[VOTE] 4.2.1 RC4

[PoAn Yang]

Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers,

This is the second candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.2.1.

This is the first bug fix release for Apache Kafka 4.2 with fixes as described in the release notes. In the second candidate, it adds KAFKA-19851 and KAFKA-20380.

Release notes for the 4.2.1 release:
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc4/RELEASE_NOTES.html

Please download, test and vote by Tuesday, May 19, 9pm PT.

Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release:
https://kafka.apache.org/KEYS

* Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary):
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc4/

* Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
apache/kafka:4.2.1-rc4
apache/kafka-native:4.2.1-rc4

* Maven artifacts to be voted upon:
https://repository.apache.org/content/groups/staging/org/apache/kafka/

* Javadoc:
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc4/javadoc/index.html

* Tag to be voted upon (off 4.2 branch) is the 4.2.1 tag:
https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.2.1-rc4

* Documentation:
https://kafka.apache.org/42/documentation.html

* Protocol:
https://kafka.apache.org/42/design/protocol/

* Successful CI builds for the 4.2 branch:
Unit/integration tests: https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25717277218
System tests: https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/746/, https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/747/, https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/748/

* Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.2 branch:
Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25728469988
Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25728486740

Thanks,
PoAn

[Lucas Brutschy]

+1 (non-binding)

Verified on macOS arm64, JDK 17:

* GPG signatures and SHA512 checksums for source, binary, and
site-docs tarballs
* LICENSE/NOTICE present
* Built source with ./gradlew jar — BUILD SUCCESSFUL
* git tag 4.2.1-rc4 commit matches the shipped jar's
kafka-version.properties commitId
* KRaft quickstart: format --standalone, broker start,
topic/produce/consume
* KIP-1071 streams group: ran WordCountDemo with
group.protocol=streams; logs show StreamsGroupHeartbeatRequestManager
and counts aggregate correctly across rounds. Exercised
kafka-streams-groups.sh --list/--describe/--members/--state/--offsets/
--verbose; --reset-offsets correctly rejected while Stable, accepted
once Empty
* Docker images apache/kafka and apache/kafka-native: both start,
produce/consume works against each, commitId matches the tag
* Documentation, javadoc, protocol, release-notes, and GitHub tag URLs
all reachable
* Maven staging artifacts present with Last-Modified matching the rc4
tag date
* Did not rerun the full test suite locally; relied on the linked
Apache CI run

Thanks PoAn for running the release!

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[Josep Prat]

Hi,

I did the following:

- checked the signatures and checksums

- built from source

- ran the tests

- Tested Docker Images:

-- can start

-- can create topics

- ran quickstart

- ran sample apps with consumer groups

- checked Java client interaction from artifacts (admin, producer, consumer and streams)

- checked Tiered Storage offloads to remote storage (with Aiven's plugin)

- checked Kafka Connect

Verified on Linux with JDK 21

+1 (binding)

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Josep Prat Sr Engineering Director, Streaming Services, Aiven josep...@aiven.io  |  +491715557497 aiven.io

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