diff --git a/jjb/onos-app-release.yaml b/jjb/onos-app-release.yaml
index cf34927..83e2eaa 100644
--- a/jjb/onos-app-release.yaml
+++ b/jjb/onos-app-release.yaml
@@ -58,11 +58,5 @@
     project-type: pipeline
     concurrent: true
 
-    pipeline-scm:
-      script-path: 'Jenkinsfile.release'
-      scm:
-        - git:
-            url: '{gerrit-server-url}/cord-onos-publisher'
-            branches:
-              - 'master'
+    dsl: !include-raw-escape: pipeline/onos-app-release.groovy
 
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/onos-app-release.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/onos-app-release.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01b3454
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/onos-app-release.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+// Copyright 2019-present Open Networking Foundation
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+def app = '${app}'
+def version = '${version}'
+def nextVersion = '${nextVersion}'
+def branch = '${branch}'
+def jdkDistro = '${jdkDistro}'
+
+// This pipeline updates the <version> tag in the root pom.xml for the
+// given app repo, and pushes two new Gerrit changes:
+//   1) With version the given ${version} (e.g., 1.0.0)
+//   2) With ${nextVersion}-SNAPSHOT (e.g., 1.1.0-SNAPSHOT)
+//
+// Users must manually approve and merge these changes on Gerrit. Once merged,
+// it's up to the maven-publish and version-tag jobs to complete the release by
+// uploading artifacts to Sonatype and creating Git tags.
+
+def changeVersion(def newVersion) {
+  // Update the top-level <version> tag in the root pom.xml.
+  sh 'mvn versions:set -DnewVersion=' + newVersion + ' versions:commit'
+}
+
+// TODO: use the declarative pipeline syntax, like all other groovy files.
+//  This implementation is based on the legacy cord-onos-publisher/Jenkinsfile.release
+node ('ubuntu16.04-basebuild-1c-2g') {
+
+  sh 'echo Releasing ' + app + ' repository on ' + branch + ' branch'
+  sh 'echo Releasing version ' + version + ' and starting ' + nextVersion + '-SNAPSHOT'
+
+  // Set the JDK version
+  sh 'echo Using JDK distribution: ' + jdkDistro
+  sh 'sudo update-java-alternatives --set ' + jdkDistro
+  sh 'echo Java Version:'
+  sh 'java -version'
+
+  def userId = wrap([$class: 'BuildUser']) {
+    return env.BUILD_USER_ID
+  }
+
+  stage ('Configure system') {
+    echo "Job triggered by " + userId
+    // FIXME: supply Jenkins-owned known_hosts file via config_file_provider
+    //  https://jenkins.io/doc/pipeline/steps/config-file-provider/
+    sh 'ssh-keyscan -H -t rsa -p 29418 gerrit.opencord.org >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts'
+
+    sh 'git config --global user.name "Jenkins"'
+    sh 'git config --global user.email "do-not-reply@opencord.org"'
+
+    // GPG key used to sign maven artifacts
+    withCredentials([file(credentialsId: 'gpg-creds-maven', variable: 'GPUPG')]) {
+      sh 'tar -xvf $GPUPG -C ~'
+    }
+  }
+
+  stage ('Check out code') {
+    cleanWs()
+
+    sshagent (credentials: ['gerrit-jenkins-user']) {
+      git branch: branch, url: 'ssh://jenkins@gerrit.opencord.org:29418/' + app, credentialsId: 'gerrit-jenkins-user'
+
+      sh 'gitdir=$(git rev-parse --git-dir); scp -p -P 29418 jenkins@gerrit.opencord.org:hooks/commit-msg ${gitdir}/hooks/'
+    }
+  }
+
+  stage ('Move to release version') {
+    changeVersion(version)
+    sh 'git add -A && git commit -m "Release version ' + version + '"'
+  }
+
+  stage ('Verify code') {
+    def found = sh script:'egrep -R SNAPSHOT .', returnStatus:true
+
+    if (found == 0) {
+      timeout(time: 1, unit: 'HOURS') {
+        metadata = input id: 'manual-verify',
+            message: 'Found references to SNAPSHOT in the code. Are you sure you want to release?',
+            submitter: userId
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  stage ('Push to Gerrit') {
+    sshagent (credentials: ['gerrit-jenkins-user']) {
+      sh 'git push origin HEAD:refs/for/' + branch
+    }
+  }
+
+  stage ('Move to next SNAPSHOT version') {
+    def snapshot = nextVersion + '-SNAPSHOT'
+    changeVersion(snapshot)
+    sh 'git add -A && git commit -m "Starting snapshot ' + snapshot + '"'
+    sshagent (credentials: ['gerrit-jenkins-user']) {
+      sh 'git push origin HEAD:refs/for/' + branch
+    }
+  }
+
+  stage ('Finish') {
+    sh 'echo "Release done!"'
+    sh  'echo "Go to Gerrit and merge new changes"'
+    sh  'echo "Go to http://oss.sonatype.org and release the artifacts (after the maven-publish job completes)"'
+  }
+}
+