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+# Release v0.X.Y <milestone name>
+
+fun blurb about the name, what's in the release
+
+## Major Features And Improvements
+
+* bulleted
+* list of features and improvements
+
+## Breaking Changes
+
+* bulleted
+* list
+* of
+* protocol changes/breaks
+* API breaks
+* CLI changes
+* etc.
+
+## Bug Fixes and Other Changes
+
+* can be pulled from commit log, or synthesized
+
+## Thanks to our Contributors
+
+This release contains contributions from many people at Solana, as well as:
+
+  pull from commit log
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
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+# Solana Release process
+
+## Introduction
+
+Solana uses a channel-oriented, date-based branching process described [here](https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/blob/master/rfcs/rfc-005-branches-tags-and-channels.md).
+
+## Release Steps
+
+### Changing channels
+
+When cutting a new channel branch these pre-steps are required:
+
+1. Pick your branch point for release on master.
+2. Create the branch.  The name should be "v" + the first 2 "version" semantic versionig fields from Cargo.toml.  For example, a Cargo.toml with version = "0.9.0" implies the next branch name is "v0.9".
+3. Update Cargo.toml to the next semantic version (e.g. 0.9.0 -> 0.10.0).
+4. Push your new branch to solana.git
+5. Land your Carto.toml change as a master PR.
+
+At this point, ci/channel-info.sh should show your freshly cut release branch as "BETA_CHANNEL" and the previous release branch as "STABLE_CHANNEL".
+
+### Updating channels (i.e. "making a release")
+
+We use [github's Releases UI](https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases) for tagging a release.
+
+1. Go [there ;)](https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases).
+2. Click "Draft new release".
+3. Paste in [this template](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/solana-labs/solana/master/.github/RELEASE_TEMPLATE.md) and fill it in.
+4. Test the release by generating a tag using semver's rules.  First try at a release should be <branchname>.X-rc.0.
+5. Verify release automation:
+   1. [Crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/solana) should have an updated Solana version.
+   2. ...
+6. After testnet deployment, verify that testnets are running correct software.  http://metrics.solana.com should show testnet running on a hash from your newly created branch.