diff --git a/DEVNOTES.md b/DEVNOTES.md
index 1e814dd..5575f29 100644
--- a/DEVNOTES.md
+++ b/DEVNOTES.md
@@ -1,12 +1,48 @@
-## Maven Build Instructions
-
-### Running full build (with or without unit tests)
+## Local Build
 
     mvn clean install [-DskipTests]
 
 Upon completion, you will find the CLI tool under `modules/cli/target` directory.
 Use `ignite` on Linux and MacOS, or `ignite.exe` on Windows. 
-    
-### Checking license headers using Apache RAT
+
+## License Headers Check
 
     mvn validate
+
+## Release candidate verification
+
+**1. Build the package (this will also run unit tests and the license headers check)**
+
+    mvn clean package
+
+**2. Go to the `modules/cli/target` directory which now contains the packaged CLI tool**
+
+    cd modules/cli/target
+
+**3. Run the tool without parameters (full list of available commands should appear)**
+
+    ./ignite
+    
+**4. Run the initialization step**
+
+    ./ignite init --repo=<path to Maven staging repository>
+
+**5. Install an additional dependency (Guava is used as an example)**
+
+    ./ignite module add mvn:com.google.guava:guava:23.0
+
+**6. Verify that Guava has been installed**
+
+    ./ignite module list
+
+**7. Start a node**
+
+    ./ignite node start myFirstNode
+
+**8. Check that the new node is up and running**
+
+    ./ignite node list
+    
+**9. Stop the node**
+
+    ./ignite node stop myFirstNode