diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index fc910708004..17bdebf05f6 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -7,16 +7,18 @@ Enter `[N/A]` in the box, if an item is not applicable to your change.
 
 **Testing**
 Before we can approve your change; please submit the following in a comment:
+
 - [ ] Example configuration file for the change
 - [ ] Debug log output from testing the change
-<!--  
-Please refer to the Developer Guide for instructions on building Fluent Bit with Valgrind support: 
+<!--
+Please refer to the Developer Guide for instructions on building Fluent Bit with Valgrind support:
 https://github.com/fluent/fluent-bit/blob/master/DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md#valgrind
 Invoke Fluent Bit and Valgrind as: $ valgrind --leak-check=full ./bin/fluent-bit <args>
 -->
 - [ ] Attached [Valgrind](https://valgrind.org/docs/manual/quick-start.html) output that shows no leaks or memory corruption was found
 
 If this is a change to packaging of containers or native binaries then please confirm it works for all targets.
+
 - [ ] Run [local packaging test](./packaging/local-build-all.sh) showing all targets (including any new ones) build.
 - [ ] Set `ok-package-test` label to test for all targets (requires maintainer to do).
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/README.md b/.github/workflows/README.md
index aa52f593f35..e13624adf65 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/README.md
+++ b/.github/workflows/README.md
@@ -184,13 +184,13 @@ Take the checksums from the release process above, the AppVeyor stage provides t
 ## Unstable/nightly builds
 
 These happen every 24 hours and [reuse the same workflow](./cron-unstable-build.yaml) as the staging build so are identical except they skip the upload to S3 step.
-This means all targets are built nightly for `master` and `2.0` branches including container images and Linux, macOS and Windows packages.
+This means all targets are built nightly for `master` and `2.1` branches including container images and Linux, macOS and Windows packages.
 
 The container images are available here (the tag refers to the branch):
 
-* [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:2.0](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:2.0)
+* [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:2.1](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:2.1)
 * [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:master](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:master)
-* [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-2.0](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-2.0)
+* [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-2.1](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-2.1)
 * [ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-master](ghcr.io/fluent/fluent-bit/unstable:windows-2019-master)
 
 The Linux, macOS and Windows packages are available to download from the specific workflow run.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cron-unstable-build.yaml b/.github/workflows/cron-unstable-build.yaml
index 82235a41518..76fdb5ce658 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cron-unstable-build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cron-unstable-build.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ on:
   # Run nightly build at this time, bit of trial and error but this seems good.
   schedule:
     - cron: "0 6 * * *" # master build
-    - cron: "0 12 * * *" # 2.0 build
+    - cron: "0 12 * * *" # 2.1 build
 
 # We do not want a new unstable build to run whilst we are releasing the current unstable build.
 concurrency: unstable-build-release
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "cron_branch=master" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         shell: bash
 
-      - name: 2.0 run
+      - name: 2.1 run
         if: github.event_name == 'schedule' && github.event.schedule=='0 12 * * *'
         run: |
-          echo "cron_branch=2.0" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "cron_branch=2.1" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Output the branch to use
diff --git a/.github/workflows/staging-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/staging-release.yaml
index 8ae352bdacd..ca8fd7535bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/staging-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/staging-release.yaml
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Promote container images from staging to GHCR.io
-        if: ${{ startsWith(github.event.inputs.version, '2.0') || ! startsWith(matrix.tag, 'latest') }}
+        if: ${{ startsWith(github.event.inputs.version, '2.0') || startsWith(github.event.inputs.version, '2.1') || ! startsWith(matrix.tag, 'latest') }}
         run: |
           docker run --rm  \
             quay.io/skopeo/stable:latest \
@@ -479,9 +479,6 @@ jobs:
   # Part of resolution for: https://github.com/fluent/fluent-bit/issues/7748
   # More recent build-push-actions may mean legacy format is not preserved so we provide arch-specific tags just in case
   staging-release-images-arch-specific-legacy-tags:
-    # TODO: remove next release once we are happy this all works, for now though do not block a release
-    continue-on-error: true
-    #
     name: Release ${{ matrix.arch }} legacy format Linux container images
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
@@ -545,8 +542,8 @@ jobs:
           TAG: ${{ steps.get-tag.outputs.tag }}
 
   staging-release-images-latest-tags:
-    # Only update latest tags for 2.1 releases
-    if: startsWith(github.event.inputs.version, '2.1')
+    # Only update latest tags for 2.2 releases
+    if: startsWith(github.event.inputs.version, '2.2')
     name: Release latest Linux container images
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
@@ -821,7 +818,7 @@ jobs:
           tag_name: v${{ inputs.version }}
           target_commitish: '2.0'
 
-      - name: Release 2.1 and latest
+      - name: Release 2.1 - not latest
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.1')
         with:
@@ -830,6 +827,17 @@ jobs:
           generate_release_notes: true
           name: "Fluent Bit ${{ inputs.version }}"
           tag_name: v${{ inputs.version }}
+          target_commitish: '2.1'
+
+      - name: Release 2.2 and latest
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+        if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.2')
+        with:
+          body: "https://fluentbit.io/announcements/v${{ inputs.version }}/"
+          draft: false
+          generate_release_notes: true
+          name: "Fluent Bit ${{ inputs.version }}"
+          tag_name: v${{ inputs.version }}
 
   staging-release-create-docs-pr:
     name: Create docs updates for new release
@@ -849,9 +857,17 @@ jobs:
           ref: 2.0
           token: ${{ secrets.GH_PA_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Release 2.1 and latest
+      - name: Release 2.1 - not latest
         if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.1')
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: fluent/fluent-bit-docs
+          ref: 2.1
+          token: ${{ secrets.GH_PA_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Release 2.2 and latest
+        if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.2')
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           repository: fluent/fluent-bit-docs
           token: ${{ secrets.GH_PA_TOKEN }}
@@ -914,9 +930,15 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: 2.0
 
-      - name: Release 2.1 and latest
+      - name: Release 2.1
         if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.1')
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: 2.1
+
+      - name: Release 2.2 and latest
+        if: startsWith(inputs.version, '2.2')
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       # Get the new version to use
       - name: 'Get next minor version'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yaml
index 282879c5f51..61355f4a977 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - master
+      - 2.1
       - 2.0
       - 1.9
       - 1.8
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ on:
       - 'examples/**'
     branches:
       - master
+      - 2.1
       - 2.0
       - 1.9
       - 1.8