diff --git a/Gopkg.lock b/Gopkg.lock
index d949c5e23888..e0174308a7bd 100644
--- a/Gopkg.lock
+++ b/Gopkg.lock
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@
 
 [[projects]]
   branch = "master"
-  digest = "1:f36cb404cd23f6fc1fd4e85e538468658ce991ba73fd1425bd0d1a65de4c3374"
+  digest = "1:cf1ee21f7f6a2db7859a26961f445536ac2447379ddf8e775ee32c9aa59911d8"
   name = "github.com/knative/test-infra"
   packages = [
     "scripts",
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@
     "tools/testgrid",
   ]
   pruneopts = "UT"
-  revision = "2377fbc40f81501f2bc09a4e1e359a7ec7c3528e"
+  revision = "8a63be3b3795aa2f7ae9be32d840e096ba877c78"
 
 [[projects]]
   digest = "1:56dbf15e091bf7926cb33a57cb6bdfc658fc6d3498d2f76f10a97ce7856f1fde"
@@ -1263,6 +1263,9 @@
     "github.com/knative/test-infra/tools/testgrid",
     "github.com/mattbaird/jsonpatch",
     "github.com/pkg/errors",
+    "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/api",
+    "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/api/prometheus/v1",
+    "github.com/prometheus/common/model",
     "go.opencensus.io/exporter/prometheus",
     "go.opencensus.io/stats",
     "go.opencensus.io/stats/view",
diff --git a/hack/release.md b/hack/release.md
index d2882e5e0bd0..ea0f62af8bff 100644
--- a/hack/release.md
+++ b/hack/release.md
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 The `release.sh` script automates the creation of Knative Serving releases,
 either nightly or versioned ones.
 
-By default, the script creates a nightly release but does not publish anywhere.
+By default, the script creates a nightly release but does not publish it
+anywhere.
 
 ## Common flags for cutting releases
 
@@ -16,12 +17,16 @@ release.
 - `--tag-release`, `--notag-release` Tag (or not) the generated images with
   either `vYYYYMMDD-<commit_short_hash>` (for nightly releases) or `vX.Y.Z` for
   versioned releases. _For versioned releases, a tag is always added._
+- `--release-gcs` Defines the GCS bucket where the manifests will be stored.
+  By default, this is `knative-nightly/serving`. This flag is ignored if the
+  release is not being published.
+- `--release-gcr` Defines the GCR where the images will be stored. By default,
+  this is `gcr.io/knative-nightly`. This flag is ignored if the release is not
+  being published.
 - `--publish`, `--nopublish` Whether the generated images should be published to
   a GCR, and the generated manifests written to a GCS bucket or not. If yes, the
-  destination GCR is defined by the environment variable `$SERVING_RELEASE_GCR`
-  (defaults to `gcr.io/knative-nightly`) and the destination GCS bucket is
-  defined by the environment variable `$SERVING_RELEASE_GCS` (defaults to
-  `knative-nightly/serving`). If no, the images will be pushed to the `ko.local`
+  `--release-gcs` and `--release-gcr` flags can be used to change the default
+  values of the GCR/GCS used. If no, the images will be pushed to the `ko.local`
   registry, and the manifests written to the local disk only (in the repository
   root directory).
 
diff --git a/hack/release.sh b/hack/release.sh
index 0b3ac8121734..259cf2baea5d 100755
--- a/hack/release.sh
+++ b/hack/release.sh
@@ -16,15 +16,6 @@
 
 source $(dirname $0)/../vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/release.sh
 
-# Set default GCS/GCR
-: ${SERVING_RELEASE_GCS:="knative-nightly/serving"}
-: ${SERVING_RELEASE_GCR:="gcr.io/knative-nightly"}
-readonly SERVING_RELEASE_GCS
-readonly SERVING_RELEASE_GCR
-
-# Set the repository
-export KO_DOCKER_REPO="${SERVING_RELEASE_GCR}"
-
 # Script entry point
 
 initialize $@
@@ -34,6 +25,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 
 run_validation_tests ./test/presubmit-tests.sh
 
+# Build the release
+
 banner "Building the release"
 
 # Build should not try to deploy anything, use a bogus value for cluster.
@@ -41,13 +34,6 @@ export K8S_CLUSTER_OVERRIDE=CLUSTER_NOT_SET
 export K8S_USER_OVERRIDE=USER_NOT_SET
 export DOCKER_REPO_OVERRIDE=DOCKER_NOT_SET
 
-echo "- Destination GCR: ${KO_DOCKER_REPO}"
-if (( PUBLISH_RELEASE )); then
-  echo "- Destination GCS: ${SERVING_RELEASE_GCS}"
-fi
-
-# Build the release
-
 # Run `generate-yamls.sh`, which should be versioned with the
 # branch since the detail of building may change over time.
 readonly YAML_LIST="$(mktemp)"
@@ -55,7 +41,7 @@ $(dirname $0)/generate-yamls.sh "${REPO_ROOT_DIR}" "${YAML_LIST}"
 readonly YAMLS_TO_PUBLISH=$(cat "${YAML_LIST}" | tr '\n' ' ')
 readonly RELEASE_YAML="$(head -n1 ${YAML_LIST})"
 
-tag_images_in_yaml "${RELEASE_YAML}" "${KO_DOCKER_REPO}" "${TAG}"
+tag_images_in_yaml "${RELEASE_YAML}"
 
 echo "New release built successfully"
 
@@ -68,8 +54,7 @@ fi
 # Publish the release
 # We publish our own istio.yaml, so users don't need to use helm
 for yaml in ${YAMLS_TO_PUBLISH}; do
-  echo "Publishing ${yaml}"
-  publish_yaml "${yaml}" "${SERVING_RELEASE_GCS}" "${TAG}"
+  publish_yaml "${yaml}"
 done
 
 branch_release "Knative Serving" "${YAMLS_TO_PUBLISH}"
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/README.md b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/README.md
index 0e7ab5726eda..3c6c9aacb5f0 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/README.md
+++ b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/README.md
@@ -163,8 +163,14 @@ also overrides the value of the `TAG` variable as `v<version>`.
 it's empty and `master` HEAD will be considered the release branch.
     * `RELEASE_NOTES`: contains the filename with the release notes if `--release-notes`
 was passed. The release notes is a simple markdown file.
+    * `RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET`: contains the GCS bucket name to store the manifests if
+`--release-gcs` was passed, otherwise the default value `knative-nightly/<repo>` will be
+used. It is empty if `--publish` was not passed.
+    * `KO_DOCKER_REPO`: contains the GCR to store the images if `--release-gcr` was
+passed, otherwise the default value `gcr.io/knative-nightly` will be used. It is set to
+`ko.local` if `--publish` was not passed.
     * `SKIP_TESTS`: true if `--skip-tests` was passed. This is handled automatically
-by the run_validation_tests() function.
+by the `run_validation_tests()` function.
     * `TAG_RELEASE`: true if `--tag-release` was passed. In this case, the environment
 variable `TAG` will contain the release tag in the form `vYYYYMMDD-<commit_short_hash>`.
     * `PUBLISH_RELEASE`: true if `--publish` was passed. In this case, the environment
@@ -186,14 +192,12 @@ initialize $@
 run_validation_tests ./test/presubmit-tests.sh
 
 # config/ contains the manifests
-KO_DOCKER_REPO=gcr.io/knative-foo
 ko resolve ${KO_FLAGS} -f config/ > release.yaml
 
-tag_images_in_yaml release.yaml $KO_DOCKER_REPO $TAG
+tag_images_in_yaml release.yaml
 
 if (( PUBLISH_RELEASE )); then
-  # gs://knative-foo hosts the manifest
-  publish_yaml release.yaml knative-foo $TAG
+  publish_yaml release.yaml
 fi
 
 branch_release "Knative Foo" release.yaml
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/library.sh b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/library.sh
index ba267d97cd66..5db1fab6092d 100755
--- a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/library.sh
+++ b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/library.sh
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ function wait_until_object_does_not_exist() {
   fi
   echo -n "Waiting until ${DESCRIPTION} does not exist"
   for i in {1..150}; do  # timeout after 5 minutes
-    if kubectl ${KUBECTL_ARGS} > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-      echo "\n${DESCRIPTION} does not exist"
+    if ! kubectl ${KUBECTL_ARGS} > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo -e "\n${DESCRIPTION} does not exist"
       return 0
     fi
     echo -n "."
@@ -265,10 +265,11 @@ function report_go_test() {
     local field0="${fields[0]}"
     local field1="${fields[1]}"
     local name="${fields[2]}"
-    # Deal with a SIGQUIT log entry (usually a test timeout).
+    # Deal with a SIGQUIT or panic log entry (usually a test timeout).
     # This is a fallback in case there's no kill signal log entry.
     # SIGQUIT: quit
-    if [[ "${field0}" == "SIGQUIT:" ]]; then
+    # panic: test timed out after 5m0s
+    if [[ "${field0}" == "SIGQUIT:" || "${field0}" == "panic:" ]]; then
       name="${last_run}"
       field1="FAIL:"
       error="${fields[@]}"
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/release.sh b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/release.sh
index cbde3c64289c..71551d11365c 100755
--- a/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/vendor/github.com/knative/test-infra/scripts/release.sh
@@ -25,27 +25,32 @@ function banner() {
     make_banner "@" "$1"
 }
 
-# Tag images in the yaml file with a tag. If not tag is passed, does nothing.
+# Tag images in the yaml file if $TAG is not empty.
+# $KO_DOCKER_REPO is the registry containing the images to tag with $TAG.
 # Parameters: $1 - yaml file to parse for images.
-#             $2 - registry where the images are stored.
-#             $3 - tag to apply (optional).
 function tag_images_in_yaml() {
-  [[ -z $3 ]] && return 0
-  local src_dir="${GOPATH}/src/"
-  local BASE_PATH="${REPO_ROOT_DIR/$src_dir}"
-  echo "Tagging images under '${BASE_PATH}' with $3"
-  for image in $(grep -o "$2/${BASE_PATH}/[a-z\./-]\+@sha256:[0-9a-f]\+" $1); do
-    gcloud -q container images add-tag ${image} ${image%%@*}:$3
+  [[ -z ${TAG} ]] && return 0
+  local SRC_DIR="${GOPATH}/src/"
+  local DOCKER_BASE="${KO_DOCKER_REPO}/${REPO_ROOT_DIR/$SRC_DIR}"
+  echo "Tagging images under '${DOCKER_BASE}' with ${TAG}"
+  for image in $(grep -o "${DOCKER_BASE}/[a-z\./-]\+@sha256:[0-9a-f]\+" $1); do
+    gcloud -q container images add-tag ${image} ${image%%@*}:${TAG}
   done
 }
 
-# Copy the given yaml file to a GCS bucket. Image is tagged :latest, and optionally :$2.
+# Copy the given yaml file to the $RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET bucket's "latest" directory.
+# If $TAG is not empty, also copy it to $RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET bucket's "previous" directory.
 # Parameters: $1 - yaml file to copy.
-#             $2 - destination bucket name.
-#             $3 - tag to apply (optional).
 function publish_yaml() {
-  gsutil cp $1 gs://$2/latest/
-  [[ -n $3 ]] && gsutil cp $1 gs://$2/previous/$3/ || true
+  function verbose_gsutil_cp {
+    local DEST=gs://${RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET}/$2/
+    echo "Publishing $1 to ${DEST}"
+    gsutil cp $1 ${DEST}
+  }
+  verbose_gsutil_cp $1 latest
+  if [[ -n ${TAG} ]]; then
+    verbose_gsutil_cp $1 previous/${TAG}
+  fi
 }
 
 # These are global environment variables.
@@ -57,7 +62,9 @@ TAG=""
 RELEASE_VERSION=""
 RELEASE_NOTES=""
 RELEASE_BRANCH=""
+RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET=""
 KO_FLAGS=""
+export KO_DOCKER_REPO=""
 
 function abort() {
   echo "error: $@"
@@ -71,6 +78,11 @@ function parse_flags() {
   RELEASE_NOTES=""
   RELEASE_BRANCH=""
   KO_FLAGS="-P"
+  KO_DOCKER_REPO="gcr.io/knative-nightly"
+  RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET="knative-nightly/$(basename ${REPO_ROOT_DIR})"
+  local has_gcr_flag=0
+  local has_gcs_flag=0
+
   cd ${REPO_ROOT_DIR}
   while [[ $# -ne 0 ]]; do
     local parameter=$1
@@ -80,6 +92,18 @@ function parse_flags() {
       --notag-release) TAG_RELEASE=0 ;;
       --publish) PUBLISH_RELEASE=1 ;;
       --nopublish) PUBLISH_RELEASE=0 ;;
+      --release-gcr)
+        shift
+        [[ $# -ge 1 ]] || abort "missing GCR after --release-gcr"
+        KO_DOCKER_REPO=$1
+        has_gcr_flag=1
+        ;;
+      --release-gcs)
+        shift
+        [[ $# -ge 1 ]] || abort "missing GCS bucket after --release-gcs"
+        RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET=$1
+        has_gcs_flag=1
+        ;;
       --version)
         shift
         [[ $# -ge 1 ]] || abort "missing version after --version"
@@ -105,8 +129,11 @@ function parse_flags() {
 
   # Update KO_DOCKER_REPO and KO_FLAGS if we're not publishing.
   if (( ! PUBLISH_RELEASE )); then
+    (( has_gcr_flag )) && echo "Not publishing the release, GCR flag is ignored"
+    (( has_gcs_flag )) && echo "Not publishing the release, GCS flag is ignored"
     KO_DOCKER_REPO="ko.local"
     KO_FLAGS="-L ${KO_FLAGS}"
+    RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET=""
   fi
 
   if (( TAG_RELEASE )); then
@@ -131,6 +158,8 @@ function parse_flags() {
   readonly RELEASE_VERSION
   readonly RELEASE_NOTES
   readonly RELEASE_BRANCH
+  readonly RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET
+  readonly KO_DOCKER_REPO
 }
 
 # Run tests (unless --skip-tests was passed). Conveniently displays a banner indicating so.
@@ -149,6 +178,26 @@ function run_validation_tests() {
 # Initialize everything (flags, workspace, etc) for a release.
 function initialize() {
   parse_flags $@
+
+  # Log what will be done and where.
+  banner "Release configuration"
+  echo "- Destination GCR: ${KO_DOCKER_REPO}"
+  (( SKIP_TESTS )) && echo "- Tests will NOT be run" || echo "- Tests will be run"
+  if (( TAG_RELEASE )); then
+    echo "- Artifacts will tagged '${TAG}'"
+  else
+    echo "- Artifacts WILL NOT be tagged"
+  fi
+  if (( PUBLISH_RELEASE )); then
+    echo "- Release WILL BE published to '${RELEASE_GCS_BUCKET}'"
+  else
+    echo "- Release will not be published"
+  fi
+  if (( BRANCH_RELEASE )); then
+    echo "- Release WILL BE branched from '${RELEASE_BRANCH}'"
+  fi
+  [[ -n "${RELEASE_NOTES}" ]] && echo "- Release notes are generated from '${RELEASE_NOTES}'"
+
   # Checkout specific branch, if necessary
   if (( BRANCH_RELEASE )); then
     git checkout upstream/${RELEASE_BRANCH} || abort "cannot checkout branch ${RELEASE_BRANCH}"