diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cfb378c..d0e204b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,10 +28,69 @@ endif
 release: ./buildRelease.sh
 	./buildRelease.sh -t $(RELEASE)
 
+TAG ?= $(shell git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null || git describe --tags)
+REPO_FALLBACK ?= dmwm/dbs2go
+REPO_URL ?= $(shell git remote get-url upstream 2>/dev/null || git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null || echo https://github.com/$(REPO_FALLBACK).git)
+REPO ?= $(shell echo $(REPO_URL) | sed -e 's,.*github.com[:/],,' -e 's,.git$$,,')
+IMAGE ?= registry.cern.ch/cmsweb/dbs2go
+IMAGEBOT_NAMESPACE ?= dbs
+IMAGEBOT_SERVICE ?= dbs2go
+UPLOAD_BUILD_TARGET ?= build
+
+ifneq (,$(filter upload k8deploy,$(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS))))
+  ifeq (no-oracle,$(word 2,$(MAKECMDGOALS)))
+    UPLOAD_BUILD_TARGET := build-no-oracle
+    $(eval no-oracle:;@true)
+  endif
+endif
+
+.PHONY: upload upload-no-oracle k8deploy k8deploy-no-oracle
+upload: $(UPLOAD_BUILD_TARGET)
+	@set -e; \
+	case "$(TAG)" in \
+		v*.*.*rc*) stable="false" ;; \
+		v*.*.*|*.*.*) stable="true" ;; \
+		*) echo "TAG=$(TAG) is not a release or rc tag"; exit 1 ;; \
+	esac; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmwm/CMSKubernetes/master/docker/dbs2go/Dockerfile; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmwm/CMSKubernetes/master/docker/dbs2go/oci8.pc; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmwm/CMSKubernetes/master/docker/dbs2go/config.json; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmwm/CMSKubernetes/master/docker/dbs2go/monitor.sh; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmwm/CMSKubernetes/master/docker/dbs2go/run.sh; \
+	chmod +x run.sh; \
+	sed -i -e "s,ENV TAG=.*,ENV TAG=$(TAG),g" Dockerfile; \
+	docker build . --tag "$(IMAGE):$(TAG)"; \
+	docker push "$(IMAGE):$(TAG)"; \
+	if [ "$$stable" = "true" ]; then \
+		docker tag "$(IMAGE):$(TAG)" "$(IMAGE):$(TAG)-stable"; \
+		docker push "$(IMAGE):$(TAG)-stable"; \
+	fi
+
+upload-no-oracle:
+	$(MAKE) upload no-oracle
+
+k8deploy:
+	@set -e; \
+	[ -n "$${IMAGEBOT_URL}" ] || { echo "ERROR: IMAGEBOT_URL is not set"; exit 1; }; \
+	curl -ksLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vkuznet/imagebot/main/imagebot.sh; \
+	sed -i -e "s,COMMIT,$$(git rev-parse HEAD),g" \
+		-e "s,REPOSITORY,$(REPO),g" \
+		-e "s,NAMESPACE,$(IMAGEBOT_NAMESPACE),g" \
+		-e "s,TAG,$(TAG),g" \
+		-e "s,IMAGE,$(IMAGE),g" \
+		-e "s,SERVICE,$(IMAGEBOT_SERVICE),g" \
+		-e "s,HOST,$${IMAGEBOT_URL},g" imagebot.sh; \
+	chmod +x imagebot.sh; \
+	sh ./imagebot.sh
+
+k8deploy-no-oracle: k8deploy
+
+
 vet:
 	go vet .
 
-ORAFILES =  web/server.go test/merge/main.go test/seq/seq.go test/http_test.go test/writer_test.go test/oracle_drivers_test.go test/seq/oracle_drivers_test.go test/merge/oracle_drivers_test.go cgotest/oracle_drivers.go
+ORAFILES_ALL = web/server.go test/merge/main.go test/seq/seq.go test/http_test.go test/writer_test.go test/oracle_drivers_test.go test/seq/oracle_drivers_test.go test/merge/oracle_drivers_test.go cgotest/oracle_drivers.go
+ORAFILES = $(wildcard $(ORAFILES_ALL))
 
 strip_oracle:
 	$(info ### on $(arch) platform there is no ORALCE libs, we will disable their drivers from the build)
@@ -57,6 +116,8 @@ build:
 .IGNORE:
 build_no_oracle: strip_oracle build restore_oracle
 
+build-no-oracle: build_no_oracle
+
 build_debug:
 	go clean; rm -rf pkg dbs2go*; go build -gcflags=all="-N -l" ${debug_flags}
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e33401e..349128d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,3 +21,40 @@ documentation:
 - [DBS APIs](docs/apis.md)
 - [Debugging and Profiling DBS server](docs/Debug.md)
 - [DBS GraphQL](graphql/README.md)
+
+#### Release, upload, and k8s deployment
+
+The release flow can be executed manually in three steps:
+
+```
+make release v1.2.3
+make upload TAG=v1.2.3
+make k8deploy TAG=v1.2.3 IMAGEBOT_URL=<imagebot-url>
+```
+
+`make release <tag>` calls `buildRelease.sh`, updates the changelog, creates
+the release commit and tag, and pushes them to the configured git remote.
+
+`make upload` builds the local `dbs2go` binary with Oracle support enabled by
+default, builds the Docker image, and pushes it to
+`registry.cern.ch/cmsweb/dbs2go`. Stable release tags also push a
+`<tag>-stable` image tag.
+
+`make k8deploy` runs the imagebot deployment step. The repository passed to
+imagebot is resolved from the `upstream` git remote, then `origin`, and finally
+falls back to `dmwm/dbs2go`. It can be overridden with `REPO=<owner>/<repo>`.
+
+For builds without Oracle drivers, use either form:
+
+```
+make upload no-oracle TAG=v1.2.3
+make upload-no-oracle TAG=v1.2.3
+```
+
+The k8s deployment target accepts the same suffix for command consistency,
+although it does not build anything after the upload/deploy split:
+
+```
+make k8deploy no-oracle TAG=v1.2.3 IMAGEBOT_URL=<imagebot-url>
+make k8deploy-no-oracle TAG=v1.2.3 IMAGEBOT_URL=<imagebot-url>
+```