Adds a RELEASING.md file to the root of the project (#3251)

Adds a RELEASING.md file to the root of the project. This has updated instructions for the new release workflow. Resolves #3108.

Signed-off-by: David Venable <[email protected]>

RELEASING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# Releasing
+
+This document outlines the process for releasing Data Prepper.
+
+## Release prerequisites
+
+Be sure you have:
+
+* Created a release branch.
+* Updated the version in the release branch.
+* Updated the THIRD-PARTY file.
+* Created the release notes file
+* Created the changelog file
+
+## Performing a release
+
+This section outlines how to perform a Data Prepper release using GitHub Actions and the OpenSearch build infrastructure.
+The audience for this section are Data Prepper maintainers.
+
+### Start the release Data Prepper action
+
+To run the release, go to the [Release Artifacts](https://github.com/opensearch-project/data-prepper/actions/workflows/release.yml)
+GitHub Action.
+
+Select the "Run workflow" option from the GitHub Actions UI. GitHub will prompt you with some options.
+
+#### Use workflow for
+
+Select the release branch which you are releasing for.
+Typically, this will be a branch such as `2.4`.
+However, you may select `main` for testing.
+
+#### Whether to create major tag of docker image or not.
+
+This will create a tag such as `2` which points to this version
+
+All releases have a full version tag. For example, `2.4.0`.
+The latest release on a major series can also have a tag applied such as `2`.
+Check this option if you are releasing the latest version withing that series of major versions.
+This value can be true for old major series as well such as the 1.x series.
+
+#### Whether to create latest tag of docker image or not.
+
+This will update the `latest` tag to point to this version.
+You should set this when releasing the latest version, but not patches to old versions.
+
+#### Run
+
+Press the "Run workflow" button.
+
+GitHub Actions will perform the release process.
+This includes building the artifacts, testing, drafting a GitHub release, and promoting to production
+
+### Approve issue
+
+The release build will create a new GitHub issue requesting to release the project.
+This needs two maintainers to approve.
+To approve, load [Data Prepper issues](https://github.com/opensearch-project/data-prepper/issues).
+Look for and open a new issue starting with _Manual approval required for workflow_.
+Verify that the metadata looks correct and that we want to release.
+Add a new comment on the issue with the word _approve_ or _approved_ in it.
+(See the issue for all allowed words)
+Once approved by two maintainers, the release build will be promoted to production.
+
+You can also deny a release by using _deny_ or _denied_ in the comment.
+
+**NOTE** The smoke tests currently report a build failure, even when they succeed. Thus, you need to manually verify the output.
+
+### Further details
+
+For more details on the release build, or to setup your own GitHub repository, see [release/README.md](release/README.md).

release/README.md

@@ -8,36 +8,5 @@ It is not a project and instead holds release notes and change logs for Data Pre
 
 ## Performing a Release
 
-This section outlines how to perform a Data Prepper release using GitHub Actions and the OpenSearch build infrastructure.
-The audience for this section are Data Prepper maintainers.
+See [RELEASING.md](../RELEASING.md) for instructions to follow for any release.
 
-### Prerequisites
-
-You should have created a RELEASE Issue in the [opensearch-build](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-build) project.
-
-### Building the Data Prepper Artifacts
-
-To run the release, go to the [Release Artifacts](https://github.com/opensearch-project/data-prepper/actions/workflows/release.yml)
-GitHub Action.
-
-Select the "Run workflow" option from the GitHub Actions UI. GitHub will prompt you to select a branch with the "Use workflow from" option. Select
-the release branch which you are releasing for. You may select `main` for testing.
-
-Press the "Run workflow" button.
-
-GitHub Actions will perform the release process. Please take note of the workflow run number. You will find this in the text "Release Artifacts #<worflow run number>"
-and use it when promoting to production.
-
-Wait for the job to complete successfully. Once the job completes successfully, you
-have released the artifacts to the Data Prepper staging repository.
-
-### Promotion to Production
-
-The Data Prepper staging repository organizes artifacts by build number. Thus to promote any given build, the opensearch-build maintainers need to know the build number to promote.
-When you are ready to promote any given build to production, update the RELEASE Issue you created in the opensearch-build project. The opensearch-build maintainers will
-then run the promotion job for the artifacts you specified.  
-
-Provide the following information as a comment in the RELEASE Issue:
-
-* `VERSION` - The version you are releasing (e.g. `1.3.0`)
-* `DATA_PREPPER_BUILD_NUMBER` - The workflow run number from the GitHub Action which build the artifacts. Do not include the `#`. e.g. `3`