DoDs:

1. Create release-3.x branch in openshift-service-mesh/sail-operator repo. Use the respective upstream release branch as a base
2. Create CI jobs for the new branch in openshift-release repo
3. Create a PR that copies the latest OSSM-specific changes from the main branch. You can do this quickly by running the following: git checkout main Makefile.vendor.mk && git checkout main docs/ossm && git checkout main ossm && make gen
4. Make sure that latest istio patch version is used ( e.g. for OSSM 3.0, we have istio 1.24.z ), if not, ask on the team slack channel about an upgrade in upstream sail operator, midstream istio and proxy)

QUESTION, TBD:

• will must-gather have separated release branch?

Links:

• OSSM 3.x release process doc - Downstream release - Branch preparation