-####################
-Releng Release Files
-####################
-
-Projects can create a releases directory and then place a release file in it.
-Jenkins will pick this up and then promote the artifact from the staging log
-directory (log_dir) and tag the release with the defined version.
-if a maven_central_url is given artifact will be pushed there as well.
-
-example of a projects release file
+#######################
+Self-Serve Release Jobs
+#######################
+
+Self-serve release jobs allow a project team to direct Jenkins to
+promote a jar file or container image from a staging area to a release
+area. To trigger the action, create a releases/ or .releases/
+directory, add a release yaml file to it, and submit a change set with
+exactly one release yaml file to Gerrit. Upon merge of the change,
+Jenkins will sign the reference extrapolated by log_dir and promote
+the artifact. The expected format of the release yaml file is shown in
+examples below.
+
+The build node for maven and container release jobs must be CentOS,
+which supports the sigul client for accessing a signing server. The
+build node for container release jobs must have Docker installed.
+
+A release job can also be triggered from Jenkins via the "Build with
+parameters" action, removing the need for a release yaml file. The
+parameters must be filled out in the same way as a release yaml file,
+except for the special USE_RELEASE_FILE and DRY_RUN check boxes. The
+USE_RELEASE_FILE check box must be unchecked if the job is expected to
+run with a release file, while passing the required information as
+build parameters. Similarly, the DRY_RUN check box must be unchecked
+if the job needs to be tested while skipping repository promotion to
+Nexus.
+
+The special parameters are as follows::
+
+ GERRIT_BRANCH = master
+ VERSION = 1.0.0
+ LOG_DIR = example-project-maven-stage-master/17/
+ DISTRIBUTION_TYPE = maven
+ USE_RELEASE_FILE = false
+ DRY_RUN = false
+
+.. note::
+
+ The release file regex is: (releases\/.*\.yaml|\.releases\/.*\.yaml).
+ In words, the directory name can be ".releases" or "releases"; the file
+ name can be anything with suffix ".yaml".
+
+Example of a maven release file: