Release Documentation
Introduction
Release documentation is the complete set of artifacts that describe what's changing, how to deploy it, and how to recover if problems arise. Proper documentation is essential for:
- Communication: Inform stakeholders about changes
- Execution: Guide deployment teams through procedures
- Recovery: Enable fast rollback when needed
- Compliance: Meet audit and regulatory requirements
- Knowledge transfer: Preserve institutional knowledge
In the CD Model, release documentation is prepared during Stage 8 (Start Release) and reviewed during Stage 9 (Release Approval).
Release Notes
Purpose
Release notes communicate what changed to stakeholders: developers, operations, support teams, and end users.
Audiences:
- Technical: Developers, DevOps, system administrators
- Business: Product managers, executives, sales
- End Users: Customers using the software
Required Sections
New Features: User-facing capabilities added
## New Features
- **Dark Mode**: Toggle between light and dark themes in settings
- **Export to PDF**: Download reports as PDF files
- **Multi-factor Authentication**: Optional MFA for enhanced security
Enhancements: Improvements to existing features
## Enhancements
- Improved search performance (50% faster response times)
- Enhanced error messages with actionable guidance
- Updated dashboard layout for better usability
Bug Fixes: Issues resolved
## Bug Fixes
- Fixed authentication timeout issue causing unexpected logouts (#1234)
- Corrected timezone handling in reports (#1456)
- Resolved memory leak in background job processor (#1789)
Breaking Changes: Incompatibilities requiring user action
## Breaking Changes
- **API Endpoint Renamed**: `/v1/users` → `/v2/users`
- **Action Required**: Update client code to use new endpoint
- **Migration Guide**: See docs/migration-v2.md
- **Configuration Format Changed**: YAML replaced JSON
- **Action Required**: Convert config files to YAML format
- **Tool Provided**: `./convert-config.sh`
Security Fixes: Vulnerabilities addressed
## Security
- Patched XSS vulnerability in comment rendering (CVE-2024-1234)
- Fixed SQL injection risk in search functionality (CVE-2024-5678)
- Updated dependencies with known vulnerabilities
Deprecations: Features being phased out
## Deprecations
- **Legacy API (v1)**: Will be removed in version 2.0 (March 2024)
- **Action**: Migrate to v2 API before deprecation deadline
- **Old Dashboard**: Replaced by new dashboard, will be removed in v1.5
Known Issues: Documented limitations
## Known Issues
- Dark mode: Minor contrast issue on settings page (will fix in v1.2.1)
- Export to PDF: Large reports (>100 pages) may timeout (workaround: split report)
Writing Effective Release Notes
DO:
- ✅ Write for your audience (technical vs business vs end-user)
- ✅ Be specific ("50% faster" not "improved performance")
- ✅ Link to issue tracker (#1234)
- ✅ Provide migration guidance for breaking changes
- ✅ Use active voice ("Added feature" not "Feature was added")
DON'T:
- ❌ Use jargon for end-user release notes
- ❌ Omit breaking changes (users need to know!)
- ❌ Be vague ("various bug fixes")
- ❌ Forget to mention security fixes
- ❌ Skip documentation for "obvious" changes
Deployment Runbook
Purpose
The deployment runbook is a step-by-step guide for executing the production deployment, ensuring consistency and reducing errors.
Required Sections
Pre-deployment Checklist:
## Pre-deployment Checklist
- [ ] Database backup completed and verified
- [ ] Monitoring alerts configured for new version
- [ ] On-call team notified of deployment window
- [ ] Maintenance window scheduled (if required)
- [ ] Rollback procedure reviewed and understood
- [ ] Deployment artifacts verified (checksums match)
Deployment Steps: Detailed commands with explanations
Expected: Service stops within 30 seconds
2. Database Migration
Expected: Migration completes in ~2 minutes
Adds columns: user_preferences, theme_setting
3. Deploy New Version
Expected: Artifacts copied, permissions set
4. Start Application
Expected: Application starts within 30 seconds
5. Verify Health
Expected: 200 OK response with {"status": "healthy"}
**Health Check Verification**:
```markdown
## Health Checks
### Application Health
- Endpoint: `GET /health`
- Expected: 200 OK
- Response: `{"status": "healthy", "version": "1.2.0"}`
### Database Health
- Endpoint: `GET /health/db`
- Expected: 200 OK
- Response: `{"database": "connected", "migrations": "current"}`
### Redis Health
- Endpoint: `GET /health/redis`
- Expected: 200 OK
- Response: `{"redis": "connected"}`
Smoke Tests: Basic functionality validation
## Smoke Tests
### Test 1: User Login
1. Navigate to https://app.example.com/login
2. Enter test credentials
3. Verify successful login
### Test 2: API Call
```bash
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v2/users \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-d '{"name": "Test User"}'
Expected: 201 Created response
Test 3: Background Jobs
- Check queue:
redis-cli LLEN job_queue - Expected: Jobs processing (queue length decreasing)
**Contact Information**:
```markdown
## Contacts
- **Primary**: ops-team@example.com
- **Escalation**: engineering-lead@example.com
- **Emergency**: +1-555-0123 (on-call phone)
## Slack Channels
- #ops-deployments (deployment status)
- #incidents (if issues arise)
Rollback Procedure
Purpose
The rollback procedure enables fast recovery when deployment issues are detected, minimizing production impact.
Required Sections
Rollback Triggers: When to rollback
## Rollback Triggers
Initiate rollback if any of the following occur:
- Error rate > 1% for more than 5 minutes
- P95 response time > 500ms for more than 5 minutes
- Health check failures
- Critical functionality broken (login, payment, core workflows)
- Database migration failed
- User-reported critical issues (>5 reports in 15 minutes)
Rollback Steps: Detailed recovery procedure
2. Rollback Database (if migration was destructive)
⚠️ WARNING: Only if migration was destructive (deleted columns/tables)
- This deployment: Migration was NON-destructive (added columns only)
- Action: Do NOT rollback database
3. Deploy Previous Version
4. Start Application
5. Verify Health
Expected: 200 OK, version 1.1.0
6. Verify Functionality
- Test user login
- Test API calls
- Check error rates in monitoring
Estimated Rollback Time
2-3 minutes from decision to rollback complete
**Database Considerations**: Special care for database changes
```markdown
## Database Rollback Considerations
### This Deployment (v1.2.0)
- Migration: Added columns `user_preferences`, `theme_setting`
- Type: NON-destructive (safe to rollback application)
- Database rollback: NOT REQUIRED
### If Data Written to New Columns
⚠️ CAUTION: If users already saved preferences, rolling back database will lose that data
- Decision: Application rollback only (keep database changes)
- Effect: New columns empty after rollback (acceptable)
### General Guidelines
- Additive changes (add columns): Safe to keep
- Destructive changes (drop columns): Must rollback with caution
- Data migrations: Assess case-by-case
Verification After Rollback:
## Post-Rollback Verification
1. **Health Checks**: All endpoints healthy
2. **Error Rate**: Back to normal (<0.1%)
3. **Response Time**: P95 < 200ms
4. **User Reports**: No new critical issues
5. **Monitoring**: Dashboards show normal metrics
## Communication After Rollback
1. Update #ops-deployments: "Rolled back to v1.1.0"
2. Notify stakeholders: Deployment reverted, investigating issues
3. Schedule postmortem: What went wrong, how to prevent
Risk Assessment
Purpose
Risk assessment identifies what could go wrong and plans mitigation strategies.
Risk Analysis Template
## Risk Assessment: v1.2.0 Deployment
### High-Risk Changes
#### Risk 1: Database Migration
- **Description**: Adding new columns to user table
- **Likelihood**: Low (tested in PLTE)
- **Impact**: High (affects all users if fails)
- **Mitigation**:
- Tested in PLTE with production data size
- Migration time measured: 2 minutes
- Rollback procedure tested
- Backup verified before deployment
#### Risk 2: API Endpoint Rename
- **Description**: `/v1/users` → `/v2/users` (breaking change)
- **Likelihood**: Medium (clients may not have updated)
- **Impact**: High (breaks client applications)
- **Mitigation**:
- v1 endpoint deprecated 3 months ago
- Clients notified multiple times
- v1 endpoint will remain active for 2 weeks
- Monitoring v1 usage (currently <1% of traffic)
### Medium-Risk Changes
#### Risk 3: Dark Mode Feature
- **Description**: New dark mode theme
- **Likelihood**: Low
- **Impact**: Medium (UI issues possible)
- **Mitigation**:
- Extensively tested in Stage 5/6
- Feature flag controlled (can disable instantly)
- Gradual rollout (10% → 50% → 100%)
### Rollback Plan
- **Estimated rollback time**: 2-3 minutes
- **Rollback triggers**: Error rate > 1%, critical functionality broken
- **Rollback tested**: Yes, in PLTE
- **Database rollback**: Not required (additive changes only)
Test Evidence
Purpose
Test evidence provides proof of quality, demonstrating the release meets production readiness criteria.
Evidence Types
Test Execution Reports: From Stages 2-6
- Unit test results (JUnit XML, HTML)
- Integration test results
- Acceptance test results (IV, OV, PV)
- Coverage reports (Cobertura, HTML)
Security Scan Results: From Stages 2, 3, 6
- SAST results (Semgrep, Gosec)
- Dependency vulnerabilities (Trivy)
- Container image scans
- DAST results (OWASP ZAP)
- Compliance checks
Performance Metrics: From Stage 6
- Load test results (JMeter, Gatling)
- Response time distributions (P50, P95, P99)
- Throughput metrics
- Resource utilization
- Regression analysis
Stakeholder Sign-offs: From Stage 7
- Product owner approval
- QA sign-off
- Security review (if required)
- Compliance approval (if regulated)
Documentation Generation
Manual vs Automated
Automated (where possible):
- Release notes: Generate from commit messages and issue tracker
- Test evidence: Auto-collect from CI/CD pipeline
- Performance metrics: Export from monitoring system
- Version information: Extract from version control
Manual (requires human judgment):
- Deployment runbook: Custom per release
- Rollback procedure: Assess database changes
- Risk assessment: Evaluate business impact
- Stakeholder communication: Contextual decisions
Automation Example
# generate-release-notes.sh
# Extract version
VERSION=$(git describe --tags)
# Generate release notes from commits
echo "# Release $VERSION" > RELEASE_NOTES.md
echo "" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
# New features (commits with feat:)
echo "## New Features" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
git log --oneline --grep="feat:" v1.1.0..HEAD | sed 's/^/- /' >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
# Bug fixes (commits with fix:)
echo "## Bug Fixes" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
git log --oneline --grep="fix:" v1.1.0..HEAD | sed 's/^/- /' >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
# Attach test evidence
echo "## Test Evidence" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
echo "- Test pass rate: $(cat test-results/pass-rate.txt)" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
echo "- Code coverage: $(cat test-results/coverage.txt)" >> RELEASE_NOTES.md
Best Practices Summary
- Start documentation early: Begin at Stage 8, not during deployment
- Review before approval: Stage 9 reviews documentation completeness
- Keep it updated: Update runbook if deployment steps change
- Test rollback: Practice rollback procedure in PLTE
- Automate where possible: Generate from commits, tests, scans
- Be specific: "Migration takes 2 minutes" not "migration is fast"
- Include contacts: Who to call when things go wrong
- Version control: Store documentation with code
- Clear rollback triggers: Objective criteria, not gut feel
- Stakeholder communication: Inform before, during, after deployment
Next Steps
- Release Approval Patterns - How documentation is reviewed
- Release Quality Gates - Stage 9 approval process
- CD Model Stages 8-12 - Release stages in context
Quick Reference
Required Documents
| Document | Purpose | Owner | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Notes | Communicate changes | Product Owner | 8 |
| Deployment Runbook | Guide deployment | DevOps | 8 |
| Rollback Procedure | Enable recovery | DevOps | 8 |
| Test Evidence | Prove quality | QA | 5-6 |
| Security Reports | Confirm security | Security | 6 |
| Performance Results | Validate performance | QA | 6 |
| Stakeholder Sign-offs | Confirm approval | Product | 7 |
| Risk Assessment | Document risks | All | 9 |
Release Notes Content
| Section | Required | Content |
|---|---|---|
| New Features | Yes | User-facing capabilities added |
| Enhancements | Yes | Improvements to existing features |
| Bug Fixes | Yes | Issues resolved with references |
| Breaking Changes | If applicable | Incompatibilities requiring user action |
| Security | If applicable | Vulnerabilities addressed |
| Deprecations | If applicable | Features being phased out |
| Known Issues | If applicable | Documented limitations |
Test Evidence Requirements
| Evidence Type | Source | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Test execution reports | CI/CD | JUnit XML, HTML |
| Code coverage | CI/CD | Cobertura, HTML |
| Security scan results | SAST/DAST | SARIF, HTML |
| Performance metrics | Load testing | JMeter, Gatling |
| Compliance checks | Audit tools | PDF, HTML |
Stakeholder Sign-offs
| Role | Responsibility | Sign-off |
|---|---|---|
| Product Owner | Feature completeness | Required |
| QA Lead | Quality validation | Required |
| Security | Security approval | If applicable |
| Compliance | Regulatory approval | If applicable |
| Operations | Deployment readiness | Required |
Tutorials | How-to Guides | Explanation | Reference
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