Hi,
I downloaded the binaries and check the signature.
I also ran all tests within the Strimzi project (Apache Kafka on
Kubernetes) by using such binaries to build the container images.
From regression to upgrade testing everything looks fine.
+1 (non binding)
Thanks,
Paolo.
On Tue, 10 Feb 2026 at 16:28, Christo Lolov <christololov@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers,
>
> This is the RC4 candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.2.0.
>
> This release has many exciting changes:
> * Kafka Queues (Share Groups) is now production-ready with new
> features like the RENEW acknowledgement type for extended processing
> times, adaptive batching for coordinators, and comprehensive lag
> metrics.
> * Kafka Streams brings the server-side rebalance protocol to GA with a
> limited feature set, adds dead letter queue support in exception
> handlers, introduces anchored wall-clock punctuation for deterministic
> scheduling, and gives users full control over whether to send a leave
> group request on closing.
> * This release also delivers significant improvements to consistency
> and observability: CLI tools now feature standardized arguments like
> --bootstrap-server across all tools, metric naming has been corrected
> to follow the kafka.COMPONENT convention, and new idle ratio metrics
> provide better visibility into controller and MetadataLoader
> performance.
> * Security is enhanced with a new allowlist connector client
> configuration override policy, while thread-safety improvements to
> RecordHeader eliminate concurrency risks.
> * Additional highlights include external schema support in
> JsonConverter for reduced message sizes, dynamic configuration for
> remote log manager thread pools, and rack ID exposure in the Admin API
> for consumer and share group members.
>
> Release notes for the 4.2.0 release:
> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.0-rc4/RELEASE_NOTES.html
>
> *** Please download, test and vote by Friday, February 13, 5pm UTC
>
> Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release:
> https://kafka.apache.org/KEYS
>
> * Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary):
> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.0-rc4/
>
> * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
> apache/kafka:4.2.0-rc4
> apache/kafka-native:4.2.0-rc4
>
> * 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/4.2.0-rc4/javadoc/index.html
>
> * Tag to be voted upon (off 4.2 branch) is the 4.2.0 tag:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.2.0-rc4
>
> * Documentation:
> * Protocol:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/785
>
> * Successful CI builds for the 4.2 branch:
> Unit/integration tests:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21860071096
> System tests: I have started the tests in my environment and will share
> test results in the next ~24 hours.
>
> * Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.2 branch:
> Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM):
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21861574007
> Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native):
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21861786570
>
> Thanks,
> Christo
>
--
Paolo Patierno
*Senior Principal Software Engineer @ IBM**CNCF Ambassador*
Twitter : @ppatierno <http://twitter.com/ppatierno>
Linkedin : paolopatierno <http://it.linkedin.com/in/paolopatierno>
GitHub : ppatierno <https://github.com/ppatierno>
I downloaded the binaries and check the signature.
I also ran all tests within the Strimzi project (Apache Kafka on
Kubernetes) by using such binaries to build the container images.
From regression to upgrade testing everything looks fine.
+1 (non binding)
Thanks,
Paolo.
On Tue, 10 Feb 2026 at 16:28, Christo Lolov <christololov@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers,
>
> This is the RC4 candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.2.0.
>
> This release has many exciting changes:
> * Kafka Queues (Share Groups) is now production-ready with new
> features like the RENEW acknowledgement type for extended processing
> times, adaptive batching for coordinators, and comprehensive lag
> metrics.
> * Kafka Streams brings the server-side rebalance protocol to GA with a
> limited feature set, adds dead letter queue support in exception
> handlers, introduces anchored wall-clock punctuation for deterministic
> scheduling, and gives users full control over whether to send a leave
> group request on closing.
> * This release also delivers significant improvements to consistency
> and observability: CLI tools now feature standardized arguments like
> --bootstrap-server across all tools, metric naming has been corrected
> to follow the kafka.COMPONENT convention, and new idle ratio metrics
> provide better visibility into controller and MetadataLoader
> performance.
> * Security is enhanced with a new allowlist connector client
> configuration override policy, while thread-safety improvements to
> RecordHeader eliminate concurrency risks.
> * Additional highlights include external schema support in
> JsonConverter for reduced message sizes, dynamic configuration for
> remote log manager thread pools, and rack ID exposure in the Admin API
> for consumer and share group members.
>
> Release notes for the 4.2.0 release:
> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.0-rc4/RELEASE_NOTES.html
>
> *** Please download, test and vote by Friday, February 13, 5pm UTC
>
> Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release:
> https://kafka.apache.org/KEYS
>
> * Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary):
> https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.0-rc4/
>
> * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
> apache/kafka:4.2.0-rc4
> apache/kafka-native:4.2.0-rc4
>
> * 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/4.2.0-rc4/javadoc/index.html
>
> * Tag to be voted upon (off 4.2 branch) is the 4.2.0 tag:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.2.0-rc4
>
> * Documentation:
> * Protocol:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/785
>
> * Successful CI builds for the 4.2 branch:
> Unit/integration tests:
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21860071096
> System tests: I have started the tests in my environment and will share
> test results in the next ~24 hours.
>
> * Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.2 branch:
> Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM):
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21861574007
> Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native):
> https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/21861786570
>
> Thanks,
> Christo
>
--
Paolo Patierno
*Senior Principal Software Engineer @ IBM**CNCF Ambassador*
Twitter : @ppatierno <http://twitter.com/ppatierno>
Linkedin : paolopatierno <http://it.linkedin.com/in/paolopatierno>
GitHub : ppatierno <https://github.com/ppatierno>
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