Chia if this is the last blocker shall I start RC1
> On 25 Aug 2026, at 07:30, Chia-Ping Tsai <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> hi Omnia
>
> I have filed a blocker issue
> (https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/KAFKA-20982) to correct the
> docker-compose SASL settings, which currently block clients from connecting
> to the SASL listeners.
>
> Best,
> Chia-Ping
>
> On 2026/08/21 17:09:56 Omnia Ibrahim wrote:
>> Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers,
>>
>> This is the 1st candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.4.0.
>> Apache Kafka 4.4.0 is a minor release that includes 26 KIPs spanning
>> improvements to all components.
>>
>> Release notes for the 4.4.0 release:
>> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.4.0-rc0/RELEASE_NOTES.html
>>
>> Please download, test and vote by Monday, August 24, 2026 at 3:00pm BST
>> (7:00am PT)
>>
>> Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release:
>> https://downloads.apache.org/kafka/KEYS
>>
>> * Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary):
>> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.4.0-rc0/
>>
>> * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
>> apache/kafka:4.4.0-rc0
>> apache/kafka-native:4.4.0-rc0
>>
>> * Maven artifacts to be voted upon:
>> https://repository.apache.org/content/groups/staging/org/apache/kafka/
>>
>> * Javadoc:
>> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.4.0-rc0/javadoc/index.html
>>
>> * Tag to be voted upon (off 4.4 branch) is the 4.4.0 tag:
>> https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.4.0-rc0
>>
>> * Documentation:
>> PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905
>>
>> * Protocol:
>> PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905
>>
>> * Successful CI builds for the 4.4 branch:
>> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/32487577786
>>
>> * Docker Build Test Pipeline:
>> Blocked by a GitHub Actions allowlist issue (fix pending:
>> https://github.com/apache/kafka/pull/23229). The RC Docker images
>> were built and pushed successfully.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Omnia
