diff --git a/.version b/.version
index 3eea3c4c0e93..62c36bbb17f3 100644
--- a/.version
+++ b/.version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-20.09
+21.03
diff --git a/lib/trivial.nix b/lib/trivial.nix
index 6eb1fb3a5b11..9501a2906cae 100644
--- a/lib/trivial.nix
+++ b/lib/trivial.nix
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ rec {
      On each release the first letter is bumped and a new animal is chosen
      starting with that new letter.
   */
-  codeName = "Nightingale";
+  codeName = "Okapi";
 
   /* Returns the current nixpkgs version suffix as string. */
   versionSuffix =
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
index e2913b8a5353..bf18457c2b38 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   This section lists the release notes for each stable version of NixOS and
   current unstable revision.
  </para>
+ <xi:include href="rl-2103.xml" />
  <xi:include href="rl-2009.xml" />
  <xi:include href="rl-2003.xml" />
  <xi:include href="rl-1909.xml" />
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2103.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2103.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..eccf2b69dad9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2103.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-21.03">
+ <title>Release 21.03 (“Okapi”, 2021.03/??)</title>
+
+ <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-21.03-highlights">
+  <title>Highlights</title>
+
+  <para>
+   In addition to numerous new and upgraded packages, this release has the
+   following highlights:
+  </para>
+
+  <itemizedlist>
+   <listitem>
+    <para>
+     Support is planned until the end of October 2021, handing over to 21.09.
+    </para>
+   </listitem>
+  </itemizedlist>
+ </section>
+
+ <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-21.03-new-services">
+  <title>New Services</title>
+
+  <para>
+   The following new services were added since the last release:
+  </para>
+
+  <itemizedlist>
+   <listitem>
+    <para />
+   </listitem>
+  </itemizedlist>
+
+ </section>
+
+ <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-21.03-incompatibilities">
+  <title>Backward Incompatibilities</title>
+
+  <para>
+   When upgrading from a previous release, please be aware of the following
+   incompatible changes:
+  </para>
+
+  <itemizedlist>
+   <listitem>
+    <para />
+   </listitem>
+  </itemizedlist>
+ </section>
+
+ <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-21.03-notable-changes">
+  <title>Other Notable Changes</title>
+
+  <itemizedlist>
+   <listitem>
+    <para />
+   </listitem>
+  </itemizedlist>
+ </section>
+</section>