Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers, This is the first (0) candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.2.2.
This is a bug fix release in the 4.2 line. Release notes for the 4.2.2 release: https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.2-rc0/RELEASE_NOTES.html Please download, test and vote by *24 September, Monday 3PM GMT* Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release: https://downloads.apache.org/kafka/KEYS <https://kafka.apache.org/KEYS> * Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary): https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.2-rc0/ * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon: apache/kafka:4.2.2-rc0 apache/kafka-native:4.2.2-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/4.2.2-rc0/javadoc/index.html * Tag to be voted upon (off 4.2 branch) is the 4.2.2 tag: https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.2.2-rc0 * Documentation: https://kafka.apache.org/42/documentation.html * Protocol: https://kafka.apache.org/42/design/protocol * Successful CI builds for the 4.2 branch: Unit/integration tests: https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35603873087 System tests: https://confluent-open-source-kafka-system-test-results.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/4.2/2026-09-20--002.7c3ba21d-079a-4799-8f1e-1f798f499541--1789972353--confluentinc--4.2--0fbf14c557/report.html * Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.2 branch: Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35605915794 Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35605973880 Regards, Apoorv Mittal
