Polkadot v0.9.40 Release checklist

[github-actions]

Release Checklist

This is the release checklist for Polkadot v0.9.40. All following
checks should be completed before publishing a new release of the
Polkadot/Kusama/Westend/Rococo runtime or client. The current release candidate can be
checked out with git checkout release-v0.9.40

Runtime Releases

These checks should be performed on the codebase prior to forking to a release-
candidate branch.

• Verify spec_version has been incremented since the
  last release for any native runtimes from any existing use on public
  (non-private) networks. If the runtime was published (release or pre-release), either
  the spec_version or impl must be bumped.
• Verify previously completed migrations are
  removed for any public (non-private/test) networks.
• Verify pallet and extrinsic ordering has stayed
  the same. Bump transaction_version if not.
• Verify new extrinsics have been correctly whitelisted/blacklisted for
  proxy filters.
• Verify benchmarks have been updated for any modified
  runtime logic.

The following checks can be performed after we have forked off to the release-
candidate branch or started an additional release candidate branch (rc-2, rc-3, etc)

• Verify new migrations complete successfully, and the
  runtime state is correctly updated for any public (non-private/test)
  networks.
• Verify Polkadot JS API are up to date with the latest
  runtime changes.
• Check with the Signer's team to make sure metadata update QR are lined up
• Push runtime upgrade to Westend and verify network stability.

All Releases

• Check that the new client versions have run on the network
  without issue for 12+ hours on >75% of our validator nodes.
• Check that a draft release has been created at
  https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/releases with relevant release
  notes
• Check that build artifacts have been added to the
  draft-release
• Check that all items listed in the milestone are included in the release.
• Ensure that no freenotes were added into the release branch after the latest generated RC

[coderobe]

#6897

[coderobe]

backported #6884

[coderobe]

https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/actions/runs/4447503724

this check is stalled

[coderobe]

subwasm differ figures it's incompatible, bumping txver

[coderobe]

bumped in rc5

[coderobe]

westend: https://github.com/paritytech/devops/issues/2447

[coderobe]

published