer mailing list, though, it might not be entirely clear what’s going on – or when you can expect the first release.
Here’s a quick update. Last week, Ewan Mellor proposed a tentative plan for the Apache CloudStack 4.0 release.
The version bump was put forward by George Reese, and decided by the Apache community. Reese suggested that the first Apache release should be a 4.0. It’s not because it’s an enormous feature leap from the 3.x series, but it will mark a major accomplishment. (Note that the plan is to go to a time-based release cycle after the first release. The actual cadence has not been decided yet.)
What’s Been Going On?
Since April, the work that’s been going on around Apache has largely focused on getting the proper infrastructure set up and the licensing of various components in order. That means setting up new mailing lists, a Review Board, new wiki, and so forth. It also means removing some pieces that don’t conform with the Apache licensing guidelines.
In short, it’s pretty typical for the first release from an incubating project to take a while to bootstrap. Once that process is finished, the next release (and the one after that, etc.) should happen much more quickly and on a regular schedule.
When Can I Get It?
The tentative schedule looks like this:

• Development continues until August 10th (Friday).
• 4.0 release branch opens on August 13th (Monday).
• Stability and bugfix work continues until August 17th (Friday).
• Release candidate build 1: August 17th (Friday).
• Testing and additional release candidates until August 31st (Friday).
• Tentative release date: September 4th (Tuesday).

Do be sure to read Ewan’s email and note that there’s a fair number of moving parts between now and the release.
In addition to getting the release code stabilized and such, we have to address some issues with IP clearance for what we can/can’t include in the release. That entails work with Apache Legal. Once that’s completed, we have to get a release approved by Podling Project Management Committee (PPMC) and Incubator Project Management Committee (IPMC). (The Apache Guide to Release Management During Incubation makes for good reading to understand all the issues here.) That’s two 72-hour windows that need to be observed, assuming a positive vote for both. So any issues that require a new release to be voted on will add several days to the release cycle.
That said, we have a goal and a schedule to get there. If you’re interested in the process, feel free to join the cloudstack-dev mailing list. Otherwise, we’ll be sure to post updates here about the release candidates and ask that members of the CloudStack community join in testing when it’s time to hammer the RCs for suitability.
Have questions? Leave a comment or ask on the cloudstack-dev list!
(Originally posted on Dissociated Press.)