diff --git a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dc9dd07f94a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,317 @@
+name: Draft Release
+
+run-name: draft-release-${{ inputs.version }} 
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        required: true
+
+env:
+  registry: docker.io
+  GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.parallel=true -Dorg.gradle.caching=true"
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    steps:
+      - name: Pre-process Release Name
+        id: pre_process_release_name
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_NAME="${{ inputs.version }}"
+          # strip all whitespace
+          RELEASE_NAME="${RELEASE_NAME//[[:space:]]/}"
+          if [[ ! "$RELEASE_NAME" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
+            echo "Release name does not conform to a valid besu release format YY.M.v[-suffix], e.g. 24.8.0-RC1."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "release_name=$RELEASE_NAME" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT  # Set as output using the new syntax
+    outputs:
+      release_name: ${{ steps.pre_process_release_name.outputs.release_name }}
+
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: validate
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+    outputs:
+      tarSha: ${{steps.hashes.outputs.tarSha}}
+      zipSha: ${{steps.hashes.outputs.zipSha}}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout tag
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+      
+      - name: Set up Java
+        uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: 21
+      
+      - name: Setup gradle
+        uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
+        with:
+          cache-disabled: true
+      
+      - name: Assemble release
+        run:
+          ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} assemble
+
+      - name: Hashes
+        id: hashes
+        run: |
+          cd build/distributions
+          echo "zipSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.zip)"
+          echo "tarSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.tar.gz)"
+          echo "zipSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.zip)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "tarSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.tar.gz)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz > besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256
+          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip > besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256
+      
+      - name: Upload tarball
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
+        with:
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz
+          compression-level: 0
+      
+      - name: upload zipfile
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
+        with:
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip
+          compression-level: 0
+
+      - name: upload checksum zip
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
+        with:
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip.sha256'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip.sha256
+          compression-level: 0
+
+      - name: upload checksum tar.gz
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
+        with:
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz.sha256'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz.sha256
+          compression-level: 0
+
+  test-windows:
+    runs-on: windows-2022
+    needs: ["build"]
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    steps:
+      - name: Set up Java
+        uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: 21
+      
+      - name: Download zip
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
+        with:
+          pattern: besu-*.zip
+          merge-multiple: true
+
+      - name: Test
+        run: |
+          unzip besu-*.zip -d besu-tmp
+          cd besu-tmp
+          mv besu-* ../besu
+          cd ..
+          besu\bin\besu.bat --help
+          besu\bin\besu.bat --version
+
+  test-linux:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: ["build"]
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    steps:
+      - name: Set up Java
+        uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: 21
+    
+      - name: Download tar.gz
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
+        with:
+          pattern: besu-*.tar.gz
+          merge-multiple: true
+
+      - name: Test
+        run: |
+          tar zxvf besu-*.tar.gz
+          rm -f besu-*.tar.gz
+          mv besu-* besu-test
+          besu-test/bin/besu --help
+          besu-test/bin/besu --version
+
+  docker-lint:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: [test-linux, test-windows]
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: hadoLint
+        run: docker run --rm -i hadolint/hadolint < docker/Dockerfile
+        
+  docker-publish:
+    needs: [validate, docker-lint]
+    environment: publish
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        platform:
+          - ubuntu-22.04
+          - besu-arm64
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Prepare
+        id: prep
+        run: |
+          platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
+          if [ "$platform" = 'ubuntu-22.04' ]; then 
+            echo "PLATFORM_PAIR=linux-amd64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "ARCH=amd64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "PLATFORM_PAIR=linux-arm64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "ARCH=arm64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
+      - name: Checkout Repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: short sha
+        id: shortSha
+        run: echo "sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Set up Java
+        uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: 21
+
+      - name: setup gradle
+        uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
+        with:
+          cache-disabled: true
+          
+      - name: install goss
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p docker/reports
+          curl -L https://github.com/aelsabbahy/goss/releases/download/v0.4.4/goss-${{ steps.prep.outputs.PLATFORM_PAIR }} -o ./docker/tests/goss-${{ steps.prep.outputs.PLATFORM_PAIR }}
+
+      - name: build and test docker
+        uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
+        env:
+          architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
+        with:
+          cache-disabled: true
+          arguments: testDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: login to ${{ env.registry }}
+        uses: docker/login-action@343f7c4344506bcbf9b4de18042ae17996df046d
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.registry }}
+          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USER_RW }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD_RW }}
+
+      - name: publish
+        env:
+          architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
+        run: ./gradlew --no-daemon dockerUpload -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+  docker-manifest:
+    needs: [validate, docker-publish]
+    environment: publish
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+
+
+  release-draft:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: [validate, test-linux, test-windows]
+    environment: publish
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }} 
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: Download Besu artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
+        with:
+          pattern: besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}*
+          merge-multiple: true
+
+      - name: Draft release notes
+        run: |
+          echo "## ${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}" > draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "## Upcoming Breaking Changes" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "## Breaking Changes" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "## Additions and Improvements" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "## Bug fixes" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
+          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
+
+      - name: Draft release
+        run: |
+          gh release create \
+            --draft \
+            --title=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} \
+            --notes-file draft-release-notes.md \
+            --verify-tag ${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256 \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+
+  artifactory:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: [validate, test-linux, test-windows]
+    env:
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }} 
+    environment: publish
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: Set up Java
+        uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
+        with:
+          distribution: temurin
+          java-version: 21
+
+      - name: setup gradle
+        uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
+        with:
+          cache-disabled: true
+      - name: Artifactory Publish
+        env:
+          ARTIFACTORY_USER: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_USER }}
+          ARTIFACTORY_KEY: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN }}
+        run: ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} artifactoryPublish
+