diff --git a/etc/tools/release-build.sh b/etc/tools/release-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2b3d936
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/tools/release-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,326 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+function exit_with_usage {
+  cat << EOF
+
+release-build - Creates build distributions from a git commit hash or from HEAD.
+
+SYNOPSIS
+
+usage: release-build.sh [--release-prepare | --release-publish | --release-snapshot]
+
+DESCRIPTION
+
+Use maven infrastructure to create a project release package and publish
+to staging release location (https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/toree/)
+and maven staging release repository.
+
+--release-prepare --releaseVersion="0.2.0" --developmentVersion="0.2.0.dev1" [--releaseRc="rc1"] [--tag="v2.0.0"] [--gitCommitHash="a874b73"]
+This form execute maven release:prepare and upload the release candidate distribution
+to the staging release location.
+
+--release-publish --gitCommitHash="a874b73"
+Publish the maven artifacts of a release to the Apache staging maven repository.
+Note that this will publish both Scala 2.10 and 2.11 artifacts.
+
+OPTIONS
+
+--releaseVersion     - Release identifier used when publishing
+--developmentVersion - Release identifier used for next development cyce
+--releaseRc          - Release RC identifier used when publishing, default 'rc1'
+--tag                - Release Tag identifier used when taging the release, default 'v$releaseVersion'
+--gitCommitHash      - Release tag or commit to build from, default master HEAD
+--dryRun             - Dry run only, mostly used for testing.
+
+A GPG passphrase is expected as an environment variable
+
+GPG_PASSPHRASE - Passphrase for GPG key used to sign release
+
+EXAMPLES
+
+release-build.sh --release-prepare --releaseVersion="2.0.0" --developmentVersion="2.1.0-SNAPSHOT"
+release-build.sh --release-prepare --releaseVersion="2.0.0" --developmentVersion="2.1.0-SNAPSHOT" --releaseRc="rc1" --tag="v2.0.0"
+release-build.sh --release-prepare --releaseVersion="2.0.0" --developmentVersion="2.1.0-SNAPSHOT" --releaseRc="rc1" --tag="v2.0.0"  --gitCommitHash="a874b73" --dryRun
+
+release-build.sh --release-publish --gitCommitHash="a874b73"
+release-build.sh --release-publish --gitTag="v2.0.0rc1"
+
+EOF
+  exit 1
+}
+
+set -e
+
+if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+  exit_with_usage
+fi
+
+
+# Process each provided argument configuration
+while [ "${1+defined}" ]; do
+  IFS="=" read -ra PARTS <<< "$1"
+  case "${PARTS[0]}" in
+    --release-prepare)
+      GOAL="release-prepare"
+      RELEASE_PREPARE=true
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --release-publish)
+      GOAL="release-publish"
+      RELEASE_PUBLISH=true
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --release-snapshot)
+      GOAL="release-snapshot"
+      RELEASE_SNAPSHOT=true
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --gitCommitHash)
+      GIT_REF="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --gitTag)
+      GIT_TAG="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --releaseVersion)
+      RELEASE_VERSION="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --developmentVersion)
+      DEVELOPMENT_VERSION="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --releaseRc)
+      RELEASE_RC="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --tag)
+      RELEASE_TAG="${PARTS[1]}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --dryRun)
+      DRY_RUN="-DdryRun=true"
+      shift
+      ;;
+
+    *help* | -h)
+      exit_with_usage
+     exit 0
+     ;;
+    -*)
+     echo "Error: Unknown option: $1" >&2
+     exit 1
+     ;;
+    *)  # No more options
+     break
+     ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+
+if [[ -z "$GPG_PASSPHRASE" ]]; then
+    echo 'The environment variable GPG_PASSPHRASE is not set. Enter the passphrase to'
+    echo 'unlock the GPG signing key that will be used to sign the release!'
+    echo
+    stty -echo && printf "GPG passphrase: " && read GPG_PASSPHRASE && printf '\n' && stty echo
+  fi
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PREPARE" == "true" && -z "$RELEASE_VERSION" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: --releaseVersion must be passed as an argument to run this script"
+    exit_with_usage
+fi
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PREPARE" == "true" && -z "$DEVELOPMENT_VERSION" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: --developmentVersion must be passed as an argument to run this script"
+    exit_with_usage
+fi
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PUBLISH" == "true"  ]]; then
+    if [[ "$GIT_REF" && "$GIT_TAG" ]]; then
+        echo "ERROR: Only one argumented permitted when publishing : --gitCommitHash or --gitTag"
+        exit_with_usage
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$GIT_REF" && -z "$GIT_TAG" ]]; then
+        echo "ERROR: --gitCommitHash OR --gitTag must be passed as an argument to run this script"
+        exit_with_usage
+    fi
+fi
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PUBLISH" == "true" && "$DRY_RUN" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: --dryRun not supported for --release-publish"
+    exit_with_usage
+fi
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_SNAPSHOT" == "true" && "$DRY_RUN" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: --dryRun not supported for --release-publish"
+    exit_with_usage
+fi
+
+# Commit ref to checkout when building
+GIT_REF=${GIT_REF:-master}
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PUBLISH" == "true" && "$GIT_TAG" ]]; then
+    GIT_REF="tags/$GIT_TAG"
+fi
+
+BASE_DIR=$(pwd)
+
+MVN="mvn"
+PUBLISH_PROFILES="-Pdistribution"
+
+if [ -z "$RELEASE_RC" ]; then
+  RELEASE_RC="rc1"
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$RELEASE_TAG" ]; then
+  RELEASE_TAG="v$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating-$RELEASE_RC"
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER" ]; then
+  RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER="$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating-$RELEASE_RC"
+fi
+
+
+RELEASE_STAGING_LOCATION="https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/incubator/toree/"
+
+
+echo "  "
+echo "-------------------------------------------------------------"
+echo "------- Release preparation with the following parameters ---"
+echo "-------------------------------------------------------------"
+echo "Executing           ==> $GOAL"
+echo "Git reference       ==> $GIT_REF"
+echo "release version     ==> $RELEASE_VERSION"
+echo "development version ==> $DEVELOPMENT_VERSION"
+echo "rc                  ==> $RELEASE_RC"
+echo "tag                 ==> $RELEASE_TAG"
+echo "release staging dir ==> $RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER"
+if [ "$DRY_RUN" ]; then
+   echo "dry run ?           ==> true"
+fi
+echo "  "
+echo "Deploying to :"
+echo $RELEASE_STAGING_LOCATION
+echo "  "
+
+set -o xtrace
+
+function checkout_code {
+    # Checkout code
+    rm -rf target
+    mkdir target
+    cd target
+    rm -rf toree
+    git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator-toree.git toree
+    cd toree
+    git checkout $GIT_REF
+    git_hash=`git rev-parse --short HEAD`
+    echo "Checked out Incubator Toree git hash $git_hash"
+
+    cd "$BASE_DIR" #return to base dir
+}
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PREPARE" == "true" ]]; then
+    echo "Preparing release $RELEASE_VERSION"
+    # Checkout code
+    checkout_code
+    cd target/toree
+
+    # Build and prepare the release
+    sed -i .bak "s@^BASE_VERSION.*@BASE_VERSION?=$RELEASE_VERSION@g" Makefile
+    git commit Makefile -m"Prepare release $RELEASE_VERSION"
+    git tag $RELEASE_TAG
+    git_tag_hash=`git rev-parse --short HEAD`
+    sed -i .bak "s@^BASE_VERSION.*@BASE_VERSION?=$DEVELOPMENT_VERSION@g" Makefile
+    git commit Makefile -m"Prepare for next development iteraction $DEVELOPMENT_VERSION"
+    git push
+    git push --tags
+
+    cd .. #exit toree
+
+    if [ -z "$DRY_RUN" ]; then
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target/toree"
+        git checkout $RELEASE_TAG
+        git clean -d -f -x
+
+        make clean dist release
+
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target"
+        svn co $RELEASE_STAGING_LOCATION svn-toree
+        mkdir -p svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree
+        mkdir -p svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree-pip
+
+        cp toree/dist/toree-bin/*.tar.gz svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree
+        cp toree/dist/toree-src/*.tar.gz svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree
+        cp toree/dist/toree-pip/*.tar.gz svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree-pip
+        cp -r toree/dist/toree-pip/toree.egg-info svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree-pip/
+
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target/svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree"
+        rm -f *.asc
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do gpg --output $i.asc --detach-sig --armor $i; done
+        rm -f *.md5
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do openssl md5 -hex $i | sed 's/MD5(\([^)]*\))= \([0-9a-f]*\)/\2 *\1/' > $i.md5; done
+        rm -f *.sha*
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do shasum --algorithm 512 $i > $i.sha512; done
+
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target/svn-toree/$RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/toree-pip"
+        rm -f *.asc
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do gpg --output $i.asc --detach-sig --armor $i; done
+        rm -f *.md5
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do openssl md5 -hex $i | sed 's/MD5(\([^)]*\))= \([0-9a-f]*\)/\2 *\1/' > $i.md5; done
+        rm -f *.sha*
+        for i in *.tar.gz; do shasum --algorithm 512 $i > $i.sha512; done
+
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target/svn-toree/" #exit $RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/
+
+        svn add $RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER/
+        svn ci -m"Apache Toree $RELEASE_STAGING_FOLDER"
+
+        cd "$BASE_DIR/target"
+        mvn gpg:sign-and-deploy-file -DgroupId=org.apache.toree -DartifactId=toree-assembly -Dversion=$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating -Dpackaging=jar -Dfile=toree/dist/toree/lib/toree-assembly-$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating.jar -DrepositoryId=apache.releases.https -Durl=https://repository.apache.org/service/local/staging/deploy/maven2 -Dpassphrase=$GPG_PASSPHRASE
+    fi
+
+    cd "$BASE_DIR" #exit target
+
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+
+if [[ "$RELEASE_PUBLISH" == "true" ]]; then
+    echo "Preparing release $RELEASE_VERSION"
+    # Checkout code
+    cd "$BASE_DIR/target/toree"
+    git checkout $RELEASE_TAG
+    git clean -d -f -x
+
+    make clean dist release
+
+    cd "$BASE_DIR/target"
+    mvn gpg:sign-and-deploy-file -DgroupId=org.apache.toree -DartifactId=toree-assembly -Dversion=$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating -Dpackaging=jar -Dfile=toree/dist/toree/lib/toree-assembly-$RELEASE_VERSION-incubating.jar -DrepositoryId=apache.releases.https -Durl=https://repository.apache.org/service/local/staging/deploy/maven2 -Dpassphrase=$GPG_PASSPHRASE
+
+    cd "$BASE_DIR" #exit target
+
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+cd "$BASE_DIR" #return to base dir
+rm -rf target
+echo "ERROR: wrong execution goals"
+exit_with_usage