VOL-4840 - Tracing ticket for release documentation.

release_notes/voltha_2.11.rst
-----------------------------
  o Version string updates for a few released components.

howto/release/index.rst
howto/release/components/index.rst
----------------------------------

howto/release/preparation.rst
howto/release/components/onos_dependencies.rst
----------------------------------------------
  o Begin documenting the variant release process for onos components.
  o ONOS publishes builds through maven central -vs- github and tags.

Misc text edits within documents to improve clarity.

Change-Id: Ib1179a1a9ea7c9c6e02f40644ab29fbbd7a83443
diff --git a/howto/release/components/onos_dependencies.rst b/howto/release/components/onos_dependencies.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b005a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/howto/release/components/onos_dependencies.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+VOLTHA Components: ONOS Dependencies
+====================================
+
+ONOS components are maintained by a series of maven projects.
+Releasing individual components will require:
+
+- Build and release dependencies:
+
+  - Three jenkins jobs
+
+    - modify version in pom.xml for release (remove -SNAPSHOT)
+    - publish artifact to maven central.
+    - modify version in pom.xml for release (append -SNAPSHOT)
+
+  - Three manual operations:
+
+    - Review and approve pull request to create a pom.xml release version.
+    - Release artifact to maven central.
+    - Review and approve pull request to create a pom.xml non-release version.
+
+  - Long idle window(s)
+
+First submit nop jobs to verify the packages can build and test cleanly.
+Bulk update copyright notice dates or modify comments within sources and submit.
+
+Search pom.xml for package version string
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+component sadis
+
+Package version strings should contain the suffix -SNAPSHOT.
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+   aaa/pom.xml
+   aaa/api/pom.xml
+   aaa/app/pom.xml
+
+.. code:: XML
+
+   <artifactId>sadis</artifactId>
+   <version>5.9.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+   <packaging>pom</packaging>
+
+   <properties>
+      <sadis.api.version>5.9.0-SNAPSHOT</sadis.api.version>
+   </properties>
+
+
+Next search pom.xml for dependent packages
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+component: aaa
+
+Dependent package version strings will be a released (non-SNAPSHOT) version.
+
+.. code:: XML
+
+   <properties>
+      <sadis.api.version>5.9.0</sadis.api.version>
+      <aaa.api.version>2.8.0-SNAPSHOT</aaa.api.version>
+   </properties>
+
+
+Dependency Hierarchy
+--------------------
+
+Components are built and released in version hiearchy order.
+
+sadis
+^^^^^
+
+- Verify -SNAPSHOT version string is present.
+- Dependent components: none
+- Scan pom.xml for version dependencies:
+
+.. code:: XML
+
+   <sadis.api.version>5.9.0-SNAPSHOT</sadis.api.version>
+
+
+aaa
+^^^
+
+- Verify -SNAPSHOT version string is present.
+- Dependent components: sadis
+- Modify pom.xml, update released version strings
+
+.. code:: XML
+
+   <sadis.api.version>5.9.0</sadis.api.version>
+
+
+igmpproxy
+^^^^^^^^^
+
+- Verify -SNAPSHOT version string is present.
+- Dependent components: aaa, bng, dhcpl2relay igmp, mcast, olt, sadis
+- Modify pom.xml, update released version strings
+
+.. code:: XML
+
+   <sadis.api.version>5.9.0</sadis.api.version>