Refactor and rewrite Python scripts in releng/ in Go

[xmudrii]

What should be cleaned up or changed:

We have a bunch of Python scripts in releng/ directory. These scripts are used to handle creating release branch jobs. These scripts also:

• fetch values such as latest Kubernetes and Go version
• handle updating auto-generated files
• handle removing jobs for EOL release branches
• wrap config-rotator and config-forker written in Go

These Python scripts have several problems:

• We need to run them in a Docker container to ensure correct Python version and environment. There are some issues and challenges doing that on Mac M1 and M2
• Kubernetes is a Go project and many of us are more experienced in Go. Having these scripts in Go would make it easier to run and test those scripts, but also refactor and debug when needed

That said, I think we should consider rewriting these scripts in Go. Additionally, we should consider wrapping everything (config-rotator, config-forker, and existing Python scripts) in a single binary.

Provide any links for context:

See #29387 for more details

/priority important-longterm
/sig release
cc @kubernetes/release-engineering

[jeremyrickard]

I think this is a good idea.

[cpanato]

+1

[wasup-yash]

hey, can I work on this? and can you provide the main references to what exactly is needed to get this issue resolved as I am not much experienced in go but willing to learn more about this and contribute to solving this issue.

[wasup-yash]

hey, can I work on this? and can you provide the main references to what exactly is needed to get this issue resolved as I am not much experienced in go but willing to learn more about this and contribute to solving this issue.

@xmudrii any updates on this how can i get started with this ?

[xmudrii]

@wasup-yash Sorry for delay. I'm on PTO for the next week or two, but I can follow up on this once I'm back.

[wasup-yash]

@wasup-yash Sorry for delay. I'm on PTO for the next week or two, but I can follow up on this once I'm back.

no worries xD

[sbdtu5498]

/assign

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/lifecycle stale

[xmudrii]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[dims]

/milestone v1.31

[k8s-ci-robot]

@dims: The provided milestone is not valid for this repository. Milestones in this repository: [someday, v1.24, v1.25]

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In response to this:

/milestone v1.31

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[k8s-triage-robot]

The Kubernetes project currently lacks enough contributors to adequately respond to all issues.

This bot triages un-triaged issues according to the following rules:

• After 90d of inactivity, lifecycle/stale is applied
• After 30d of inactivity since lifecycle/stale was applied, lifecycle/rotten is applied
• After 30d of inactivity since lifecycle/rotten was applied, the issue is closed

You can:

• Mark this issue as fresh with /remove-lifecycle stale
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Please send feedback to sig-contributor-experience at kubernetes/community.

/lifecycle stale

[cpanato]

/remove-lifecycle stale
/assign

[k8s-triage-robot]

The Kubernetes project currently lacks enough contributors to adequately respond to all issues.

This bot triages un-triaged issues according to the following rules:

• After 90d of inactivity, lifecycle/stale is applied
• After 30d of inactivity since lifecycle/stale was applied, lifecycle/rotten is applied
• After 30d of inactivity since lifecycle/rotten was applied, the issue is closed

You can:

• Mark this issue as fresh with /remove-lifecycle stale
• Close this issue with /close
• Offer to help out with Issue Triage

Please send feedback to sig-contributor-experience at kubernetes/community.

/lifecycle stale

[xmudrii]

/remove-lifecycle stale

Update: some of the Python scripts might be removed as we consider replacing them with already existing fork-per-release mechanism.