Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers, This is the 2nd 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-rc1/RELEASE_NOTES.html Please download, test and vote by Friday, September 25, 2026, 12:30pm BST (4:30am 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-rc1/ * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon: apache/kafka:4.4.0-rc1 apache/kafka-native:4.4.0-rc1 * 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-rc1/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-rc1 * Documentation: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905 * Protocol: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905 * Successful CI builds for the 4.4 branch: Unit/integration tests: https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35717651111 System tests: [will provide it soon] * Documentation: PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905 * Protocol: PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/905 * Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.4 branch: Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35720261595 Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/35720261595 Thanks, Omnia
