Add Release github action

.github/workflows/README.md

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+# Workflow README.md
+## Automated Release
+
+The workflow in the action_release.yml automates the process of creating a new GitHub Release whenever a version tag is pushed to the repository. It uses a series of community actions to handle code checkout, release note generation, and release creation.
+
+It also allows for a manual creation of the release from the GitHub Actions page of the repository.
+
+This workflow heavily leveraged the [release](https://github.com/containers/podman/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml) workflow in Podman.  This README.md was
+initially generated by Gemini, and then gently massaged.
+
+## 🚀 Workflow Purpose
+
+The `action_release.yml` file defines a job that automatically:
+
+1.  Checks out the code corresponding to the pushed tag.
+2.  Generates structured release notes by analyzing merged Pull Requests between the previous tag and the new tag.
+3.  Creates an official GitHub Release using the newly generated notes as the release description.
+
+## ⚙️ How to Use It
+
+This workflow is **event-driven**, meaning you do not need to manually trigger it from the GitHub Actions tab. It is triggered by pushing a new Git tag.
+
+It can also be triggered "by hand" if so desired.  
+
+### Triggering the Release
+#### Automatic Triggering
+To run the workflow and create a new release, follow these steps in your local repository:
+
+1.  **Create a New Tag:** Use the `git tag` command to create an annotated tag for your new version (e.g., `v1.2.3`).
+
+    ```bash
+    git tag -a v1.2.3 -m "Release version 1.2.3"
+    ```
+
+2.  **Push the Tag:** Push the tag to your GitHub repository.
+
+    ```bash
+    git push upstream v1.2.3
+    ```
+
+Once the tag is pushed, GitHub will automatically detect the event and start the **Action Release** workflow.
+
+#### Manual Triggering
+
+In the event of a need to recreate a release, a GitHub Action can be run manually, as long as a tag exists for it.  Go to `https://github.com/{ProjectName}/actions` and select
+the "release" workflow in the left windowpane.  Once selected, a new window will come up with a `Run workflow` button.  Click on this, and answer
+the following questions in the form:
+
+  * **Release Version to build and upload:** Enter the version number for the already created tag in the project to build the release from.  It should be of the form `v.X.Y.Z`, or `v1.24.15`, for example.
+  * **Build only: Do not create the release** This defaults to `true`, allowing you to do the preliminary checking to see if everything is in place to build the release.  If you select `true`, the release will **NOT** be built.  If you select `false`, the release will attempt to build.
+  * **Send Mail to [email protected]** This defaults to `false`.  If set to true, an email will be generated and sent to the [email protected] page announcing the new release for the project. 
+
+## 🔑 Permissions and Requirements
+
+This workflow requires elevated permissions to interact with the GitHub API for generating notes and creating the release object.
+
+To ensure the workflow runs successfully, the job configuration must include the following permissions block, granting the default `GITHUB_TOKEN` the ability to write:
+
+```yaml
+jobs:
+  release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write # REQUIRED to create the release and fetch content
+    steps:
+      # ...
+```
+
+🧩 Key Actions Used (Inferred)
+The automation process relies on the following GitHub Actions:
+
+Action Name	Purpose
+actions/checkout@v5	Downloads a copy of the repository code to the runner.
+gableroux/[email protected]	Generates the Markdown content for the release notes based on the commit history and merged PRs between tags.
+dawidd6/[email protected] Create and formats email if requested.
+
+🛑 Troubleshooting
+If the workflow fails with an error, such as the AxiosError: Request failed with status code 404 (a common GitHub API error in release actions), consider the following:
+
+Check Permissions: Ensure your workflow or specific job has explicitly set permissions: contents: write to allow the default GITHUB_TOKEN to create the release.
+
+Verify Tags: Confirm that the tag you pushed exactly matches the pattern the workflow is listening for (e.g., v*).
+
+Previous Tag Existence: For release note generation to work correctly, a previous tag must exist to define the change range. Ensure your repository has at least one prior version tag.

.github/workflows/action_release.yml

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+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# This is a GitHub Action that will automatically create a release after a tag is pushed into the project
+# by someone, or by running from the "Actions" page of the project.   The interface in the Actions page will
+# ask for the Branch to run from, the Release Version to build, if it should create a release or just do
+# an initial build, and finally, if mail should be sent to the [email protected] email distribution lists.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+name: Release
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - '*'
+
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Release version to build and upload (e.g. "v9.8.7")'
+        required: true
+      buildonly:
+        description: 'Build only: Do not create release'
+        default: "true"  # 'choice' type requires string value
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - "true"  # Must be quoted string, boolean value not supported.
+          - "false"
+      sendmail:
+        description: 'Send Mail to [email protected]?'
+        default: "false"  # 'choice' type requires string value
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - "true"  # Must be quoted string, boolean value not supported.
+          - "false"
+
+# Set the permission for this workflow
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Get the version of the tag from input or from a push of it.
+# Then figure out the prior version of the project.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+jobs:
+  check:
+    name: Check
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - name: Determine Version
+      id: getversion
+      run: |
+        if [[ -z "${{ inputs.version }}" ]]
+        then
+              VERSION=${{ github.ref_name }}
+        else
+              VERSION=${{ inputs.version }}
+        fi
+        if ! grep -Eq 'v[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+(-.+)?)?)?$' <<<"$VERSION"
+          then
+            echo "Unable to parse release version '$VERSION' from github event JSON, or workflow 'version' input."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+
+        if grep -Eq '.+-dev$' <<<"$VERSION"
+        then
+          echo "Refusing to process a "-dev" version '$VERSION'"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        prevrelease=$(curl --retry 3 --silent -m 10 --connect-timeout 5 "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases/latest")
+        PRIORVERSION=$(echo "$prevrelease" | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/') >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "priorversion=$PRIORVERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "::notice::Building $VERSION"
+        echo "::notice::With Prior Version $PRIORVERSION"
+        echo "::notice::For the project ${{ github.event.repository.name }}"
+
+    - name: Just check, or build the release?
+      id: buildonly
+      run: |
+        # The 'tag' trigger will not have a 'buildonly' input set. Handle
+        # this case in a readable/maintainable way.
+        if [[ -z "${{ inputs.buildonly }}" ]]
+        then
+          BUILDONLY="false"
+        else
+          BUILDONLY=${{ inputs.buildonly }}
+        fi
+        echo "buildonly=$BUILDONLY" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    outputs:
+      version: ${{ steps.getversion.outputs.version }}
+      priorversion: ${{ steps.getversion.outputs.priorversion }}
+      buildonly: ${{ steps.buildonly.outputs.buildonly }}
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Start the release process
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  release:
+    name: Create Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: needs.check.outputs.buildonly == 'false'
+    needs: [check]
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    env:
+      VERSION: ${{needs.check.outputs.version}}
+      PRIORVERSION: ${{needs.check.outputs.priorversion}}
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout the main branch of this repository
+      uses: actions/checkout@v5
+      with:
+        ref: ${{needs.check.outputs.version}}
+
+    - name: Touch release notes file
+      run: |
+        touch $VERSION-release-notes.md
+
+    # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Create the Changelog
+    # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    - name: Conventional Changelog Action
+      id: changelog 
+      env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      uses: gableroux/[email protected]
+      with:
+         github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+         base_tag: ${{ needs.check.outputs.priorversion }}
+         head_tag: ${{ github.sha }}
+         repository: ${{ github.repository }}
+         auto_detect_new_contributors: 'true'
+
+    # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Create the Release
+    # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    - name: Create release
+      env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      run: |
+        title=$VERSION
+        if [[ $VERSION == *-rc* ]]; then
+          RC="--prerelease"
+          title="${title/rc/"RC"}"
+        else
+          # check if this version should not be marked latest
+          vers=${VERSION#"v"}
+          priorversion=${PRIORVERSION#"v"}
+          echo "::notice::With Prior Version ${priorversion}"
+          echo "::notice::With New Version ${vers}"
+
+          # sort -V -C returns 0 if args are ascending version order
+          if !(echo "${priorvers},${vers}" | tr ',' '\n' | sort -V -C)
+          then
+            LATEST="--latest=false"
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        # If we're generating the release notes, put the generated ones in the file.
+        releasenotes="$VERSION-release-notes.md"
+        echo "${{ steps.changelog.outputs.notes }}" > $releasenotes
+
+        gh release create $VERSION \
+            -t $title \
+            --notes-file $releasenotes \
+            --verify-tag \
+            $RC \
+            $LATEST
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# If requested, let's send an email notification if we're creating the release.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  notification:
+    name: Email notification
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [check, release]
+    if: needs.check.outputs.buildonly == 'false' && inputs.sendmail == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Format release email
+        id: format
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ needs.check.outputs.version }}
+        run: |
+          if grep -Eq '.+-rc' <<<"$VERSION"
+          then
+            RC_PREFIX="candidate "
+          fi
+
+          echo "mail_subj=${{ github.event.repository.name }} ${RC_PREFIX}${VERSION} Released" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          cat <<EOF>email_body.txt
+          Hi all,
+
+          Containers-lib ${RC_PREFIX}${VERSION} is now available.  You may view the full details at
+          https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/tag/$VERSION
+
+          Release ${RC_PREFIX}Notes:
+          --------------
+          EOF
+
+          echo ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} | gh auth login --with-token
+          gh release view $VERSION \
+            --repo ${{ github.repository }} --json=body --jq '.body' >> email_body.txt
+
+      # If the job fails, permit the operator to observe the contents if helpful.
+      - name: Provide release e-mail contents for examination
+        run: cat email_body.txt
+      - name: Send release notification e-mail
+        # Ref: https://github.com/dawidd6/action-send-mail
+        uses: dawidd6/[email protected]
+        with:
+          server_address: ${{secrets.ACTION_MAIL_SERVER}}
+          server_port: 465
+          username: ${{secrets.ACTION_MAIL_USERNAME}}
+          password: ${{secrets.ACTION_MAIL_PASSWORD}}
+          subject: ${{ steps.format.outputs.mail_subj }}
+          to: Podman List <[email protected]>
+          from: ${{secrets.ACTION_MAIL_SENDER}}
+          body: file://./email_body.txt