Kubernetes v1.32: state of the release and important deadlines [Week 11]

[Frederico Muñoz]

Greetings, Kubernetes community! Time for another update on the v1.32
release cycle as we approach the release date [0].

...Then Athena put it into the mind of Penelope to show herself to the
suitors, that she might make them still more enamoured of her...

-- The Odyssey, Book XVIII

* Release highlights

One important part of the Kubernetes release cycle is to highlight the new
things that it will bring, to show to our users the features that v1.32 will
make available in alpha, beta, or GA form: the Release blog is our more direct
way to signal the end of the release cycle, and the one that reaches more users
and contributors.

This is why I would like to remind everyone -- and specifically SIG leads and
chairs -- to *add their feedback to the release highlights discussion* [2] in
the next days; we have _extended the deadline_ to take KubeCon NA into
consideration, but we need to close it this week. Without your feedback we might
miss some important enhancements, so please go over the Enhancements board for
v1.32 [2] and identify the features that should be highlighted.

* Code Freeze analysis

Code Freeze was two weeks ago [0], and you will find the updates on the Release
Meeting agenda [3]. A quick summary:

- We received 2 Test Freeze and 3 Code Freeze exception requesta.
- Both Test Freeze requests were approved.
- One Code Freeze request was cancelled.
- Two Code Freeze requests were approved

Of the Code Freeze approved, one was recently reverted.

* Retro session

Just as we start looking into the future with the release highlights, it's also
time to look back into this release cycle, to reflect on what we did and to
identify areas for possible improvement. We had the first Kubernetes v1.32 Retro
earlier this week [4]. A second session will be scheduled for a later date.

* Important deadlines

As per the release timeline [0]:

- Docs Freeze: Tuesday 26th November 2024
- Release Highlights complete: Tuesday 3rd December 2024
- v1.32.0-rc.1 released: Tuesday 3rd December 2024
- v1.32.0 released: Wednesday 11th December 2024


A warm thank you to everyone that has helped us in this release journey so far,
and especially to the Release Team Leads and Shadows. It has been a privilege to
work with every single one of you.

All the best,
--
Frederico Muñoz

Kubernetes v1.32 Release Lead
on behalf of the Release Team

[0]: https://github.com/kubernetes/sig-release/blob/master/releases/release-1.32/README.md
[1]: https://github.com/kubernetes/sig-release/discussions/2639
[2]: https://bit.ly/k8s132-enhancements
[3]: https://bit.ly/k8s132-releasemtg
[4]: https://bit.ly/k8s132-retro