Add script to check outdated image references

Makefile

@@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ govet:
 verify-commits:
 	hack/verify-commits.sh
 
-ci-job: verify-commits gofmt golint govet cnftests-unit
+verify-images-updated:
+	hack/verify-images-updated.sh
+
+ci-job: verify-commits verify-images-updated gofmt golint govet cnftests-unit
 
 ztp-ci-job:
 	$(MAKE) -C ztp ci-job

hack/verify-images-updated.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Purpose: This script ensures that specific files containing hardcoded release versions are up to date with the current release and do not reference any previous versions.
+
+# Functionality:
+# 1. Determines if the current branch is a release branch (e.g., release-4.x).
+# 2. Extracts the previous version (e.g. 4.16 for release-4.17).
+# 3. Checks specific files for any occurrences of the previous version.
+# 4. If matches are found, it prompts the user to update references to the current release branch and exits with an error code.
+# 5. Skips checks for non-release branches or missing files.
+
+branch_name=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+
+release_regex="release-([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)"
+
+if [[ ! $branch_name =~ $release_regex ]]; then
+    echo "Branch '$branch_name' is not a release branch. Skipping checks."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+x="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+y="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+previous_version="$x.$((y - 1))" # Example: 4.16 for branch release-4.17
+
+files_to_check=(
+    "cnf-tests/Dockerfile.openshift"
+    "cnf-tests/Dockerfile.konflux"
+    "cnf-tests/mirror/images.json"
+    "cnf-tests/testsuites/pkg/images/images.go"
+    "hack/common.sh"
+    "hack/run-functests.sh"
+)
+
+match_found=false
+
+for file in "${files_to_check[@]}"; do
+    if [[ ! -f "$file"  ]]; then
+        echo "Warning: File '$file' does not exist. Skipping."
+        continue
+    fi
+    if grep -nw "$file" -e "$previous_version" 2>/dev/null ; then
+        echo "Reference to $previous_version found in $file."
+        match_found=true
+    fi
+done
+
+if $match_found; then
+    echo "----------------------------------------------------------------------------------"
+    echo "The following files contain references to the previous release version ($previous_version):"
+    echo "Please update them to the current release branch ($branch_name) to ensure consistency."
+    echo "This can be done by creating a PR against ($branch_name)."
+    echo "For more details, refer to the Branching section in the project's readme.md."
+    exit 1
+else
+    echo "All files are up-to-date. No references to $previous_version were found."
+fi