[FEATURE]: Automate release steps as requested in #7500

RELEASE.md

@@ -14,32 +14,18 @@ Create an issue with the checklist for the release by running `bash scripts/rele
 
 <!-- BEGIN_CHECKLIST -->
 
-1. Create a PR "Prepare release 1.x.x / 2.x.x" against main or maintenance branch ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/pull/6826)) by updating CHANGELOG.md to include:
-    * A new section with the header `1.x.x / 2.x.x (YYYY-MM-DD)` (copy the template at the top)
-    * A curated list of notable changes and links to PRs. Do not simply dump git log, select the changes that affect the users.
-      To obtain the list of all changes run `make changelog`.
-    * The section can be split into sub-section if necessary, e.g. UI Changes, Backend Changes, Bug Fixes, etc.
-    * Then upgrade the submodule versions and finally commit. For example:
-        ```
-        git submodule init
-        git submodule update
-        pushd jaeger-ui
-        git checkout main
-        git pull
-        git checkout {new_ui_version} # e.g. v1.5.0
-        popd
-        ```
-      * If there are only dependency bumps, indicate this with "Dependencies upgrades only" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-ui/pull/2431/files)).
-      * If there are no changes, indicate this with "No changes" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/pull/4131/files)).
-    * Rotate the below release managers table placing yourself at the bottom. The date should be the first Wednesday of the month.
-    * Add label `changelog:skip` to the pull request.
+1. Create a PR "Prepare release 1.x.x / 2.x.x" against main or maintenance branch ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/pull/6826)):
+    * **Automated option**: 
+        - First, create a tracking issue: `bash scripts/release/start.sh`
+        - Then, create the PR: `bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh v1.x.x v2.x.x`
+    * **Manual option**: Follow the [manual release preparation steps](#manual-release-preparation-steps) below
 2. After the PR is merged, create new release tags:
     ```
     git checkout main
-    git pull
-    git tag v1... -s  # use the new version
-    git tag v2... -s  # use the new version
-    git push upstream v1... v2...
+    git pull --ff-only upstream main
+    git tag v1.x.x -s -m "Release v1.x.x"
+    git tag v2.x.x -s -m "Release v2.x.x"
+    git push upstream v1.x.x v2.x.x
     ```
 3. Create a release on Github:
     * Automated:
@@ -54,15 +40,14 @@ Create an issue with the checklist for the release by running `bash scripts/rele
 
 ## Manual release
 
-    * Manual:
-       * Title "Release 1.x.x / 2.x.x"
-       * Tag `v1.x.x` (note the `v` prefix) and choose appropriate branch (usually `main`)
-       * Copy the new CHANGELOG.md section into the release notes
-       * Extra: GitHub has a button "generate release notes". Those are not formatted as we want,
-         but it has a nice feature of explicitly listing first-time contributors.
-         Before doing the previous step, you can click that button and then remove everything
-         except the New Contributors section. Change the header to `### 👏 New Contributors`,
-         then copy the main changelog above it. [Example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.55.0).
+* Title "Release 1.x.x / 2.x.x"
+* Tag `v1.x.x` (note the `v` prefix) and choose appropriate branch (usually `main`)
+* Copy the new CHANGELOG.md section into the release notes
+* Extra: GitHub has a button "generate release notes". Those are not formatted as we want,
+  but it has a nice feature of explicitly listing first-time contributors.
+  Before doing the previous step, you can click that button and then remove everything
+  except the New Contributors section. Change the header to `### 👏 New Contributors`,
+  then copy the main changelog above it. [Example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.55.0).
 
 ## Patch Release
 
@@ -78,6 +63,35 @@ Maintenance branches should follow naming convention: `release-major.minor` (e.g
    * Once the release tag is created, the `ci-release` workflow will kick in and deploy the artifacts for the patch release.
 5. Do not perform a new release of the documentation since the major.minor is not changing. The one change that may be useful is bumping the `binariesLatest` variable in the `config.toml` file ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/documentation/commit/eacb52f332a7e069c254e652a6b4a58ea5a07b32)).
 
+## Manual Release Preparation Steps
+
+If you prefer to manually create the release PR instead of using the automated script, follow these steps:
+
+1. Update CHANGELOG.md to include:
+    * A new section with the header `1.x.x / 2.x.x (YYYY-MM-DD)` (copy the template at the top)
+    * A curated list of notable changes and links to PRs. Do not simply dump git log, select the changes that affect the users.
+      To obtain the list of all changes run `make changelog`.
+    * The section can be split into sub-section if necessary, e.g. UI Changes, Backend Changes, Bug Fixes, etc.
+
+2. Update the UI submodule to the latest version:
+    ```bash
+    git submodule init
+    git submodule update
+    pushd jaeger-ui
+    git checkout main
+    git pull
+    git checkout {new_ui_version} # e.g. v1.5.0
+    popd
+    ```
+    * If there are only dependency bumps, indicate this with "Dependencies upgrades only" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-ui/pull/2431/files)).
+    * If there are no changes, indicate this with "No changes" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/pull/4131/files)).
+
+3. Rotate the release managers table placing yourself at the bottom. The date should be the first Wednesday of the month.
+
+4. Commit your changes and create a pull request.
+
+5. Add label `changelog:skip` to the pull request.
+
 ## Release managers
 
 A Release Manager is the person responsible for ensuring that a new version of Jaeger is released. This person will coordinate the required changes, including to the related components such as UI, IDL, and jaeger-lib and will address any problems that might happen during the release, making sure that the documentation above is correct.

scripts/release/prepare.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+[[ $# -ge 2 ]] || { echo "Usage: $0 v1.x.x v2.x.x [--create-tags]"; exit 1; }
+
+v1="$1"
+v2="$2"
+create_tags=false
+
+if [[ "$3" == "--create-tags" ]]; then
+    create_tags=true
+fi
+
+# Git operations (only skip in dry-run)
+if [[ "${DRY_RUN:-}" != "true" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$create_tags" == "true" ]]; then
+        # Tag creation mode
+        git checkout main
+        git pull --ff-only upstream main
+        echo "About to create and push tags: $v1 and $v2"
+        echo "This will run:"
+        echo "  git tag $v1 -s -m \"Release $v1\""
+        echo "  git tag $v2 -s -m \"Release $v2\""
+        echo "  git push upstream $v1 $v2"
+        echo ""
+        read -p "Continue? (y/N): " -n 1 -r
+        echo
+        if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+            git tag "$v1" -s -m "Release $v1"
+            git tag "$v2" -s -m "Release $v2"
+            git push upstream "$v1" "$v2"
+            echo "Tags created and pushed successfully!"
+        else
+            echo "Tag creation cancelled."
+        fi
+    else
+        # PR creation mode
+        # Generate changelog 
+        make changelog > changelog_content.tmp
+
+        # Update CHANGELOG.md directly (no awk complexity)
+        current_date=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d")
+        echo "## $v1 / $v2 ($current_date)" > new_changelog.md
+        echo "" >> new_changelog.md  
+        cat changelog_content.tmp >> new_changelog.md
+        echo "" >> new_changelog.md
+        cat CHANGELOG.md >> new_changelog.md
+        mv new_changelog.md CHANGELOG.md
+
+        # Update jaeger-ui submodule
+        git submodule update --init jaeger-ui
+        cd jaeger-ui
+        git checkout main  
+        git pull
+        cd ..
+
+        git checkout -b "prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+        git add CHANGELOG.md jaeger-ui
+        git commit -m "Prepare release $v1 / $v2"
+        git push origin "prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+        gh pr create --title "Prepare release $v1 / $v2" --label changelog:skip
+        echo ""
+        echo "PR created successfully. After merging the PR, run:"
+        echo "bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh $v1 $v2 --create-tags"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "DRY RUN: Changes made locally. Would create PR for prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+fi
+
+# Cleanup
+rm -f changelog_content.tmp

scripts/release/start.sh

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ if ! current_version_v1=$(make "echo-v1"); then
 fi
 
 # removing the v so that in the line "New version: v1.66.1", v cannot be removed with backspace
-clean_version="${current_version_v1#v}" 
+clean_version="${current_version_v1#v}"
 
 IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$clean_version"
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ if ! current_version_v2=$(make "echo-v2"); then
 fi
 
 # removing the v so that in the line "New version: v1.66.1", v cannot be removed with backspace
-clean_version="${current_version_v2#v}" 
+clean_version="${current_version_v2#v}"
 
 IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$clean_version"
 
@@ -56,22 +56,38 @@ echo "Using new version: ${new_version}"
 
 
 
-TMPFILE=$(mktemp "/tmp/DOC_RELEASE.XXXXXX") 
-wget -O "$TMPFILE" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaegertracing/documentation/main/RELEASE.md
+cmd_v1="v${user_version_v1}"
+cmd_v2="v${user_version_v2}"
 
-# Ensure the UI Release checklist is up to date.
-make init-submodules
+issue_body=$(cat << EOF
+## Prepare Jaeger Release ${cmd_v1} / ${cmd_v2}
 
-issue_body=$(python scripts/release/formatter.py "${TMPFILE}" "${user_version_v1}" "${user_version_v2}")
+This issue tracks the release of Jaeger ${cmd_v1} / ${cmd_v2}.
+
+**Automated option**: Run \`bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh ${cmd_v1} ${cmd_v2}\` to automatically create the PR with changelog updates.
+
+**Manual option**: Follow the [manual release preparation steps](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/blob/main/RELEASE.md#manual-release-preparation-steps) in \`RELEASE.md\`.
+
+---
+
+### Tagging
+
+After merging the PR, create signed tags and push them:
+
+References: #7496
+EOF
+)
 
 if $dry_run; then
-  echo "${issue_body}"
+  printf "%s\n" "${issue_body}"
+  exit 0
 else
-  gh issue create -R jaegertracing/jaeger --title "Prepare Jaeger Release ${new_version}" --body "$issue_body"
+  issue_output=$(gh issue create -R jaegertracing/jaeger --title "Prepare Jaeger Release ${new_version}" --body "$issue_body")
+  issue_number=$(echo "$issue_output" | grep -o '#[0-9]*' | head -1)
+  echo "Created tracking issue: $issue_output"
+  echo ""
+  echo "Next step: Run the following command:"
+  echo "bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh ${cmd_v1} ${cmd_v2}"
 fi
 
-rm "${TMPFILE}"
-
-exit 1;
-