🐛 Set previous release tag version for RELEASE CANDIDATE/BETA RELEASE

Makefile

@@ -997,11 +997,6 @@ serve-book: ## Build and serve the book (with live-reload)
 
 ## latest git tag for the commit, e.g., v0.3.10
 RELEASE_TAG ?= $(shell git describe --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)
-ifneq (,$(findstring -,$(RELEASE_TAG)))
-    PRE_RELEASE=true
-endif
-# the previous release tag, e.g., v0.3.9, excluding pre-release tags
-PREVIOUS_TAG ?= $(shell git tag -l | grep -E "^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$$" | sort -V | grep -B1 $(RELEASE_TAG) | head -n 1 2>/dev/null)
 ## set by Prow, ref name of the base branch, e.g., main
 RELEASE_ALIAS_TAG := $(PULL_BASE_REF)
 RELEASE_DIR := out
@@ -1166,7 +1161,7 @@ release-notes-tool:
 
 .PHONY: release-notes
 release-notes: release-notes-tool
-	./bin/notes --release $(RELEASE_TAG) > CHANGELOG/$(RELEASE_TAG).md
+	./bin/notes --release $(RELEASE_TAG) --previous-release-version "$(PREVIOUS_VERSION_TAG)" > CHANGELOG/$(RELEASE_TAG).md
 
 .PHONY: test-release-notes-tool
 test-release-notes-tool:

docs/release/release-tasks.md

@@ -360,15 +360,22 @@ The goal of this task is to keep the CAPI community updated on recent PRs that h
 
 #### Create PR for release notes
 1. Checkout the `main` branch.
-1. Generate release notes with:
+2. Generate release notes with:
 
+   1. RELEASE CANDIDATE/BETA RELEASE example:
    ```bash
    # RELEASE_TAG should be the new desired tag (note: at this point the tag does not yet exist).
-   # Can be also used for pre-releases. The warning banner for RC and beta releases will be determined automatically.
-   RELEASE_TAG=v1.6.x make release-notes
+   # PREVIOUS_VERSION_TAG is the previous released tag for determining the changes.
+   RELEASE_TAG=v1.7.x-rc.1 PREVIOUS_VERSION_TAG=tags/v1.7.x-rc.0 make release-notes
+   ```
+   **Note**: For a first pre-release version without a pre-release precedent, use above command without `PREVIOUS_VERSION_TAG`.
+   2. STABLE RELEASE example
+   ```bash
+   # RELEASE_TAG should be the new desired tag (note: at this point the tag does not yet exist).
+   RELEASE_TAG=v1.7.x make release-notes
    ```
 
-1. This will generate a new release notes file at `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md`. Finalize the release notes:
+3. This will generate a new release notes file at `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md`. Finalize the release notes:
     - [ ] Look for any `MISSING_AREA` entries. Add the corresponding label to the PR and regenerate the notes.
     - [ ] Look for any `MULTIPLE_AREAS` entries. If the PR does indeed guarantee multiple areas, just remove the `MULTIPLE_AREAS` prefix and just leave the areas. Otherwise, fix the labels in the PR and regenerate the notes.
     - [ ] Review that all areas are correctly assigned to each PR. If not, correct the labels and regenerate the notes.
@@ -381,8 +388,8 @@ The goal of this task is to keep the CAPI community updated on recent PRs that h
     - [ ] Sort manually all entries if you made any manual edits that might have altered the correct order.
     - [ ] **For minor releases:** Modify `Changes since v1.x.y` to `Changes since v1.x`
        <br>**Note**: The release notes tool includes all merges since the previous release branch was branched of.
-1. Checkout `main`, branch out from it and add `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md`.
-1. Open a pull request **against the main branch** with all manual edits to `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md` which is used for the new release notes. The commit and PR title should be `🚀 Release v1.x.y`.
+4. Checkout `main`, branch out from it and add `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md`.
+5. Open a pull request **against the main branch** with all manual edits to `CHANGELOG/<RELEASE_TAG>.md` which is used for the new release notes. The commit and PR title should be `🚀 Release v1.x.y`.
        <br>**Note**: Important! The commit should only contain the release notes file, nothing else, otherwise automation will not work.
 
 

hack/tools/release/notes/main.go

@@ -187,12 +187,6 @@ func validateConfig(config *notesCmdConfig, releaseType string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if releaseType != "" {
-		if config.previousReleaseVersion == "" {
-			return errors.New("--previous-release-version need to be set with RELEASE CANDIDATE/BETA RELEASE tag")
-		}
-	}
-
 	return nil
 }