bump version for 2026 Feb release (#1423)

[comment]: # (Note that your PR title should follow the conventional
commit format: https://conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/#summary)
# PR Description
bump version for 2026 Feb release

[comment]: # (The below checklist is for PRs adding new features. If a
box is not checked, add a reason why it's not needed.)
# New Feature Checklist

- [ ] List telemetry added about the feature.
- [ ] Link to the one-pager about the feature.
- [ ] List any tasks necessary for release (3P docs, AKS RP chart
changes, etc.) after merging the PR.
- [ ] Attach results of scale and perf testing.

[comment]: # (The below checklist is for code changes. Not all boxes
necessarily need to be checked. Build, doc, and template changes do not
need to fill out the checklist.)
# Tests Checklist

- [ ] Have end-to-end Ginkgo tests been run on your cluster and passed?
To bootstrap your cluster to run the tests, follow [these
instructions](/otelcollector/test/README.md#bootstrap-a-dev-cluster-to-run-ginkgo-tests).
  - Labels used when running the tests on your cluster:
    - [ ] `operator`
    - [ ] `windows`
    - [ ] `arm64`
    - [ ] `arc-extension`
    - [ ] `fips`
- [ ] Have new tests been added? For features, have tests been added for
this feature? For fixes, is there a test that could have caught this
issue and could validate that the fix works?
  - [ ] Is a new scrape job needed?
- [ ] The scrape job was added to the folder
[test-cluster-yamls](/otelcollector/test/test-cluster-yamls/) in the
correct configmap or as a CR.
  - [ ] Was a new test label added?
- [ ] A string constant for the label was added to
[constants.go](/otelcollector/test/utils/constants.go).
- [ ] The label and description was added to the [test
README](/otelcollector/test/README.md).
- [ ] The label was added to this [PR
checklist](/.github/pull_request_template).
- [ ] The label was added as needed to
[testkube-test-crs.yaml](/otelcollector/test/testkube/testkube-test-crs.yaml).
  - [ ] Are additional API server permissions needed for the new tests?
- [ ] These permissions have been added to
[api-server-permissions.yaml](/otelcollector/test/testkube/api-server-permissions.yaml).
  - [ ] Was a new test suite (a new folder under `/tests`) added?
- [ ] The new test suite is included in
[testkube-test-crs.yaml](/otelcollector/test/testkube/testkube-test-crs.yaml).

Author: zanejohnson-azure

RELEASENOTES.md

@@ -1,5 +1,33 @@
 # Azure Monitor Metrics for AKS clusters
 
+## Release 02-26-2026
+* Linux image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>`
+* Windows image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>-win`
+* TA image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>-targetallocator`
+* cfg sidecar image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>-cfg`
+* AKS and Arc Container Images :
+  + BUG: Missing log columns: Add pod and containerID columns to logged output (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1398)
+  + Add AI resource for bleu cloud (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1408)
+  + build(deps): bump go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/stdout/stdoutmetric from 1.38.0 to 1.39.0 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1382)
+  + build(deps): bump github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4 from 4.25.9 to 4.26.1 in /otelcollector/fluent-bit/src (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1406)
+  + build(deps): bump go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk from 1.39.0 to 1.40.0 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1405)
+  + build(deps): Upgrade otelcollector to v0.144.0 (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1401)
+  + Remove nodes/proxy from clusterrole (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1418)
+  + feat: Add OperationEnvironment argument to MetricsExtension command execution (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1403)
+  + build(deps): bump go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlpmetric/otlpmetricgrpc from 1.38.0 to 1.40.0 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1410)
+  + build(deps): bump go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlpmetric/otlpmetrichttp from 1.38.0 to 1.40.0 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1411)
+  + build(deps): bump google.golang.org/grpc from 1.78.0 to 1.79.1 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1420)
+  + Enable DCGM exporter by default and optimize label handling (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1417)
+  + build(deps): bump ajv from 8.11.2 to 8.18.0 in /tools/az-prom-rules-converter (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1416)
+  + build(deps): bump go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/stdout/stdoutmetric from 1.39.0 to 1.40.0 in /internal/referenceapp/golang (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1421)
+  + build(deps): bump k8s.io/client-go from 0.34.2 to 0.35.1 in /otelcollector/fluent-bit/src (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1413)
+  + fix: upgrade ME to fix otel bug (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1407)
+
+* Pipeline/Docs/Templates Updates:
+  + test: nightly build notification fix (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1404)
+  + test: fix nightly build (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1409)
+  + Update REMOTE-WRITE-RELEASENOTES.md (https://github.com/Azure/prometheus-collector/pull/1422)
+
 ## Release 01-22-2026
 * Linux image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>`
 * Windows image - `mcr.microsoft.com/azuremonitor/containerinsights/ciprod/prometheus-collector/images:<tbd>-win`

otelcollector/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-6.24.3
+6.25.0

otelcollector/deploy/addon-chart/azure-monitor-metrics-addon/values-template.yaml

@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ AzureMonitorMetrics:
   AddonTokenAdapter:
     ImageRegistry: mcr.microsoft.com
     ImageRepository: "/aks/msi/addon-token-adapter"
-    ImageTag: "master.250423.2"
+    ImageTag: "master.260209.2"
     ImageRepositoryWin: "/aks/msi/addon-token-adapter"
-    ImageTagWin: "master.250423.2"
+    ImageTagWin: "master.260209.2"
   ArcExtension: ${ARC_EXTENSION}
   ArcEnableOperator: true
   # Do not change the below settings. They are reserved for Arc Autonomous