Update release process

.github/workflows/release_workflow.yml

@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ jobs:
             ${{ runner.os }}-
 
       # Using pip for Sphinx dependencies because it takes too long to reproduce a conda environment (~10 secs vs. 3-4 mins)
-      # Low risk trade-off with mismatching dependencies in `conda/zstash_dev.yml`
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: |
           pip install sphinx==5.2.3 sphinx_rtd_theme==1.0.0 sphinx-multiversion==0.2.4 docutils==0.16 "jinja2<3.1"
@@ -78,54 +77,3 @@ jobs:
           directory: gh-pages
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           force: true
-
-  publish-to-anaconda:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 10
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        shell: bash -l {0}
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-
-      - name: Cache Conda
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
-        env:
-          # Increase this value to reset cache if conda/zstash_dev.yml has not changed in the workflow
-          CACHE_NUMBER: 0
-        with:
-          path: ~/conda_pkgs_dir
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-conda-${{ env.CACHE_NUMBER }}-publish
-
-      - name: Set up Conda Environment
-        uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
-        with:
-          activate-environment: "zstash_publishing"
-          channel-priority: strict
-          python-version: 3.9
-          auto-update-conda: true
-          # IMPORTANT: This needs to be set for caching to work properly!
-          use-only-tar-bz2: true
-
-      - name: Additional Conda Config
-        run: |
-          conda install anaconda-client conda-build conda-verify
-          conda config --set anaconda_upload no
-
-      - name: Build Conda Package
-        run: conda build -c conda-forge --output-folder . .
-
-      - name: Publish to Anaconda (e3sm channel)
-        env:
-          ANACONDA_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ANACONDA_TOKEN }}
-        run: |
-          label="main"
-
-          for file in noarch/*.tar.bz2; do
-            if [[ "$file" == noarch/*"rc"*.tar.bz2 ]]; then
-               label="e3sm_dev"
-            fi
-          done
-
-          echo Uploading to conda-forge with \'$label\' label
-          anaconda upload --label $label noarch/*.tar.bz2 --force

docs/source/dev_guide/release.rst

@@ -48,8 +48,13 @@ Bumping the Version
 
 .. _github-release:
 
-Releasing on GitHub
--------------------
+Releasing on GitHub: release candidates
+---------------------------------------
+
+1. Create a tag for the release candidate at https://github.com/E3SM-Project/zstash/tags.
+
+Releasing on GitHub: production releases
+----------------------------------------
 
 1. Draft a new release `here <https://github.com/E3SM-Project/zstash/releases>`_.
 2. Set `Tag version` to ``v<version>``, **including the "v"**. `@Target` should be ``main``.
@@ -58,24 +63,30 @@ Releasing on GitHub
 
    * You can scroll through `zstash commits <https://github.com/E3SM-Project/zstash/commits/main>`_ for a list of changes.
 
-5. If this version is a release candidate (``<version>`` appended with ``rc``), checkmark `This is a pre-release`.
-6. Click `Publish release`.
-7. CI/CD release workflow is automatically triggered.
+5. Click `Publish release`.
+6. CI/CD release workflow is automatically triggered.
 
-Releasing on Anaconda
-------------------
 
-1. Be sure to have already completed :ref:`Releasing On GitHub <github-release>`. This triggers the CI/CD workflow that handles Anaconda releases.
-2. Wait until the CI/CD build is successful. You can view all workflows at `All Workflows <https://github.com/E3SM-Project/zstash/actions>`_.
-3. Check the https://anaconda.org/e3sm/zstash page to view the newly updated package.
+Releasing on conda-forge: release candidates
+--------------------------------------------
+
+1. Make a PR to `conda-forge <https://github.com/conda-forge/zstash-feedstock/>`_ from your fork of the feedstock. Note that the conda-forge bot does not work for release candidates.
 
-   * Release candidates are assigned the ``e3sm_dev`` label
-   * Production releases are assigned the ``main`` label
+   * Start from the current dev branch and update the version number and the sha256 sum manually.
+   * Set the build number back to 0 if needed.
+   * Make the dev branch the target of the PR. Then, the package build on conda-forge will end up with the ``e3sm_dev`` label.
 
-4. Notify the maintainers of the unified E3SM environment about the new release on the `E3SM Confluence site <https://acme-climate.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/WORKFLOW/pages/129732419/E3SM+Unified+Anaconda+Environment>`_.
+2. Check the https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/zstash page to view the newly updated package. Release candidates are assigned the ``e3sm_dev`` label.
 
-   * Be sure to only update the ``zstash`` version number in the correct version(s) of the E3SM Unified environment.
-   * This is almost certainly one of the versions listed under “Next versions”. If you are uncertain of which to update, leave a comment on the page asking.
+Releasing on conda-forge: production releases
+------------------
+
+1. Be sure to have already completed :ref:`Releasing On GitHub <github-release>`. This triggers the CI/CD workflow that handles Anaconda releases.
+2. Wait for a bot PR to come up automatically on conda-forge after the GitHub release. This can happen anywhere from 1 hour to 1 day later.
+3. Re-render the PR (see `docs <https://conda-forge.org/docs/maintainer/updating_pkgs.html#rerendering-feedstocks>`_).
+4. Merge the PR on conda-forge.
+5. Check the https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/zstash page to view the newly updated package. Production releases are assigned the ``main`` label.
+6. Notify the maintainers of the unified E3SM environment about the new release on the `E3SM Confluence site <https://acme-climate.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/WORKFLOW/pages/129732419/E3SM+Unified+Anaconda+Environment>`_.
 
 Creating a New Version of the Documentation
 -------------------------------------------