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RELEASING.md

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+# Emissary Releasing Workflow
+
+Table of Contents
+=================
+
+* [Introduction](#introduction)
+* [Versioning](#versioning)
+* [Release Types](#release-types)
+* [Publishing a Release](#publishing-a-release)
+
+## Introduction
+
+Release process uses GitHub actions and involves:
+- Creating a release branch to perform the following actions:
+  - Dry run a maven release
+  - Remove the "-SNAPSHOT" suffix from the version and create scm tag
+  - Create a GitHub release and upload artifacts
+- If patch release, delete the patch branch
+- For a formal release only, increment snapshot version on master branch 
+- Publish the artifacts to GitHub Maven Repo
+
+The release process used for this repository creates a branch for every release that is prefixed with `release/`. Tags are not added nor are releases performed on the `master` branch. The `master` branch is the target for merging new commits and for development releases (-SNAPSHOT) only. All patches will originate using a `patch/` prefixed branch and once complete a new `release/` branch will be created. 
+
+## Versioning
+
+While not strictly enforced, versioning generally follows the [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/) Guide. 
+
+## Release Types
+
+### Formal Release
+
+Formal release for the project and is intended to be stable. 
+
+```
+Action: `Maven: Release`
+Options:
+- From: `Branch: master` 
+- Type: `Release`
+- Suffix: Leave blank
+```
+Creates a branch called `release/<version>` and performs release. One commit is added to `master` only to increment to the next snapshot version.
+
+
+### Patch Release
+
+Releases may have bugs or vulnerabilities with a high enough severity that requires a patch release to fix. Patch releases can only be performed from a patch branch (described below).
+
+#### Create Patch Branch
+
+Creating a patch branch can be done manually or using the GitHub action. The action was added as a convenience, and is not required as part
+of the workflow. 
+
+Note: When manually creating a patch branch, the name must start with `patch/` and must be based on a release branch, i.e. `release/<version>`.
+```
+Action: `Create a Patch Branch`
+Options:
+- From: `Branch: release/<version>`
+```
+Convenience action to simply create a branch called `patch/<version>`. The action must be run from a release branch, i.e. `release/<version>`.
+
+#### Release Patch
+
+Patch release for the project that intended to fix one or more bugs/vulnerabilities for a release.  Patches are not intended for new functionality 
+unless it is directly supporting a bugfix/hotfix.
+
+```
+Action: `Maven: Release`
+Options:
+- From: `Branch: patch/<version>`
+- Type: `Patch`
+- Suffix: Leave blank
+```
+Releases patch fixes from a branch called `patch/<version>`, i.e. `patch/8.0.x`. A release branch called `release/<version>` is created
+and the release is performed. When finished, the patch branch is deleted. No commits are made to `master`.
+
+### Iterative Release (Milestone)
+
+Like snapshots, iterative releases are not guaranteed to be stable, but allow for markers in the development stage and allow for testing and
+feedback before a formal release. Currently, we support milestone releasing but the functionality can easily be extended to create other iterative
+release types, e.g. alpha, beta, release candidates.
+
+```
+Action: `Maven: Release`
+Options:
+- From: `Branch: master`
+- Type: `Milestone`
+- Suffix: `-M1` <- this is just an example it can be anything, e.g. `M1` OR `-MILESTONE1`
+```
+
+Creates a branch called `release/<version><suffix>`, i.e. `release/8.0.0-M1`, and performs release. No commits are added to `master`.
+
+## Publishing a Release
+
+Publishing a release makes the artifacts available to other projects/teams. Artifacts are pushed to
+[GitHub maven repository](https://github.com/orgs/NationalSecurityAgency/packages?repo_name=emissary).
+```
+Action: `Maven: Publish Packages to GitHub`
+Options to use:
+- From: `Branch: release/<version>`
+```
+Pushes release artifacts to a repo using `maven deploy`.