[VOL-5004] - Clone unit tests to run on a v2.12 branch

[VOL-5007]
[VOL-5010]

howto/release/preparation.rst
howto/release/ci-management/index.rst
howto/release/ci-management/create_lts_view.rst
-----------------------------------------------
  o Document new makefile targets added to help branch jenkins
  o jobs for release.

Change-Id: I79b27cb16a11c76417d5f6fc2458e4c2d1bee2e0
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index ccc99d0..6e44ecb 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.12.3
+2.12.4-dev